Paris attacks: what we know so far
A state of emergency has been declared in France, after at least 120 people are killed in a series of terrorist attacks across Paris
A state of emergency has been declared across France, after at least 120 people are feared killed in terrorist attacks around Paris. A further 200 people are injured, 80 of them seriously.
Eight assailants involved have been killed, seven of them in suicide bombings, a French prosecutor has said. But police are still hunting accomplices. Witnesses to one shooting said police told them at least one attacker was still loose.
Shootings and explosions are reported in six locations across the city, including restaurants, the Bataclan concert hall and the Stade de France in northern Paris, where two suicide attacks and a bombing have taken place as the national team played Germany in a friendly football match.
- The death toll at each location currently stands at 87 at the Bataclan theatre, 18 at Boulevard de Charonne, one at Boulevard Voltaire, five at Rue de la Fontaine au Roi and 14 at Rue Alibert. It is not yet known if there were any casualties at the Stade de France.
Opinion: We can’t let the terrorists win
France gets attacked. Europe is shocked. The cowardly terrorists’ goal isn’t just to target victims at random. Their goal is also to target us. All of humanity, as American President Barack Obama put it.
We can only watch – stunned and angry – at how the terrorists are able to unleash violence centered on one particular area and kill indiscriminately. France, Europe and the world must now rise up as one and strike back. The obviously Islamist, violent criminals must be combated with every means possible. The people behind these heinous murderers, be they in Syria, Iraq or somewhere else, must be found and eliminated as quickly as possible. The so-called “Islamic State” (IS) hasn’t just declared war on France; it has declared war on all free people.
In the name of French values – liberty, equality and fraternity – the world must take a stand against terror. A good opportunity for this would be on Sunday when the 20 biggest economies of the world gather in Antalya, Turkey for a summit. The US, Russia and perhaps even NATO troops from Europe must act together against “IS” in Syria and Iraq. And it needs to happen as soon as possible. After the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January, international politicians marched together in an impressive show of solidarity. A nice gesture, but it’s not enough anymore. The ruthless murderers probably only understand the language of violence.
DEBUNKED 11/13/2015
Daily Mirror runs baseless claim of IS group massacre of children
Team Observers
British tabloid the Daily Mirror recently ran an article saying that the Islamic State (IS) group had butchered 200 Syrian children, based on claims by “campaigners”. However, the article’s author did not investigate these claims, which FRANCE 24’s Observers believe to be false. Here’s why:
On Monday, the Mirror published an article that included a heavily-blurred video, explaining that the footage was too horrifying to be shown in full. The article’s author wrote that the footage was at least a year old, and described those executed in the video – who are blurred – as juveniles. He explained that the unverified video had been widely shared on social networks this week.
Contacted by FRANCE 24, the author of the Daily Mirror article explained that his description of the victims as juveniles was based on the claims of a single Internet user, who shared the video on Facebook on November 4. The journalist said that this anti-IS activist, who is listed as living in Aden, Yemen, was his only source and that he didn’t know her. He said he tried to contact her, but she did not reply. Although he had no other sources to corroborate the Internet user’s claim, he said his editors decided to publish the article anyway. “It’s the news desk that takes the decision to publish, not me,” he said. “You surely know how difficult it is to verify these things.”
Brazilian prosecutors seek $360 million after BHP-Vale’s Samarco dam failure
November 14, 2015 – 6:48PM
Rio de Janeiro: Prosecutors in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais intend to demand that a mining joint venture between BHP Billiton and Vale pay compensation of about R$1 billion ($360 million) for damages after tailings dams burst, unleashing a torrent into the valley below.
The compensation package, which Samarco Mineracao can negotiate, is based on preliminary analysis and would provide aid to victims of the November 5 disaster and fund environmental restoration work, prosecutor Guilherme de Sa Meneghin said in an interview. There’s consensus that there was some kind of failure in the construction or operation of the dams, though it’s too early to say if there was negligence, De Sa said. A report is due in 30 days.
In Angola, the political elite face new opposition: their children
The regime of President Eduardo Dos Santos has enjoyed decades of support from upper and middle class Angolans. But as the West African nation celebrates its 40th anniversary, a rising generation wants a different future.
LISBON, PORTUGAL — Serena Mancini watched Angola’s 40th anniversary celebrations this week from her home here in Portugal’s capital.
For the last 20 years, she has tried to ignore the growing economic inequalities of her homeland under the strong-arm rule of President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, instead choosing, like many young affluent Angolans, a life of privileged self-exile.
But this year, a movement by young Angolans has forced her to turn her eyes back home and consider the Angola she wants to see in the next 40 years – a movement led by her brother Luaty Beirão.
“I used to tell him, ‘There’s nothing one person alone can do to change things,'” she says. “But he made me change my mind.”
Mr. Beirão, who held a 36-day hunger strike last month, has become the face of an unlikely call for political change in Angola that is bringing international attention to the country’s economic disparities and political repression.
Hollywood chases the Bollywood dream
Ironically, while Bollywood has borrowed and even copied unashamedly from Hollywood, American movie mughuls have not been able to penetrate, what they consider their last bastion, Indian cinema industry. Whose defiance and steadfastness have while perplexing the Americans, evoked a sense of admiration.
India is a complex country all right whose dress and food habits have remained singularly Indian. Despite a fondness for hotdogs, burgers and Coke, an overwhelming majority of the citizens still have their own brand of food. Most women do not turn up in business suits or jeans, but in traditional sari or salwar-kameez.
Likewise, home-grown Indian cinema continues to rule the roost at the boxoffice, and in spite of concerted efforts by Hollywood, Bollywood has firmly barricaded itself from the onslaught. This even after Hollywood tried a Trojan War tactics. The industry dubbed its films in Hindi, in Tamil, in Telugu — which are some of the biggest movie industries in the nation of 1.3 billion people –but to no avail. Hollywood failed here.
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