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Charlie Hebdo attack


Charlie Hebdo magazine attack: vigils held as French hunt suspects – as it happened









This blog has ended – read our continuing coverage here
Attack on satirical magazine kills 12
France declares day of national mourning
Authorities describe search for three attackers
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Gunmen were filmed shooting a police officer during the Charlie Hebdo attack. Warning: graphic images






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Claire Phipps and 
Alexandra Topping in London and 
Tom McCarthy in New York


Wednesday 7 January 2015 19.04 EST







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 12.04am GMT19:04 
Summary

We’re going to close this live blog and pick up our live coverage out of Australia. Click here for a summary of the latest developments.


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 11.29pm GMT18:29 

#JeSuisCharlie was tweeted millions of times by Wednesday evening in Paris.


— Twitter Data (@TwitterData)
January 7, 2015
By 7.15pm, Paris time, there had been 2.1m Tweets for #JeSuisCharlie (via @TwitterFrance) http://t.co/glckIFFNG4 pic.twitter.com/TFUxnE26EM





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 11.20pm GMT18:20 

Hugo Clément, a journalist from France 2 who is in Reims, about 150 kilometers east of Paris, tweets that a raid operation is under way.


— Hugo Clément (@hugoclement)
January 7, 2015
On ne peut pas en dire plus par sécurité, mais je vous confirme que l'opération n'est pas terminée à Reims.



“Can’t say more because of security, but I confirm the operation at Reims is not yet finished”, he tweeted.


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 11.03pm GMT18:03 

We’ve been unable to this point to obtain further confirmation of the report of arrests carried earlier in this blog. French officials, including the Paris deputy mayor, have issued contradictory statements on the question. Current statements do not suggest arrests have happened. 
A police spokesperson had confirmed that the suspects had been arrested as reported by Libération newspaper. He added a location of the supposed arrests. However, this was denied by the interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve.

Updated at 11.25pm GMT

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 10.43pm GMT17:43 

The front page of tomorrow’s Guardian:


— Matt Sullivan (@sullduggery)
January 7, 2015
"An assault on democracy": Thursday @guardian front page with former Le Monde editor Natalie Nougayrède #CharlieHebdo pic.twitter.com/9xSgmo9bpf





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 10.13pm GMT17:13 

The White House has distributed a description of President Obama’s call with French President Hollande earlier Wednesday. Obama “offered the resources of the United States” to bring the perpetrators to justice:


— Brett LoGiurato (@BrettLoGiurato)
January 7, 2015
Readout of Obama’s call with Hollande pic.twitter.com/DjkcpCR6PW



(h/t @kaylaepstein)

Updated at 10.14pm GMT

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 9.53pm GMT16:53 
'I have lost all of my friends'

In an interview with France Inter radio, the former Charlie Hebdo publisher Phillipe Val said: ‘I’ve lost all of my friends today.’
In a moving tribute to his slain former colleagues, Val, who has also been director of France Inter, said: 
“They were so alive, they loved to make people happy, to make them laugh, to give them generous ideas. They were very good people. They were the best among us, as those who make us laugh, who are for liberty ... They were assassinated, it is an insufferable butchery.



“We cannot let silence set in, we need help. We all need to band together against this horror. Terror must not prevent joy, must not prevent our ability to live, freedom, expression – I’m going to use stupid words – democracy, after all this is what is at stake. It is this kind of fraternity that allows us to live. We cannot allow this, this is an act of war. It might be good if tomorrow, all newspapers were called Charlie Hebdo. If we titled them all Charlie Hebdo. If all of France was Charlie Hebdo. It would show that we are not okay with this. That we will never let stop laughing. We will never let liberty be extinguished.”
(translated from French by @rayajalabi)
Read the full interview in French here.

Updated at 10.02pm GMT

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 9.25pm GMT16:25 

A spokesman for the French police tells the Guardian’s Kim Willsher in Paris that authorities have arrested three suspects in the Charlie Hebdo attack. [See update below: Current statements do not suggest arrests have happened.]
However Kim points out that the interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, addressed the media not long ago and did not mention arrests.
UPDATE 6pm ET: We’ve been unable to this point to obtain further confirmation of the report of arrests carried earlier in this blog. French officials, including the Paris deputy mayor, have issued contradictory statements on the question. Current statements do not suggest arrests have happened. Read more here.

Updated at 11.13pm GMT

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 9.20pm GMT16:20 

Front pages from around the world:


— LesNews (@LesNews)
January 7, 2015
Les premières unes internationales /via @benoit_tessier pic.twitter.com/ma2IlsIEZc



And here’s Libération, “we are all Charlie”:


— François Quairel (@fquairel)
January 7, 2015
La une de @libe demain #CharlieHebdo pic.twitter.com/dpkycIumHa



(thx @claire_phipps)


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 9.17pm GMT16:17 

Le Monde reports that President Hollande will host a meeting with former President Nicolas Sarkozy tomorrow morning at 9.30am. 


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 9.07pm GMT16:07 

Via GuardianWitness: Here is a further selection of photos and words from #CharlieHebdo vigils submitted through GuardianWitness. If you’re at the scene, we invite you to add your reportage here.




Vigil in Rennes

A vigil held in the Place de la Mairie in Rennes, in Brittany.




Sent via Guardian Witness

 By McMullinAM 
 7 January 2015, 13:46 





Lyon Demo in Support of Charlie Hebdo.

Hello, from Guardian contributor Michael Cosgrove, who lives in Lyon, France and also goes under the name of 'fripouille' on Cif.
I have just got back from the demo in support of Charlie Hebdo, which was held a short while back in the big square in front of the town hall called Place des Terreaux. It was very quiet and respectful, with no trouble as far as I could see. I often go to demos there and as such am able to judge how many people are at them reasonably well. The square was full this evening and the adjacent roads were blocked too so I'd put the figure at between 10 and 10 thousand, that which the local press confirms as I've just read upon getting back home after leaving the demo as it began to disperse.
My thoughts go to the victims and their families.



Sent via Guardian Witness

 By fripouille 
 7 January 2015, 13:26 







Grieving with Charlie Hebdo

This is a store on rue Daguerre in south Paris. The signs bear the names of the victims and "en deuil avec Charlie Hebdo" (grieving with Charlie Hebdo).




Sent via Guardian Witness

 By Kecha 
 7 January 2015, 13:39 




Updated at 10.09pm GMT

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 8.37pm GMT15:37 
'We're also here because we're sad'

The Guardian’s Ben Quinn (@benquinn75) has been speaking with French expatriates at the gathering at Trafalgar Square. 
“In one the largest vigils outside of France, around 2,000 French citizens and others gathered in Trafalgar Square, London – sometimes dubbed Frances’s “sixth largest city” on account of the number of expats living there,” Ben writes:

In silence, they shed tears, joined in a chorus of the marsellaise and held previous covers of Charlie Hedbo. Some just held up pens and pencils, which were eventually left in the middle of the gathering, which had been quickly organised earlier in the day on Facebook without any apparent leadership.
“We’re here because of freedom of the press and freedom of expression generally, but we’re also here because we’re sad,” said Arnaud Vervoitte, a Frenchman who has lived in the UK in the UK for 21 and works with a youth organiation in London.
In common with others, he also cited fears of a right-led backlash in his homeland.







“If the reports are accurate then I am scared that it is going to feed into more Far Right politics which have been a massive issue in France and we have already seen the Front National using the issue without evening knowing the details.”
Another French expat, Marie Proffit, added: “We are shocked. We know that there should be a place for satirical press in Europe. “We’re also sure though that this was not about muslim people – it was about some really really extreme people.”
“I am very worried about what might happen next – that the Front National will try to use this to their advantage. It doesn’t represent France at all.”
Others in the crowd included Aykut Mercan, a Turkish London, who was holding a placard in Turkish saying: “Je Suis Charlie Hepimiz”. He said: “I’m here to support Freedom of Speech. What happened in Paris was shocking and hard to understand really. It wasn’t in my name.”



