We begin with the leading story of the day, first from the Washington Post:
‘Dangerous’ female suspect may have fled country before attacks, French police say
French authorities on Saturday were hunting for a woman said to be “armed and dangerous,” who they believe is connected to three days of violence that reached a bloody denouement in twin sieges Friday.
Hayat Boumeddiene, 26, may have fled France ahead of the attacks and may now be in Syria, French media reports said Saturday. The reports, which cited unnamed police sources, raised further questions about the attackers’ connections to organized Islamist militant groups. Boumeddiene, 26, is the partner of Amedy Coulibaly, who on Friday seized a kosher grocery store in eastern Paris, killing four people at the height of pre-Sabbath shopping before being killed himself after an hours-long standoff. A day earlier, he killed a Paris police officer, authorities believe. During the Friday standoff, he said he was affiliated with the Islamic State, which is headquartered in Syria.
With French President François Hollande convening another crisis meeting of his security advisers Saturday, Boumeddiene’s disappearance was a reminder of lapses that allowed a group of homegrown Islamist militants to attack even though they were well-known to authorities.
And the political mobilization continues, via the New York Times:
French Premier Declares ‘War’ on Radical Islam as Paris Girds for Rally
Prime Minister Manuel Valls declared Saturday that France was at war with radical Islam after the harrowing sieges that had led to the deaths of three gunmen and four hostages the day before, and as the authorities mounted a frantic hunt for a suspected accomplice.
“It is a war against terrorism, against jihadism, against radical Islam, against everything that is aimed at breaking fraternity, freedom, solidarity,” Mr. Valls said during a speech in Évry, south of Paris.
France remained on high alert a day after security forces killed Amedy Coulibaly, who the police said was responsible for the deaths of four hostages at a kosher supermarket near the Porte de Vincennes in eastern Paris on Friday, and Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, the brothers who had fatally shot 12 people on Wednesday in and around the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical newspaper.
And the backlash continues, via TheLocal.de:
PEGIDA expects record rally on terror fears
Germany’s new anti-Islamic PEGIDA movement plans to rally again on Monday, with analysts expecting its ranks to swell by thousands following this week’s bloody jihadist violence in France.
The leaders of the so-called “Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident” have asked marchers to wear black armbands and observe a minute’s silence for “the victims of terrorism in Paris”.
Many observers of the rise of the far-right populist movement in the eastern city of Dresden now expect it to seek to make political capital from the massacre at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and its bloody aftermath. Fears over the events probably “will buoy currents of the vague xenophobia that exist in this country”, Everhard Holtmann of Halle-Wittenberg University told the Handelsblatt business daily.
A video report from Agence France-Presse:
Anti-Islamic sentiment spreads in Germany
Program notes:
Germany has become the latest European country to witness mass anti-Islamic protests, with the deadly attacks in Paris threatening to swell anti-Muslim sentiment.
The counter backlash, from TheLocal.de:
Tens of thousands rally against anti-Islam group
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets Saturday in the German city of Dresden in a rally against the anti-Islamic marches that are expected to keep growing after this week’s jihadist violence in France.
Organisers said they estimated the turn-out at around 35,000, nearly double the 18,000 counter-demonstrators who protested last Monday against the weekly marches held in east Germany by the so-called Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident (PEGIDA). The movement opposes what it claims to be the Islamisation of Europe.
“I didn’t come because I am against the people going to the PEGIDA demonstrations, but because I am not afraid of people whose skin colour o customs are … different than mine,” Dresden’s conservative Mayor Helma Orosz said.
More from Deutsche Welle:
Dresden marchers to conquer xenophobia with #lovestorm
Tens of thousands of people have marched in Dresden calling for “open mindedness and humanity.” DW’s Kate Brady was there to see how the eastern German city took a stand against the anti-Islamization PEGIDA group.
Families, young couples, pensioners and children fought against the elements on Saturday to come together in front of Dresden’s Frauenkirche in condemning sentiments of xenophobia and racism that have been on the increase across many German cities in recent weeks.
Following a minute’s silence on Saturday to remember the lives lost in this week’s Paris terrorist attacks, Dresden Mayor Helma Orosz (CDU) took to the stage in addressing the tens of thousands of anti-PEGIDA demonstrators.
“I’m not here because I’m against people who go to PEGIDA [marches],” she said, “but because I don’t fear people with a different skin color, customs or ways.
