Jordan writer in anti-Islam case shot dead at court

A prominent Jordanian writer was shot dead Sunday on the steps of a court where he was facing charges for sharing an anti-Islam cartoon online, in an attack condemned as "heinous". Nahed Hattar was struck by three bullets before the alleged assassin was arrested at the scene of the shooting in Amman's central Abdali district, said the official Petra news agency. The assailant -- bearded and dressed in a grey dishdasha worn by conservative Muslim men -- shot Hattar, a 56-year-old Christian, as he made his way up the stairs of the court, a security source told AFP.