Seven detained in hunt for Paris media killers

Seven people have been detained in the hunt for brothers suspected of gunning down 12 people in an Islamist assault on a satirical weekly, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Thursday.

The masked, black-clad gunmen burst into the offices of the Charlie Hebdo magazine on Wednesday morning, killing some of France's most outspoken journalists and two policemen, before jumping into a car and escaping.

They are still on the run, and authorities have warned they are "armed and dangerous."

"Seven people," Cazeneuve said on French radio when asked how many people were currently being held and questioned over the attack -- the bloodiest in France in half a century.

A judicial source, who refused to be named, added that those who were being questioned are men and women who are close to the suspects, without saying where they had been detained.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls meanwhile told RTL radio that the two suspects were known to intelligence services and were "no doubt" being followed before Wednesday's attack.

They have been identified as Cherif Kouachi, 32, a known jihadist convicted in 2008 for involvement in a network sending fighters to Iraq, and his 34-year-old brother Said. Both were born in Paris.

The massacre triggered an outpouring of solidarity around the world, with outraged people from Moscow to Washington rallying in their tens of thousands under the banner "I am Charlie", in support of press freedom and the controversial Charlie Hebdo magazine. — Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

France unveils its toughest budget in years

PARIS -- France's Socialist government announced the country's harshest budget in 30 years Friday, including $25.8 billion in new taxes.

The hardest hit will be major businesses and the rich, as President François Hollande stuck to his May election pledge to introduce a new "supertax" rate of 75% on those earning over $1.29 million a year.

However, France's public services escaped the major cuts that other Eurozone countries have enforced in the battle to rein in their sovereign debt.

The government needs to find around $47.7 billion to bring France's public deficit down to 3% of gross domestic product by next year, in line with European Union rules. The deficit is currently about 4.5%.

Two-thirds of the deficit cutting is to be made through new taxes and one-third in spending cuts. The government promised that after 2014 the split between taxes and spending cuts would be 50-50.

Of the $12.9 billion in new taxes on companies, most will be raised on large corporations through the removal of tax breaks and exemptions.  Another $12.9 billion of new taxes on households will affect only top earners, said French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, who insisted 90% of taxpayers would be spared.

The "supertax" rate of 75%, a controversial populist measure, will apply for at least two years but affects only 2,000 to 3,000 people. However, a new 45% tax rate will be imposed on those earning over $194,000.

Pierre Moscovici, the finance minister, said it was an "unprecedented" budget, but insisted it was necessary to comply with European Union rules of reducing the public deficit to 3%.

Just four months into his five-year term in office, Hollande is under fire from all sides.

As well as grumbling from business leaders, unemployment numbers that topped the symbolic level of 3 million in August and tumbling popularity in the opinion polls, the president is facing revolt from traditional allies in unions and left-wing groups that are threatening strikes if the budget is too austere.

A demonstration is planned for Sunday against the EU's fiscal treaty, which imposes strict deficit limits.

source: latimes.com