“We stand here not in protest or opposition but for all Dresden, for Saxony and for everyone who lives here,” she added. “Regardless of whether you’re Christian, Jewish, Hindu or Muslim – we will not be separated by hate.”
And the marches in France from BuzzFeed News:
700,000 People March Across France To Remember Terror Victims
Vigils have also been held across Europe and around the world
Around 700,000 people took to the streets of France on Saturday to remember the victims of three-days of Islamist terror attacks, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told reporters.
Several thousand people turned out for this march in the western city of Nantes to remember the 17 victims who died in the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo offices, a kosher supermarket, and a lone policewoman.
In the southeastern city of Nice, the famed Promenade des Anglais was filled with tens of thousands of people taking part in a silent procession. In nearby Marseille, thousands descended on the city’s waterfront to honor those killed in the three attacks.
Backlash in Sweden, via TheLocal.se:
New bomb threat against Swedish mosque
Gothenburg’s main mosque was evacuated on Friday night after a bomb threat, exacerbating Swedish Muslims’ fear of reprisals following this week’s Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris.
Three mosques in Sweden have suffered arson attacks in recent weeks, even before two Islamist gunmen killed twelve people at the offices of Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magazine, on Wednesday.
“The person said with an extremely firm voice that “the mosque is soon going to blow”, then he hung up,” the mosque’s press spokesman Mohammed El-Alti told TT of the threat.
Around 120 people had gathered in the mosque to hear a lecture.
Fear in Austria from TheLocal.at:
Half of Austrians believe Islam a ‘threat’
How do Austrians perceive Islam? What are their concerns, and how will this perception shape future policies? The survey polled more than 400 respondents in Austria to find out their views.
Generally, according to the survey, Austrians have a limited understanding of the world’s second largest religion, consisting of 23 percent of the world’s population.
The survey found that 51 percent of Austrians consider Islam a threat to Austrian society, while only 34 percent believe that it represents no threat. Additionally, 50 percent think that Islam is attempting to change Austrian society, with 25 percent thinking that’s not the case.
40 percent of Austrians see Islam as a backward religion, as opposed to 27 percent who disagree.
Sky News covers familial condemnation:
Supermarket Gunman Condemned By His Family
The family of slain terrorist Amedy Coulibaly – who targeted a Jewish supermarket in Paris – have condemned his killing spree.
The 32-year-old’s mother and sisters spoke out against his attacks, offering their “sincere condolences” to the families of his victims in a statement.
They said: “We condemn these acts. We absolutely do not share these extreme ideas.
“We hope there will not be any confusion between these odious acts and the Muslim religion.”
The New York Times explains:
Why Reams of Intelligence Did Not Thwart the Paris Attacks
President François Hollande went on television Friday — before the two standoffs had ended — to try to reassure the nation, and he visited the Interior Ministry to supervise the police action.
The attacks were likely to aggravate the problems of Mr. Hollande, already widely considered weak and indecisive. Moreover, serious internal questions are also likely, as they were after Mohammed Merah, who had been known to the police and intelligence services, killed seven people in southwestern France in 2012, saying that he was acting on behalf of Al Qaeda.
It later emerged that Mr. Merah had traveled to Afghanistan, and that the Americans had alerted the French, who had not reacted with sufficient attention in what was considered an operational failure.
Jean-Louis Bruguière, a former antiterrorism judge who knew Chérif Kouachi when he was arrested in 2005 and a former presidential adviser on terrorism, said that the authorities could not monitor every person of interest. “You can’t keep a policeman tracking every single one of them,” he said, noting that he had interviewed hundreds of aspiring jihadists.
Fears stoked, via Al Jazeera America:
Paris attacks increase concerns over foreign fighters returned home
French tragedies stoke fears that Muslims who leave to participate in battles abroad may bring back the fight
Coordinated attacks by multiple gunmen in Paris this week have revived concerns in France, and the rest of Europe, about the threat posed by European citizens who may be inspired or deployed by armed groups abroad.
More than 12,000 foreign fighters have fought in Syria since the beginning of the country’s civil war in 2011, with as many as 700 of those believed to be from France, according to a report by the Soufan Group (PDF). One of them, Frenchmen Mehdi Nemmouche, killed four people at a Jewish museum in Brussels in May 2014. Growing worries about further attacks prompted French and Western officials last summer to crack down on Western nationals leaving for foreign battlefields.
Many French fighters who have joined the fight in Syria have grown disillusioned with the reality of life under such hardline groups as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and sought clemency on their return. That has prompted a wide debate in France about whether authorities should be lenient, in an attempt to gain intelligence from returned fighters, or prosecute them as potential security threats.
