Uniquely Nelson

An American spacecraft is about to attempt the audacious task of grabbing rock samples from an asteroid. Artwork: Osiris-Rex approaching the surface of Asteroid Bennu. Photo: NASA/GODDARD/UOA The Osiris-Rex probe will lower itself on to the 500m-wide object known as Bennu - a carbonaceous asteroid - to make a contact that lasts no more than a few seconds. But in the course of this "high-five" manoeuvre, the spacecraft will deliver a squirt of gas to stir up the surface. And with luck, Osiris-Rex will catch a couple of handfuls of dust and grit it can bring back to Earth. The aim is to capture at least 60g, but the scientists and engineers working on the Nasa-led mission are confident the probe can secure a kilo or more. If that happens, it would represent the biggest extraterrestrial sample-return cache since the Apollo astronauts picked up rocks from the Moon 50 years ago. Contact with Bennu is timed to occur just before 10.15pm GMT on Wednesday (10.15am Thursday NZT) when the asteroid and Osiris-Rex are about 330 million km from Earth. The whole procedure will be automated. It has to be. Radio signals take 18 minutes to traverse the expanse of intervening space, making it impossible for controllers to intervene. Bennu is a fascinating object. About the size of the Empire State Building, it looks somewhat like a spinning-top toy. Researchers understand it to be what they call a carbonaceous asteroid, meaning its rocks still retain a lot of the chemistry that was present when the Sun and the planets came into being more than 4.5 billion years ago. Hence the desire to bring some of its material home for analysis in sophisticated Earth laboratories. Distant telescope and radar observations had suggested the asteroid would have a kind of sandy surface. But the probe's close-up imagery revealed the surface to be littered with imposing boulders instead. Worse still, it was noticed the asteroid would occasionally kick out fragments from its surface as volatile substances vented into space. This environment has challenged the mission team to find a safe place to sample. Months have been spent precisely mapping every lump and bump on Bennu. Bennu contains chemistry preserved from the dawn of the Solar System. Photo: NASA/GODDARD/UOA Extensive investigations have identified two locations Osiris-Rex should be able to get in and out reasonably comfortably. The primary site, called Nightingale, is 8m across - a little under the width of a singles tennis court, or a few car parking spaces. The probe will approach this constrained zone very slowly, using its automated visualisation system to avoid nearby hazards, including a two-story boulder that's been dubbed Mount Doom. "For some perspective: the next time you park your car in front of your house or in front of a coffee shop, and walk inside - think about the challenge of navigating Osiris Rex-into one of these spots from 200 million miles away," remarked Mike Moreau, Nasa's deputy project manager on the mission. With its sampling arm outstretched, Osiris-Rex will press a ring-shaped device into the asteroid's surface that works like a kind of "reverse vacuum cleaner". When the ring touches down, a charge of pressurised nitrogen will be released to kick up small chunks of rock and "soil". If a good contact is made, a decent amount of this elevated debris should get trapped inside the sampling head. "We estimate that our time on the surface will be between five and 10 seconds before the spacecraft backs away with the sample safely inside of the sampler head," explained Sandra Freund, the mission operations manager from Lockheed Martin Space, the company that made Osiris-Rex. The probe will be taking pictures throughout, to enable the mission team to gauge the success or otherwise of the sampling bid. However, it could be some days before Nasa is able to make a definitive statement on how much of Bennu's surface material has been retrieved. "I'm confident that we're going to have abundant material based on the nature of the Nightingale site and the extensive testing that we did with our Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (Tag-Sam)," said principal investigator Dante Lauretta from the University of Arizona, Tucson. "And in the best-case scenario where the Tag-Sam filter is filled up, we might have a kilogram of sample or more. So, I can't tell you how excited I am." Should a second attempt be needed, Osiris Rex would target the back-up site nicknamed Osprey. Any samples will be packaged for return in a capsule that's expected to land back on Earth in September 2023. Nasa is working closely with the Japanese space agency whose Hayabusa-2 probe sampled a different type of asteroid called Ryugu last year. That mission's cache, weighing perhaps 100 milligrams, is coming home in December. Numerous scientists, including in the UK, are hoping to get the chance to analyse the materials from both endeavours - among them Sara Russell from London's Natural History Museum. "We can learn a lot about the early formation of the Solar System from meteorites. But as soon as those rocks come through the atmosphere to fall to Earth, they're immediately contaminated in some way or another," she told BBC News. "So, this is our chance to get a truly pristine sample, to understand what the primordial chemistry in the Solar System was really like." - BBC

