France’s President Emmanuel Macron has called the beheading of a teacher in a north-western suburb of Paris an “Islamist terrorist attack”.
The teacher of history and geography is said to have shown controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to his pupils. The attacker was shot dead by police.
President Macron said the as yet unnamed victim was murdered because he “taught freedom of expression”.
“They won’t win… We will act,” the president said from the scene.
The attack occurred on October 15, at about 17:00 local time, near a school. Anti-terror prosecutors are investigating.
The knife-wielding attacker was shot as officers tried to arrest him in the aftermath of the attack. Police have not released any personal details about him, although French media report he was an 18-year-old man of Chechen origin who was born in Moscow.
A trial is currently under way in Paris over a 2015 Islamist assault on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which was targeted for publishing the cartoons.
Three weeks ago, a man attacked and wounded two people outside Charlie Hebdo‘s former offices.
A man wielding a large knife attacked the teacher in a street in the town of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, cutting off his head. A police source said that witnesses had heard the attacker shout “Allahu Akbar”, or “God is Greatest”, the Reuters reported.
The attacker then ran off, but local police alerted by the public were quickly at the scene.
The officers confronted the man in the nearby district of Éragny.
When they shouted at him to give himself up, he is said to have threatened them. The officers shot him and he died a short time later.
The scene is now sealed off, as the investigation continues.
Nine people, including a minor, have been arrested, judicial sources have told French media. They reportedly include relatives of the attacker and parents of a child at the school where the teacher worked.
According to Le Monde newspaper, the victim had been talking in class about freedom of expression in connection with the Muhammad cartoons, which caused uproar among some Muslims when Charlie Hebdo published them.
He had reportedly advised Muslim students to leave the room if they thought they might be offended.
Earlier this month, some Muslim parents complained to the school about the teacher’s decision to use one or more of the cartoons as part of a discussion about the Charlie Hebdo trial, French media report.
Reacting to the attack, Charlie Hebdo tweeted: “Intolerance just reached a new threshold and seems to stop at nothing to impose terror in our country.”
France has seen a wave of Islamist violence since the 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo that left 12 people dead, including famous cartoonists.
Fritz-Joly Joachin, a French national said to be connected to the Kouachi brothers, has been extradited from Bulgaria to France.
Fritz-Joly Joachin was detained while trying to cross into Turkey, a French judicial official said.
He has admitted to being an associate of the attackers of Charlie Hebdo magazine but denies being aware of their plans.
Seventeen people were killed in a series of attacks in Paris in January.
Fritz-Joly Joachin, 29, is accused of participating in a terrorist group and of having links to a network of people sending fighters to Syria.
He arrived in France on January 29 and was due to be questioned later in the day, unnamed judicial sources told AFP.
French police say Fritz-Joly Joachin is associated with Said Kouachi and Cherif Kouachi.
The two brothers stormed the offices of Charlie Hebdo on January 7 and opened fire using automatic weapons, killing 12 people.
Two days later, a third gunman, Amedy Coulibaly, killed four Jewish people at HyperCacher supermarket. A policewoman was also shot dead.
The Islamist gunmen had links to groups based in the Middle East, and said they were “avenging” cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in Charlie Hebdo magazine.
Fritz-Joly Joachin was thought to have been on his way to Syria with his three-year-old son when he was detained, according Bulgaria’s Sophia news agency.
French authorities have arrested four other people for alleged links to the Kouachi brothers.
Amedy Coulibaly, the Islamist militant shot dead by French special forces two weeks ago after he attacked Jewish supermarket HyperCacher, has been buried near Paris.
Police sources said Amedy Coulibaly had been buried in the Muslim section of the Thiais cemetery, outside Paris.
Seventeen people died in three days of violence in Paris that began with an assault on the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on January 7.
Two other attackers, brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi, have already been buried.
Amedy Coulibaly, 32, killed four people and held a number of others hostage at a Jewish supermarket in eastern Paris on January 9.
Police also believe Amedy Coulibaly killed a female police officer in the Montrouge area of the French capital a day earlier.
Amedy Coulibaly is believed to have had a long history of criminal activity – including drugs offences – and links to at least one of the Kouachi brothers.
Earlier, France’s top legal authority ruled that it was lawful to strip a dual national convicted of terrorism offences of his French nationality.
Ahmed Sahnouni, a Moroccan naturalized by France in 2003, had challenged the stripping of his citizenship.
However, the Constitutional Council ruled that the move was justified by the seriousness of the need to tackle Islamist extremism.
Ahmed Sahnouni was jailed for seven years in 2013 for terror-related activities.
Under French law, nationals can be stripped of their naturalized citizenship if they are convicted of “terror acts”, but only if the move would not make them stateless.
According to a recent poll, 81% of French people wanted dual nationals convicted of terrorism offences to have their French passports taken away.
It also suggested 68% believed French citizens involved in violent jihad abroad should not be allowed to return to France.
Charlie Hebdo has announced it is printing a total of 7 million copies of the once-obscure French satirical magazine.
The new total reflects extraordinary demand for what has become known as Charlie Hebdo survivor’s issue.
The latest edition was produced in the days immediately following a terrorist attack at the magazine’s office in Paris. The attackers were apparently motivated by the magazine’s criticisms of Islam and depictions of the Prophet Mohammed.
The cover of the new issue has a cartoon of the prophet holding up a sign that reads ” Je suis Charlie” (I Am Charlie).
Customers at newsstands continue to seek copies of the issue – not just in France, where there were long lines observed earlier this week, but also in Germany, where the magazine went on sale on January 17.
There were local reports that the copies quickly sold out in cities like Berlin and Hamburg.
“We could have ordered 500 copies — they would have sold out,” a vendor at the main train station in Stuttgart told DPA, Germany’s main news agency.
Photo Reuters
For some, buying a copy is a way to show solidarity with the magazine and support freedom of expression.
Charlie Hebdo‘s French distributor, MLP, has been trying to keep pace with demand.