And another alarm sounds, via CNN:
Source: Terror cells activated in France
French law enforcement officers have been told to erase their social media presence and to carry their weapons at all times because terror sleeper cells have been activated over the last 24 hours in the country, a French police source who attended a briefing Saturday told CNN terror analyst Samuel Laurent.
Ahmedy Coulibaly, a suspect killed Friday during a deadly kosher market hostage siege, had made several phone calls about targeting police officers in France, according to the source.
The alert came amid word that the lone remaining suspect wanted in connection with a terrorism spree — Hayat Boumeddiene — entered Turkey on January 2, a Turkish prime ministry source told CNN Saturday.
Introspection enabled, via the McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Charlie Hebdo attack likely to spark 9/11-like review in France
Not only were the main suspects in Wednesday’s murders of 12 people at the offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo known jihadists, one of whom had been jailed and both of whom were on the U.S. no-fly list, but the newspaper was known to be a likely al Qaida target where police officers had been stationed to prevent an attack.
Yet French officials missed the plot.
Red flags were many. One of the men, Cherif Kouachi, had been jailed at least twice since 2005 as part of a widely reported Paris jihadist cell that funneled Islamist fighters to Iraq to battle U.S. troops there. The other, Said Kouachi, traveled to Yemen in 2011 to train alongside the group al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, which by that time was known as al Qaida’s most dangerous wing.
French news reports have said Cherif Kouachi was known to have been mentored in prison by a notorious jihadist, Djamal Beghal, an Algerian-born French citizen who’d been imprisoned for a series of Paris bombings in the 1990s by the group Algerian GIA, which has since been reorganized as a branch of al Qaida in North Africa.
French officials will undoubtedly examine why those warning signs didn’t prompt action that would have prevented the attack and detected that a terrorist cell, including a third suspect, Amedy Coulibaly, had formed.
German panopticon enablement from Deutsche Welle:
German police warn of security gaps after French attacks
While German intelligence listed the Charlie Hebdo attackers as radical Islamists, no direct link between the French attacks and Germany has been found. But police unions are calling for more powers to combat terrorism.
Representatives of Germany’s police force on Saturday called for better financing to help protect German citizens from terrorism.
Arnold Plickert, deputy head of the German police union GdP, told public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk that to combat the dangers posed by terrorists, police needed not just more personnel but also more powers. He added that funding for domestic security had been reduced to almost nothing in recent years.
The head of the DPolG police union, Rainer Wendt, told television station n-tv that there were large gaps in aviation security and airport control procedures.
And the army deploys, via Channel NewsAsia Singapore:
France deploys troops as fears acute after dramatic siege finale
France deployed hundreds of troops around Paris on Saturday (Jan 10), beefing up security on the eve of a march expected to draw more than a million in tribute to 17 victims of a three-day extremist killing spree
France deployed hundreds of troops around Paris on Saturday (Jan 10), beefing up security on the eve of a march expected to draw more than a million in tribute to 17 victims of a three-day extremist killing spree.
Fears remained acute and security levels were kept at France’s highest level as the girlfriend of one of three gunmen killed in a fiery climax to twin hostage dramas on Friday remained on the loose.
But refusing to be cowed, people poured onto the streets in cities around France in poignantly silent marches paying tribute to those killed in the nation’s bloodiest week in more than half a century.
The marches in the cities of Nice, Pau and Orleans were a taste of what was to come in Paris on Sunday, where a monster rally will be held for national unity, to be attended by President Francois Hollande and a host of world leaders. The defence ministry said it was sending another 500 soldiers into the greater Paris area, bringing current numbers to what will be some 1,350 troops.
After the jump, the suspect who wasn’t there, a French request for Liberian protection, Rupert Murdoch lays down the all-Muslims-are-responsible line, an Afghan gathering hails the Parisians killers, Hezbollah’s leader condemns the killers, a newly energized doctrinal debate, anxiety plagues French Muslims, the Dutch surveillance state ramped up, a Muslim hero saves Parisian Jews during the siege, Anonymous declares cyberwar and scores a takedown, a Twitter hashtag rouses indignation, two Canadians charged with terrorism, as the prime minister talks of a crackdown, Obama promises a new privacy and security agenda, Civil War divisions in modern Missouri, Boko Haram attacks spur mass exodus from Nigeria to Chad and spark pleas for military help from Cameroon, North Korea sets a price on a nuke test freeze which the U.S. rejects, a new boat facilitates China’s plans for oil drilling in troubled waters, bureaucratic discipline follows from Chinese terror attacks, more Japanese World War II revisionism coming while Japan mulls a broader scope of military action and launches a controversial overseas arms sale agenda. . .
