Sunday 11 January 2015

Je suis Charlie

Jan 11, 2015 France's Anti-Terror Rally Carries Message Of Unity (Image source: Getty Images / Christopher Furlong) BY SEBASTIAN MARTINEZ Hundreds of thousands of people poured into the streets of Paris Sunday, as France rallied to commemorate those killed in the past week's terrorist attacks. The crowds sang the French national anthem and chanted that they were not afraid, while world leaders convened at the Elysee Palace to meet with French President Francois Hollande. Before the gathering, multiple media outlets reported more than one million people were expected to attend. (Video via RT) There have been frequent rallies like the one on Sunday since the attacks took place, including marches of more than 700,000 people across France the day before, but Sunday's was expected to be the biggest. (Video via BBC) Some in France have compared the impact of the attacks on the country to the September 11th attacks on the U.S., and some of the demonstrators say the aim of the rallies is to show the French people aren't afraid. Michael Kay told MSNBC, "The way that tens of thousands of people came out on the streets of France afterwards is an act of defiance. It's a message to say, 'we're not going to be affected by this, and we're all rallying together,' I think that's important." But the rallies also bring a logistical challenge for French authorities. With security already tightened after the attack, thousands of police officers were on the streets Sunday as well, which French officials said was an effort to protect demonstrators. (Video via BFMTV) Security personnel were also deployed to Jewish institutions in the country, as the attack on Friday targeted a Jewish grocery store. A writer for Haaretz argues the attacks this past week have only served to increase fear among the Jewish community in France, many members of which had already started to leave the country for Israel. She cites, "The 7,000 French Jews who uprooted their lives and moved to Israel in 2014 — more than double the number who came the previous year." Still, the rally Sunday had a message of unity in the face of sectarian attacks as French Prime Minister Manuel Valls explained. (Video via Arirang) "Each citizen must come with only one idea in their head: unity with the values of the republic, of tolerance, to fight against racism and anti-semitism," Valls said. The world leaders who met in Paris on Sunday included Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron. This video includes an image from Getty Images.

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Friday 9 January 2015

Charlie Hebdo Suspects Surrounded

Jan 9, 2015 Surrounded, Charlie Hebdo Suspects 'Want To Die As Martyrs' (Image source: Getty Images / Pascal Le Segretain) BY CLIFF JUDY French police believe they have two men considered the main suspects in the Charlie Hebdo terror attack cornered, but it appeared as of Friday morning that Cherif and Said Kouachi don't plan on negotiating a surrender and may have taken a hostage. Police now have a building widely reported as a printing company surrounded in Dammartin-en-Goele, a city about 20 miles outside Paris. Officials told reporters the suspects stole a car and exchanged gunfire with officers before holing up in the building. (Video via Sky News & BFMTV) Investigators believe the Kouachi brothers opened fire inside the satirical magazine's offices on Wednesday killing 12 people before fleeing Paris. (Video via The Telegraph) Police have said they believe another shooting that killed a police officer Thursday is connected to the brothers, though they didn't elaborate how. French president Francois Hollande has called the Charlie Hebdo shootings the worst terror attack in the country in 50 years. Several helicopters could be seen hovering over the industrial area in Dammartin where the printing company is located. A BBC reporter said he counted at least five. While reporters on the ground have presumed police want the manhunt to end without further bloodshed, a member of the French parliament for the area told i>TELE in a phone interview the Kouachi brothers told police, "Vouloir mourir en martyrs." It means they want to be martyrs. If the Kouachis were, in fact, the people who attacked Charlie Hebdo, it's believed they retaliated against the often irreverent ways the magazine portrays religious figures, especially showing illustrations of Muhammad. France 24 reports 32-year-old Cherif Kouachi aspired to be a rapper as a young man before joining Islamic extremists. The New York Times reported Wednesday a senior American official said older brother Said spent a few months training with Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula — or AQAP — in Yemen. The leader of AQAP at the time was an American-born extremist who "repeatedly called for the killing of cartoonists who insulted the Prophet Muhammad." Police and French special forces in Dammartin ordered residents to stay in their home during Friday's standoff. This video includes images from Getty Images.

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Terror Attack On French Newspaper

Jan 7, 2015 At Least 12 Dead After Terror Attack On French Newspaper (Image source: Getty Images / Antoine Antoniol) BY JAKE GODIN At least 12 people have been killed and 11 are injured after a terror attack at the headquarters of a French satirical newspaper in Paris on Wednesday. According to the French TV channel i>TELE, three men in black hoods entered the building of newspaper Charlie Hebdo, armed with Kalashnikovs. They started firing around the building then fled in a hijacked car. Among the dead are 10 journalists and two police officers, according to a police spokesman briefing media. French President Francois Hollande visited the scene, calling the attack an act of terror and raising the country’s terror threat level. Hollande said officials have interrupted a number of possible attacks in recent weeks. (Video via France 24) The U.S., U.K., Germany and the Arab League have all condemned the shooting, calling it an attack on the freedom of the press and speech. The paper’s editor-in-chief Gérard Biard, who was in London at the time of the attack, told France Inter, “I am shocked that people can attack a newspaper in France, a secular republic. I don’t understand it.” The satirical paper has been attacked in the past. In 2011, the offices were firebombed after it ran a satirical caricature of the Prophet Muhammad. In 2012, against the wishes of the French government, the paper published more cartoons mocking Muhammad, some of which depicted him naked or in a wheelchair. French government buildings in about 20 countries were closed as a precautionary measure. (Video via BFM TV) The paper’s latest tweet was a satirical image of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi wishing him “best wishes, by the way.” There have been contradictory reports on who exactly died in the attack. Stéphane Charbonnier, the paper’s publishing director, was originally said to be in critical condition but is now being reported as having died. (Video via YouTube / Saint Barthélemy) The paper’s latest issue had this illustration by Charb, titled “Still no terrorist attack in France” and having a terrorist say “Wait, we have until the end of January to present our wishes.” Police are still searching for the gunmen in Paris, and French media have been warned to be on alert for any further attacks. This video includes images from Getty Images.

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