Roughly one million copies each were distributed on January 14, 15 and 16. Technical problems limited the number of copies available in France over the weekend, so it’ll take several days to reach the 5 million mark.
On January 17, MLP boosted the planned total to 7 million.
Le Figaro newspaper called it “a record in the history of the French press”.
A small number of copies began to reach the US on January 16, and more are expected to go on sale in the coming days.
To put the 7 million figure in perspective, only a small number of US magazines print that many copies – AARP The Magazine, Better Homes and Gardens, and Game Informer Magazine.
While support for the new issue has been widespread, opposition to the Mohammed drawing on the cover has been expressed by Islamic leaders and government officials in a number of countries in the Middle East and Africa.
Charlie Hebdo’s cover has been described as insulting to Muslims and needlessly provocative.
Protests against the new cover were reported in Pakistan, Jordan, Algeria, Niger, Mali, Somalia, Senegal, and Mauritania.
Meanwhile, Charlie Hebdo’s surviving editors of the magazine have said little about their plans for future issues, but they have vowed to keep publishing.
Charlie Hebdo has sold 1.9 million copies of its survivor’s edition, which has provoked protests by Muslims around the globe over a new cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad.
The French satirical magazine’s distribution has been hit by printing problems, with only 230,000 copies ready against the one million that had been expected to ship this weekend, its distributor MLP said.
The technical problem had been resolved and “distribution will resume normally on Monday”, MLP said.
The latest issue was the first since two Islamist gunmen stormed Charlie Hebdo‘s Paris office on January 7 and massacred 12 people, saying they were taking revenge for previous publications of Muhammad cartoons – considered deeply offensive to many Muslims.
Charlie Hebdo defiantly published what it called the “survivors’ issue” on January 14, featuring Prophet Mohammed in a white turban and holding a sign that reads “Je suis Charlie” under the words: “All is forgiven”.
News agents on January 16 received another million copies of the issue, which “is still selling well” but not in the frenzy seen the previous two days after the issue came out, according to the French printing union UNDP.
On January 14 and 15, the 27,000 news outlets in France sold out within hours, with newspaper vendors selling a total of 1.2 million copies.
In addition, hundreds of thousands of copies have been bought by companies, institutions and communities.
Parisian theatres bought 25,000 copies to distribute to patrons and Air France took tens of thousands for its passengers, said MLP.
A further 150,000 are being shipped abroad. Germany is the largest buyer, with MLP to deliver 55,000 copies by January 19.
A total of five million copies of the issue will be printed, with deliveries continuing next week.
Prior to the attacks, the magazine sold around 60,000 copies a week.
Charlie Hebdo has also launched an app that let readers download the magazine.
An Iranian court has ordered the closure of Mardom e-Emruz (Today’s People) newspaper after publishing a picture of George Clooney wearing a badge backing French magazine Charlie Hebdo, which was attacked last week.
The Mardom e-Emruz newspaper ran a picture of the actor headlined “I’m Charlie too”.
Conservative elements in Teheran were incensed by a catchphrase they regard as “anti-Islamic”.
Charlie Hebdo has published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, which many Muslims see as an offensive act.
The cover of Charlie Hebdo‘s latest edition, published after the attack in which 12 people were killed, featured a cartoon of the Prophet weeping while holding a sign saying “I am Charlie”.
Seven million copies of the edition are being printed in view of extraordinary demand, distributors announced on January 17.
“The court in charge of cultural affairs and the media imposed the ban on the newspaper for publishing a headline and a picture which it deemed insulting,”Mardom-e Emrouz director Ahmad Sattari told the Irna news agency.
The newspaper was only in its first month of publication, but that its political position was seen as close to that of Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani.
The court’s ruling is pending a final decision due later, but is unlikely to be overturned.
Said Kouachi, one of the two brothers who launched a deadly attack against French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo last week, has been buried in an unmarked grave.
Said Kouachi, 34, was buried secretly late on Friday in the eastern city of Reims, where he had lived before the attack.
The mayor of Reims said he had opposed the burial, fearing a grave could become a shrine, but had been forced to accept it by law.
Attacks in Paris killed 17 people last week, 12 of them at Charlie Hebdo.
On January 9, two days after attacking the magazine, Said Kouachi and his younger brother Cherif were killed by police at an industrial estate north of Paris.
Cherif Kouachi, 32, is expected to be buried in his hometown of Gennevilliers, outside Paris.
There has been no announcement on plans for burying Amedy Coulibaly, who killed four people at Jewish supermarket HyperCacher in Paris on January 9 and is suspected of killing a policewoman in the French capital a day earlier.
Earlier in the week, Reims mayor Arnaud Robinet said he would “categorically refuse” a family request for Said Kouachi to be buried in the city.
Arnaud Robinet said he did not want “a tomb that could become a shrine for people to gather around or a pilgrimage site for fanatics”.
However, on January 17 he said he had been forced by the government to accept the burial.
“He was buried last night, in the most discreet, anonymous way possible,” Arnaud Robinet told French TV.
The city said in a statement: “Given the risk of disturbance of the peace and in order to quickly turn the page of this tragic episode, it was decided to do the burial quickly.”
A lawyer for Said Kouachi’s widow said she had not attended the burial for fear that journalists would follow her and the location of the grave would be discovered.
Fresh protests against French magazine Charlie Hebdo‘s cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad have sparked in Niger.
At least two churches have been set on fire in the capital, Niamey.
Saturday’s protests began outside Niamey’s grand mosque with police using tear gas a day after at least four were killed in the second city of Zinder.
The French embassy has warned its citizens to stay indoors.
Last week, Islamist gunmen killed 12 people at Charlie Hebdo‘s Paris offices.
Eight of them were journalists. Subsequent attacks in Paris killed another five people, four at Jewish supermarket HyperCacher.
The cover of Charlie Hebdo‘s latest edition, published after the attack, featured a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad weeping while holding a sign saying “I am Charlie”.
Many Muslims see any depiction of Islam’s prophet as offensive.