From the Washington Post, and contrary to earlier reports:
‘Dangerous’ female suspect may have fled country before attacks, French police say
French authorities on Saturday were hunting for a woman said to be “armed and dangerous,” who they believe is connected to three days of violence that reached a bloody denouement in twin sieges Friday.
Hayat Boumeddiene, 26, may have fled France ahead of the attacks and may now be in Syria, French media reports said Saturday. The reports, which cited unnamed police sources, raised further questions about the attackers’ connections to organized Islamist militant groups. Boumeddiene, 26, is the partner of Amedy Coulibaly, who on Friday seized a kosher grocery store in eastern Paris, killing four people at the height of pre-Sabbath shopping before being killed himself after an hours-long standoff. A day earlier, he killed a Paris police officer, authorities believe. During the Friday standoff, he said he was affiliated with the Islamic State, which is headquartered in Syria.
A French request for Liberian protection, via FrontPageAfrica:
French Envoy Calls For Police Presence at France Embassy
France’s Ambassador to Liberia, Joel Godeau, has requested the beefing up of Police presence at various French facilities in the country due to a recent terrorist attack that resulted in the death of an unspecific number of French citizens in Paris France. Speaking Thursday with Police Director Chris Massaquoi, Ambassador Godeau said the protection of the facilities would discourage future attack on French facilities in Liberia.
It can be recalled that one of the French Magazines offices was attacked leaving 12 persons dead including French Police officers. He also reaffirmed his government’s commitment in supporting the capacity of the Liberia National Police. Ambassador Godeau said building the Police’s capacity and tackling crimes in the country have remained one of its major priorities.
“We are committed to working with the LNP mainly building its capacity in fighting and reducing crimes in Liberia,” he said. The France Ambassador also commended the LNP for a great performance, stating that the LNP’s work is remarkable. ‘I am renewing my country’s commitment for the excellent result and performance of this institution, mostly during the just ended Senatorial midterm Elections and the Police immense contributions to the ongoing anti Ebola fight,” Ambassador Godeau added. The French envoy said the contribution of the Police were remarkable, promising more support to the LNP to meet future challenges.
Rupert Murdoch lays down the all-Muslims-are-responsible line, via the Guardian:
Murdoch says Muslims must be held responsible for France terror attacks
News Corp boss tweets to say even peaceful Muslims must bear burden of deadly Charlie Hebdo death toll ‘until they destroy growing jihadist cancer’
Rupert Murdoch has been strongly criticised after tweeting that “most Moslems” – even if peaceful – must be held responsible for the religion’s “growing jihadist cancer” in the wake of the terror attacks in France.
The News Corp boss added his influential voice to the global discussion on terror that has convulsed social media since gunmen slaughtered 12 people at the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris on Wednesday.
Murdoch’s tweet on Saturday morning – which came in the wake of the killing of five more civilians at a kosher supermarket in Paris on Friday – was retweeted more than 1,500 times, and favourited by more than 767 people.
But the tweet angered many who criticised Murdoch for holding a religion of billions of peaceful people responsible for the actions of a minority of extremists.
An Afghan gathering hails the Parisians killers, via Reuters:
Afghanistan rally hails Charlie Hebdo attackers as ‘heroes’
Hundreds in southern Afghanistan rallied to praise the killing of 12 people at the French newspaper Charlie Hebdo, calling the two gunmen “heroes” who meted out punishment for cartoons disrespectful to Islam’s prophet, officials said Saturday.
The demonstrators also protested President Ashraf Ghani’s swift condemnation of the bloody attack on the satirical newspaper, according to the officials in Uruzgan province.
The rally came after worshippers left Friday prayers at a local mosque in Chora district and swelled to several hundred people, said Chora police chief Abdul Qawi.
Hezbollah’s leader condemns the killers, via RT:
Hezbollah leader on Charlie Hebdo: ‘Extremists more offensive to Islam than cartoons’
Islamic extremists following a ‘takfiri’ ideology are more offensive to the Prophet Mohammed than Western satirical cartoons, chief of the Lebanese military faction Hezbollah, Hasan Nasrallah, said following the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack.
