Tuesday, January 13, 2015
ANOTHER SUSPECT FOUND IN PARIS TERROR
A Frenchman of Haitian origin who is believed to have been in contact “several times” with one of the brothers responsible for the Charlie Hebdo killings will be extradited from Bulgaria, AFP reports. Fritz-Joly Joachin, 29, was arrested Jan. 1 as he tried to cross into Turkey with his 3-year-old son, whom he allegedly kidnapped.
Meanwhile, French authorities have begun cracking down on terrorist sympathizers. One man in northern France was sentenced to four years in jail for telling police who arrested him for drunk driving, “There should be more Kouachis. I hope you’ll be next,” Le Figaro reports.
Failure to prevent the attacks even though the perpetrators were known to the police and intelligence services has sparked a debate about whether France should adopt its own version of a Patriot Act. Here’s Le Monde’s story, In France, The Patriot Act Temptation.
This comes amid more threats against France from al-Qaeda-affiliated groups. A similar debate is happening in the UK and in Australia.
Simultaneous ceremonies were held in Paris for the three dead policemen and in Jerusalem for the four Jewish victims, who will be laid to rest in Israel.
See Charlie Hebdo’s latest cover and read 7 Things To Know About The Survivors’ Issue.
24%
Japan’s emergency police number received more than two million calls that were not emergencies last year, a recent survey shows. More than 24% of those who dialed 110 did so because, among other unusual reasons, they had a blocked toilet at home or hadn’t received the correct change from a vending machine.
PRO AND ANTI-PEGIDA PROTESTS GROW
A weekly march against the “Islamization of the West” by Germany’s Pegida group gathered at least 25,000 people yesterday in the eastern city of Dresden, its biggest turnout yet 12 weeks after the marches began, Deutsche Welle reports. The movement has been invoking the Paris terror attacks, saying that “Islamists showed France that they are not capable of democracy.” Some protesters were carrying French flags and signs reading “Je suis Charlie.” According to Der Spiegel, up to 100,000 people marched in opposition to the Pegida protesters yesterday, with the biggest rallies in Leipzig, Munich and Hannover. This comes ahead of a planned vigil for tolerance in Berlin later today, where Chancellor Angela Merkel and members of her cabinet will meet with representatives of Germany’s Muslim and Turkish communities.
ON THIS DAY
A deadly earthquake and a legendary Johnny Cash concert are just some of the events that happened on Jan. 13. Get your 57-second shot of history in our daily video feature.
MUBARAK’S JAIL TERM OVERTURNED
Egypt’s high court has overturned a three-year jail sentence for embezzlement against former leader Hosni Mubarak. It was the only conviction that remained for him, so the move paves the way for his release from a military hospital, where he has been detained since being toppled in 2011. A retrial has been ordered. The former president also faces a third and final trial over his alleged involvement in the death of hundreds of demonstrators. Read more from Reuters.
AIRASIA’S SECOND BLACK BOX RECOVERED
Divers have retrieved the AirAsia flight QZ8501 cockpit voice recorder, which holds the last two hours of conversation between the pilots and air traffic controllers. Together with the flight data recorder found yesterday, the device should help investigators identify what caused the Dec. 28 crash with 162 people on board.
SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS HACKED
A group calling itself Cyber Caliphate hacked the Twitter and YouTube accounts of the U.S. Central Command for about 30 minutes yesterday and posted what it claimed to be sensitive and confidential data. The documents, though, had already been made public. “We view this as little more than a prank, a Pentagon official said, adding that “no systems or computers were compromised.” The group’s assertion that it’s affiliated with ISIS is probably false.
POPE VISITS SRI LANKA AND PHILIPPINES
Pope Francis was given a warm welcome as he arrived in the mostly Buddhist Sri Lanka for a six-day Asian trip that will also take him to the Philippines. Speaking on the tarmac of Colombo’s international airport, Pope Francis gave a short speech focused on the need for peace amid rising religious violence, the importance of human dignity and the “pursuit of truth” with regards to the brutal civil war that ended in 2009. Read more from the BBC.
RONALD’OR
Portuguese soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays for the Spanish team Real Madrid, has been awarded the Ballon d’Or, crowning him the best player in the world for the third time, ahead of rival Lionel Messi. The 29-year-old’s unusual celebration has already fallen prey to Internet memes.