Protests against Charlie Hebdo were also seen on January 16 in Pakistan, where protests turned violent in Karachi, the Sudanese capital of Khartoum and the Algerian capital, Algiers.
People in Somalia took to the streets on January 17.
In Niger, a former French colony, hundreds of demonstrators gathered at Niamey’s grand mosque, shouting “God is Great” in Arabic.
At least two churches were set on fire – similar to Friday’s demonstration in Zinder where protesters also raided shops that were run by Christians.
The French cultural centre in Zinder also came under attack.
The centre’s director, Kaoumi Bawa, said an angry crowd of around 50 people had smashed the building’s door and set fire to the cafeteria, library and offices.
Three civilians and a police officer have been killed in violent protests against French magazine Charlie Hebdo in Niger’s second city of Zinder, officials say.
A number of churches and the French cultural centre were among several buildings raided and set alight.
Friday saw protests across the Muslim world over Charlie Hebdo‘s publication of a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad on its first issue after last week’s attack in Paris.
Twelve people were killed in the attack at the Charlie Hebdo’s offices.
The cover of the magazine’s latest edition, published after the attack, featured a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad weeping while holding a sign saying “I am Charlie”.
Protests against the magazine were also seen on Friday in Pakistan, where protests turned violent in Karachi, the Sudanese capital of Khartoum and the Algerian capital, Algiers.
One policeman and three civilians were killed in the protests in Zinder after Friday prayers, a police source told Reuters.
“Some of the protesters were armed with bows and arrows as well as clubs. The clashes were very violent in some places,” the source added.
AFP quoted a minister as saying dozens of people had been injured.
Local residents told Reuters that demonstrators had set fire to churches and raided shops that were run by Christians.
“The protesters are crying out in local Hausa language: Charlie is Satan – let hell engulf those supporting Charlie,” a local shopkeeper said by telephone.
The French cultural centre there also came under attack.
The centre’s director, Kaoumi Bawa, said an angry crowd of around 50 people had smashed the building’s door and set fire to the cafeteria, library and offices.
Clashes between Pakistani police and crowds protesting over an image of the Prophet Muhammad published in Charlie Hebdo have erupted near the French consulate in Karachi.
The authorities used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the demonstration.
The protest was part of a nationwide rally called by Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan’s largest Islamist party.
Charlie Hebdo featured a cartoon of Prophet Muhammad this week, a week after two gunmen carried out a massacre at its offices.
Twelve people were killed in the Paris attack, carried out by two French Muslims angry over earlier depictions of Muhammad in the magazine.
On January 15, Pakistani politicians passed a motion condemning Charlie Hebdo for publishing the latest cartoon.
Religious leaders openly called for journalists at the magazine to be hanged, and several religious groups called for protests after Friday prayers.
In Karachi, at least three people were injured during the clashes between police and about 200 protesters, who were mostly student activists from Jamaat-e-Islami.
Three people were reportedly hurt in the clashes, though it was not clear how they sustained their injuries.
One of the injured has since been confirmed as Asif Hassan, a photographer for the news agency AFP.
He was shot in the chest but doctors say he is out of danger following surgery.
Pakistan has denied firing bullets at the protesters, claiming the police only fired shots into the air.
The protesters had tried to get inside the French consulate.
Protest leaders said they wanted to hand a written complaint to consulate officials, but were stopped by police near the main entrance.
Witnesses say the police used batons, water cannon, tear gas and shooting in the air to disperse the protesters.
The area is now quiet, and protesters have been forced away from the consulate.
Pakistan also erupted in protests in 2006 over publication by a Danish newspaper of cartoon images of Muhammad.
Twelve people have been arrested in the Paris region over last week’s attacks that killed 17, reports say.
They are being questioned about “possible logistical support”, such as weapons or vehicles, that they could have given the gunmen, a judicial source told AFP.
Police conducted raids in five towns in the Paris region, iTele reported.
Last week’s violence began with an attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine.
Twelve people were killed at the Charlie Hebdo offices by two gunmen, and four by another gunman at a kosher supermarket. The following day a policewoman was shot dead while responding to a traffic accident.
All three gunmen were later shot dead by police.
In the latest development, police carried out raids in the towns of Montrouge, Grigny, Chatenay-Malabry, Epinay-sur-Seine and Fleury-Merogis overnight, iTele reported.
On January 16, the Gare de l’Est train station in Paris was evacuated for an hour over a bomb threat. Services resumed at 09:00 AM local time, SNCF said, without giving further details.
Photo Getty Images
Spain has also launched an inquiry after it was revealed that one of the Paris gunmen, Amedy Coulibaly, had visited Madrid days before the attacks.
US Secretary of State John Kerry is in Paris to pay tribute to those killed in the attacks.
He hugged French President Francois Hollande, saying: “We share the pain and the horror of everything that you went through.”
Francois Hollande said: “You’ve been victims yourself of an exceptional terrorist attack on September 11 [2001]. You know what it means for a country.”
“We must find together appropriate responses,” Francois Hollande added.
John Kerry laid wreaths outside HyperCacher supermarket and the Charlie Hebdo offices.
Later on Friday, John Kerry will meet Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo for a remembrance ceremony.
US media had criticized the American government for not sending a high-profile representative to last Sunday’s unity march in Paris, which was attended by more than 40 world leaders. The US ambassador to France did attend the rally.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said that John Kerry had “apologized” for missing the unity march, AFP reported.
John Kerry said that he had been unable to attend because he was visiting Bulgaria and India at the time.
Meanwhile, German police say they have arrested two men following raids early on Friday.
One of the men was suspected of leading an extremist group of Turkish and Russian nationals, police added.
The group was suspected of “preparing a serious act of violence against the state in Syria”, police said, but there was “no indication that the group was preparing attacks inside Germany”.
Pope Francis has defended freedom of speech but also stressed its limits following last week’s attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
The pontiff said religions had to be treated with respect, so that people’s faith was not insulted or ridiculed.
