“I am alive. There is death all around me. Yes, I am here. The jihadists spared me”
— A Charlie Hedbo journalist who survived the terrorist attack in Paris
Abroad: French satirists murdered in Paris
THE GIST. At least two masked gunmen have murdered 12 people and injured 11 others in the Paris office of satirical newspaper Charlie Hedbo. President Hollande says it is "without a doubt" an act of terrorism.
BACKGROUND. The newspaper has a history of lampooning Islam. In 2006 it re-printed the infamous Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. In 2011, the paper published another edition depicting the prohet, and it's office was firebombed in retaliation. In 2012 they again printed satirical cartoons of Muhammad, and drew the criticism of the French Foreign Minister.
THE ATTACK. Witnesses said the attackers were screaming "Allahu akbar!" (God is great) during the onslaught, and during the ensuing gunfight with police yelled "we have avenged the Prophet Muhammad, we have killed Charlie Hedbo!". They managed to escape through the north of Paris in a black car.
AFTERMATH. President Hollande has raised the nation's terror alert level to its highest status. Meanwhile, up to 35,000 people gathered in support of Charlie Hedbo in Paris, many holding signs saying, "I am Charlie".
THE GIST. Oil prices have dropped 10% in two days, and 55% since June. They are now at their lowest level since 2009. Break out the giant red hands.
BLAME GAME. The price slump is the result of several factors: weak economic activity around the world, unexpectedly good oil production from places like Libya and Iraq, and the fact that the US is now the world's number one oil producer. Basically, there's a lot more oil around than people expected, meaning that supply is outweighing demand.
WINNERS. The price fall is good news for anybody with a car, as petrol is now much cheaper. Prices have fallen to less than $1 per litre in Sydney, and Australian consumers have benefitted to the tune of up to $3 billion. The fun doesn't stop there: air fares are apparently tipped to fall by 5% this year too.
LOSERS. It's not all good news: shares in the mining company Santos are now "worthless", and we're reliably informed that petrol prices don't affect poor people anyway. Research also shows that when petrol prices fall, more people start driving, and road fatalities go up, up.
GOLDILOCKS. American scientists have discovered a planet that is "as close to Earth" as anything seen before. The planet, Kepler 438b, is 470 light years away and apparently in the 'Goldilocks' zone, meaning conditions for life are just right. Somebody tell Matthew McConaughey.
DELICIOUS PHILANTHROPY. Bill Gates is making drinking water out of human feces. He reckons that it's a safe, affordable (and delicious) way to get rid of human waste, diseases from which kill 700,000 people every year. Bottoms up.
FAST FACTS. The US now has more jails than universities, Australians under 25 are less likely to get a driver's licence than their parents, and there is no link between mobile phone usage and brain cancer.