“The behavior of the takfiri groups that claim to follow Islam have distorted Islam, the Koran and the Muslim nation more than Islam’s enemies … who insulted the prophet in films… or drew cartoons of the prophet,” the Hezbollah leader said in a televised speech to mark the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed, according to Lebanon’s Daily Star.
Militant Islam practices a ‘takfiri’ doctrine that allows it to brand other Muslims apostates for allegedly going against the faith’s true teachings.
Nasrallah went on to say that “Takfiris are the biggest threat to Islam, as a religion [and] as a message.”
The Associated Press covers a newly energized doctrinal debate:
Violence fuels debate among Muslims over interpreting faith
After gunmen in Paris killed 12 people, Saudi Arabia’s top body of Muslim clerics quickly condemned the attack and said it could have no acceptable justification. It was a signal from some of the Islamic world’s strictest voices that cartoons lampooning the Prophet Muhammad in the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo were not a reason to kill the artists.
Only days later, Saudi Arabia sent an opposing message: On Friday, a young Saudi was whipped 50 times in a public square in the city of Jiddah, the first of what will be 20 such weekly rounds of lashes. That, along with 10 years in prison, is his sentence from the kingdom’s religious-based courts for insulting Islam, based on posts on his blog criticizing prominent clerics close to the monarchy.
The contradiction points to the difficulties at a time of a growing debate within Islam about whether and how to reject a radical minority that some fear is dragging them into conflict and wrecking the faith.
Western critics are increasingly brazen about suggesting there is something inherent in Islam that is sparking violence by some of its adherents. Most Muslims reject this, arguing that the tumult of the post-colonial Middle East has created fertile ground for radicalism among people whose faith is fundamentally one of peace.
Anxiety plagues French Muslims, from the New York Times:
After Terrorist Attacks, Many French Muslims Wonder: What Now?
Hassen Farsadou, the president of the Union of Muslim Associations of Seine-Saint-Denis, said the terrorist attacks were “a despicable, criminal act, which we condemn utterly.”
“But it’s the rest of us who are paying the bill — that’s the problem now, and we fear it will be a problem in the future,” he said. “The Muslim community is very afraid.”
Already, Mr. Farsadou said, he has received more than a hundred calls from average Muslims, mostly women, reporting attacks and insults hurled at them in the streets.
Muslims, of course, are not alone in their fears of being singled out for persecution or attacks. The nation at large has been gripped by jitters that otherwise mundane crimes could be the start of another attack by jihadists.
The Dutch surveillance state ramped up, via DutchNews.nl:
The Netherlands is taking ‘visible and invisible’ extra security precautions
The Netherlands is taking extra ‘visible and invisible’ security measures following the terrorist attacks in France, prime minister Mark Rutte said on Friday.
The ongoing events in Paris ‘emphasise the need to remain alert,’ the prime minister told reporters after the weekly cabinet meeting.
People who ‘notice things’ which could point to preparations for a terrorist attack must make them known, he said. He also urged everyone who is aware of someone planning to travel to Syria to come forward.
From the Independent, a singular act of heroism:
Paris shootings: Muslim man hailed a ‘hero’ for hiding hostages in Jewish supermarket’s walk-in refrigerator
A young Muslim man has been hailed a hero for hiding hostages fleeing gunman Amedy Coulibaly after he stormed a Jewish supermarket.
Lassana Bathily, originally from Mali in west Africa, reportedly shepherded terrified customers to safety in a walk-in chiller as the jihadist gunman took hold of the Hyper Cacher supermarket in Porte de Vincennes, Paris, on Friday.
Coulibaly executed four of the 19 hostages before police entered the building and ended the assault, killing the gunman as he ran to the front door. Mr Bathily has been praised for his quick-thinking actions since his role in helping customers.
Anonymous declares cyberwar, via CNN:
Anonymous declares war over Charlie Hebdo attack
Anonymous declared war on Islamic extremists Friday and promised to take revenge for the attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
In a video posted on YouTube, the group of hackers said they would track down websites and social media networks linked to terrorists, and take them down.
“We, Anonymous around the world, have decided to declare war on you the terrorists,” it said.
The video is described as a message for “al Qaeda, the Islamic State and other terrorists,” and promises to avenge the killing of 12 people in Wednesday’s attack.
Here’s the video from Anonymous France:
Anonymous – #OpCharlieHebdo
Program notes:
Citizens of the world,
This is important. Time is serious.
On January 7, 2015, freedom of speech was bruised. Terrorists breached into Charlie Hebdo newspaper’s headquarter and shot several cartoon artists, journalists and two policemen. Disgusted and also shocked, we can’t fall down, it is our responsibility to react.
