Paris Attacks

[Tender Branson]

Terrible.

I was watching the France-Germany football game yesterday and there were 2 loud explosions in the first half of the game.

I thought it was the usual crackers that some fans set off, but then the commentator said that there "was no smoke" (like usual when these things are set off in a stadium) and I got a weird feeling that something must have happened outside the stadium.

[Tender Branson]

Austrian politicians (Faymann, Mitterlehner, Fischer, Kurz, Strache, Glawischnig etc.) have offered condolences to the French people and victims families.

Also, security measures in Austria have been stepped up significantly today - especially because the Syria conference starts in Vienna today.

http://orf.at/stories/2309869/2309867

http://www.wsj.com/articles/kerry-arrives-in-vienna-for-talks-on-syria-1447442385

[Tender Branson]

Meanwhile, one suspect has been arrested today at 8am near Rosenheim, Bavaria (Germany) in a car full of weapons, machine guns and some kilograms of explosives.

This is only about 30 miles away from where I live.

[Tender Branson]

The Syria conference in Vienna has just started and the area around the Hotel Imperial is sealed off completely and protected by Austrian SWAT ("Cobra") teams, the Secret Service and others.

[Tender Branson]

5 Austrians from a band were at the Bataclan club during the attack.

1 is in a critical condition (suffered a stomach-shot) and the other 4 are unharmed.

[Tender Branson]

Just in:

The fingerprint on the Syrian passport and the fingerprint from one of the blown-off terrorist fingers found at the football stadium are identical according to the French and Greek police.

This means that the terrorist (or "refugee") in fact came in via Turkey, then officially registered as an asylum seeker in Greece by getting a new Syrian emergency passport, then travelled on to Serbia, then further north through Austria (the Serb authorities confirmed this), then Germany and into France (or Belgium).

[Tender Branson]

Good.

Only a terrorist with a bullet in the head or blown up in their apartment is a good terrorist.

Let's hope France keeps cracking down hard on these assholes and kills them all. It's the only way they'll get it.

[Tender Branson]

The target of the operation was Abdelhamid Abaaoud who turns out not to have been in Syria at all.

Source ?

All articles I've read said that he was in Syria.

Besides, it doesn't make much difference: You don't need to be in Syria to be a terrorist mastermind. Spending time in Iraq, Yemen etc. do it as well.