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Paris massacre: ten developments, as of Sunday morning

Barack Obama flies into Turkey for a G20 conference now likely to have the Islamic State as its theme. Here are ten developments.

  1. The death toll has risen to 129, with 352 others wounded, 100 critically. Five Britons are feared dead, and another five injured.
  2. A passport found near the body of one attacker was that of a 25-year-old Syrian migrant, according to French investigators. The Greek government said he had been registeredat the Aegean island of Leros on 3 October.
  3. Another attacker has been identified as a 29-year-old Frenchman who had been on a jihadi watch list. His father and brother are being held by police for questioning
  4. Another jihadi had a ticket for the France vs Germany football game, but was intercepted by security guards in Stade de France. He then detonated his suicide best, killing one other person. Two others detonated outside. This suggests the original plan was to cause a commotion inside the stadium then hit supporters as they evacuated. The guards who thwarted the plot worked for MCS, an Australian security firm
  5. France has declared a three-day state of emergency during which troops will continue to patrol Paris.
  6. French police said that the jihadis’ suicide vests contained acetone peroxide, an explosive used in the London bombings of 2005.
  7. At a Cobra emergency meeting in Whitehall yesterday, security chiefs told the Prime Minister that the French police had done the right thing by storming the Bataclan Arts centre. One said: “In these situations you don’t save lives by negotiating. You save lives by moving in fast and killing the terrorists.”
  8. Angela Merkel appeared on German TV, dressed in black, saying: “We, your German friends, we are crying with you. Together with you, we will fight against those who have carried out such an unfathomable act against you.”
  9. The Islamic State also claimed responsibility for suicide bombings in Beirut that claimed 40 lives.
  10. Jeremy Corbyn cancelled a speech in which he was due to say that Britain’s involvement in Middle East wars has “increased, not diminished, the threats to our own national security”.

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