Charlie Hebdo

The massacre at the office of satire magazine Charlie Hebdo in France on Jan. 7, 2015 topped headlines all over the world throughout last week, and world leaders marched across Paris to pay tribute to the victims and protest senseless violence against freedom of thought.

The German authorities have banned the carrying of posters that had cartoons insulting the Prophet Muhammad at the Leipzig rally organized by the fanatical anti-Islam PEGIDA movement.

Isn't this a restriction of freedom of expression? Leipzig German authorities explained it as such: "We think that, after the Paris incidents, these caricatures will be tools for provocation."

Many readers took exception to my giving links in my last piece to David Brooks of the New York Times, who wrote ?I am not Charlie Hebdo,? and to Jordan Weismann of Slate magazine, who wrote ?Charlie Hebdo is heroic and racist.? Others were angered by my asking why Maurice Sinet (Siné) was fired from Charlie Hebdo.

Police raided the printing press of Turkish daily Cumhuriyet on Jan. 14, as it prepared to distribute a four-page selection of Charlie Hebdo?s new issue in an act of solidarity with the French satirical magazine targeted last week in a deadly attack that claimed 12 victims. Here are some questions and answers to explain the raid and its consequences...

A local Turkish court has ordered to block access to pages on websites publishing the Jan. 14 cover of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, featuring the Prophet Muhammad.

The issue is the first since a deadly attack on the magazine?s Paris office claimed the lives of 12 people, including prominent cartoonists.

France charges more than 50 for "praising terrorism"

PARIS -- Over 50 judicial proceedings have been launched in France against people suspected of "praising terrorism" in the wake of last weeks attacks in Paris.

A hashtag war between Turkish Twitter users has broken out, hours after police raided the printing press of Turkish daily Cumhuriyet on Jan. 14, as it prepared to distribute a four-page selection of Charlie Hebdo?s new issue in solidarity with the French satirical magazine.

Turkey?s three leading satirical magazines, Leman, Penguen and Uykusuz, have opted for a common cover Jan. 15 in tribute of Charlie Hebdo, the French weekly targeted by a deadly attack last week that has been a source of inspiration for prominent Turkish cartoonists.

Notorious French comedian Dieudonné was arrested Jan. 14 for being an "apologist for terrorism" after writing a Facebook comment suggesting he sympathised with one of the Paris attacks gunmen, a judicial source said.

The head of Europe's police organisation Europol said on Jan. 13 the continent was facing its greatest security threat in more than a decade, with as many as 5,000 Europeans who have joined fighting in Syria posing a risk to their homelands.