To illustrate his point, Pope Francis told journalists that his assistant could expect a punch if he cursed his mother.
The remarks came as funerals were held for four people killed in the Charlie Hebdo attack by militant Islamists.
Friends and family paid last respects to cartoonists Bernard Verlhac, known as Tignous, and Georges Wolinski, as well as columnist Elsa Cayat and policeman Franck Brinsolaro.
Eight magazine staff, a visitor to the magazine, a caretaker and two policemen died in the last week’s attack. A policewoman and four people at a kosher supermarket died in separate attacks.
Al-Qaeda said it had directed the Charlie Hebdo attack.
Charlie Hebdo was targeted for publishing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. It printed another cartoon of the Prophet on its front page after the attacks, angering some Muslims who say all depictions of the Prophet should be forbidden.
France has deployed thousands of troops and police to boost security in the wake of last week’s attacks. There have been retaliatory attacks against Muslim sites around France.
Speaking to journalists flying with him to the Philippines, Pope Francis said last week’s attacks were an “aberration”, and such horrific violence in God’s name could not be justified.
He staunchly defended freedom of expression, but then he said there were limits, especially when people mocked religion.
“If my good friend Doctor Gasparri [who organizes the Pope’s trips] speaks badly of my mother, he can expect to get punched,” he said, throwing a pretend punch at the doctor, who was standing beside him.
“You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others. There is a limit.”
In a separate development, the government announced that a Malian employee of the Jewish supermarket that was attacked would be given French citizenship.
Some 300,000 people signed an online petition calling for the move after the Muslim employee, Lassana Bathily, hid several customers from gunman Amedy Coulibaly in a cold store.
Funerals of four people killed in last week’s Charlie Hebdo magazine attack are being held in Paris.
Friends and family paid last respects to cartoonists Bernard Verlhac, known as Tignous, and Georges Wolinski, as well as a columnist and a policeman.
At Tignous’ funeral colleagues said Charlie Hebdo would stay alive and they would not be afraid.
Seventeen people died in the attacks, including eight magazine staff.
Three police officers, four people at a Jewish supermarket, and a visitor to the magazine and a caretaker died. Al-Qaeda said it had directed the three militants involved to carry out the attacks.
Earlier President Francois Hollande vowed to protect Muslims who, he said, were the main victims of fanaticism, along with people of other religions.
Speaking at the Arab World Institute, he said anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic acts should be condemned and punished.
Meanwhile Pope Francis condemned the attacks, saying it was an “aberration” to kill in the name of God.
However, the pontiff said there were limits to freedom of expression and the faith of others should not be insulted.
A private funeral service was held for Tignous, 57, in the suburb of Montreuil, ahead of his burial in Pere Lachaise, Paris’ best known resting place for writers, artists and composers.
A ceremony was held at Pere Lachaise for Georges Wolinski, who is to be cremated.
Meanwhile friends and family are also attending funerals for Charlie Hebdo columnist Elsa Cayat and Franck Brinsolaro, a policeman assigned to guard the magazine’s editor Stephane Charbonnier.
Crowds in Montreuil applauded Tignous’ coffin as it arrived for the ceremony at Montreuil town hall covered in drawings and messages from well-wishers.
In a tribute at the ceremony, Tignous’ colleague Corinne Rey described him as the “king of jokes”.
“Our magazine will live, it will be a different magazine,” she said.
“You were never afraid, my Titi and be assured, we won’t be afraid either.”
Also speaking at Montreuil, Justice Minister Christine Taubira said the dead cartoonists were the “guardian angels, those who watch out to make sure democracy was working” and the “face of France, obnoxiously assassinated”.
“You were dreaming of being free, we will continue your dream.”
Media across the globe respond to the “survivors’ edition” of French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo – featuring a cartoon of Prophet Muhammad – with a mixture of anger, concern and solidarity.
“With new cover of French paper, a new set of fears,” says the New York Times on its front page, adding that there is a “dread that Charlie Hebdo may prompt further violence”.
In an op-ed piece in the paper, Turkish writer Mustafa Akyol calls on the Muslim world to ease its concept of blasphemy.
“Rage is a sign of nothing but immaturity,” he says.
“The power of any faith comes not from its coercion of critics and dissenters. It comes from the moral integrity and the intellectual strength of its believers.”
Many Muslim Middle Eastern newspapers – even moderate ones – strongly criticize the magazine’s front-page cartoon of Muhammad.
“Charlie Hebdo continues its provocation,” reads a headline on the front page of Jordan’s establishment daily Al-Dustour.
In the Algerian daily Echourouk, Habib Rashdin criticises the French government for helping to fund the new edition of Charlie Hebdo, saying this “violates all red lines, and is an open crusade against Muslims”.
“It has become every Muslim’s right today to file a lawsuit against the country’s ambassadors over charges of <<insult and contempt for religion>>,” he adds.
The front page of another Algerian paper, the anti-Islamist Ennahar, features a large picture of a sign saying “Nous sommes tous…Mohamed” (“We are all Muhammad”), in a reference to the ubiquitous declarations of “Je suis Charlie”.
Iran’s official rolling news TV channel IRINN describes the cartoon as “an act of provocation”.
Showing part of the cartoon but without Muhammad, Iran’s English-language international channel Press TV warns that the cartoon “will stir up more hatred”.
In Turkey, Yeni Akit – a paper that supports the Islamist governing party – launches a strongly-worded broadside against Charlie Hebdo and the West in general, under the headline “Ignominy continues”.
“Despite the perilous events, the arrogant magazine Charlie Hebdo and the Western media, under the thumb of Zionist powers, carry on their cowardly attacks against Muslims and the Islamic world,” it thunders.
Secular opposition Cumhuriyet reprinted four pages of the Charlie Hebdo edition as an act of solidarity, albeit without the front-page cartoon of Muhammad.
The daily’s plans prompted a police raid on its printing house on Tuesday evening, although the edition was allowed to go ahead once it was clear that no images of Muhammad would be published.
