Shootings and explosions in Paris

[The Larch]

Thanks. To be honest I thought at first that "Eagles of Death Metal" is a name of an event (presumably featuring different death metal bands) and not the name of a band. 

They're part of the desert rock scene from Southern California, the band is actually a side project for Josh Homme, from Queens of the Stone Age, with childhood friend Jessee Hughes, who are the only permanent members of the band. Homme doesn't tour with the band and it's normally just Hughes and other musicians the ones who do that. Curiously enough Hughes is a big Republican, pro-gun, pro war on terror advocate, so I'm a bit curious on what he'll have to say about this once the dust settles.

Edit: This might be their best known song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZrctLnsF4M

Btw, Foo Fighters, who were touring Europe at the moment, have cancelled their tour in light of these events.

[Syt]

Appears to be a real ceasefire deal in Syria being worked out. Huge. Hugehugehuge.

Between who?

I believe he refers to the Syria talks in Vienna today. The participants seem to have agreed on talking to the opposition and start a dialogue between them and Asad.

[Queequeg]

Yea.

[Queequeg]

I am very cold at a friend's birthday party in Kosovo so do not expect long posts.

[Syt]

http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2015/11/14/syria-talks-begin-in-vienna-under-pall-of-paris-attacks

German foreign minister: Syrian talks agree to seek meeting between opposition, government

VIENNA (AP) — High-level talks on the future of Syria have produced an agreement to seek meetings between the opposition and the government of President Bashar Ashad by year's end, Germany's foreign minister said Saturday.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier also said that there will be efforts to create a new constitution for the war-torn country and attempts to create a transitional government within 18 months.

Steinmeier spoke at the end of a daylong meeting of nearly 20 countries represented by foreign ministers and their deputies seeking to end Syria's war. It was overshadowed by the terrorist shootings and bombings in Paris that killed more than 120 people.

Syria as a breeding ground for terrorism moved Saturday to the foreground of a meeting of foreign ministers on the war in that country, with participants linking the shooting and bombing attacks in Paris to Mideast turmoil and the opportunities it gives for terror.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov both condemned the attacks as they began meetings with senior representatives from Iran, Saudi Arabia and other countries with strongly conflicting views on how to end the more than four-year war. Key differences include what, if any role Syrian President Bashar Assad should play in any transition government and which groups fighting him should be grouped as terrorists.

Those differences appeared to be put aside at least temporarily as the meeting started.

"These kinds of attacks are the most vile, horrendous, outrageous, unacceptable acts on the planet," said Kerry, after speaking with Lavrov and shortly before the main meeting convened at a luxurious Vienna hotel. "And the one thing we could say to those people is that what they do in this is stiffen our resolve, all of us, to fight back, to hold people accountable, and to stand up for rule of law, which is exactly what we are here to do.

"And if they've done anything, they've encouraged us today to do even harder work to make progress and to help resolve the crises that we face," Kerry said.

Lavrov, standing next to Kerry, said there was "no justification for terrorist acts, and no justification for us not doing much more to defeat ISIS and al-Nusra and the like," adding: "I hope that this meeting as well would allow us to move forward."

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged ministers "to move beyond their differences on Syria" and work on a negotiated end to the war.

Ahead of the meeting, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said the attacks in Paris made it all the more necessary for the international community to find a common approach in Syria and terrorism, sentiments echoed by the foreign ministers of Germany, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Iranian state TV Saturday that the attacks in Paris show the urgency of fighting terrorism and extremism on a global level. He joined the talks later in the day.

Jordan's foreign minister, Nasser Judeh, said the Paris attack "reaffirms our collective commitment" to fight terror and extremism wherever it may occur, while EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said no one could turn away from the common threat.

"We are together in this: Europeans, Arabs, East and West, all the international community," she declared. "The best response to this is actually coming together, overcoming our differences, and trying together to lead the way towards peace in Syria."

More than 250,000 people have been killed in the Syrian war. Eleven million have been uprooted from their homes. The conflict has allowed Islamic State militants to carve out significant parts of Syria and Iraq for their would-be caliphate. Europe and Syria's neighbors, meanwhile, are struggling to cope with the worst migrant crisis since World War II.

Police had cordoned off a larger area than usual around Hotel Imperial today, but things were quiet. There were a few dozen peaceful pro-opposition protesters.

[Duque de Bragança]

Some rumors/hoaxes disproven

Nobody hurt in the Calais jungle fire yesterday, declared to be accidental by the préfet, "electrical causes", no arson. So no evil extreme right wing/nazi/fascist arson.
http://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/nord-pas-de-calais/calais-incendie-dans-la-jungle-2500-m2-touches-pas-de-blesse-852061.html
2500 m² of tents and cabins burned, fire has been put out and the situation is calm, as far as it can be there.

There was no attack in the Halles forum. After all, i went back home by a RER line going through.

[mongers]

Some rumors/hoaxes disproven

Nobody hurt in the Calais jungle fire yesterday, declared to be accidental by the préfet, "electrical causes", no arson. So no evil extreme right wing/nazi/fascist arsont.
http://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/nord-pas-de-calais/calais-incendie-dans-la-jungle-2500-m2-touches-pas-de-blesse-852061.html
2500 m² of tents and cabins burned, fire has been put out and the situation is calm, as far as it can be there.

There was no attack in the Halles forum. After all, i went back home by a RER line going through.

Was one of the attacks on a cafe/restaurant popular with cyclist at its called La Belle Équipe?

[Tamas]

So they have agreed to meet and and start talking about a potential ceasefire if all the 738 factions can agree on one?

PEACE IMMINENT

[Syt]

[Duque de Bragança]

Was one of the attacks on a cafe/restaurant popular with cyclist at its called La Belle Équipe?

