Pope Francis Charlie Hebdo paris attack: there are limits to freedom of expression

On a plane from Sri Lanka to the Philippines today, the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis talked about the recent Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris. While defending freedom of expression saying its a fundamental human right, he also said ‘you cannot insult the faith of others’

"One cannot provoke, one cannot insult other people’s faith, one cannot make fun of faith. There is a limit. Every religion has its dignity...in freedom of expression there are limits.”

He gestured to a friend and said “If my good friend Dr Gasparri says a curse word against my mother, he can expect a punch. It’s normal. It’s normal. You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others.

Victims of Charlie Hebdo Paris attacks laid to rest

French President Francois Hollande has pledged that his country will “never yield” to “terror” while honouring three police officers killed during the attack on the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper, Al Jazeera reports.

He pinned France’s highest decoration, the Legion of Honour, on coffins draped in flag of France in Paris on Tuesday as the Marseillaise anthem rang out.

“Our great and beautiful France will never break, will never yield, never bend” in the face of the threat that is “still there, inside and outside” the country, Hollande said.

Seventeen people, including journalists and police officers, died in the assault on Charlie Hebdo staff on Wednesday and in a bloody hostage situation at a Jewish supermarket two days later.

France government to deploy troops in schools, others

Confronting a nation in shock from last week’s terrorist attacks, the French authorities on Monday began to unveil a broad array of measures to send thousands of soldiers and police officers to guard Jewish schools and other sites, reinforce electronic surveillance and reach into schools and prisons that have a reputation as crucibles of jihadist recruitment, The New York Times reports.

The display of muscle by a government likely to face mounting questions about its failure to prevent the killings recalled the mood in the United States after the September 11 attacks, when the authorities embarked on a broad front of measures to tighten security and provide legislation for more intrusive surveillance.

The French response played into an emerging and potentially divisive debate across Europe that pits civil liberties campaigners against the demands of security officials who cite the attacks as evidence of an urgent need to introduce stronger powers to monitor suspects. And it comes as a time when the United States is engaged in intense soul-searching, touched off in part by the release of a searing Senate report on the torture of terrorism suspects, over whether it turned itself into a garrison state after September 11, 2001.

Once bitten! Why are international media houses reluctant to carry Charlie Hebdo new magazine cover?

French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, who lost 10 of their staff members last week Wednesday Jan. 7th in a terror attack, unveiled the cover of their new edition today January 13th which has a drawing of a weeping Prophet Muhammad holding up a sign that reads “Je suis Charlie.”, with tagline “all is forgiven,” but I noticed that most international media houses, including CNN, Daily Mail, BBC, Mirror and more refused to carry the cover but talked about the issue..

Because them no carry am, me sef I fear to carry am..lol. But why though? Why are they all reluctant to carry it? Meanwhile, the mag said they are planning to release 3million copies of the new issue. Readers of Mail Online, BBC and others are blasting them for refusing to carry the cover. See some of their comments after the cut...

Charlie Hebdo returns with a tearful Prophet on the cover

Charlie Hebdo cartoonist, Renald Luzier (L) aka Luz, and Patrick Pelloux (R), Charlie Hebdo journalist, during the Charlie Hebdo press conference held at the Liberation offices in Paris on January 13, 2015 in Paris, France. Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images

The Associated Press
The French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo is publishing a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad on the cover of its first issue since Islamic extremists killed 12 people at its offices.

The newspaper Liberation hosted Charlie Hebdo staff as they prepared the new issue and is handling its special 1 million-copy print run in numerous languages.

Liberation published the Charlie Hebdo cover online late Monday night, ahead of the satirical magazine’s publication on Wednesday. The cartoon shows a bearded man in a white turban with a tear streaming down his cheek, and holding a sign reading “Je suis Charlie” (“I am Charlie”). Overhead was the phrase: “Tout est Pardonne” (“All is Forgiven”), which French media interpreted as meaning Muhammad is forgiving the cartoonists for lampooning him.