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 8.15pm GMT15:15 
French media: attackers identified

Metro News in France is reporting that French police have identified the attackers. 
Le Monde tweets that it has confirmed with police sources that the three suspects have been identified. 
The French reports do not include names. More details to come. 

Updated at 8.16pm GMT

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 8.07pm GMT15:07 

Élysée palace tweets a photo of Hollande taking a call from Obama:


— Élysée (@Elysee)
January 7, 2015
Le président @BarackObama a exprimé au président @fhollande la solidarité des États-Unis #CharlieHebdo pic.twitter.com/fusCjJWCq5





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 8.00pm GMT15:00 

The Guardian’s Alexandra Topping is at the gathering in Trafalgar Square. “There was an eerie quiet as hundreds, if not thousands, of people gathered to show their solidarity with France and the victims of the Charlie Hebdo attack,” she writes:

Of the hushed voices that you could hear were many young French people, suddenly feeling a long way from home.
Among them was Camille Rousseau, a 23-year-old student holding up her drawing of some of the cartoonists who were killed in the attack. “One of our principal values is the right to express ourselves, it is a core value of the republic,” she said.



— Alexandra Topping (@LexyTopping)
January 7, 2015
Camille Rousseau, a French student in London holds up the drawing she made to honour #charliehebdo pic.twitter.com/8VTJ7e3xyb




Her friend Heloise Hubert, 20, held a pen aloft. “We feel extremely close to what happened. It happened in Paris but it could have easily happened here.”
As the crowd continued to grow in the cold night air, the strains of The Marseillaise could be heard as people began to sing.



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 7.13pm GMT14:13 

Via Guardian Witness, a photo of a gathering outside Lyon City Hall: 



We invite you to share your photos and videos of vigils marking the Charlie Hebdo attack on Guardian Witness here.

Updated at 7.18pm GMT

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 7.08pm GMT14:08 

The Guardian’s Ben Quinn is at a vigil in Trafalgar Square: 


— Ben Quinn (@BenQuinn75)
January 7, 2015
Images from #charliehebdo vigil in Trafalgar Sq. Cartoons & people holding pens https://t.co/QohuwjHXKN





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 7.06pm GMT14:06 

Hollande says the attackers will be apprehended and dealt with “severely.” 
He says “liberty will always be stronger than barbarism” and appeals to the country to remain united. 
“We will win because we have all the capacity to believe in our destiny,” he says, concluding: “Vive la république. Vive la France.” 

Updated at 7.40pm GMT

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 7.03pm GMT14:03 
France decrees day of national mourning

Hollande says a moment of silence will be held at noon Thursday and flags will be at half mast for three days. He says he has decreed tomorrow to be a day of national mourning. 

Updated at 7.04pm GMT

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 7.02pm GMT14:02 

France’s President François Hollande is speaking. A live stream is here. 

Updated at 7.41pm GMT

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 6.59pm GMT13:59 




British Prime Minister David Cameron with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a press conference in Downing Street in London
Photograph: ANDY RAIN/EPA




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 6.55pm GMT13:55 

Guardian political editor Patrick Wintour (@patrickwintour) has more detail on the meeting Wednesday between British prime minister David Cameron and German chancellor Angela Merkel (see earlier). 
The pair received a joint briefing by British intelligence, Patrick reports:

The briefing to Cameron and Merkel was given by the directors of M15 and M16 after the two leaders arrived at Downing Street from a visit to the British museum. The central message given by the UK intelligence agencies to Merkel and Cameron was the killers were determined, well armed, calm and clear and must have carefully prepared, suggesting these may not have been self-starters, but part of an organised group.
This information, UK sources said, was not based on specific intelligence, but an assessment based on videos, eye witness reports and past attacks. 

Cameron and Merkel jointly called French President François Hollande to offer their intelligence agencies’ support. “The day was truly tragic,” Merkel said. She continued:

We have firm values that we share - a firm foundation on which we stand. It was very moving moment when were able to address - both of us - the French president on the phone and say we will do everything we can to help him. At this very desperate hour we stand by the French people and all of those that feel committed to the freedom of the press. We say we stand up for the freedom of the press. On a day like this it is important to say our services will work together. One nation on its own will not be able to address this adequately.”

“Our security services are already working flat out,” Cameron said:

There is no one single answer to these appalling terrorists attacks, we all have to be vigilant, have to address the problems of radicalisation, invest in security services and deal with the problems at source but we should never give up the values we believe in and defend, including belief in a free press, the freedom of expression, the right of write and say what they believe. We should be very clear on this day these values are not some sources of weakness for us they are sources of strength”


Updated at 7.01pm GMT

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 6.49pm GMT13:49 

The United Nations security council has issued a statement condemning the “barbaric and cowardly terrorist attack” at Charlie Hebdo and calling for the perpetrators to be brought to justice. 
“The members of the security council strongly condemned this intolerable terrorist act targeting journalists and a newspaper,” the 15-member council said in a statement. 

Updated at 7.42pm GMT

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 6.42pm GMT13:42 

The bearing of the gunmen who stormed the offices of Charlie Hebdo suggested they had received at least some military training, according to security analysts, reports Guardian defence and security correspondent Ewen MacAskill (@ewenmacaskill):

They appeared calm throughout the attack, fired single or double shots rather than panicked bursts of automatic fire and the careful pattern of bullet-holes on the windscreen of the police car hinted at training.
Some of the analysts said the way they conducted themselves, their refusal to panic when the police arrived and their successful getaway indicated they had rehearsed the attack. 
But other aspects of the operation suggested the opposite. Their reconnaissance and intelligence seems to have been poor, initially going to the wrong location.
Former US army lieutenant-colonel Tony Shaffer, who was CIA-trained and worked as an intelligence officer with special forces in Afghanistan, is among those who feel the way they conducted themselves pointed to military training. 
“They were very professional, very organised. It was well-timed. You can’t pull off something like this without military training,” said “Whoever they were, they were highly trained in military tactics.”



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 6.38pm GMT13:38 

New York’s Mayor Bill de Blasio called his Parisian counterpart Anne Hidalgo to offer his condolences and to express New York City’s unwavering support for the people of Paris “in the aftermath of the terror attack against Charlie Hebdo magazine”, according to a statement from de Blasio’s office, which continued:

Both leaders agreed that cities must be aggressive in fighting terrorism, confront the challenge of extremism with determination, and refuse to be intimidated or allow cowardly violent attacks to undermine free speech. The two Mayors also reaffirmed the closeness of their two cities.

(h/t @LGamGam)

Updated at 7.43pm GMT

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 6.35pm GMT13:35 

“Papa is gone not Wolinski”. A tribute on Instagram by a daughter of the cartoonist Georges Wolinski:





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 6.23pm GMT13:23 
Photo gallery: vigils in France

We’ve put together a photo gallery of vigils this evening in France and elsewhere. Here’s a picture of a large gathering in Nantes: 



A rally at the Place Royale in Nantes, in western France, on January 7, 2015
Photograph: GEORGES GOBET/AFP/Getty Images



Updated at 6.27pm GMT

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 6.08pm GMT13:08 

President François Hollande will hold a crisis meeting at the Elysée Palace at 8am tomorrow, Le Figaro reports. It will be a meeting along the lines of this afternoon’s meeting and will include the president, prime minister Manuel Valls and several minister and and security services chiefs. (h/t: @lexytopping)

Updated at 7.43pm GMT

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 6.03pm GMT13:03 

The Guardian’s Kim Willsher (@kimwillsher1) is at the demonstration in Paris at the Place de la République. “Under the imposing statue of Marianne, the symbol of the republic, Parisiens gathered in their thousands as night fell on Wednesday to show their anger, grief and solidarity,” she writes:

It was bitterly, bitterly cold, as it had been all day, but still they came. 
Some lit candles, others held up copies of Charlie Hebdo including one of a Muslim kissing a magazine cartoonist and the headline: “Love is stronger than hate”, others simply held aloft pens in protest at the killing of journalists.
“We need to show the terrorists that they cannot win,” said Jules, a student.
“Everyone is shocked: the cartoonists Charb, Cabu, Wolinski, Tignous...we grew up with them. Half of France grew up with them,” said one man, who did not want to be named, who was, like many in the crowd, close to tears.
“My god, how could this happen?”.
The Syndicat National de Journalistes called for a moment of silence.