Two columnists from the newspaper included a smaller version of the cover in their columns online.
Several commentators urge France and other countries to outlaw the insulting of religions and religious figures, saying that failing to do so will only encourage Islamic extremism.
“I look forward to a French law that protects people’s sanctities and beliefs from attack and ridicule,” Idris al-Driss writes in the Saudi daily Al-Watan.
“Freedom of expression should end at and not cross the limits of offending others over their color, race or religion,” he adds.
“Insulting religions should be legally treated as racism.”
In the Lebanese daily Al-Anwar, Raouf Shahouri accuses the West of double standards.
He says some countries penalize expressions of anti-Semitism while “seeing no crime in attacking the prophet of Muslims and hurting the feelings of more than a billion Muslims around the world”.
“This pattern of half-blind western justice is the major source of terrorism,” Raouf Shahouri says.
In France itself, the sales success of the new Charlie Hebdo edition is front-page news for many papers, which pay homage to the satirical magazine. Many of their websites include pictures of Charlie Hebdo‘s cover.
The front page of the left-wing daily Liberation is covered with small copies of the front-page cartoon of Muhammad, with the superimposed headline “Je suis en kiosque” (“I am on sale at the newsagent’s”).
Le Point magazine looks back at the history of Charlie Hebdo, with numerous cartoons from “over 55 years of impertinent illustration”.
Liberal Le Monde strikes a more questioning note, referring on its website to the arrest of controversial comedian Dieudonne M’bala M’bala for allegedly voicing support for terrorism.
“Charlie, Dieudonne – what are the limits of freedom of expression?” it asks in a headline.
In Germany, the front page of the left-wing Berlin daily Tageszeitung features nothing but a huge image of Charlie Hebdo‘s front-page cartoon.
At the top of the front-page of the liberal Sueddeutsche Zeitung, is an image of Charlie Hebdo editor Gerard Briard brandishing the new edition at the magazine’s Tuesday news conference.
In China, state-controlled media voice alarm at Charlie Hebdo‘s decision to feature a cartoon of Muhammad on its front page, saying it unnecessarily provokes Muslims.
An editorial in the tabloid Global Times describes the cartoon as “inappropriate”.
“If Charlie Hebdo remains defiant on issues regarding Islam, it will probably put the French government in a difficult position,” it adds.
In Russia, a commentary in business daily Vedomosti links the debate about Charlie Hebdo and free speech with the West’s conflict with Russia.
It says the attack on Charlie Hebdo has united western European public opinion in defiance and has proven that the Kremlin’s hopes of turning Europeans away from “open society values” and towards its emphasis on “traditional values” are futile.
“Russia has found itself in isolation in the company of marginal politicians and terrorists offended by cartoons,” it says.
Controversial French comedian Dieudonne M’bala M’bala was arrested on January 14 for “defending terrorism”.
Police opened an investigation into the comic on Janaury 12, after he wrote on a Facebook post “I feel like Charlie Coulibaly” – merging Charlie Hebdo with the name of supermarket gunman Amedy Coulibaly.
Dieudonné M’Bala M’bala, 48, who was being held for questioning at a Paris police station, could face possible charges of “apology for terorism”.
After mocking the media superlatives about Sunday’s Paris unity march, Dieudonne declared: “As for me, I feel I am Charlie Coulibaly.”
Amedy Coulibaly was the man who took hostages and killed four people at the Jewish supermarket HyperCacher in eastern Paris on January 9 before being killed by police.
Dieudonné’s comments generated a wave of fury on the internet – including many angry reactions from his own fans on his Facebook page. His statement was withdrawn after less than an hour.
The French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, called the comment “abject” and asked his officials to investigate whether Dieudonne should be prosecuted for breaching a French law which forbids “apology for” or encouragement of terrorism.
PM Manuel Valls made an impassioned attack on Dieudonne in the National Assembly on January 13. He called him a “peddler of hate and said there should be no confusion between the <<impertinent>> satire of Charlie Hebdo and <<anti-semitism, racism and negationism>>.”
Dieudonné has several convictions for making anti-semitic comments and jokes. He came to international attention 12 months ago after the footballer Nicolas Anelka performed his trademark gesture the “quenelle” during a Premier League match.
The comedien’s stage show was banned a year ago, and had to be amended, because it contained “jokes” mocking the Holocaust. He also suggested that a Jewish radio presenter “reminded him of gas chambers”.
In an open letter to Bernard Cazeneuve, Dieudonne claimed on January 13 that he had been misunderstood. He said that he, like Charlie Hebdo, was a victim of attempts to deny freedom of speech. In his case, he said, his assailant was the government.
What he had meant to say on Facebook, he said, was that: “I am considered like another Amedy Coulibaly when in fact I am no different from Charlie.”
Dieudonne’s original statement on his Facebook page was: “After this historic, no legendary, march, a magic moment equal to the Big Bang which created the Universe, or in a smaller (more local) way comparable to the crowning of the (ancient Gaullish king) Vercingétorix, I am going home. Let me say that this evening, as far as I am concerned, I feel I am Charlie Coulibaly.”
Five million copies of Charlie Hebdo are being printed as long queues have formed at newsstands in France for the post attack edition of the satirical magazine.
The survivor’s issue is released a week after Islamist gunmen murdered 12 people at its offices and five others in subsequent attacks in Paris.
Charlie Hebdo’s latest edition cover shows a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad weeping while holding a sign saying “I am Charlie”.
Al-Qaeda in Yemen claimed the attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine in a video purportedly from the group.
It is believed earlier cartoons of the Prophet prompted the attack on the magazine.
“I am Charlie” emerged as a message of support for the magazine following the attack on January 7, which left 8 journalists, including its editor, dead in addition to four others.
In a separate attack in Paris two days later, four Jewish men died after an Islamist gunmen took hostages at a kosher shop in the French capital.
A police woman was shot dead in a third shooting believed to have been carried out by the same attacker.
Photo AFP
Three million copies of the latest edition of Charlie Hebdo were originally printed for distribution.