Al-Qaida leader claims responsibility for attack on Paris in video message

In this April 23, 2013 file photo, a suspected Yemeni al-Qaida militant, center, holds an Islamist banner as he stands behind bars during a court hearing in state security court. CP

Maggie Michael, The Associated Press 

Yemen's al-Qaida branch on Wednesday claimed responsibility for last week's deadly attack on a Paris satirical newspaper, with one of its top commanders saying the assault was in revenge for the weekly's publications of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, considered an insult in Islam.

The claim came in a video posting by Nasr al-Ansi, a top commander of Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP as the branch is known, which appeared on the group's Twitter account.

In the 11-minute video, al-Ansi says the assault on Charlie Hebdo, which killed 12 people — including editors, cartoonists and journalists, as well as two police officers — was in "revenge for the prophet."

He said AQAP "chose the target, laid out the plan and financed the operation" against the weekly, though he produced no evidence to support the claim.

Paris Attack! Latest Issue of Charlie Hebdo Magazine Sold Out

The latest issue of controversial French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has reportedly sold out within minutes of hitting newsstands on Wednesday.

As a result, the publisher of the magazine has decided to print 2 million additional copies, Guardian UK reports. You will recall that the initial plan was to print 3 million copies but due to the overwhelming demand, the planned print run has increased to 5 million in total.

Large queues were seen at magazine kiosks all around France following the release of the publication.

Prior to the terror attacks, the magazine reportedly had a circulation of 60,000.

Photo Credit: Wall Street Journal/AP

Photo of the Week: Vigil For Charlie Hebdo Victims

People hold a vigil at the Place de la Republique for victims of the terrorist attack  in Paris, France. 

Charlie Hebdo! Police Chief In Charge Of Paris Attacks Commits Suicide

A French police commissioner has reportedly taken his own life after meeting the relatives of a victim murdered in the Charlie Hebdo massacre last Wednesday.

Helric Fredou, 45, shot himself in his office with his police-issue gun on Wednesday night in Limoges, a city in central France, according to France 3.

Toronto rally planned to honour victims of French attacks

Hundreds gathered on the steps of Vancouver Art Gallery on Wednesday evening to show solidarity for the victims of the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack.

Torstar News Service
A downtown Toronto rally is planned for Sunday afternoon in support of the victims in the French terrorist attacks.

Hundreds are expected to gather at Nathan Phillips Square at 2 p.m. in a demonstration of support for free speech after 17 people were killed and several others were injured in the massacre at the offices of French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo and the events that followed.

Two minutes of silence will be observed for those killed, according to the event page on Facebook.

Photos! Charlie Hebdo Victims Honoured By World Leaders #Je Suis Charlie

World leaders including David Cameron of United Kingdom, Angela Merkel of Germany, Isreal's Benjamin Netanyahu and others joined French president and thousands of France nationals in a solidarity march on the streets of Paris this afternoon to protest the killing of 12 Charlie Hebdo cartoonists. The march began in Place de la République and will end at Place de la Nation. More pics after the cut...

Canadian cartoonists praise the free speech provocateurs of Charlie Hebdo

An illustrative drawing referencing the Charlie Hebdo by cartoonist Michel de Adder.

Jessica Smith Cross Metro
“I thought, ‘Oh jeez, it’s finally happened.’”

Wes Tyrell had gotten a late start in his studio when he began receiving messages and calls from friends in the cartoonist community about the massacre at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Tyrell, a cartoonist for Yahoo News and the head of the Association of Canadian Editorial Cartoonists, has long been a fan of Charlie Hebdo — not of every cartoon, he makes sure to point out, but of its provocative style and especially the courage of its staff to stand up to violence.

The offices of Charlie Hebdo were firebombed in 2011—the day after publishing a cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad — and the staff was put under police protection. “I can’t say I’m shocked, I’m very disappointed,” he said.