Similar spontaneous demonstration took place across France, in the cities of Bordeaux, Nantes, Lyon and elsewhere. 


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 5.44pm GMT12:44 
Obama: attack 'cowardly, evil'

US president Barack Obama addressed the attack in advance of a meeting with secretary of state John Kerry at the White House.
Obama said the attack was an attack on journalists and the free press, calling it “cowardly, evil.”
Update: this post has been updated with the full text of Obama’s statement, here following: 

I’ve reached out to President Hollande of France and hope to have the opportunity to talk to him today. But I thought it was appropriate for me to express my deepest sympathies to the people of Paris and the people of France for the terrible terrorist attack that took place earlier today.
I think that all of us recognize that France is one of our oldest allies, our strongest allies. They have been with us at every moment when we’ve -- from 9/11 on, in dealing with some of the terrorist organizations around the world that threaten us. For us to see the kind of cowardly, evil attacks that took place today I think reinforces once again why it’s so important for us to stand in solidarity with them, just as they stand in solidarity with us.
The fact that this was an attack on journalists, attack on our free press, also underscores the degree to which these terrorists fear freedom -- of speech and freedom of the press. But the one thing that I’m very confident about is that the values that we share with the French people, a belief -- a universal belief in the freedom of expression, is something that can’t be silenced because of the senseless violence of the few.




President Barack Obama meets with from left, Secretary of State John Kerry and Vice President Joe Biden and National Security Adviser Susan Rice, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015.
Photograph: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP



And so our counterterrorism cooperation with France is excellent. We will provide them with every bit of assistance that we can going forward. I think it’s going to be important for us to make sure that we recognize these kinds of attacks can happen anywhere in the world. And one of the things I’ll be discussing with Secretary Kerry today is to make sure that we remain vigilant not just with respect to Americans living in Paris, but Americans living in Europe and in the Middle East and other parts of the world, and making sure that we stay vigilant in trying to protect them -- and to hunt down and bring the perpetrators of this specific act to justice, and to roll up the networks that help to advance these kinds of plots.
In the end, though, the most important thing I want to say is that our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who’ve been lost in France, and with the people of Paris and the people of France. What that beautiful city represents -- the culture and the civilization that is so central to our imaginations -- that’s going to endure. And those who carry out senseless attacks against innocent civilians, ultimately they’ll be forgotten. And we will stand with the people of France through this very, very difficult time.
Thank you very much, everybody.


Updated at 6.25pm GMT

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 5.33pm GMT12:33 

Paris prosecutor François Molins has just held a news conference describing the attack and the flight of the attackers. 
He said two gunmen entered the offices of Charlie Hebdo at 11.30am. They killed one person in the welcome area before climbing to the second floor, where the paper was holding an editorial meeting. It is believed the gunmen knew the time and place of the meeting.
The gunmen opened fire with Kalashnikovs, Molins said. He said they shouted “Allahu Akbar” and said “they were avenging the Prophet.” Separate video captured one gunman saying the same outside the building after the shooting.
The gunman fled in a black Citroen, killing at least one police officer in three exchanges of fire with police. They then carjacked a Clio near the péripherique and fled. 
Twelve were killed, 11 wounded, and four are in serious condition, Moulin said. The dead included eight journalists and two police. Autopsies were to be held Thursday morning.
Molins said police are pursuing three suspects, but the details of the investigation would remain confidential. Here’s part of Molins’ statement:


— Sky News (@SkyNews)
January 7, 2015
French police say three #ParisShooting gunmen are still on the loose #CharlieHebdo http://t.co/nbCMaavrPz




Updated at 5.40pm GMT

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 5.30pm GMT12:30 




People gather at the Place de la Republique in Paris this evening.
Photograph: Dominique Faget/AFP/Getty Images




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 5.25pm GMT12:25 




People light candles in support of the victims of the Charlie Hebdo attack at the Place de la Republique.
Photograph: Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty Images




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 5.23pm GMT12:23 




A man holds a placard reading ‘Why?’ in Paris.
Photograph: Dominique Faget/AFP/Getty Images



Updated at 5.32pm GMT

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 5.21pm GMT12:21 




A man holds a placard reading: ‘Freedom of the press is priceless, fundamentalism, of any kind, will not pass’ as others hold up pens and placards reading “Je Suis Charlie” at the Place de la Republique.
Photograph: Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty Images



Updated at 5.32pm GMT

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 5.12pm GMT12:12 
Summary

Here is what we know so far, as night falls in Paris:

Two gunmen entered the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and opened fire. Witnesses reported seeing hooded men shouting “Allahu Akbar” and carrying Kalashnikovs. Police said three attackers were involved, including one who drove a car to the scene.
Twelve people have been confirmed dead – 10 Charlie Hebdo staff and two police officers. Video footage showed one of the officers being shot at close range as he lay injured on the street. Five others are seriously wounded.
The attackers are still at large after fleeing the magazine’s offices by car. They abandoned the car in the 19th arrondissement, near the Porte de Pantin metro station, where they hijacked another car, ordering the motorist out.
The French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, said all measures were being taken “to neutralise these three criminals”.
Five of the Charlie Hebdo journalists killed in the attack have been named. They are the magazine’s editor and cartoonist, Stéphane Charbonnier, known as Charb; Bernard Maris, an economist and writer on the board of Charlie Hebdo; and three more cartoonists: Jean Cabu, Georges Wolinski and Bernard Verlhac, known as Tignous.
Crowds are gathering in the centre of Paris and elsewhere in support of Charlie Hebdo and those killed and injured, with many carrying signs declaring #JeSuisCharlie.




A woman pays tribute during a gathering at the Place de la Republique in Paris.
Photograph: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters


I’m now handing over this liveblog to my colleague Tom McCarthy, who will continue with updates throughout the rest of the day. Thank you for reading.

Updated at 6.00pm GMT

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 5.03pm GMT12:03 

The Queen has sent a message to French president François Hollande:

Prince Philip and I send our sincere condolences to the families of those who have been killed and to those who have been injured in the attack in Paris this moming.
We send our thoughts and prayers to all those who have been affected.



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 4.58pm GMT11:58 

Radio France, Le Monde and France Télévisions have put out a statement saying they will offer staff and other support to help the Charlie Hebdo magazine “continue to live”.
They invite all French media to do the same, “to defend the principles of independence, freedom of thought and expression, the guarantors of our democracy”.


— Luc Bronner (@lucbronner)
January 7, 2015
Pour que Charlie vive pic.twitter.com/KnB2xd2da5





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 4.48pm GMT11:48 

In an opinion poll earlier this month, 80% of French people said they thought the risk of terrorism was high – a figure higher than immediately after the 9/11 attacks, the 2005 London bombings, and the Boston marathon bombs:


— Ifop (@IfopOpinion)
January 5, 2015
Ifop : @atlantico_fr 80% des Français jugent la menace terroriste élevée en France pic.twitter.com/0BXHI8h2ri




Updated at 4.58pm GMT

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 4.35pm GMT11:35 

Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, has called the Charlie Hebdo attack a “direct assault on democracy, media and freedom of expression”. He went on:

We stand with the government and people of France …
This horrific attack is meant to divide. We must not fall into that trap. This is a moment for solidarity …
We must stand against the forces of division and hate.