Copies in France quickly sold out on Wednesday morning. Editors then decided to increase the print run to five million. Normally, only 60,000 are printed each week.
Demand for what is being called the “survivors’ issue” of the magazine is high, in part because the proceeds will go to the victims’ families, correspondents say.
Kiosk owners told French media they had received large numbers of reservation requests, while at one shop in Paris all copies were reportedly sold out within five minutes.
Charlie Hebdo‘s decision to publish another cartoon of the Prophet has already generated threats from militant Islamist websites and criticism from the Islamic world.
The self-styled Islamic State (ISIS) militant group said on its radio station that the publication of the cartoon was “an extremely stupid act”.
Meanwhile, a new video said to be from al-Qaeda in Yemen (AQAP) was aired on January 14 saying the group was behind last week’s attack on the magazine.
The group “chose the target, laid the plan and financed the operation”, which was conducted in “vengeance for the prophet”, the video message said.
It added that it was a “success” that the Charlie Hebdo attack “coincided” with the attacks by supermarket gunman Amedy Coulibaly.
Amedy Coulibaly had pledged allegiance to ISIS in a video message, while the Charlie Hebdo attackers, Said and Cherif Kopuachi, had said they were acting on behalf of AQAP.
Amedy Coulibaly had also said they had co-ordinated the attacks, but experts say it is highly unlikely IS and AQAP, rivals in the Middle East, would plan an attack together.
The post attack issue of Charlie Hebdo magazine has gone on sale, with a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad on its cover.
Three million copies are being printed – a week after Islamist gunmen murdered 8 journalists at the magazine and four other people in Paris.
The cartoon shows the Prophet weeping while holding a sign saying “Je suis Charlie” (“I am Charlie”).
It is believed earlier cartoons of Prophet Muhammad prompted the attack.
The slogan “Je suis Charlie” has been widely used following the shootings.
In a separate attack in Paris two days later, four Jewish men died after an Islamist gunmen took hostages at a kosher shop in the French capital. A police woman was shot dead in a third shooting believed to have been carried out by the same attacker.
Wednesday’s edition of Charlie Hebdo has an unprecedented print run of three million copies. Normally only 60,000 are printed each week.
Demand for what is being called the “survivor’s issue” of the magazine is high, correspondents say, especially as the proceeds will go to the victims’ families.
People could be seen queuing outside newsstands on Wednesday morning to buy copies.
Kiosk owners told French media they had received large numbers of reservation requests, while at one shop in Paris all copies were reportedly sold out within 30 minutes.
The issue is available in six languages – including English, Arabic and Turkish – some in print and some online.
Editor-in-chief Gerard Biard told reporters: “We are happy to have done it and happy to have been able to do it, to have achieved it. It was tough. The front page… was complicated to put together, because it had to express something new, it had to say something relating to the event that we had to deal with.”
The front cover of the edition had been widely published in advance by French media.
Outside France, the Washington Post, Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine, Corriere della Sera in Italy and the UK’s Guardian are among publications to show the cartoon.
Very few outlets in the Middle East and North Africa have shown the image.
Charlie Hebdo‘s decision to publish another cartoon of the Prophet has already generated threats from militant Islamist websites and criticism from the Islamic world.
The White House has admitted that the US made a mistake after not sending “someone with a higher profile” to Sunday’s Paris unity rally.
It comes after US media criticized President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry for not attending the demonstration.
The rally, which followed three terror attacks in Paris, was attended by an estimated 1.6 million people and some 40 world leaders.
The US ambassador to France was the highest ranking US official attending.
Speaking on January 12, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said President Barack Obama wished he could have attended, but the “onerous and significant” security preparations for a presidential visit required more than the 36-hour advance notice the White House received.
Josh Earnest added, however: “It’s fair to say that we should have sent someone with a higher profile.”
Seventeen people died in attacks in Paris last week at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, on a police officer, and at HyperCacher supermarket.
John Kerry told reporters in India he would visit France to reaffirm US solidarity with the country, which he called America’s oldest ally.
A fluent French speaker, John Kerry has visited France 17 times since becoming secretary of state.
Among those linking arms in a symbolic gesture at the Paris march were UK PM David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
US Attorney General Eric Holder, in Paris for an anti-terror summit, did not attend the march because he was giving media interviews.
John Kerry was visiting India, for an international development trip, and Pakistan to meet PM Nawaz Sharif.
“I would have personally very much wanted to have been there,” John Kerry said, but “it is important to keep these kinds of commitments”.
John Kerry said US officials, including himself and President Barack Obama, had been “deeply engaged” with French authorities since the first attack and had offered intelligence assistance.
“I want to emphasize that the relationship with France is not about one day or one particular moment,” John Kerry said.
“It is an ongoing long-time relationship that is deeply, deeply based in the shared values, and particularly the commitment that we share to freedom of expression.”
John Kerry is expected to arrive in Paris later this week.
Meanwhile, the White House announced there would be an international summit in Washington in February on countering violent extremism.
This week’s three million copies of Charlie Hebdo will feature a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad holding a “Je suis Charlie” sign, the magazine lawyer said.
Above the cartoon are the words “All is forgiven”. This comes after Islamist gunmen raided the magazine’s Paris office on January 7, killing 12 people.
A total of 17 people were killed in three days of terror attacks in the French capital last week.
The special issue, to come out on Wednesday, January 14, will also be offered “in 16 languages” for readers around the world, one of its columnists, Patrick Pelloux, said.
The 44-year-old newspaper has always sought to break taboos with its provocative cartoons on all religions, current events and prominent personalities.
Charlie Hebdo’s distributors, MLP, had initially planned to print one million copies of the issue currently being put together by survivors of the shooting.
But MLP said demand from France and abroad has been huge and that 3 million copies would now be released.
The original paper printed at 60,000 copies a week, selling 30,000.
The latest cover of Charlie Hebdo has been published in advance by French media. Outside France, the Washington Post, Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine, Corriere della Sera in Italy and the UK’s Guardian are among publications to show the cartoon.
