Jewish patrol cars out in force in London amid fears of copycat attack in wake of kosher store siege in Paris –Extra Jewish security patrol cars are out in force in North-West London –Security cars look similar to police vehicles and bear the name ‘Shomrim’ | 12 Jan 2015 | Extra Jewish security patrol cars and police were out in force in North-West London yesterday following the kosher store siege in Paris. The cars look very similar to police vehicles and bear the security group’s name ‘Shomrim’ — Hebrew for ‘guards’ — along the sides and back. The Orthodox organisation, which works closely with the Metropolitan Police, tweeted: ‘Following events in Paris we will have on extra patrols throughout NW London over Shabbos [the Jewish sabbath].’ Shomrim volunteers receive police training and uniforms, including knife-proof vests.
Investigator of Charlie Hebdo massacre, Police Commissioner Heroic Redound, ‘commits suicide’ before completing report | 9 Jan 2015 | Just over a year after Helric Fredoun discovered the lifeless body of the third ranking police officer SRPJ of Limoges, the second ranking service officer has committed suicide yesterday at his workplace with his service weapon. We learned this morning, a Commissioner Helric Fredoun SRPJ Limoges has committed suicide last night in his office with his service weapon…The Commissioner Fredou, like all agents SRPJ worked yesterday on the case of the massacre at the headquarters of Charlie Hebdo. In particular, he surveyed the family of one of the victims. He killed himself before completing its report. A psychological cell was set up in the police station.
MI5 chief seeks new powers after Paris magazine attack –About 50% of MI5’s work is now devoted to counter-terrorism. | 8 Jan 2015 | The head of MI5, Andrew Parker, has called for new powers to help fight Islamist extremism, warning of a dangerous imbalance between increasing numbers of terrorist plots against the UK and a drop in the capabilities of intelligence services to snoop on communications. Speaking to an invited audience at MI5 headquarters, he said the threat level to Britain had worsened and Islamist extremist groups in Syria and Iraq were directly trying to orchestrate attacks on the UK. An attack on the UK was “highly likely” and MI5 could not give a guarantee it would be able to stop it, he said.
Militants planning mass casualty attacks against West; MI5 wants more spying powers | 9 Jan 2015 | The head of Britain’s domestic spy agency MI5 warned on Thursday that militant Islamists in Syria were planning “mass casualty attacks” in the West and that intelligence services may be powerless to stop them. “We know…that a group of core al-Qaeda [al-CIAduh] terrorists in Syria is planning mass casualty attacks against the West,” Andrew Parker told journalists in London a day after an Islamist attack in Paris claimed 12 lives. [Wait, how does he know this?] Parker called for wider powers to identify and monitor suspects, following a backlash against the security services after the extent of their snooping was exposed by Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor.
Belgian Newspaper ‘Le Soir’ Evacuated After Bomb Threat | 11 Jan 2015 | The Belgian newspaper Le Soir, which republished the French cartoons of Charlie Hebdo, evacuated its building today (Sunday) following an anonymous phoned in bomb threat, reports AFP. Maroun Labaki, who is in charge of the paper’s foreign pages, told the Belga news agency that “an anonymous caller made threats against the editorial side of the paper, after which we decided to evacuate the building.” Martine Dubisson, who writes for Le Soir, tweeted that the caller said “a bomb was going to go off in your newsroom.”