Search results for: " "

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