We are all affected by the death of Cabu, Charb, Tignous and Wolinski, talented artists who were murdered for their opinions and the freedom of their newspaper.
“Charlie Hebdo”, historical figure of satirical journalism has been targeted by cowards.
Anonymous has always fought for the freedom of speech and freedom of the press. We will never stop.
Anonymous must remind every citizen that the freedom of the press is fundamental to all democracy. It is everyone’s responsibility to defend it. We always fought for the freedom of speech. We will not give in.
Attacking freedom of speech is attacking Anonymous. We will not permit it. Any organisations or enterprises linked to those terrorists attacks should expect a massive reaction from Anonymous. We are tracking you down. We will find you and not leave you any rest.
And scores a takedown, via United Press International:
Hackers from Anonymous take down French jihadist website for Operation Charlie Hebdo
The announcement for the operation came on January 7
The hacker-activist group Anonymous has launched a mission against Islamic extremists, and they recently temporarily took down a French jihadist website.
“Freedom of speech and opinion is a non-negotiable thing, to tackle it is to attack democracy,” they wrote in the press release for #OpCharlieHebdo. “Expect a massive frontal reaction from us because the struggle for the defense of those freedoms is the foundation of our movement.”
Saturday, they posted an image on Twitter showing the website ansar-alhaqq.net was offline. An hour later, the website was back up, according to Mashable. The website has been described as a French jihadist website, and it is known as a hot bed for extremist views.
A Twitter hashtag rouses indignation, via TheLocal.fr:
Twitter disgust over ‘I am Kouachi’ hashtag
Twitter users in France have called on the social network to act after supporters of the terrorists started using the hashtag #JeSuisKouachi (‘I am Kouachi’). However, the popularity of the hashtag was boosted when appalled opponents also started using it.
The hashtag is named after terrorists Saïd and Chérif Kouachi and apes the #JeSuisCharlie hashtag that emerged in the wake of Wednesday’s murder of 12 people at the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Many of those who initially used the pro-Kouachi hashtag were tweeting support for the terrorists, many in French, others in English and Arabic.
One said in English: “No matter how good your General is , you just can not win against people who desire death as you desire life.” Another tweeted, in French: “I am a Muslim and Kouachi represents me.”
The Guardian covers two Canadians charged with terrorism:
Canada arrests Ottawa twin brothers on terrorism charges
Police say Ashton and Carlos Larmond planned to leave country
Terrorist group 24-year-olds allegedly involved with is not named
Police said on Saturday twin brothers living in Ottawa have been arrested on terrorism-related charges.
A Royal Canadian Mounted Police statement alleged that Ashton Carleton Larmond and Carlos Larmond, both 24, were planning to leave Canada to engage in terrorist activities abroad.
The RCMP says the brothers were both arrested on Friday – Carlos Larmond was detained at Montreal’s Trudeau airport, while his brother was picked up in Ottawa.
Ashton Larmond is charged with facilitating terrorist activity, participation in the activity of a terrorist group and instructing to carry out activity for a terrorist group. Carlos Larmond faces charges of participation in the activity of a terrorist group and attempting to leave Canada to participate in terrorist activity abroad.
As he prime minister talks of a crackdown, via the Toronto Globe and Mail:
Harper gets tough on terror, but he ‘could do more’
The Prime Minister says it is time for the West to get on a wartime footing against global jihadis. But moderate Muslims caution that Ottawa cannot afford to overlook the power of persuasion, particularly in curbing the threat of homegrown extremists.
Increasingly, jihadis in war zones are broadcasting their message to malleable Muslims in the West. While only the most radical or vulnerable tune in to the hate preachers, the results can be devastating. Last fall, two Canadian Forces soldiers were killed in distinct attacks by lone-wolf extremists – the first such deadly incidents on the country’s soil. And overseas, Canadian terrorists have been part of attacks that have killed about 100 people in Somalia, Iraq and Algeria over the past two years.
In the wake of the Paris attacks this week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that another new anti-terrorism law is coming. “The international jihadist movement has declared war,” he told reporters. “… The reality is we are going to have to confront it.”
Meanwhile, Mideastern air strikes continue, via the Guardian:
US-led coalition carries out 15 air strikes on Isis targets in Syria and Iraq
Three strikes in Iraq, 12 in Syria in operations carried out since Friday
Syrian TV and observers report new killings of Isis activists
American-led forces have launched 12 air strikes against Islamic State (Isis) militants in Syria since Friday, all but one of them near the contested city of Kobani, the US military said on Saturday.