Updated at 4.58pm GMT

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 4.32pm GMT11:32 

Crowds are gathering in Paris in support of Charlie Hebdo and those killed today:


— Stanislas Touchot (@StanTouchot)
January 7, 2015
République. #Charlie pic.twitter.com/YQa17UlLZJ



If you’re planning to take part in marches planned across France and elsewhere today, we’d like to hear from you – you can share your photos and videos with GuardianWitness here. You can also share your tributes to the 12 people killed and five seriously injured.


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 4.26pm GMT11:26 

The Charlie Hebdo magazine website, which collapsed earlier today, is now restored. The homepage carries only the #JeSuisCharlie logo.


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 4.23pm GMT11:23 

German chancellor Angela Merkel has condemned the shootings as “barbarous”. Speaking at the British Museum, she said:

We strongly condemn these attacks and our thoughts go out to the French people, particularly to those who have lost loved ones in this horrendous attack. 


This is an attack against the values we all hold dear, of freedom of the press, freedom in general and the dignity of man.

British prime minister David Cameron called the attack an “appalling terrorist outrage” and said he felt “huge sympathy” for the families of those killed, adding: 

We must never allow the values we hold dear, of democracy, of freedom of speech, to be damaged by these terrorists. We must stand against what they have done.



— David Cameron (@David_Cameron)
January 7, 2015
Angela Merkel and I met today. We're united in our condemnation of the horrifying Paris murders. pic.twitter.com/oSM2us6I8I





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 4.20pm GMT11:20 

Ian Hislop, editor of British satirical magazine Private Eye, said the victims of the Charlie Hebdo shooting “paid a very high price for exercising their comic liberty”, Press Association reports.
In a statement, Hislop said:

I am appalled and shocked by this horrific attack – a murderous attack on free speech in the heart of Europe.
I offer my condolences to the families and friends of those killed: the cartoonists, journalists and those who were trying to protect them. 
They paid a very high price for exercising their comic liberty. Very little seems funny today.



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 4.14pm GMT11:14 
The victims

The bodies of those killed in the Charlie Hebdo magazine offices are being removed from the building now.
Five of those murdered have so far been named.
They are the magazine’s editor and cartoonist, Stéphane Charbonnier, known as Charb; Bernard Maris, an economist and writer on the board of Charlie Hebdo; and three more cartoonists: Jean Cabu, Georges Wolinski and Bernard Verlhac, known as Tignous.
Five other staff at the magazine are believed to be among the 12 dead.
Also killed were two police officers. They have not yet been named.



Stéphane Charbonnier speaking to journalists in 2012.
Photograph: Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty Images


Anne Penketh reports that Bernard Maris was a 68-year-old economist and journalist who wrote the weekly Oncle Bernard (uncle Bernard) column in Charlie Hebdo.

The author of a book on Keynes, Maris graduated in economics in Toulouse where he became a university professor. At the time of his death he was teaching economics at the university of Paris-VIII and was on the board of Charlie Hebdo.
He was also a frequent television debater on economic issues, on which he had a reputation for being anti-globalisation. He was a former scientific adviser to Attac, the international movement working for social, environmental and democratic alternatives in the globalisation process. Earlier in his career Maris was a lecturer in micro-economics at the university of Iowa and at the central bank of Peru.


Updated at 4.56pm GMT

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 4.05pm GMT11:05 

The US secretary of state John Kerry has pledged his support to the people of France:

People of Paris and all of France – each and every American stands with you today. Not just in horror or in anger or outrage ... but we stand with you in solidarity. Both in confronting extremism and in the cause of the thing they fear so much – freedom.

He went on to say that France, as the birthplace of democracy, had faced huge challenges in the past, and praised the country’s “spirit of freedom and freedom of expression … that is what extremists fear most”.While the terrorists had weapons, they had a greater weapon still, he said. “Not just a pen but a pen that represents an instrument of freedom, not of fear.”


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 4.03pm GMT11:03 
Eyewitness accounts

Kim Willsher in Paris has been hearing the stories of some of those who witnessed the attack.
One neighbour saw paramedics trying to save the injured police officer on the road outside her office.

It was ghastly, awful. We knew it was serious because they weren’t even trying to take him away to hospital. They were just trying to save him right there in the street.
We are all in shock.

Solveig G Jensen, a reporter with the Jyllands-Posten, the Danish magazine that also published the Muhammad cartoons, said she was not worried for her own security:

I think everyone knows Charlie Hebdo in France … and knows it also published the cartoons. The level of security at our offices in Denmark has been high ever since the cartoons were published.

A worker on the first floor of the building who would only give his name as Mr Chatzikonstanas said the Charlie Hebdo offices were on the second and third floors but he had heard no shots:

We did hear a bizarre noise, but no firing. Then when we went out we saw blood on the stairs. A lot of blood.
The building has been under police protection for some time.



— Kim Willsher (@kimwillsher1)
January 7, 2015
#CharlieHebdo funeral services vans have just arrived at scene. pic.twitter.com/OM4rqrZdnS





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 3.54pm GMT10:54 

Alexandra Topping reports on the latest on the search for three attackers who are still at large:

Some 3000 officers are now on the streets of Paris. Police have impounded and are currently carrying out a forensic examination of the black Citroen getaway car, which was found in the nearby 19th district in north-eastern Paris.
Le Monde is reporting that the Paris prosecutor François Molins will hold a press conference at 17.45 Paris time to give an update on the attack and the hunt to find the assailants.




Police officers close to the offices of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris.
Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images



Updated at 4.51pm GMT

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 3.49pm GMT10:49 

The flags at the Élysée Palace, the official residence of the French president, are being flown at half-mast:


— Élysée (@Elysee)
January 7, 2015
Mise en berne des drapeaux de l'Elysée #CharlieHebdo pic.twitter.com/xB1iWOQr7J





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 3.40pm GMT10:40 

My colleague Jonathan Bucks says several rallies in support of those murdered are expected to take place later today:

Le Figaro reports that about a dozen marches up and down France are expected to take place later today in solidarity with Charlie Hebdo’s journalists. The Sydicat National des Journalistes (National Union of Journalists) will hold a rally this evening in the centre of Paris.
The mayor of Nantes, Johanna Rolland, has called for a rally at 6pm while others are expected in Lyon, Montpellier, Toulouse and many other major towns and cities. Le Monde reports that rallies are also expected at the European parliament in Brussels and London’s Trafalgar Square.


Updated at 4.50pm GMT

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 3.32pm GMT10:32 

Author Salman Rushdie – who was threatened with a fatwa for writing The Satanic Verses – has tweeted in solidarity with those killed today:


— Salman Rushdie (@SalmanRushdie)
January 7, 2015
.#JeSuisCharlie http://t.co/hZ6n83A0P5



Rushdie’s statement reads:

Religion, a medieval form of unreason, when combined with modern weaponry becomes a real threat to our freedoms. This religious totalitarianism has caused a deadly mutation in the heart of Islam and we see the tragic consequences in Paris today.
I stand with Charlie Hebdo, as we all must, to defend the art of satire, which has always been a force for liberty and against tyranny, dishonesty and stupidity.
‘Respect for religion’ has become a code phrase meaning ‘fear of religion’. Religions, like all other ideas, deserve criticism, satire, and, yes, our fearless disrespect.



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 3.25pm GMT10:25 
Eyewitness account: 'They claimed to be al-Qaida'

Corinne Rey, a designer known as Coco, has told L’Humanité that she was forced to let the attackers into the Charlie Hebdo building. She said:

I had gone to pick up my daughter from daycare. Arriving at the door of the newspaper building, two hooded and armed men brutally threatened us.
They wanted to enter, go up. I typed the code. They shot Wolinski, Cabu ... it lasted five minutes ... I had taken refuge under a desk ...
They spoke French perfectly ... claiming to be al-Qaida. 