Diplomatic tensions between China and Australia are set to be reignited after the latter was formally invited to take part in large scale military exercises next month involving the United States, Japan and India. The US, Japanese and Indian navy carrying out an exercise as part of Exercise Malabar in 2015. Photo: AFP / HANDOUT / US NAVY / MCS CHAD M. TRUDEAU The Australian Defence Force (ADF) last took part in Exercise Malabar in 2007, before the Australian government withdrew from the naval drills the following year because of concerns over relations with Beijing. Defence Minister Linda Reynolds has confirmed Australia will participate in Exercise Malabar 2020, which she described as a "milestone activity". "High-end military exercises like Malabar are key to enhancing Australia's maritime capabilities, building interoperability with our close partners, and demonstrating our collective resolve to support an open and prosperous Indo-Pacific," Senator Reynolds said. "Exercise Malabar also showcases the deep trust between four major Indo-Pacific democracies and their shared will to work together on common security interests." Japan and the United States have been pushing diplomatically for Australia's return to the Quadrilateral exercises, which China views as threatening and an effort to contain its military reach. India had been reluctant to allow the ADF to rejoin the powerful military grouping, but the country's Defence Ministry confirmed a long-anticipated invitation had finally been made. "As India seeks to increase cooperation with other countries in the maritime security domain and in the light of increased defence cooperation with Australia, Malabar 2020 will see the participation of the Australian Navy," the ministry said. "The participants of Exercise Malabar 2020 are engaging to enhance safety and security in the maritime domain. "They collectively support free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific and remain committed to a rules-based international order." Decision makes Quad 'very formidable' Australia is yet to announce which naval assets will deploy to Exercise Malabar in the Indian Ocean, but defence sources have suggested a warship such as HMAS Hobart or HMAS Brisbane would be likely to go. The HMAS Hobart. Photo: AFP The Malabar invitation follows a Quad foreign ministers' meeting in Tokyo earlier this month, attended by Foreign Minister Marise Payne. "It will bolster the ability of India, Australia, Japan and the United States to work together to uphold peace and stability across our region," Senator Payne said. "This builds on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, to which Prime Minister Morrison and Prime Minister Modi agreed on 4 June 2020, and which I progressed with my counterpart, Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar, this month when we met in Tokyo." India's former Naval spokesman DK Sharma, who has long advocated for Australia's return to the Malabar exercises, said having all four nations taking part made the Quad a more formal security alliance. "It makes it very, very formidable," DK Sharma told the ABC. "The way [China] is moving out, the first island chain and the second island chain, now you have Japan on top, you have the Pacific more or less under the control of the US, then we have Australia which will have a good look towards either the Pacific or Indian Ocean Pacific, and then we have India. "None of us are behaving in a way China is behaving - there is a difference, we are all talking security, prosperity, peace, tranquillity … Those guys are only talking about grabbing the nations, making their ports, militarising them, grabbing the islands." - ABC

A US appeals court on Monday local time dealt Ghislaine Maxwell a blow by refusing to block the release of a deposition she gave concerning her relationship with the late financier and registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. Photo: AFP The Second US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said there was a presumption the public had a right to see Maxwell's 418-page deposition, which was taken in April 2016 for a now-settled civil defamation lawsuit against her. In an unsigned order, the court also said US District Judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan did not abuse her discretion in rejecting Maxwell's "meritless arguments" that her interests superseded that presumption. Lawyers for Maxwell did not immediately respond to requests for comment, including whether they plan a further appeal. The order upheld Preska's decision in July to release the deposition and hundreds of other documents from the 2015 defamation lawsuit by Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's accusers. That case was settled in 2017, and many of the documents have been made public. But Maxwell's lawyers said bad publicity from disclosing "intimate, sensitive, and personal details" from the deposition could undermine her ability to defend against criminal charges that she enabled Epstein's sexual abuses. They said the British socialite thought her deposition would remain confidential, and that releasing it would violate her constitutional right against self-incrimination, and imperil a fair trial because jurors might hold its contents against her. The appeals court separately rejected Maxwell's request to modify a protective order in her criminal case, so she could access confidential materials she hoped would persuade Preska to keep the deposition under wraps. Maxwell, 58, has pleaded not guilty to helping Epstein recruit and groom underage girls as young as 14 to engage in illegal sexual acts in the mid-1990s, and not guilty to perjury for having denied involvement in the deposition. A trial is scheduled for next July. Giuffre said she was a teenager when Maxwell pulled her into Epstein's circle, where she was groomed and trafficked for sex with Epstein and other wealthy, powerful men. The push to unseal the deposition came from Giuffre and the Miami Herald newspaper, which had investigated Epstein's conduct and his successful effort in 2007 to avoid federal sex trafficking charges. Lawyers for Giuffre and the newspaper were not immediately available for comment. The U.S. Department of Justice, which opposed modifying the protective order, did not immediately respond to a similar request. Maxwell was arrested on 2 July in New Hampshire, where prosecutors said she had been hiding out. She has been locked up in a Brooklyn jail after US District Judge Alison Nathan, who oversees the criminal case, called her an unacceptable flight risk. Epstein killed himself at age 66 in August 2019 at a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges announced the previous month. The cases in the Second US Circuit Court of Appeals are Giuffre v Maxwell, No. 20-2413, and US v Maxwell, No. 20-3061. - Reuters