The strikes near Kobani hit two large Isis units and destroyed 15 of its fighting positions, the Combined Joint Task Force said in a statement. They also destroyed an Isis building and one tactical unit, it said.
Another strike in Syria, near al-Hasakah, destroyed two Isis guard facilities, the statement said.
The US and partner nations also launched three air strikes in Iraq, striking an Isis-controlled bridge near Erbil, destroying two militant vehicles near Ramadi and two Isis fighting positions near Mosul, the task force said.
Obama promises a new privacy and security agenda, via Reuters:
Obama turns focus to Internet security, privacy
President Barack Obama will highlight plans next week to protect American consumers and businesses from cyber threats, a month after the most high-profile hacking attack on a U.S. company.
Internet security became a national focus after a cyberattack on Sony Pictures that Washington blamed on North Korea. The attack and subsequent threats of violence against theaters prompted Sony to scale back its release of “The Interview”, a comedy film that depicts the fictional assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
A White House official said on Saturday Obama would announce legislative proposals and executive actions that will be part of his Jan. 20 State of the Union address and will tackle identity theft and privacy issues, cybersecurity and broadband access.
From Al Jazeera America, Civil War divisions in modern Missouri:
In Missouri, flames of the Civil War and fires of Ferguson are linked
Fissures in a state where old times are not forgotten by Union or Confederate supporters
When NAACP demonstrators marching from Ferguson, Missouri, to the state capital, Jefferson City, passed through Gasconade County last month, they found anything but a warm welcome from the residents of Rosebud, a tiny town of about 400 in the eastern midsection of the state. A Confederate flag was raised. Some left fried chicken, watermelon and 40-ounce cans of beer.
St. Louisans have found themselves more polarized than ever over the police shooting and death of teenager Mike Brown in Ferguson. However, the rifts that plague the city originate not in Ferguson or St. Louis but from Missouri’s long-standing identity crisis, still unresolved 150 years after the American Civil War.
Missouri was claimed by both the Union and the Confederacy and is the 24th and 12th star on their respective flags.
Boko Haram attacks spur mass exodus from Nigeria to Chad, from the United Nations News Center:
New Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria drive more than 7,000 into Chad – UN
The number of Nigerian refugees seeking safety in Chad has almost quadrupled over the past 10 days after attacks by Boko Haram insurgents in northeastern Nigeria uprooted thousands, the United Nations refugee agency reported today.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that attacks in Borno state have uprooted about 7,300 Nigerians, forcing them into western Chad, where most are staying with local communities in villages around 450 kilometres north-west of the capital, N’Djamena.
A spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the 3 January attack on the town of Baga alone caused 3,400 people to flee to Chad.
“The Government of Chad has requested international assistance,” said the spokesperson. “The Chadian Government has sent a mission and a medical team to the areas and is providing food assistance and other basic supplies. Humanitarian agencies including OCHA, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), UNHCR, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) are currently in the area assessing needs.”
And spark pleas for military help from Cameroon, via Reuters:
Cameroon appeals for international military aid to fight Boko Haram
Cameroon’s President Paul Biya has appealed for international military help to fight Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which this week threatened to step up its cross-border raids into the country from Nigeria.
The Nigerian group is part of a “global” movement that has attacked Mali, the Central African Republic and Somalia in its drive to establish its authority from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic, Biya said.
“A global threat calls for a global response. Such should be the response of the international community, including the African Union and our regional organizations,” he said in a New Year speech on Thursday to diplomats at the presidential palace.
North Korea sets a price on a nuke test freeze, via the Guardian:
North Korea will suspend nuclear tests if US calls off South Korea military drills
Pyongyang ‘ready to take such a responsive step’
US rejects overture and calls for North to ‘cease all threats’
North Korea has offered to suspend nuclear tests if the US cancels its annual military drills with South Korea.
Through its official KCNA news agency, Pyongyang called on Washington to “contribute to easing tension on the Korean peninsula” by temporarily suspending the military exercises in South Korea “and its vicinity”. It said the message had been passed to American authorities through “a relevant channel” on Friday.
“The DPRK is ready to take such a responsive step as temporarily suspending the nuclear test over which the US is concerned,” KCNA said.
