Whether you support Charlie Hebdos view of free speech with no boundaries or not is not the issue. The issue remains the right for people in the western world to go about their daily life without the threat of a terrorist attack. Since last January we in the west have had to get used to an increased terror threat. On a Tunisian beach in June, 2013, 38 people were mercilessly gunned down as they enjoyed a vacation; 30 of the 38 were British. It was a lone gunman attack but the perpetrator appeared to have links to a wider terror organisation. In November 130 people were killed in multiple terror attacks in Paris France; 89 at the Bataclan theatre where fans were watching an American rock band. Shooting was also reported at Le Carillon restaurant which is located in Paris in an area close to the Charlie Hebdo offices; reports of bombs and shooting elsewhere in Paris followed. California rock band Eagles of Death Metal was playing to a packed house at Le Bataclan concert hall when gunmen stormed in gunning down members of the audience prior to a hostage situation. In California USA on December 2, 2015, 14 people were killed and 22 were seriously injured in a terrorist attack in San Bernardino; the perpetrators were a man and woman and the attack involved a mass shooting and attempted bombing. But those attacks are just the tip of the iceberg. There have been many more attacks not least in Africa and the Middle East where hundreds if not thousands of people have been killed or brutalised by terrorists. In May 2014 "276 Nigerian girls were still missing after being kidnapped by terrorists." Today as we remember the 'Charlie Hebdo' victims we should say a prayer for all those who have succumbed to any death cult or terror group that classes life on this planet as worth squandering. The Charlie Hebdo attacks as they happened Breaking news reports said gunmen stormed the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, a French satirical weekly publication, killing 10. Earlier the publications cartoonist Renaud Luzier said: ‘I think there are casualties.’ At time of writing 11 people were confirmed dead and five critically wounded but the death toll quickly rose to 12. Among the dead are the publication's editor, two police officers and renowned cartoonists. The situation remains fluid and the terrorists, believed to be three, at large after escaping the scene in two vehicles. Police are looking for two brothers in the Paris region and another man in the north-eastern city of Reims. A government source said the two brothers are 32 and 34 years of age and the third suspect is 18 years old. Masked gunmen with automatic weapons stormed the building shortly after a tweet by staff Wednesday morning. Minutes before the attack Charlie Hebdo had tweeted a satirical cartoon of the leader of the terror organisation Daesh giving his New Year's wishes. Charlie Hebdo has been threatened in the past following satirical posts including the Prophet. In 2011 the office were firebombed after a spoof issue featured a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad on its cover. The publication posted more controversial images a year later. The January 7 terror attack is France's deadliest for two decades. President Hollande's statement via the Guardian Francois Hollande spoke to the media; he said that 11 people had been killed and four people seriously injured but 40 people had been rescued. Hollande said that the security level had been increased in Paris and a number of terrorist plots had been foiled in recent weeks. An emergency meeting will be held at the Elysees Palace in the next hour. Hollande said France had experienced “an exceptional act of barbarism committed against a newspaper”. France was facing a “shock”, he added. “We need to show we are a united country,” he said. France had to be “firm and strong” adding: “We will fight these threats and we will punish the attackers.” France had been targeted because it was a country of freedom but no one would be allowed to go against “the spirit of the republic” in this way. [Charlie Hebdo editor and cartoonist Stephane Charbonnier, known as Charb, was among the 12 people killed in a terror attack Wednesday, January 7, at the magazine's offices in Paris. On January 9, four hostages were killed when a gunman seized a Jewish grocery store and killed them before police moved in.] Archived related reports from the days following the British police apologise for taking names of Charlie Hebdo buyers Charlie Hebdo suspects dead, France battles hostage situations Netanyahu unwanted French guest seeks political opportunity
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But Hull is planning to include Amy in its year in the spotlight when it becomes the country's City of Culture for 2017. An Amy Johnson Festival could be one of the city's highlights but maybe not. Those plans took a battering this week when the Science Museum in London refused an application from Hull Museums to house Johnson's De Haviland Gypsy Moth named Jason. The plane will stay put in London. Hull's museums already have displays which include buses from a bygone era, old chemist shops, early ice-cream vans and more; Amy Johnson's plane Jason would be the icing on the cake, even if it was a temporary move. When Amy died as her plane crashed into the Thames in January 1941 her body was never recovered and the events surrounding her death remain a mystery. Tuesday the Hull Daily Mail reports there will be "a major month-long festival in Hull later this year celebrating her life and record-breaking flights" but unless the Science Museum has a re-think without her plane. Local historian Alec Gill who has written a new book about Amy, says; he is convinced details of her death were deliberately suppressed because they were too shocking for people to know in wartime Britain. "The death of Amy Johnson is shrouded in as much mystery as her childhood origins in Hull's fishing community," he said. You can read the full mail report here And find the new Alec Gill book at Amazon here - AMY JOHNSON: Hessle Road Tomboy - Born and Bred, Dread and Fled (HESSLE ROAD: Stories about Hull's Fishing Community and Arctic Trawling Heritage (England) Book 4) [Print Replica] Kindle Edition Introducing the 'On this Day in History' blog History is scattered with dates which are etched onto our memories by events that have changed the world; some memorable for happy reasons but all too many that are painful to remember. The Twin Towers bombing in New York on September 9, 2001, changed modern life in the west for ever. Terrorism has always existed but the acts of terror meted out on that fateful day gave us a glimpse of what was to come. The following years we have experienced an increase in terrorist atrocities. The way people view life and freedom after 9/11 has changed and the way that governments operate will never be the same again. Some dates, such as 9/11 and the day that John F Kennedy was assassinated remain so fresh in our memories that sometimes years later we can clearly remember what we were doing and where we were when the monumental news broke. For older people Pearl Harbour lives on in their memory forever. Whether the "on this day in history" was centuries ago, a month earlier or last year it may be long forgotten or as fresh as a daisy but above all worth remembering. April 15 is one of those days that are significant in history. On a personal level it is the day this writer's late father, and brother, was born. As a child there were often reminders of this day in history due to the loss of the Titanic. Then on April 15, 1945, British troops entered the concentration camp Bergen-Belsen after negotiating a truce with the German commandant. In 1986 the United States bombed Tripoli in retaliation for Libyan terrorist attacks on American targets and in 1989, at least 93 football supporters were killed in Britain's worst-ever sporting disaster. All in all a busy day in history. |
On this Day in History
The following pages carry notable dates for each month of the year while this blog will carry features for some of those dates: Archives
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