Atlast! French terrorists killed in twin hostage standoffs in Paris

Brothers Cherif (inset top left) and Said Kouachi (inset bottom left), who attacked & killed 12 people at Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday Jan. 7th have been killed by French police in a bloody standoff.

A third guy, Amedy Coulibaly (inset right), who was working with the brothers and killed a female police officer, was also killed by French police. Amedy is reported to have killed four people at the kosher grocery store (right) where he had been hiding with his girlfriend who was not caught. Full story after the cut...

Cartoonists around the world draw for slain Charlie Hebdo colleagues

A cartoon hangs outside the French embassy in Buenos Aires. AP

John Leicester The Associated PressAs if to prove that pens are mightier than swords, cartoonists around the world reacted to the cold-bloodied assassination of their colleagues at French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo as only they can: with powerful drawings worth thousands of words.

Defiant, angry, poignant, irreverent and sobering, their drawings united cartoonists in grief, tried to make sense of the nonsensical, and sent a shared message: We must not, will not and should not be silenced. Some drawings touched such a nerve they made one want to both laugh and cry.

“Can’t sleep tonight, thoughts with my French cartooning colleagues, their families and loved ones,” David Pope, cartoonist for The Canberra Times in Australia, wrote on his Twitter feed.

Meet the Kouachi brothers who killed 12 people in Paris massacre

Brothers Cherif Kouachi (left), 32, & Said Kouachi (right), 34, both from Paris, have been identified as the men who stormed into the office of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo yesterday and killed 12 people, including two police officers. A third suspect, 18 year old Hamyd Mourad, who didn't fire any shorts, surrendered to police late last night after seeing his name circulating on social media. The two brothers, who are said to have been trained in Yemen as assassins, are still at large.

Charlie Hebdo | Some of the cartoonist killed in Paris terrorist attack

AFP  tweeted photos of some of the cartoonists that work at French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, who were killed  January 7th by masked gunmen while having their editorial meeting. 

Another Deadly Shooting Accident After Charlie Hebdo Magazine Paris Attack

Barely 24 hours after the tragic terror attack on the offices of French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, a second deadly shooting has occurred.

Two men armed with assault rifles shot at a policewoman and a street cleaner after their car was involved in an accident.

The officer was shot, and subsequently died from her injuries, The Independent reports. One of the gunmen was arrested, and the other is said to have fled.

According to reports, the street cleaner was also shot and critically wounded while trying to disarm one of the gunmen.

Police authorities are currently searching for the assailant who absconded, as well as the other two gunmen from yesterday’s attack.

Photo Credit: Getty Images/Aurelien Meunier

Inside the blood-stained Charlie Hebdo newsroom where people were massacred

Above is the haunting first photograph from inside the Charlie Hebdo office where 8 cartoonists, a visitor, a maintenance worker and a police officer were massacred yesterday afternoon January 8th in the deadliest terrorist attack in Paris in decades. Another police officer was killed outside the building. The pic shows blood-stained wooden floors, papers strewn across the corridor & blood everywhere.

Charlie Hebdo | Police Officer Executed In The Paris Attack Revealed

The police officer whose terrifying execution by two masked gunmen was caught on camera in Paris yesterday January 7th, has been identified as Ahmed Merabet, a married 42-year-old Muslim. He was a cycle police officer who was assigned to the Paris neighbourhood where Charlie Hebdo’s office is located. He was one of the 12 people killed in the terrorist massacre...

Charlie Hebdo cartoonist who let the terrorist into the office was under desk as massacre took place

Charlie Hebdo cartoonist Corrine Rey (pictured above) was the person who let two armed terrorists into the French satirical magazine's office today. The young mother said she 'd just returned from picking her daughter from school when she was confronted by the men who threatened to kill her daughter if she doesn't give them the entry code for the building.

"I had gone to pick up my daughter at day care, arriving in front of the magazine building, where two masked and armed men brutally threatened us. They said they wanted to go up to the offices, so I tapped in the code" she told a French publication