The terror threat spreads in Europe. The U.S. eases Cuba travel restrictions. And Duke backs away from allowing a Muslim call to prayer.
It’s Friday and here are the 5 things to know for your New Day.
BELGIUM ANTI-TERROR OPERATION
Operation thwarted: Belgian police pounced on a radical terror cell yesterday that they say was about to strike. Officers killed two suspects and wounded and arrested a third. Police recovered four Kalashnikovs, bomb making materials and police uniforms, a Western intelligence source said. Fear of terror was already high in Europe after multiple threats from ISIS and al Qaeda. After the raid, more fear spread through neighboring countries, as intelligence officials spoke of a possible mobilization of terrorists living in them, and ISIS terrorists speaking French in a video promised new attacks.
FRANCE ATTACKS
Adieu: The goodbyes continue in the aftermath of the terror attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices last week. Funerals are being held today for magazine editor Stephane “Charb” Charbonnier, illustrator Philippe Honore and Algerian-born copy editor Mustapha Ourrad. They were among the 12 killed when brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi burst into the newsroom and gunned down staffers. Another 11 were wounded. In addition, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met in Paris today with French President Francois Hollande and Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.
CUBA RESTRICTIONS EASED
Havana here we come: It just got a lot easier for Americans to travel to Cuba. The Obama Administration has softened restrictions. Cuban Americans traveling to see family members, American officials on government trips, journalists on assignment on the island as well as everyday citizens visiting for educational, cultural, religious reasons will no longer need permission first. President Barack Obama originally announced the change in U.S. policy on Cuba on Dec. 17.
OKLAHOMA EXECUTION
Death sentence: Oklahoma has executed its first inmate since a controversial lethal injection in April. Charles Frederick Warner was put to death last night for the rape and murder of his then-girlfriend’s 11-month-old daughter in the summer of 1997. Warner was originally scheduled to die on the same night as Clayton Lockett — April 29, 2014 — but the execution was called off after the state took 43 minutes to execute Lockett. He was convulsing and writhing on the gurney. The execution was halted, but Lockett eventually died. His execution was the first in the state to use a new cocktail of drugs to end his life.
DUKE MUSLIM PRAYERS
No, let’s not: Duke University has backed away from its decision to allow a Muslim call to prayer to sound from a campus chapel bell tower on Fridays. Plans changed because the school’s effort to “unify was not having the intended effect,” said Duke spokesman Michael Schoenfeld. The Duke Muslim Students Association had planned to chant the call from the Duke Chapel bell tower. It signals the beginning of the weekly prayer service. Franklin Graham, son of legendary evangelist Billy Graham, applauded the school for the reversal. Others expressed their disappointment over it, saying Duke had bowed to political correctness.
There you go. All you need to know to get an early start to your morning.
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