A second person has been charged with murder over the death of a New Zealand firefighter in the NSW Hunter Valley in Australia. New Zealand helicopter pilot and volunteer firefighter Ian Pullen with his wife Vicki. Photo: Supplied / NSW police The body of Ian Pullen, 43, was found on the side of a road in Glenridding, near Singleton, in September 2018. Pullen was a helicopter pilot who had arrived in the region to assist with firefighting efforts. Detectives arrested a 30-year-old woman at a home in Singleton yesterday morning, and she was charged with murder. Police alleged that after a white ute hit Pullen, the woman and the driver of the vehicle returned to the scene a short time later and struck him in the head with an object. Joshua Knight, 29, was arrested last week and charged with murder, dangerous driving occasioning death and failing to stop and assist after vehicle impact causing death. He was refused bail in Newcastle Local Court. The arrests came three weeks after police made a plea for an anonymous caller to come forward. They asked for the unknown late-night caller to come forward on the second anniversary of the death. A $350,000 reward was offered last year for information on Mr Pullen's death. The 30-year-old woman was refused bail and will face Muswellbrook Local Court today. - ABC

New Zealand agencies have helped US authorities charge six Russian state-sponsored computer hackers over attacks spanning four years. Britain and US say Russia has targeted 2020 Tokyo Games organisers, logistics suppliers and sponsors. Photo: AFP / Yomiuri The US Justice Department said in a media release six Russian GRU intelligence members sought to undermine, retaliate or destabilise foreign companies and political campaigns through computer hacks. "Their computer attacks used some of the world's most destructive malware to date, including KillDisk and Industroyer, which each caused blackouts in Ukraine; NotPetya, which caused nearly $1 billion in losses to the three victims identified in the indictment alone; and Olympic Destroyer, which disrupted thousands of computers used to support the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics," the DoJ said. "The indictment charges the defendants with conspiracy, computer hacking, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and false registration of a domain name." The statement alleges the hackers operated under a range of names, including Sandworm Team, Telebots, Voodoo Bear and Iron Viking. "No country has weaponised its cyber capabilities as maliciously or irresponsibly as Russia, wantonly causing unprecedented damage to pursue small tactical advantages and to satisfy fits of spite," Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C Demers said. "Today the department has charged these Russian officers with conducting the most disruptive and destructive series of computer attacks ever attributed to a single group, including by unleashing the NotPetya malware." This included thousands of US and international companies and organisations, French President Emmanuel Macron's political campaign, and the 2018 Winter Olympics. The Justice Department said governments agencies, including New Zealand's, provided "significant cooperation" and assistance to the investigation. "We also appreciate the hard work and dedication of our foreign law enforcement or intelligence partners, including in Ukraine, Georgia, South Korea, the United Kingdom and New Zealand, who have also pursued these conspirators after attacks and intrusions within their own countries or otherwise assisted in our investigation. "All of these partnerships send a clear message that responsible nations and the private sector are prepared to work together to defend against and disrupt significant cyber threats." UK, US say Russia on cyber offensive to sabotage Tokyo Olympics Britain and the US have condemned what they said were a litany of malicious cyberattacks orchestrated by Russian military intelligence, including attempts to disrupt next year's Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo. British and US officials said the attacks were conducted by Unit 74455 of Russia's GRU military intelligence agency, also known as the Main Centre for Special Technologies. In an indictment unsealed on Monday, the US Justice Department said six members of the unit had played key roles in attacks on targets ranging from the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea to the 2017 French elections. British officials said the GRU hackers had also conducted "cyber reconnaissance" operations against organisers of the 2020 Tokyo Games, which were originally scheduled to be held this year but postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak. Dominic Raab Photo: AFP The officials declined to give specific details about the attacks or whether they were successful, but said they had targeted Games organisers, logistics suppliers and sponsors. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: "The GRU's actions against the Olympic and Paralympic Games are cynical and reckless. We condemn them in the strongest possible terms." FBI deputy director David Bowdich said: "The FBI has repeatedly warned that Russia is a highly capable cyber adversary, and the information revealed in this indictment illustrates how pervasive and destructive Russia's cyber activities truly are." Russia was banned from the world's top sporting events for four years in December over widespread doping offences, including the Tokyo Games. The attacks on the Games are the latest in a string of hacking attempts against international sporting organisations that Western officials and cybersecurity experts say have been orchestrated by Russia since its doping scandal erupted five years ago. Moscow has repeatedly denied the allegations. Russia accused of 2018 Games hacking Britain and the United States said those attacks included a hack of the 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in South Korea, which compromised hundreds of computers, took down internet access and disrupted broadcast feeds. Fireworks at the end of the closing ceremony of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games. Photo: AFP The attack in South Korea had previously been linked to Russia by cybersecurity researchers but was made to look like the work of Chinese or North Korean hackers, Britain's foreign ministry said in a statement. "The attacks on the 2020 Summer Games are the latest in a campaign of Russian malicious activity against the Olympic and Paralympic Games," it said. "The UK is confirming for the first time today the extent of GRU targeting of the 2018 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea." - RNZ / Reuters

French police have raided the homes of dozens of suspected Islamic radicals following the beheading of a teacher who showed controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to his pupils. Imam of Drancy Hassen Chalghoumi, left, and French Jewish writer Marek Halter attend a gathering of imams outside the school where a teacher was murdered. Photo: AFP Some of those being questioned are believed to have posted messages of support for the killer of Samuel Paty. The government also said it was probing 51 French Muslim associations. Paty's suspected killer was shot dead by police on Saturday after the attack close to the teacher's school. The school is located in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, a north-western suburb of Paris. The suspect, an 18-year-old born in Moscow of Chechen origin, had no known connection to Paty or the school. Dozens post messages supporting killer On Monday, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said the latest raids sent a message that there was "no respite for enemies of the republic", and that they were expected to continue all week. He said that not all individuals targeted in the operations were necessarily linked to the investigations into Paty's death. Meanwhile, police will interview about 80 people who are believed to have posted messages in support of Paty's killer, Darmanin added. The government said that if Muslim organisations under investigation were found to promote hatred, they would be closed down. Darmanin labelled one organisation, the Collective Against Islamophobia in France (CCIF), an "enemy of the state", and said he wanted to shut it down. The organisation, which monitors anti-Muslim hate crime in France, has accused Darmanin of slander after he claimed the group was "obviously" involved in the attack, according to AFP news agency. In a statement following news of the attack, the CCIF expressed "our pain and our sadness to the family of this teacher". One of many rallies held in France to pay tribute to Samuel Paty. Photo: AFP What's the latest in the investigation? Anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-François Ricard said Paty had been the target of threats since he showed the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad during a class about freedom of speech. As he had done in similar lessons in recent years, Paty, a history and geography teacher, advised Muslim students to look away if they thought they might be offended. Depictions of the Prophet Muhammad can cause serious offence to Muslims because Islamic tradition explicitly forbids images of Muhammad and Allah (God). The issue is particularly sensitive in France because of the famous publishing of cartoons of Prophet Muhammad by satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. A trial is currently underway over the killing of 12 people by Islamist extremists at the magazine offices in 2015. Some French-Muslims say they are frequent targets of racism and discrimination because of their faith - an issue that has long caused tension in the country. Eleven people have been arrested as part of the police investigation into Paty's murder. No more information on the arrests is available. Shock among French citizens The attack has shocked and horrified France. Thousands gathered at weekend rallies to honour Paty with people carrying placards reading "Je suis enseignant" (I am a teacher). Muslim leaders in France have condemned the attack. "A civilisation does not kill an innocent person, barbarism does," Tareq Oubrou, imam of a mosque in Bordeaux, told France Inter. Photo: AFP The Strasbourg-based Assembly of Chechens in Europe said in a statement: "Like all French people, our community is horrified by this incident." President Emmanuel Macron said the attack bore all the hallmarks of an "Islamist terrorist attack" and the teacher had been murdered because he "taught freedom of expression". Islamists would not be allowed to sleep quietly in France, Macron was quoted as saying in a cabinet meeting on Sunday. Ricard said that the suspect, who lived in the Normandy town of Évreux, about 100km from the murder scene, went to Paty's school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine and asked students to point out the teacher. The suspect followed Paty as he walked home from work. He then used a knife to attack the teacher in the head, and then beheaded him. Witnesses are said to have heard the attacker shout "Allahu Akbar", or "God is Greatest". As police approached him, he fired at them with an airgun. Officers returned fire, hitting him nine times. A 30cm-long blade was found close by. Authorities said the man had been before courts but only on minor misdemeanour charges. - BBC