Updated at 4.38pm GMT

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 3.16pm GMT10:16 

In a display of solidarity, the US embassy in France has changed its Twitter picture to #JeSuisCharlie:



US embassy in France shows support. 
Photograph: Twitter



Updated at 3.28pm GMT

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 3.13pm GMT10:13 

There are reports in the French press that one of the attackers told an eyewitness to “tell the media that we are from Al-Qaida in the Yemen”.
Guardian correspondent and an expert on al-Qaida, Jason Burke, says this raises the possibility of an operation by an al-Qaida affiliate that has long worried western intelligence services:

It’s clearly very early days yet, but worth pointing out that al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), based in Yemen for almost a decade now, is the only official affiliate of the organisation founded by the late Osama bin Laden which has consistently shown an interest in striking the west – and has come close to successfully doing so – for many years.
AQAP has been degraded by US drone strikes but has proved resilient and capable.
However, its previous efforts have mainly relied on the bomb-making skills and ingenuity of a few senior figures, and an armed assault of this nature would be a dramatic new departure.


Updated at 4.37pm GMT

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 3.08pm GMT10:08 

With the three suspected attackers still on the loose, Paris remains in a state of high alert.
Séan Clarke is in Paris and says the emergency services are much in evidence:

Thirteen unmarked police cars with dismountable flashing lights just passed me heading south along the Quai Valmy, in the direction of the 11th arrondissement.
Bringing up the rear was a fire engine. Most of the police were wearing balaclavas. 



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 2.56pm GMT09:56 
Fifth victim named as Bernard Maris

News agency AFP reports that Bernard Maris, an economist and writer, is among those killed at the Charlie Hebdo offices this morning.



Bernard Maris pictured in 2002.
Photograph: Pierre-Franck Colombier/AFP/Getty Images




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 2.51pm GMT09:51 

There are images arriving of the car apparently abandoned by the attackers near the Porte de Pantin in Paris, before they reportedly hijacked another vehicle to escape. The car is being examined by officials:



Police examine the abandoned car.
Photograph: screengrab/Sky News



Updated at 3.05pm GMT

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 2.42pm GMT09:42 

A huge manhunt is under way in Paris after three masked and hooded gunmen armed with Kalashnikovs stormed the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo this morning, killing 12 people – including two policemen – before escaping in a hijacked car, report Kim Willsher and Jon Henley:

 A spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor’s office, Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre, confirmed that 12 people had been killed in the attack. Witnesses and police sources said three men carrying automatic rifles and a rocket-launcher arrived at the building that houses the magazine’s offices, in rue Nicolas Appert in the eastern 11th arrondissement. Cries of “Allahu Akbar” were heard, they said.
“We heard shouting in the street,” Benoît Bringer, who works at a press agency on the same floor as the magazine’s offices, told France Info radio. “We saw hooded men carrying Kalashnikovs entering the building. We called the police. After a few minutes we heard heavy firing – a lot of firing, a hell of a lot. We went upstairs to take shelter on the roof. Then after about 10 minutes we saw two armed men come out onto the street. There was more shouting, more firing.
“Three policemen had arrived on bikes but had to leave because the men were armed, obviously … Then the attackers took off in a car.”
Another, unnamed witness from an office across the corridor said she and her colleagues had heard “a huge boom. The someone opened the door to our office and asked where Charlie Hebdo was. He had a rifle. We backed away. Afterwards he left, we heard gunfire. We went to the windows, there were two men running with guns, speaking in bad French … They were shouting outside, and shooting again. Afterwards I saw someone leaving the building with his hands covered in blood.”

You can read the full report here.

Updated at 4.28pm GMT

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 2.38pm GMT09:38 

My colleague Seán Clarke, who is in Paris, sends this photograph – the #JeSuisCharlie movement shifts beyond social media:



A woman stands in solidarity with those killed in Paris shooting.
Photograph: Seán Clarke



Updated at 2.46pm GMT

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 2.33pm GMT09:33 

Reuters reports that an internal email from Danish media group JP/Politikens Hus, whose newspaper Jyllands-Posten published cartoons in 2005 depicting the Prophet Muhammad, shows the paper has increased its security level because of the shooting in Paris.


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 2.24pm GMT09:24 

Social media users are expressing solidarity with Charlie Hebdo’s journalists by using the hashtag #JeSuisCharlie, reports my colleague Elena Cresci.
Among the first to tweet using the hashtag was Thierry Puget (@titi1960), who tweeted an image which is now being widely shared by those wanting to express solidarity with the victims of the attack.


— Thierry Puget (@titi1960)
January 7, 2015
#JESUISCHARLIE pic.twitter.com/4fkcjH0yaz



About an hour after news of the shooting broke, #JeSuisCharlie began trending on Twitter worldwide:


— Shumyla (@shumylaj)
January 7, 2015
The pen is mightier than the sword, and the cowards were afraid of it. So don't stop writing. #JeSuisCharlie #CharlieHebdo



Some news organisations, such as Bild in Germany, have joined in with their own tweets.https://twitter.com/BILD/status/552829592692854784According to Twitter analytics tool Topsy, there have been more than 70,000 tweets using the hashtag so far today. 
https://twitter.com/laurenzcollins/status/552820603452141569Some Parisians are also using the slogan to organise a rally tonight in Paris.

Updated at 4.34pm GMT

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 2.19pm GMT09:19 
French interior minister: 'We will catch these three criminals'

The French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, has been speaking to the press outside the emergency cabinet meeting that is still ongoing:
He said there was now a high-security alert throughout French territory.
All prosecutors have been asked to take all precautions to protect publications, cultural institutions and public places, he added.
All measures were being taken “to neutralise these three criminals who have committed this barbaric act”; all resources have been mobilised, he added, mentioning the gendarmerie and the military.
Cazeneuve said the authorities were moving as fast as possible to find the aggressors and arrest them.
He said the authorities would be coordinating services and broadcasting “necessary information … so the French people will be informed on a continuous basis about the progress of the inquiry”.

Updated at 2.30pm GMT

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 2.19pm GMT09:19 

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES
In a video containing distressing scenes (though it has been edited by the Guardian), mobile phone footage captures the moment two gunmen shoot and apparently kill a police officer on a Paris street during the attack on magazine Charlie Hebdo.
The attackers are then seen escaping from the scene in a car.








    Sorry, your browser is unable to play this video. 



Gunmen filmed shooting a Paris police officer during the attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices. Warning: contains graphic images.



Updated at 2.31pm GMT

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 2.08pm GMT09:08 

Reuters reports that the headquarters of RPT media group Prisa in Madrid, owner of El Pais, have been evacuated after a suspicious package was received. 

Updated at 2.31pm GMT

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 2.00pm GMT09:00 

Four of the Charlie Hebdo journalists believed to have been killed in today’s attack have been named by French media.
They are the magazine’s editor and cartoonist, Stéphane Charbonnier, known as Charb; and three other cartoonists: Cabu, Georges Wolinski and Bernard Verlhac, known as Tignous. The Guardian is awaiting official confirmation of these names.


— Soren Seelow (@soren_seelow)
January 7, 2015
De source judiciaire, l'identité des 4 morts de Charlie (Cabu, Charb, Tignous et Wolinski) "résulte de l'identification d'un survivant"





— Agence France-Presse (@afpfr)
January 7, 2015
#CharlieHebdo: Charb, Wolinski, Cabu et Tignous sont morts http://t.co/CdynLOg8r0 #AFP pic.twitter.com/YgiVHEeVQa





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 1.49pm GMT08:49 

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has made a statement on the attack:

This abominable act is not only an attack on the lives of French citizens and their security.
It is also an attack on freedom of speech and the press, core elements of our free democratic culture. In no way can this be justified.


