Vox Sentences: A hostage situation, two explosions, and a set of shootings in Paris

A hostage situation, a pair of explosions, and three shootings in Paris leave dozens dead.

Vox Sentences is written by Dylan Matthews and Dara Lind.

TOP NEWS

Horrifying attacks in Paris

(AFP/Matthieu Alexandre)

• A series of attacks in Paris on Friday night has killed dozens of people.

  [Vox / Zack Beauchamp]

• At a nightclub called Bataclan, more than 100 people were held hostage. Police raided and evacuated the nightclub.

  [BBC]

• We aren't sure how many of the hostages were killed by the attackers. Some reports say the police found more than 100 bodies.

  [New York Times / Adam Nossiter and Rick Gladstone]

• Two explosions went off near the stadium where the French national soccer team was playing Germany. The teams finished the match before the fans were evacuated by police, singing the Marseillaise on the way out.

  [Mashable / Chris Grasinger]

• The explosions reportedly killed six people, including three likely suicide bombers.

  [FranceSoir (French)]

• There have also been at least three confirmed shootings, in the same neighborhood of Paris.

  [Vox / Zack Beauchamp]

• French President François Hollande has declared a state of emergency, and closed France's borders (at least to people trying to leave the country).

  [Reuters]

• Because this is an ongoing situation, there are likely to have been updates since we sent this email. FRANCE24's English-language Twitter feed is the best, most accurate breaking news source we've seen.

  [FRANCE24 via Twitter]

Saturday Night Debate

(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

• Are you ready for Saturday night's Democratic presidential primary debate?!?

  [CBS News]

• Don't worry if you're not planning to watch it. Most people probably won't. Saturday debates are rare precisely because few people watch them.

  [Vox / Alvin Chang]

• The Democratic debate schedule is not only light on debates, it's also extremely light on debates at peak times. It was almost certainly structured this way as a favor to Hillary Clinton, whose campaign wanted no debates.

  [Salon / Jim Newell]

• But the "debate when no one is watching" strategy doesn't help Clinton, who's a perfectly good debater (and who, if she makes any huge mistake, will still get attention for it afterward).

  [Vox / Matt Yglesias]

• Clinton also doesn't have much to fear from Bernie Sanders or Martin O'Malley right now. Ever since Joe Biden clarified he wasn't running, she's been doing just fine in the polls.

  [RealClearPolitics]

The death of Jihadi John

(YouTube)

• US officials say they're "reasonably certain" that ISIS recruit and spokesperson Mohammed Emwazi, known as "Jihadi John," was killed in a drone strike overnight.

  [CNN / Greg Botelho and Barbara Starr]

• Emwazi was a Kuwaiti-born British citizen who'd gotten a degree in computer programming from the University of Westminster (many jihadist recruits are technology students).

  [Vox / Max Fisher]

• This isn't a huge strategic defeat for ISIS. Emwazi wasn't much more than a front man.

  [The Telegraph / Chris Doyle]

• He had an outsize profile because he was British, and because of his role beheading several American and European hostages — including American photographer James Foley.

  [New Yorker / Lawrence Wright]

• Most jihadis recruited in Western countries end up dying there, like Emwazi — or they're disaffected when they return.

  [Brookings Institution / Daniel L. Byman and Jeremy Shapiro]

MISCELLANEOUS

Welcome to Beattyville, Kentucky, the third poorest town in America, with a median income of just $12,361. Here's how people (barely) get by. [The Guardian / Chris McGreal]

• Heidi Yeh, a Taiwanese actress, booked a commercial photo assignment for a plastic surgery clinic. The subsequent online abuse was brutal and unending.

  [BBC / Cindy Sui]

• Contrary to popular belief, your cat is not trying to kill you.

  [NPR / Barbara J. King]

• Meet Protein Cheerios. They only have 4 more grams of protein per serving than regular Cheerios, but 16 more grams of sugar!

  [Washington Post / Roberto Ferdman]

• John Mulaney's new standup special is the funniest thing I (Dylan) have seen since, well, John Mulaney's last standup special. This review nails why.

  [AV Club / Erik Adams]

VERBATIM

"I am not the lead singer from Korn." [President Barack Obama, via Stereogum / Peter Helman]

• "As a white person, and as a rule of thumb, I try not to treat discussions of racism and cultural appropriation as a springboard for the kind of musings that come to me post-bong rip."

  [Salon / Elias Isquith]

• "Rich [Blee] started by saying, ‘There will be significant terrorist attacks against the United States in the coming weeks or months. The attacks will be spectacular. They may be multiple. Al Qaeda's intention is the destruction of the United States."

  [George Tenet on a pre-9/11 meeting with Condi Rice, to Politico / Chris Whipple]

• "What cash-strapped young man can look himself in the mirror and proclaim, Today I am finally going to buy that $22 miniature hedge with the two raccoons poking out?"

  [The Walrus / Richard Kelly Kemick]

• "People either believe cycling is elitist or for [low-income people], and people don’t want to associate themselves with either of those, especially in a country where we all believe we are middle class."

  [Adonia Lugo to Washington Post / Perry Stein]

WATCH THIS

The Weeds: We know how to eliminate poverty. So why don't we? [Vox / Sarah Kliff, Matt Yglesias, Dylan Matthews]

(Vox)

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