Worldwide coronavirus cases crossed 40 million, according to a Reuters tally, as the onset of winter in the northern hemisphere fuelled a resurgence in the spread of the disease. Member of the medical team of the Armed Forces of Brazil examines a man of the Guajajara indigenous ethnicity during the Covid-19 pandemic on 3 October, 2020. Photo: Mateus Bonomi / AGIF / AFP The Reuters tally is based on official reporting by individual countries. Experts believe the true numbers of both cases and deaths are likely much higher, given deficiencies in testing and potential under-reporting by some countries. The Reuters data shows the pace of the pandemic continues to pick up. It took just 32 days to go from 30 million global cases to 40 million, compared with the 38 days it took to get from 20 to 30 million, the 44 days between 10 and 20 million, and the three months it took to reach 10 million cases from when the first cases were reported in Wuhan, China, in early January. Record one-day increases in new infections were seen at the end of last week, with global coronavirus cases rising above 400,000 for the first time. There were an average of about 347,000 cases each day over the past week, compared with 292,000 in the first week of October. The United States, India, and Brazil remain the worst affected countries in the world. Covid-19 cases in North, Central, and South America represent about 47.27 percent or nearly half of global cases. About 247 cases are seen per 10,000 people in the United States. For India and Brazil, those numbers stand at 55 cases and 248 cases per 10,000 people respectively. New cases are growing at more than 150,000 a day in Europe, as many countries including Italy, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Poland, Ukraine, Cyprus, and the Czech Republic have reported record daily increases in the number of coronavirus infections. Europe currently accounts for over 17 percent of the global cases and nearly 22 percent of the deaths related to the virus worldwide. Parts of the UK were put into lockdown as Prime Minister Boris Johnson's bid to contain a second wave of infections through local measures. France imposed curfews while other European nations are closing schools, canceling surgeries, and enlisting student medics. President Donald Trump called for a big economic stimulus as US infections surpassed eight million, with record spikes in several states. States across the Midwest are seeing a rise in coronavirus cases, with new infections and hospitalizations rising to record levels. India's cumulative tally of coronavirus infections stood at 7.43 million on Saturday, with the number of active infections slipping below 800,000 for the first time in 1.5 months. Iran, the Middle Eastern country hardest-hit by the coronavirus, extended restrictions and closures in the capital Tehran into a third week on Saturday as its death toll rose above 30,000. Since the pandemic started, more than1.1 million people have died due to Covid-19, with the global fatality rate hovering about 2.8 percent of the total cases. An official at the World Health Organization has said the global death toll from Covid-19 could double to 2 million before a successful vaccine is widely used and could be even higher without concerted action to curb the pandemic. -Reuters

Five travellers from New Zealand have been forced into hotel quarantine in Adelaide after arriving unexpectedly on a flight from Sydney. Adelaide Airport. Photo: 123RF South Australia is not yet part of a travel bubble with New Zealand, which currently only New South Wales and the Northern Territory have signed up to. SA Premier Steven Marshall made the announcement at a press conference this afternoon. He said three of the people arrived over the weekend and a further two travellers came this morning. All passengers identified themselves at Adelaide Airport and are now in hotel quarantine in Adelaide, he said. Marshall said the State Government was now considering its border arrangement with New Zealand. "We are looking very closely at the arrangements with regards to our borders with New Zealand," he said. "They've done extraordinarily well and we're hopeful that we might be able to lift that border restriction with New Zealand when it's safe to do so." Within days of the scheme operating, travellers have ventured to Western Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and now South Australia. "All of our protocols were observed when these passengers came in," Marshall said. "Our system here in South Australia works extraordinarily well." An SA Police spokesperson confirmed the Premier's statement. "All have been placed into medi-hotels to complete quarantine as per normal arrangements with international travellers," she said. "There will be an increase in public information to ensure sufficient information is being disseminated in SA and NSW to advise travellers of the requirement to quarantine if travelling to SA." Australians still cannot travel to New Zealand. Victoria