Updated at 2.32pm GMT

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 1.45pm GMT08:45 

Press Association reports that Charlie Hebdo’s editor-in-chief, Gérard Biard, escaped the attack because he was in London:

He told France Inter: “I am shocked that people can have attacked a newspaper in France, a secular republic. I don’t understand it.
“I don’t understand how people can attack a newspaper with heavy weapons. A newspaper is not a weapon of war.”
Biard said he did not believe the attack was linked to the magazine’s latest front page, which featured novelist Michel Houellebecq, who has previously sparked controversy with comments about Islam. 
And he said the magazine had not received threats of violence: “Not to my knowledge, and I don’t think anyone had received them as individuals, because they would have talked about it. There was no particular tension at the moment.”


Updated at 1.53pm GMT

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 1.39pm GMT08:39 



— Kim Willsher (@kimwillsher1)
January 7, 2015
#CharlieHebdo French Islamic leaders at scene to condemn the attack. "They have hit us all. We are all victims. These people are a minority"





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 1.39pm GMT08:39 

Anne Penketh reports from Paris that the magazine’s most recent tweet, as well as its current cover, once again had Islamism in their sights:

The weekly’s latest jibe, published on Twitter moments before the terrorist attack, was a cartoon wishing a Happy New Year ‘and particularly good health’ to Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic militant group Islamic State (Isis).
The magazine describes itself on the social network as the ‘irresponsible newspaper’. Its cover this week features the provocative new novel by Michel Houellebecq, Submission, which satirises France under a Muslim president.
Charlie Hebdo’s editor, Stéphane Charbonnier, has received death threats and lives under police protection. He has always insisted that the cartoons depicting the prophet were harmless fun, although he is well aware that Islam does not allow public images of Muhammad, which are believed by Muslims to be sacrilegious.
Charbonnier, an artist and caricaturist, has been Charlie Hebdo editor since 2009.
The headquarters of Charlie Hebdo are located close to the offices of the leftwing daily Libération in eastern Paris. In November 2013, a gunman attacked the newspaper’s offices, critically injuring a photographer.

In September 2012, Charlie Hebdo courted controversy by publishing cartoons of a naked Muhammad. Charbonnier, known as Charb, justified the decision at the time, telling RTL radio:

If you start by asking whether or not you have the right or not to draw Muhammad … then the next question is, can you put Muslims in the paper? And then, can you put human beings in the paper?
In the end, you can’t put anything in, and the handful of extremists who are agitating around the world and in France will have won.


Updated at 2.34pm GMT

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 1.29pm GMT08:29 

Michelle Stanistreet, the general secretary of the UK National Union of Journalists, has called the attack “an attempt to assassinate the free press”:

The assassination of journalists at Charlie Hebdo, cynically targeted on press day to maximise casualties, is an attempt to assassinate the free press.
Our hearts go out to the families of the 10 journalists and police officers killed in this despicable raid. The newspaper had already been the subject of attacks by people who want to suppress democracy and freedom of speech. These journalists have now paid with their lives; the perpetrators must swiftly be brought to justice.
Supporters of free speech and civil liberties must stand together with governments to condemn this act and defend the right of all journalists to do their job without fear of threats, intimidation and brutal murder.


Updated at 2.35pm GMT

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 1.25pm GMT08:25 

Families of the victims are being cared for in a building opposite the Charlie Hebdo offices, while police hunt the attackers:


— Elise Barthet (@EliseBarthet)
January 7, 2015
Des familles des victimes son accueillies dans l'immeuble qui fait face à #ChalieHebdo pic.twitter.com/2n6b2vP7yt





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 1.13pm GMT08:13 




French police and forensic experts examine the car used by armed gunmen who stormed the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo.
Photograph: Dominique Faget/AFP/Getty Images




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 1.13pm GMT08:13 

My colleague Julian Borger sends more on the magazine’s history:

In 2012, Charlie Hebdo magazine published more cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, including images of him naked, and a cover showing him being pushed along in a wheelchair by an Orthodox Jew. The French government had appealed to the editors not to go ahead with publication, and shut down embassies, cultural centres and schools in 20 countries out of fear of reprisals when they went ahead anyway.
Riot police were also deployed to the Charlie Hebdo offices to protect it from direct attacks. The foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, publicly criticised the magazine’s actions asking: ‘Is it really sensible or intelligent to pour fuel on the fire?’
Gérard Biard, the editor-in-chief, rejected the criticism. ‘We’re a newspaper that respects French law,’ he said. ‘Now, if there’s a law that is different in Kabul or Riyadh, we’re not going to bother ourselves with respecting it.’

You can read the full analysis here.

Updated at 1.14pm GMT

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 1.04pm GMT08:04 

Via AFP, here is a fuller statement from the White House:

The United States said it condemned Wednesday’s deadly shooting attack on a French newspaper in the “strongest possible terms”.
“Everybody here at the White House are with the families of those who were killed or injured in this attack,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, speaking on MSNBC.
“Senior officials at the White House have been in close touch with their counterparts in France this morning,” he added.
“The United States stand ready to work closely with the French” to help them probe the attack. 



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 1.02pm GMT08:02 

Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the EU commission, says he is deeply shocked by today’s attack:


— Jean-Claude Juncker (@JunckerEU)
January 7, 2015
Je suis profondément choqué par l'attaque sur #CharlieHebdo. J'exprime notre plus grande solidarité avec la France http://t.co/FhP0AMYzF0





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 1.00pm GMT08:00 

This map shows the location of the Charlie Hebdo offices and the Porte de Pantin, the direction in which the attackers fled as they escaped by car.




Updated at 1.58pm GMT

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 12.59pm GMT07:59 




An image from a video circulating on Facebook and YouTube, now deleted, showing two gunmen on a road near the offices.



Updated at 2.47pm GMT

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 12.55pm GMT07:55 
What we know so far


Three gunmen entered the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo this morning and opened fire.
So far, 12 people have been confirmed dead – 10 Charlie Hebdo staff and two police officers. Five others are seriously wounded.
The attackers fled the scene and later hijacked a car. They have not been caught.
The terror alert in Paris have been raised to its highest level.
French president François Hollande said the country was in shock following what he described as a terrorist attack.
Charlie Hebdo magazine had been the subject of violent attacks in the past, following its publication of cartoons of the prophet Muhammad. Its offices were firebombed in 2011, and recent threats had also been made against it and other media groups.

This liveblog will continue to have updates throughout the day.

Updated at 1.27pm GMT

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 12.51pm GMT07:51 

More from the Guardian’s Kim Willsher in Paris:


— Kim Willsher (@kimwillsher1)
January 7, 2015
#Charlie Hebdo. It was press day at the magazine so all important staff were there. Now 10 assassinated along with 2 police officers.





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 12.50pm GMT07:50 

A spokesman for US president Barack Obama has condemned the shooting, saying all of the White House is in solidarity with the families of those killed and injured in the attack.


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 12.48pm GMT07:48 




An injured person is evacuated from the magazine’s office.
Photograph: Thibault Camus/AP



Updated at 12.50pm GMT

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 12.46pm GMT07:46 

Le Monde reports that children are being evacuated from schools in 11th arrondissement.


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 12.45pm GMT07:45 

Unesco director-general Irina Bokova has condemned the attack on Charlie Hebdo:

I am horrified by this shocking attack against the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. My heart goes out to the families of the bereaved and to those who have been injured.
This is more than a personal tragedy. It is an attack on the media and freedom of expression. The world community cannot allow extremists to silence the free flow of opinions and ideas.
We must work together to bring the perpetrators to justice and stand together for a free and independent press.



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 12.42pm GMT07:42 

In this video, which appears to be taken from a property near to the attack, gun shots can be heard while the man filming remarks that it is an automatic weapon.
A woman can be seen running down the street and diving for cover between two cars.