The slogan in French “Je suis Charlie” (“I am Charlie”) was widely used following the January 7 attack on the magazine, as people sought to show their support.
Charlie Hebdo‘s lawyer Richard Malka told France Info radio: “We will not give in. The spirit of <<I am Charlie>> means the right to blaspheme.”
Survivors of the massacre have been working on the magazine from the offices of the French daily newspaper Liberation with equipment loaned by the Le Monde daily and cash handed out by other French and even foreign media.
Five of Charlie Hebdo‘s cartoonists – including the editor – were killed in the attack.
The new edition will be created “only by people from Charlie Hebdo”, its financial director, Eric Portheault, told AFP news agency.
Contributions from other cartoonists were declined.
Wednesday’s edition aims to raise fresh cash to ensure the survival of the weekly, with all revenue from the sales, at 3 euros ($3.75) a copy, going to Charlie Hebdo once the cost of the paper has been deducted.
Hayat Boumeddiene, the girlfriend of Paris supermarket attacker Amedy Coulibaly, appears in Istanbul airport CCTV footage as she arrives in Turkey.
The video purports to show Hayat Boumeddiene passing through passport control with another man on January 2. She is thought to now be in Syria.
French police are seeking her after Amedy Coulibaly and two other gunmen launched deadly attacks on Paris last week.
About 10,000 troops have been deployed in France following the attacks.
Hayat Boumeddiene has been identified as a suspect by French police, although she left France before the attacks.
The Turkish foreign minister said she arrived in Turkey on January 2 from Madrid, before continuing to Syria six days later.
The security footage, published by Haberturk newspaper, was released by Turkish police. It appeared to show Hayat Boumeddiene and a man at Sabiha Gokcen Airport in Istanbul.
Photo AFP
According to Turkish officials, the man was Mehdi Sabri Belhouchine, a man of North African origin, and that he was not on a watch list. Officials believe he crossed into Syria with Hayat Boumeddiene.
Hayat Boumeddiene’s boyfriend, Amedy Coulibaly, had killed four people at kosher supermarket HyperCacher in eastern Paris on January 9 before police stormed the building. He is also believed to have shot dead a policewoman the day before.
Amedy Coulibaly had claimed that he co-ordinated his attack with brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi, who attacked the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on January 7, killing 12 people. All three gunmen were shot dead on January 9 after police ended two separate sieges.
French prosecutors said Hayat Boumeddiene had exchanged more than 500 phone calls with the wife of Cherif Kouachi in 2014.
French police said they had also found a second flat in Paris which had been used as a hide-out by Amedy Coulibaly, and contained weapons.
Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu said on January 12 that Turkey had not been asked to deny Hayat Boumeddiene access.
“We need to receive intelligence first so we can track people. We have 7,000 people on a no-entry list and deported 2,000, including French and German citizens.”
He added: “Is it Turkey’s fault that it has borders with Syria?”
10,000 French troops have been mobilized to boost security after last week’s deadly attacks in Paris.
Thousands of police officers have been also sent to protect Jewish schools.
Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said troops would be in place from January 13 in sensitive areas.
It is the first time troops have been deployed within France on such a scale.
Seventeen people were killed in Paris last week in attacks at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, on a police officer, and at kosher supermarket HyperCacher.
On January 11, an estimated 3.7 million people took to the streets to show solidarity with the victims, including 1.5 million people in Paris.
About 40 world leaders joined the start of the Paris march, linking arms in an act of solidarity.
Photo AFP
President Francois Hollande ordered the deployment of troops during a crisis meeting with top officials early on January 12.
Jean-Yves Le Drian said the deployment, the first of its kind, was needed because “threats remain present”.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazaneuve announced that nearly 5,000 members of the security forces would be sent to protect France’s 717 Jewish schools, and that troops would be sent as reinforcements over the next two days.
PM Manuel Valls said synagogues would also be protected, as would mosques, following some retaliatory attacks over the Charlie Hebdo killings.
Last week, Manuel Valls admitted there had been “clear failings” after it emerged that the three gunman involved in the attacks – Said and Cherif Kouachi and Amedy Coulibaly – had a history of extremism.
The Kouachi brothers were on UK and US terror watch lists and Amedy Coulibaly had previously been convicted for plotting to free a known militant from prison. Amedy Coulibaly met Cherif Kouachi while in jail.
Amedy Coulibaly and the Kouachi brothers were shot dead on January 9 after police ended two separate sieges.
Amedy Coulibaly killed four people at HyperCacher supermarket in eastern Paris on January 9 before police stormed the building. He is also believed to have shot dead a policewoman the day before.
Ahead of Sunday’s rally in Paris, a video emerged appearing to show Amedy Coulibaly pledging allegiance to the Islamic State militant group.
In the video, he said he was working with the Kouachi brothers: “We have split our team into two… to increase the impact of our actions.”
The Kouachi brothers claimed they were acting on behalf of Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda (AQAP). But experts say it is highly unlikely that Islamic State and al-Qaeda, rivals in the Middle East, would plan an attack together.
Manuel Valls said on January 12 that authorities thought that the attackers had at least one accomplice, for whom police are still hunting.
One suspect is Hayat Boumeddiene, Amedy Coulibaly’s girlfriend, though she left France before the attacks. The Turkish foreign minister said Hayat Boumeddiene had arrived in Turkey on January 2 from Madrid, before continuing to Syria six days later.
Surveillance footage released on January 12 showed Hayat Boumeddiene entering Turkey at an Istanbul airport, accompanied by a man.
According to Turkish officials, the man was Mehdi Sabri Belhouchine, a man of “North African origin”, and that he was not on a watch list. Officials believe he crossed into Syria with Hayat Boumeddiene.
Manuel Valls also said that a jogger shot in a separate attack in Paris on January 7, which prosecutors have linked to Amedy Coulibaly, was “between life and death”.