Yep, 18 killed there according to the last info.

Plus au sud, au croisement de la rue Faidherbe et de la rue de Charonne, un peu avant 22 heures, une riveraine a vu un homme descendre d'une voiture pour tirer avec une arme de gros calibre sur la terrasse du café La Belle Equipe, dans le 11e arrondissement. Selon une source policière, 18 personnes sont mortes dans cette attaque.
Un journaliste du Monde présent sur place a pu apercevoir plusieurs blessés. « J'ai entendu des détonations, je suis allé à ma fenêtre, indique une riveraine, interrogée par Gérard Davet, journaliste au Monde. J'ai une vue directe sur le café. J'ai vu un homme descendre d'une voiture et tirer sur la terrasse, au jugé. Il a tiré à plusieurs reprises. Par rafales. J'ai entendu des cris. Puis l'homme est remonté dans sa voiture et reparti. Comme ça... »

Executive Summary
Not a drive-by shooting but the gunman stepped out of a car, sprayed the café's terrace without really aiming with several bursts, using a large caliber weapon. Then he went back in the car and left the scene.
A journalist from Le Monde was there and got a glimpse of the wounded.
http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2015/11/13/fusillade-meurtriere-a-paris_4809485_3224.html

[Zanza]

So they have agreed to meet and and start talking about a potential ceasefire if all the 738 factions can agree on one?

PEACE IMMINENT

The Peace of Westphalia eventually happened as well, so let's at least try.

[Josquius]

I'm trying to wonder just what is IS' plan with this one.
They must know logically its not going to make France suddenly stop attacking...and trolling them into attacking more to try and build a Islam vs. the west war?....it isn't 2001 anymore. And there is viable local opposition to them so they can't claim to be the only ones standing up to the west...
Guess its just insanity. What do you expect of people who respond to their imaginary friend saying to kill people by going "OK!"

[Duque de Bragança]

This is but a feeble consolation but it could have been even worse according to the Wall Street Journal:

Paris Attacks: Suicide Bomber Wearing an Explosive Vest Was Blocked From Entering Stade de France Soccer Venue
At least one suicide bomber had a ticket to the France-Germany soccer game, but his explosive vest was found during a security check at the gate

PARIS—At least one of the attackers outside France's national soccer stadium had a ticket to the game and attempted to enter the 80,000-person venue, according to a Stade de France security guard who was on duty and French police.

The guard—who asked to be identified only by his first name, Zouheir—said the attacker was discovered wearing an explosives vest when he was frisked at the entrance to the stadium about 15 minutes into the game. France was playing an exhibition against Germany inside.



While attempting to back away from security, Zouheir said, the attacker detonated the vest. Zouheir, who was stationed by the players' tunnel, said he was briefed on the sequence by the security frisking team at the gate.

A police officer confirmed the sequence, adding that police suspect the attacker aimed to detonate his vest inside the stadium in order to provoke a deadly stampede.

Around three minutes later, a second person also blew himself up outside the stadium. A third suicide attacker detonated explosives at a nearby McDonald's, police said. One civilian died in the attacks, police said.

The account sheds light on why the suicide attacks on Stade de France failed to cause the carnage that occurred at the Bataclan concert hall and restaurants across Paris. More than 120 people died in the string of attacks Friday.

The blasts occurred during the first half of the game, sowing confusion throughout the stadium. At least two blasts were heard clearly inside the stadium, witnesses said, and on the television broadcast. Loud blasts aren't uncommon at soccer matches on the European continent where fans sometimes set off firecrackers.

A witness who was in the Stade de France soccer stadium during the terror attacks on Nov. 13, said he thought that the explosion, "was fireworks, or some kind of cannon," or something deliberately done during the game.
At first, Zouheir said he too thought the early blast was a firecracker. Then his walkie-talkie came alive with chatter, and he noticed that French President François Hollande—who was in attendance at the Stade de France—was being ushered out of the stadium.

"Once I saw Hollande being evacuated, I knew it wasn't firecrackers," said Zouheir, who could see the VIP box from his post. He added that President Hollande left after the first blast.

The game continued for the regulation 90 minutes. French soccer federation head Noel le Graet said that the information wasn't communicated to the fans or the players in order to avoid a panic. Witnesses reported that news began to spread inside the stadium late in the second half.

"During the second half I started getting news alerts about attacks in Paris, but I didn't make the connection immediately," said Pierre Tissier, 27, who heard the explosions during the game, but said he thought it might have just been firecrackers.

A spokesman for the French soccer federation didn't respond to requests Saturday to comment on the events.

Germany manager Joachim Löw said after the game that he feared an attack as soon as he heard the blasts.

"Of course we thought of it," he said. "It was very loud. You could imagine what had happened.

The attacks came seven months before France is set to host the monthlong European soccer championships. Mr. Le Graet told reporters that the incident raised new concerns about security for the tournament.

Euro 2016 is set up to be played at 10 venues around the country with two in the capital region: the Parc des Princes in the western part of the city and the Stade de France in the northern suburb of St. Denis. It is the first major soccer tournament in the country since the 1998 World Cup.

A video Zouheir shot on his phone Saturday showed the gate where the suicide bomber was turned away and what appeared to be blood and viscera on a nearby sidewalk. On Saturday street-cleaning crews spent several hours hosing down the area.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/attacker-tried-to-enter-paris-stadium-but-was-turned-away-1447520571

[Zanza]

Based on the first name I would guess that the security guard was also a Muslim. It's telling how the lines of conflict in French society really are. I am sure more Muslims are with us than against us.

[Liep]

Christ, I can't even imagine what would've happened if he had entered.