Gunshots head in Paris in attack on French satirical magazine




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 12.37pm GMT07:37 

The cartoonist Charb is in a critical condition, according to Libération. He was included in al-Qaida’s Wanted list in 2013 for producing cartoons of the prophet Muhammad.

Updated at 12.40pm GMT

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 12.35pm GMT07:35 
'Four attackers' hijacked a car

Rocco Contento, a spokesman for the Unité police union, has told reporters that three attackers got into a getaway car driven by a fourth man on fleeing the building and drove to Porte de Pantin in north-east Paris, where they abandoned the first car and hijacked a second – turning the driver out into the road.
He also says the Charlie Hebdo offices were guarded and protection increased in recent weeks because of fresh threats against the magazine, but the attackers had entered the building intending to kill.
You can read our latest news story by Kim Willsher, who is on the scene, here.

Updated at 12.39pm GMT

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 12.31pm GMT07:31 

My colleague Jon Henley sends this roundup of witness accounts:

France Info radio has been speaking to witnesses, several of whom are journalists working at a press agency in the same building as the Charlie Hebdo offices. 
“We heard shouting in the street,” one man, Benoit Bringer, told the station. “We saw hooded men carrying Kalashnikovs enter the building. We called the police. After a few minutes we heard heavy firing, a lot of firing. We went upstairs on to the roof.
“And then after about 10 minutes we saw two armed men come out into the street. Three policemen arrived on bikes but had to leave because the men were armed, obviously … There was a lot more shouting in the street, a lot more gunshots. The attackers took off in a car.”




Ambulances and police officers in front of the offices of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.
Photograph: Antoine Antoniol/Getty Images



Updated at 12.41pm GMT

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 12.24pm GMT07:24 

A police spokesman says the death toll has risen to 12 – 10 journalists and two policemen – with five seriously injured.

Updated at 12.25pm GMT

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 12.19pm GMT07:19 

Alexandra Topping reports that newspaper offices, shopping centres, museums and stations have been placed under police protection, according to sources in the French government.


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 12.15pm GMT07:15 
Nine journalists and two police officers killed

Police spokesman Rocco Contento has confirmed to Liberation that nine members of Charlie Hebdo’s staff were killed in the attack, as well as two police officers.


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 12.14pm GMT07:14 

My colleague Jon Henley has more information on the attackers, who have not been apprehended:

The attackers are still at large, French media is quoting police sources as saying. A Paris police spokesman, Rocco Contento, has confirmed that three attackers entered the magazine’s offices at around 11.30am carrying pump-action shotguns and Kalashnikovs. “They opened fire on everyone, it was butchery, a real slaughter,” Conteno has told the daily Libération.
“Some of the people there took refuge up on the roof. The attackers then emerged, and there was a shootout with police. One policeman has been seriously wounded, he may die. Two others are also wounded. The attackers then fled in the direction of the Porte de Pantin [on the outskirts of Paris] after hijacking a car.” 


Updated at 12.15pm GMT

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 12.12pm GMT07:12 

Kim Willsher sends this further update from Paris:

Rocco Contento, a spokesman for the Unite police union, said “it was a real butchery” in the building. He said the Charlie Hebdo offices were guarded because of threats against the magazine, but the attackers had entered the building intending to kill.
He said the attackers had stolen a car after fleeing the building and were headed to the Porte de Pantin with police in pursuit.
Witnesses working in the building opposite heard shots as the attack began and saw a police officer “between life and death” lying on the road outside.
Streets were closed off around the building in the aftermath of the shooting and a few hundred metres away on the Boulevard Richard-Lenoir a police car was riddled with bullet holes to its windscreen.


Updated at 12.50pm GMT

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 12.10pm GMT07:10 

Alexandra Topping writes:

The journalist Martin Boudot, from the Premières Lignes agency, has posted this video from the roof of a building situated close to the Charlie Hebdo building. We can hear gunshots and voices who cry ‘Allahu akbar’.
In the distance we can see at least two people who appear to be fleeing.

Other newspapers in Paris have been placed under police protection, according to Le Monde.

Updated at 12.52pm GMT

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 12.08pm GMT07:08 

Guardian reporter Kim Willsher is at the scene in Paris and sends this update:


— Kim Willsher (@kimwillsher1)
January 7, 2015
Police say it was carnage "a butchery" inside Charlie Hebdo. Can see police car riddled with bullets.





— Kim Willsher (@kimwillsher1)
January 7, 2015
Police spokes. "It was a commando with Kalasnikov and pump action ...they went in there to kill".





— Kim Willsher (@kimwillsher1)
January 7, 2015
Police say there had been specific threats against Charlie Hebdo and other media recently.





— Kim Willsher (@kimwillsher1)
January 7, 2015
pic.twitter.com/LjoNtPcvwq



You can follow her live updates here on the blog and @kimwillsher1.


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 12.06pm GMT07:06 




Police and firefighters outside the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris.
Photograph: Philippe Dupeyrat/AFP/Getty Images




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 12.03pm GMT07:03 




Firefighters and police in front of the Charlie Hebdo offices.
Photograph: Philippe Dupeyrat/AFP/Getty Images




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 12.01pm GMT07:01 
President Hollande's statement

François Hollande has been speaking 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 Élysée 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”, he said, 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.

Updated at 12.11pm GMT

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 11.59am GMT06:59 

This tweet, by Le Monde journalist Elise Barthet, appears to show two gunmen pointing their weapons at a police car:


— Elise Barthet (@EliseBarthet)
January 7, 2015
Les tireurs de #ChalieHebdo face à une voiture de police. Ils ont fait feu, les policiers ont répliqué puis reculé pic.twitter.com/Ld1sxkRLvW





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 11.57am GMT06:57 

My colleague Julian Borger sends this on the controversial history of Charlie Hebdo:

Charlie Hebdo has a long record of taking its satire seriously. The weekly magazine’s response to previous efforts at intimidation was to be even more controversial or outrageous, defying the constraints of religious sensitivity or political correctness. 
In November 2011, its offices were fire-bombed after it had published a special edition, supposedly guest-edited by the prophet Muhammad and temporarily renamed ‘Charia Hebdo’. The cover was a cartoon of Muhammad threatening the readers with ‘a hundred lashes if you don’t die laughing’. 
The petrol bomb attack completely destroyed the Paris offices, the magazine’s website was hacked and the staff were subjected to death threats. But six days later, it published a new front page depicting a male Charlie Hebdo cartoonist passionately kissing a bearded Muslim man in front of the charred aftermath of the bombing. The headline this time was: L’Amour plus fort que la haine (Love is stronger than hate).
Less than a year after that, it published more cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, including images of him naked and a cover showing him being pushed along in a wheelchair by an Orthodox Jew. The French government had appealed to the magazine not to go ahead with publication, and shut down embassies and schools in twenty countries when it went ahead anyway, out of fear of reprisals. 


Updated at 12.45pm GMT

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 11.53am GMT06:53 

The British prime minister, David Cameron, has condemned the attack on a French satirical weekly in which 11 people died:

The murders in Paris are sickening. We stand with the French people in the fight against terror and defending the freedom of the press.









    Sorry, your browser is unable to play this video. 



David Cameron on the Paris attack



Updated at 3.04pm GMT

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 11.52am GMT06:52 

President Hollande is still speaking.
He says nobody can attack freedom. Eleven people were killed today and France will find the people responsible.
I will have more quotes from his statement shortly.


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 11.51am GMT06:51 
President Hollande: This was a terrorist attack

Hollande is is at the scene.
He says 11 people are dead and four are critically injured; at least 40 were “saved”.
The numbers of victims is likely to rise, he says.
The French cabinet will meet at 2pm Paris time to discuss the attack.
The security level in Paris has been raised. Police are hunting the perpetrators.
France is in a state of shock, he says. He calls today’s shooting a terrorist attack.