Ahead of a huge rally after 17 people died during three days of deadly attacks in Paris, a video emerged appearing to show HyperCacher supermarket attacker, Amedy Coulibaly, pledging allegiance to the so-called Islamic State.
In the video, Amedy Coulibaly said he was working with the Charlie Hebdo attackers Cherif and Said Kouachi: “We have split our team into two… to increase the impact of our actions.”
Amedy Coulibaly killed four hostages seized at the HyperCacher supermarket on January 9 before being shot dead by police. The four victims will be buried in Israel on January 13.
In the 7-minute long clip, Amedy Coulibaly is seen surrounded by weapons and attempts to justify his attack on the Jewish store, in which four hostages died.
Amedy Coulibaly was himself killed when police stormed the supermarket on Friday afternoon, but his message appears to have been filmed sometime over the three days in which terror gripped France last week.
He is also believed to have shot dead a female police officer in Montrouge on January 8, and has now been linked by prosecutors to the shooting and wounding of a 32-year-old jogger in a park in Fontenay-les-Roses, in south-west Paris, on January 7.
Amedy Coulibaly’s girlfriend, Hayat Boumeddiene, is still wanted by police – although she is thought to have fled France last week. Officials believe Hayat Boumeddiene may have entered Turkey en route to Syria.
More than 40 world leaders and 3.7 million people have taken part in unity marches across France after 17 people died during three days of deadly attacks in Paris.
Up to 1.6 million are estimated to have taken to the streets of Paris.
World leaders joined the start of the Paris march, linking arms in an act of solidarity.
The marchers wanted to demonstrate unity after the attacks on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, police officers, and kosher supermarket HyperCacher.
The French government said the rally turnout was the highest on record.
The rally, led by relatives of the victims of last week’s attacks, began at the Place de la Republique and concluded in the Place de la Nation.
Several other French cities also held rallies. The interior ministry said turnout across France was at least 3.7 million, including up to 1.6 million in Paris – where sheer numbers made an exact tally difficult.
World leaders, including UK PM David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, EU President Donald Tusk, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II joined the beginning of the Paris march.
Photo RT
“Paris is the capital of the world today,” French President Francois Hollande said.
The leaders observed a minute’s silence before the march began.
About 2,000 police officers and 1,350 soldiers – including elite marksmen on rooftops – were deployed in the capital to protect participants.
The Paris march was split into two routes for security purposes.
Marchers chanted “liberte” (“freedom”) and “Charlie”, in reference to Charlie Hebdo magazine.
Some waved French flags, cheered, and sang the national anthem.
Solidarity marches were also held in world cities including London, Madrid, Cairo, Montreal, Beirut, Sydney and Tokyo.
German newspaper Hamburger Morgenpost (Hamburg Morning Post) that reprinted Prophet Mohammed cartoons from the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo was the target of an arson attack early Sunday, police said.
“Rocks and then a burning object were thrown through the window,” a police spokesman told AFP.
“Two rooms on lower floors were damaged but the fire was put out quickly.”
The Hamburger Morgenpost had splashed three Charlie Hebdo cartoons on its front page after the massacre at the Paris publication, running the headline: “This much freedom must be possible!”
No one was hurt in the attack, which police said occurred at about 02:20 local time.
Two people were detained, while state security has opened an investigation, police said.
Whether there was a connection between the Charlie Hebdo cartoons and the attack was the “key question”, the police spokesman said, adding that it was “too soon” to know for certain.
Police declined to provide further information about the suspects.
No one at the Hamburger Morgenpost, known locally as the Mopo and which has a circulation of around 91,000, could immediately be reached for comment.
“Thick smoke is still hanging in the air, the police are looking for clues,” the newspaper said in its online edition.
Media reports said the newspaper’s publishers had ordered private security protection for the building in the western district of Othmarschen.
German news agency DPA reported that the attack had occurred from a courtyard of the building and hit the newspaper’s archive room where some records were destroyed.
It quoted a police spokeswoman as saying that the editorial team should be able to continue work in the building as the damage was relatively minor.
Several German newspapers had published Charlie Hebdo’s Mohammed cartoons on their front pages on January 8 in a gesture of solidarity with the French cartoonists and in defense of free speech.
Some 40 world leaders are expected in Paris ahead of a huge march to show unity after three days of terror that left 17 people dead.
The rally is expected to dwarf Saturday’s marches that saw 700,000 take to the streets.
About 2,000 police officers and 1,350 soldiers are being deployed across Paris to protect marchers.
Police are seeking accomplices of the gunmen who attacked Charlie Hebdo magazine and HyperCacher supermarket.
The interior minister says France will stay on high alert in the coming weeks.
Bernard Cazeneuve will host a meeting on Sunday morning of fellow interior ministers from across Europe to discuss the threat posed by militants.
He promised “exceptional measures” for the massive unity march in Paris on January 11, including positioning snipers on roofs.
The foreign leaders expected to attend the rally include UK PM David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
The march, which will be led by relatives of the victims of last week’s attacks, will leave Place de la Republique at 15:00 local time.
Photo AFP
More than a million people are expected to take part.
Before the march, President Francois Hollande will meet leaders from the Jewish community, which is still in shock after a gunman killed four people at the kosher supermarket in eastern Paris on January 9.
The gunman, Amedy Coulibaly, is believed to have shot dead a policewoman the day before.
In a separate attack on January 7, the Kouachi brothers raided the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Cherif and Said Kouachi killed 12 people – including eight journalists and two police officers – in the attack. Eleven people were also injured.
Amedy Coulibaly and the Kouachi brothers were shot dead on January 9 after police ended two separate sieges.
Police are still hunting for accomplices of the three gunmen, including Hayat Boumeddiene, Amedy Coulibaly’s partner. However, officials in Turkey believe she may have travelled through the country en route to Syria earlier last week.
Meanwhile, police in Germany say there has been an arson attack at the offices of a newspaper that reprinted Charlie Hebdo cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
No-one was hurt in the assault on the Hamburg Morning Post in the early hours of January 11, according to reports.
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