Arrests in Europe, Political Corrections

World at War: As investigators spread a multi-national net, three men with ties to the Islamic State and the Paris terror attacks have been arrested in Turkey. One of them is Ahmet Dahmani, 26, a Belgian Moroccan, who is suspected of scouting targets for the Paris attacks.

Belgium also reports an arrest today. Police found weapons, but no explosives.

>The Belgian government put Brussels on high alert last night, citing a “serious and imminent threat that requires taking specific security measures as well as specific recommendations for the population.”

Today the prime minister cited the threat of a multiple-site attack similar to what happened in Paris.

The government advised the public to avoid places where large groups gather, including concerts, sporting events, airports and train stations … most of public life. The subway system was shut down today and ground transportation was on a limited schedule.

>The siege at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Mali’s capital ended yesterday with 19 people dead, including at least two of the attackers. One of the dead is a 41-year-old American woman from Maryland. It could have been much worse. Early on the gunmen had an estimated 170 hostages.

The takeover was ended with the help of a French Special Forces team.

Authorities were not sure who was responsible. The French said the man behind it may have been Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the one-eyed terrorist who took over an Algerian natural gas plant in 2013, killing 38 people. But both Chad and Libya have previously claimed to have killed him.

Political Correction: Under pressure from students, the president of Princeton University has agreed to “consider” removing the name of Woodrow Wilson from the school because he was a racist. Wilson was president of the university before he was president of the United States.

The School of Public and International Affairs and a dormitory at the Ivy League school are named for Wilson.

There’s a movement afoot at schools and colleges across the country to remove names or rename buildings named for racists and slaveholders. Georgetown recently announced it is renaming two buildings. Yale is considering renaming its Calhoun College, named for the segregationist John C. Calhoun. And at the University of Maryland, some students are pushing to rename Byrd Stadium, named for a segregationist university president.

Students organized at Brown University last month to demanded that Columbus day be renamed “Indigenous People’s Day,” but they didn’t take on the big target. Brown University is named for a slave trader.

Food With Integrity: Shares in the Chipotle restaurant chain tanked 12 percent yesterday after three more states reported cases of E. coli infections with the same strain that sickened 43 people who ate at Chipotle in late October and early November. Chipotle had closed and has since reopened 43 restaurants around Seattle and Portland, Ore. Chipotle is off more than 200 points since its August peak.

Hollywood: The NY Times’ Maureen Dowd has a 7,000-word piece about sexism in Hollywood in tomorrow’s Sunday magazine. She told the website The Wrap that, “Somewhere along the line I realized — wow, this incredibly liberal town full of men who say they’re feminists has been warped. It’s a sick society — like the Catholic Church and Saudi Arabia.”

Shop ‘til You Drop: A California couple says they are “filling the need” as they prepare to launch a gun-shopping channel this January. It’s called, appropriately, “GunTV.” Co-founder Valerie Castle of Rancho Mirage told USAToday there’s a nationwide “love affair with shooting sports.”

Employee Benefits: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg says he will take two months off after the birth of his daughter with wife Priscilla Chan. Chances are his job will be there when he returns.

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Monday, December 23, 2024

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It's Been Said

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