President Hollande visits scene of attack.
Photograph: screengrab/BBC



Updated at 11.51am GMT

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 11.49am GMT06:49 




Firefighters carry an injured man out of the Charlie Hebdo offices.
Photograph: Philippe Dupeyrat/AFP/Getty Images



Updated at 2.48pm GMT

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 11.48am GMT06:48 

Paris has raised its terror alert level to the highest setting following the attack.
It is believed that those responsible for the attack – we do not know how many were involved – are still at large, with some reports that they hijacked a car after the mass shooting.


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 11.46am GMT06:46 

Associated Press files this update:

A French police official says 11 people are dead in a shooting at a satirical weekly newspaper in central Paris.
Xavier Castaing, head of communications for the Paris police prefecture, confirmed the deaths.
French president François Hollande was headed to the scene of Wednesday’s shooting at Charlie Hebdo, a satirical weekly that has drawn repeated threats for its caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, among other controversial sketches.


Updated at 12.14pm GMT

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 11.43am GMT06:43 

The UK foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, has tweeted his condemnation of the attack:


— Philip Hammond (@PHammondMP)
January 7, 2015
Appalled to hear news of apparent terrorist attack in Paris. My thoughts are with the family and friends of those killed.





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 11.42am GMT06:42 

This tweet from Julien Rebucci at the scene purports to show a police car close to the Charlie Hebdo office:


— Julien Rebucci (@julienrbcc)
January 7, 2015
Impacts d un fusil type kalachnikov @Charlie_Hebdo_ pic.twitter.com/0QLG30C8Fl





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 11.38am GMT06:38 
11 people now confirmed dead

Police have told reporters that 11 people are now confirmed dead and five critically wounded.


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 11.38am GMT06:38 




Police forces gather in street outside Charlie Hebdo offices.
Photograph: Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty Images




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 11.37am GMT06:37 

Charlie Hebdo has been the focus of anger in the past, after it published cartoons of the prophet Muhammad.
In a December 2012 article about the magazine’s decision to release a special edition illustrated biography of the Muslim prophet, Angelique Chrisafis wrote:

In 2006, Charlie Hebdo republished the Muhammad cartoons that had sparked worldwide protests when they originally ran in Denmark. A Paris court later threw out an attempt by two Muslim organisations to sue for incitement to hatred.
In 2011, a special edition of Charlie Hebdo entitled Sharia Hebdo featured a cartoon of the prophet Muhammad on the cover as “guest-editor”, saying: “100 lashes if you don’t die of laughter!” Just before it was published, the magazine’s offices were firebombed.

It is not yet clear whether today’s attack is linked to that controversy.

Updated at 12.28pm GMT

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 11.35am GMT06:35 

This tweet was sent from the account of Charlie Hebdo around an hour ago:


— Charlie Hebdo (@Charlie_Hebdo_)
January 7, 2015
Meilleurs vœux, au fait. pic.twitter.com/a2JOhqJZJM





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 11.34am GMT06:34 

President François Hollande will visit the scene of the attack.


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 11.31am GMT06:31 
10 people killed, authorities confirm

The Paris prosecutor has just confirmed to journalists that 10 people have been killed in the attack on the offices.


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 11.26am GMT06:26 
One journalist confirmed dead by police union

Associated Press reports a police union official in Paris saying that one journalist is dead and three others injured.
Luc Poignant, an official of the SBP police union, said the attackers escaped in two vehicles.


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 11.24am GMT06:24 

Reporter and documentary filmaker Martin Boudot has tweeted a picture which he says is of journalists taking refuge on the roof of Charlie Hebdo:


— Martin Boudot (@MartinBoudot)
January 7, 2015
Attaque en cours de deux hommes en cagoule dans les locaux de CharlieHebdo. On est réfugié sur le toit pic.twitter.com/0TqFwIVJoF





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 11.23am GMT06:23 

There are many reports coming in on this story – it is important to state at this point that reports of deaths have not been confirmed.
Reuters are reporting that 10 people have been killed in the office of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, after masked armed gunmen entered the building. This has not been confirmed. 
The Associated Press are reporting casualities, saying one journalist and three policemen have been injured.
Charlie Hebdo is known as a fearless satirical magazine, which has been targeted before and was at the centre of a row after publishing cartoons of the prophet Muhammad.

Updated at 11.48am GMT

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 11.20am GMT06:20 

Hooded gunmen armed with Kalashnikovs have attacked the headquarters of one of France’s most celebrated satirical magazines, Charlie Hebdo, on Wednesday.
First reports suggested two men walked into the building in Paris’ 11th arrondissement around midday and began firing.
At least one person was said to have been injured.
In 2008, Charlie Hebdo was criticised for running Danish cartoons caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad. The magazine defended the publication in the name of freedom of expression.

Updated at 11.48am GMT

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Topics



Charlie Hebdo attack




Paris




France




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More on this story











Cherif Kouachi during 2008 terror trial: 'I've been set up' - video

File footage of one of the Paris gunmen, Cherif Kouachi, arriving at court in 2008 on charges of helping to funnel fighters to Iraq's insurgency



Published: 13 Jan 2015




Cherif Kouachi during 2008 terror trial: 'I've been set up' - video













Analysis Charlie Hebdo attackers: born, raised and radicalised in Paris

The radicalisation of the Kouachi brothers began in a picturesque park in the capital while Amédy Coulibaly took the first steps towards terrorism in prison, but what the three had in common was growing up on the margins of French society



Published: 12 Jan 2015




Charlie Hebdo attackers: born, raised and radicalised in Paris













Paris shootings: investigation launched into where gunmen got GoPro cameras

Officials try to pinpoint when and where cameras found in possession of Kouachi brothers and Amédy Coulibaly were obtained



Published: 12 Jan 2015




Paris shootings: investigation launched into where gunmen got GoPro cameras















more on this story














Cherif Kouachi during 2008 terror trial: 'I've been set up' - video

File footage of one of the Paris gunmen, Cherif Kouachi, arriving at court in 2008 on charges of helping to funnel fighters to Iraq's insurgency



Published: 13 Jan 2015




Cherif Kouachi during 2008 terror trial: 'I've been set up' - video












Analysis Charlie Hebdo attackers: born, raised and radicalised in Paris

The radicalisation of the Kouachi brothers began in a picturesque park in the capital while Amédy Coulibaly took the first steps towards terrorism in prison, but what the three had in common was growing up on the margins of French society



Published: 12 Jan 2015




Charlie Hebdo attackers: born, raised and radicalised in Paris












Paris shootings: investigation launched into where gunmen got GoPro cameras

Officials try to pinpoint when and where cameras found in possession of Kouachi brothers and Amédy Coulibaly were obtained



Published: 12 Jan 2015




Paris shootings: investigation launched into where gunmen got GoPro cameras












Paris attacks: 10,000 troops deployed as France hunts for accomplices

Mobilisation of 10,000 troops to guard potentially vulnerable locations comes as prime minister warns that ‘threat still present’



Published: 12 Jan 2015




Paris attacks: 10,000 troops deployed as France hunts for accomplices














Paris shootings: Jewish school ‘likely target’ of gunman Coulibaly




Published: 12 Jan 2015




Paris shootings: Jewish school ‘likely target’ of gunman Coulibaly








Analysis Mentor of Charlie Hebdo gunmen has been UK-based




Published: 11 Jan 2015




Mentor of Charlie Hebdo gunmen has been UK-based








Paris gunman Amedy Coulibaly declared allegiance to Isis




Published: 11 Jan 2015




Paris gunman Amedy Coulibaly declared allegiance to Isis








Charlie Hebdo: a letter to my British friends

Olivier Tonneau




Published: 13 Jan 2015




Charlie Hebdo: a letter to my British friends
















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