Gumen attack satirical magazine in Paris, kill 12

Armed men Wednesday stormed the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical magazine targeted in the past for its cartoons on Islam, leaving 12 people dead, according to the Paris prosecutor.
Arriving swiftly at the scene, French President François Hollande called the shooting a terror attack and described it as “an act of exceptional barbarity.” Mr. Hollande said he had convened an emergency meeting of top ministers for Wednesday afternoon to discuss national security.
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CBC Radio chief and H.R. director put "on leave" because of Ghomeshi scandal

CBC head of radio Chris Boyce, a central figure in the Jian Ghomeshi story, and one other executive were put on a leave of absence Monday. the Star's Jacques Gallant reports.
A memo sent to CBC staff Monday afternoon said Boyce and Todd Spencer, executive director, human resources and industrial relations for English services “will be on a leave of absence effective today until further notice.”
The full Star story

Bruce Phillips dead at 84

Globe and Mail obit:
Bruce Phillips was a reporter from a bygone era. A lover of the English language, he belonged to a fabled group of shoe-leather newspaper reporters on Parliament Hill whose stories shaped a generation.
He listened well, got the facts, never sensationalized and wrote with talent and speed. He moved with grace, spoke with eloquence, didn’t boast and hardly ever missed a deadline. He smoked cigars, drank Scotch, read books with a voracious appetite and was infinitely curious.
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Stuart Scott, longtime ESPN sportscaster, dead at 49

Stuart Scott, the longtime “SportsCenter” anchor and ESPN personality known for his enthusiasm and ubiquity, died Sunday. He was 49.
AP obit

Egypt appeals court orders retrial in case of Al Jazeera journalists

The Wall Street Journal reports that an Egyptian appeals court ordered a retrial on Thursday for three Al Jazeera English journalists who were convicted in June of aiding a terrorist organization by spreading false news, a case that was widely condemned as politically motivated.
At the hearing, which lasted only minutes, the journalists weren’t granted bail pending their retrial and the judge didn’t explain his decision—but it appeared to be the first legal acknowledgment that the initial trial was flawed.
Family members of the journalists, Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, said the decision gave them hope that a retrial would lead to an exoneration but expressed dismay that the men weren’t freed after more than a year in detention.
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