authorities speaking to New Zealand travellers Meanwhile, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says authorities have doorknocked 55 of the 65 New Zealand travellers who have arrived in the state through the travel bubble. Ten people are still waiting to be spoken to to make sure they understand the state's restrictions, which were eased on Monday. Andrews said he would not be quarantining people who come from a low virus community. "There are 17 flights into Melbourne today that could possibly have New Zealand passengers that have arrived via Sydney. We, you know, we are not particularly pleased that we were asked the question, do you want to be in a bubble, and it turns out that even though we said no, we are, but that is the fact of the matter, that is what we faced. "I'm not going to be quarantining people that came from a low virus community, and we just have to make the best of this." -ABC

Thousands have attended rallies across France in support of Samuel Paty, the teacher beheaded after showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to his pupils. Thousands of people gathered this Sunday in Paris to pay tribute to Samuel to Samuel Paty, the professor beheaded in a terrorist attack on Friday. Photo: AFP People in the Place de la République in Paris carried the slogan "Je suis enseignant" (I am a teacher), with PM Jean Castex saying: "We are France!" A man named as Abdoulakh A was shot dead by police on Friday after killing Paty close to his school near Paris. An 11th person has now been arrested as part of the investigation. No details have been given about the arrest. Four close relatives of the suspect were detained shortly after the killing. Six more people were held on Saturday, including the father of a pupil at the school and a preacher described by French media as a radical Islamist. President Emmanuel Macron said the attack bore all the hallmarks of an "Islamist terrorist attack" and the teacher had been murdered because he "taught freedom of expression". The murder comes as a trial over the 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo - a satirical magazine that has published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad - is under way. Where have the rallies been taking place? The Place de la République in Paris filled with people rallying in support of Paty, 47. Castex and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo joined them. The square was the scene of a huge demonstration in which 1.5 million people showed solidarity with Charlie Hebdo following the deadly attack of January 2015. One protester on Sunday carried a sign reading "zero tolerance to all enemies of the Republic", another "I am a professor. I'm thinking of you, Samuel." Another told Le Figaro she was a French Muslim who was at the rally to express her disgust at the latest killing. A minute's silence was followed by the playing of the Marseillaise. All the protesters were wearing masks to protect from coronavirus. Castex tweeted the rendition of the anthem, along with the words "you do not scare us ... we are France!" Vous ne nous faites pas peur.Nous n’avons pas peur.Vous ne nous diviserez pas.Nous sommes la France ! pic.twitter.com/GjUQo9AePa — Jean Castex (@JeanCASTEX) October 18, 2020 Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said France would succeed in defeating the enemies of democracy if it were united and that all teachers in France needed support. In Lille, people carried banners and placards with the simple words "I am Samuel". Thousands of people also gathered in Place Bellecour in Lyon to pay their respects, with another large turnout in Nantes. Demonstrations are also being held in Toulouse, Strasbourg, Marseille, Bordeaux and elsewhere. In addition to Sunday's demonstrations, there will be a national tribute paid to Paty on Wednesday. On Saturday, Tareq Oubrou, imam of a mosque in Bordeaux, told France Inter: "A civilisation does not kill an innocent person, barbarism does." What happened on Friday? Anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-François Ricard said that the suspect, who lived in the Normandy town of Évreux, about 100km (60 miles) from the murder scene, went to Paty's school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine on Friday afternoon and asked students to point out the teacher. Abdoulakh A, an 18-year-old born in Moscow of Chechen origin, had no apparent connection with the teacher or the school. He followed Paty as he walked home from work. The suspect used a knife to attack the teacher in the head, and then beheaded him. Witnesses are said to have heard the attacker shout "Allahu Akbar", or "God is Greatest". As police approached him, he fired at them with an airgun. Officers returned fire, hitting him nine times. A 30cm-long (12in) blade was found close by. Authorities said the man had been before courts but only on minor misdemeanour charges. A person holds a placard with the portrait of history teacher Samuel Paty Photo: AFP What's the latest in the investigation? Ricard said Paty had been the target of threats since he showed the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad during a class about freedom of speech. As he had done in similar lessons in recent years, Paty, a history and geography teacher, advised Muslim students to look away if they thought they might be offended. A parent of one of the pupils reacted angrily, and went to the school to complain. He and another man who accompanied him - Abdelhakim Sefrioui, a preacher and activist - made videos calling Paty a "voyou" (thug) and demanding his suspension. Sefrioui has reportedly been known to French intelligence services for years. Both he and the father are now in custody. - BBC