10 things you need to know today: November 15, 2015

The Eiffel Tower has been closed following the terrorist attacks in Paris

(Image credit: Daniel Ochoa de Olza/Associated Press)

Jump to category:

1. Investigators widen search for Paris attack suspects
2. Democrats argue over foreign policy, Wall Street in second debate
3. Obama: 'The skies have been darkened' by Paris attacks
4. DOJ: Black Americans experience more nonlethal force by police
5. Pentagon: Airstrike thought to have killed ISIS leader in Libya
6. Syria talks move toward creating transitional government
7. Republicans urge President Obama to turn away Syrian refugees
8. Obama praises Mizzou students protesting campus racism
9. Spike Lee calls Hollywood's race problem 'ridiculous'
10. SNL opens with somber Paris tribute

published 15 November 2015

1. Investigators widen search for Paris attack suspects

After terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday killed at least 129 people, investigators started searching across Europe for information about the seven suicide bombers and others who may have helped plot the attacks. A manhunt is reportedly underway Sunday for a potential eighth attacker who may have fled the scene. French investigators identified Ismaël Omar Mostefaï as a suicide bomber taking hostages at the concert hall. Authorities have also detained people in Belgium in connection to the attacks and are looking into a Syrian passport found near an attacker.

At Saturday night's Democratic presidential debate in Iowa, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley played a tense tug-of-war over foreign policy in light of the terrorist attacks in Paris. Underdogs O'Malley and Sanders managed to stand out for their comments on Wall Street reform, health care, and taxes, but Clinton made it out relatively unscathed. "I've heard a lot about me in this debate," she said in her final statement, "but I'm going to keep thinking about you."

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After meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ahead of the G-20 summit in Antalya, President Obama commented again on the Paris attacks. "The skies have been darkened by the horrific attacks that took place in Paris just a day and a half ago," he said Sunday. "The killing of innocent people, based on a twisted ideology, is an attack not just on France, not just on Turkey, but it's an attack on the civilized world." The president was referring to an October bombing in Ankara.

Black Americans are more than twice as likely to experience nonlethal force by police officers as white Americans, according to a Department of Justice study released Saturday. For the study's purposes, nonlethal force ranges from shouting and cursing to electroshock weapons and gun-pointing. The study comes as protesters nationwide have aimed to raise awareness about what they consider widespread police brutality against unarmed black people.

A U.S. airstrike Friday is thought to have killed the Islamic State's leader in Libya, Pentagon officials said Saturday. Wisam al Zubaidi, also known as Abu Nabil al-Anbari, may have also been the spokesman in the terrorist group's 2015 video of the beheading of 21 Copts, most of whom were Egyptian, officials said. The airstrike was reportedly unrelated to the death of at least 129 people on Friday in Paris terrorist attacks, which ISIS has claimed responsibility for.

Foreign ministers from nearly 20 nations agreed Saturday to create a transitional government in Syria within 18 months. By the end of 2015, the leaders plan to set up meetings between President Bashar al-Assad and the opposition in the war-torn country. Countries remain divided over whether he'd be part of the transitional government. The meeting in Vienna also focused heavily on the country's role in regional terrorism, in light of the Paris attacks.

Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and other Republican presidential hopefuls have criticized President Obama's decision to take in 10,000 Syrian refugees next year, citing the Paris terrorist attacks purportedly carried out by the Islamic State. "This will be coming to America," Cruz said. "ISIS plans to bring these acts of terror to America." Many of the Republican contenders who spoke Friday and Saturday at Florida's Sunshine Summit told supporters they believed admitting refugees fleeing conflict in Syria would give ISIS fighters opportunities to enter the U.S.

President Obama praised the University of Missouri protesters whose actions led to the school's system president resigning Monday. Tim Wolfe had been accused of not responding adequately to race-related incidents on campus. "There is clearly a problem at the University of Missouri, and that's not just coming from students. That's coming from some faculty," Obama told ABC's George Stephanopoulos. "I think it is entirely appropriate for students in a thoughtful, peaceful way to protest what they see as injustices or inattention to serious problems in their midst."

Saturday Night Live opened its show with a brief, heartfelt display of solidarity from veteran cast member Cecily Strong. "Paris is the City of Light. And here in New York City, we know that light will never go out," she said. "Our love and support is with everyone there tonight. We stand with you." Strong then repeated the same message in French before uttering the show's iconic opening line, "Live from New York, it's Saturday night."

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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.