Rejection promptly follows, via Channel NewsAsia Singapore:
US slams N Korea offer on nuclear tests as ‘implicit threat’
The United States slammed an offer by North Korea to suspend future nuclear tests temporarily if Washington cancels military drills with the South as an “implicit threat”
The United States on Saturday (Jan 10) slammed an offer by North Korea to suspend future nuclear tests temporarily if Washington cancels military drills with the South as an “implicit threat”.
Pyongyang was “inappropriately” linking routine military exercises between Washington and Seoul to the possibility of a nuclear test, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. “A new nuclear test would be a clear violation of North Korea’s obligations under multiple UN Security Council resolutions,” Psaki told reporters travelling with US Secretary of State John Kerry to India during a stopover in Munich.
North Korea’s proposal was passed to the US side through a “relevant channel” on Friday, the North’s official KCNA news agency said on Saturday.
A new boat facilitates China’s plans for oil drilling in troubled waters, via Want China Times:
New platform workboat to serve for South China Sea drilling
China’s largest offshore platform workboat was delivered on Thursday.
Wuchang Shipbuilding Heavy Industry Company produced the vessel, which has a gross tonnage of 5,300 tonnes, for Shanghai Salvage Company at a cost of nearly 500 million yuan (US$83 million).
The workboat, which measures 89.2 meters in length and 22 m in molded breadth, has a drag force of 296 tonnes, which makes it able to tow floating drilling platforms that weigh over several thousand tonnes.
Christened the “Huahu,” literally “Chinese tiger,” the workboat will serve offshore tugging and freight transportation services and assist offshore oilfield drilling operations in the South China Sea.
Bureaucratic discipline follows from Chinese terror attacks, via Want China Times:
17 Xinjiang officials punished over deadly terror attacks
Seventeen officials in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region have been punished for dereliction of duty after a series of terrorist attacks in September, as the Party chief of the northwestern region vowed a tougher “people’s war” against terrorism. The officials who were deemed negligent and disciplined include Liu Fulin, Communist Party of China (CPC) chief of Luntai county, his deputy, and other county and township officials, according to ts.cn, the region’s official website.
Most were given serious warnings, and the CPC chief and government head of Terakbazar township were dismissed.
Forty rioters died in a series of planned bomb attacks in Luntai county on Sept. 21, 2014. Six civilians were killed and dozens injured in the terror attacks.
Xinjiang is in the midst of an intense terrorism crackdown after a string of terrorist attacks.
More Japanese World War II revisionism coming, via Jiji Press:
Japan May Revise Wording on Wartime Aggression: Suga
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may consider using new wording on Japan’s aggression against its Asian neighbors before and during World War II in a closely watched statement he will issue on the 70th war-end anniversary in August, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga has indicated.
“There is no need to issue a new statement with the same expressions” as in the so-called Murayama statement in 1995, Suga said in a television program on Friday night.
Suga made the remark when he was asked about whether the government will continue to use such words as “colonial rule and aggression” and “remorse” in the forthcoming statement.
In the 1995 statement, then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama said Japan caused “tremendous damage and suffering” to people in many countries, particularity in Asia, through its “colonial rule and aggression.”
Japan mulls a broader scope of military action, via Kyodo News:
Japan eyes new law to aid forces other than U.S. in int’l crisis
The government plans to enact a law authorizing Japan’s Self-Defense Forces to support allied foreign militaries other than the U.S forces in the event of international conflicts, according to an outline of security-related legislation revealed Saturday.
The envisioned permanent law will replace a current law pertaining to contingencies in areas surrounding Japan, and designed to deal with an emergency on the Korean Peninsula. Under the current law, Japan is assumed to extend support to the U.S. forces.
The envisioned law, which could cope with any international conflicts, would allow the SDF to aid the Australian armed forces as well as the U.S. forces in the event of a military emergency on the Korean Peninsula.
And launches a controversial overseas arms sale agenda, via the Washington Post:
Japan wrestles with wartime legacy as it starts selling weapons
Seventy years after the end of World War II, talk about any kind of military expansion remains highly sensitive here in Japan.
Just consider the position of Akifumi Arai, president of the Tamagawa Trading Company, a relatively small Nagano-based business that supplies sensors and gyroscopes used to guide torpedoes and missiles for Japan’s self-defense forces.
For decades, his firm has had only a handful of possible defense-related customers, restricted to the Japanese market and its major players, such as Mitsubishi and Fuji Heavy Industries.
Now, with the easing of defense export rules — part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s wider effort to put Japan’s history behind it and return the country to a more “normal” footing — Japanese companies making military equipment have the opportunity to sell abroad.
