Salman Rushdie's agent says the author is “on the road to recovery” two days after suffering serious injuries in a stabbing at a lecture in upstate New York. The announcement followed news that the lauded writer was removed from a ventilator Saturday and able to talk and joke. Andrew Wylie continued to caution that although Rushdie’s “condition is headed in the right direction,” his recovery would be a long process. The 75-year-old suffered a damaged liver and severed nerves in an arm and an eye, Wylie had previously said, and was likely to lose the injured eye. Twenty-four-year-old Hadi Matar pleaded not guilty in the attack.

Authorities say a vehicle struck a crowd gathered at a Pennsylvania bar to raise money for victims of a house fire that killed 10 earlier this month. Pennsylvania State Police said in a statement that one person died and 17 others were injured Saturday. Police say 24-year-old Adrian Oswaldo Sura Reyes was arraigned early Sunday on two counts of criminal homicide. They allege that he later killed a woman in nearby Nescopeck and the county coroner identified her as his 56-year-old mother. The bar was holding a fundraiser for those touched by the Aug. 5 blaze in Nescopeck. Police say he is not currently a suspect in the fire, the cause of which remains under investigation.

The judge in penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz will soon decide whether the jury will be told about some brain exams his lawyers had conducted on him. His attorneys this week will tell Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer that she should permit the tests be shown in their upcoming presentation. They say the tests bolster their claim that Cruz suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome. The prosecution says the tests are junk science and should not be shown to the jury. Cruz has pleaded guilty to murdering 17 at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018. His ongoing trial is to determine whether he is sentenced to death or life without parole.

As part of an effort to keep illegal drugs and other contraband out of state prisons, New York is taking away one of the few pleasures of life behind bars. It will no longer let people send inmates care packages from home. The state began phasing in the new policy last month. Friends and family will no longer be allowed to deliver packages in person during prison visits. They also won’t be allowed to mail boxes of goodies unless they come direct from third-party vendors. New York had been one of the few states that still allowed families to send packages to inmates from home.