Midday Roundup: France honors victims of Charlie Hebdo attack

Never forget. Today France remembered the victims of terror attacks in Paris that killed 17 people one year ago. Three gunmen who claimed allegiance to Middle Eastern terror groups stormed the offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, known for its cartoons harpooning militant Islam, and attacked a kosher market nearby. The three attackers, two of whom were brothers, died during shootouts with police. Officials deployed extra security for the ceremonies, with Parisians still nervous after another attack in November that killed 130 people. But the events went off without a hitch, except for official embarrassment over misspelling the name of one of the victims on a commemorative plaque. The misspelling quickly went viral on social media.

Jihadi junior. The latest propaganda video released by Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Syria features a young boy who speaks with a British accent and vows to “go kill” nonbelievers. The boy’s grandfather in England positively identified the child, who is about 6 years old. Isa Dare traveled to Syria with his mother, who reportedly converted to Islam and decided to join ISIS. Dare is one of as many as 50 British children who have been taken by their parents to join the fight in Syria and Iraq. This is not the first time Dare has been featured in propaganda material. A photo taken in 2014, when he was about 4 years old, shows the tot holding an AK-47 rifle. British officials are assessing the situation, but it’s not clear what could be done to rescue the children held deep in ISIS territory.

House arrest. The North Charleston, S.C., police officer facing murder charges for shooting an unarmed African-American man in the back following a traffic stop has been released from jail and put on house arrest. Circuit Judge Clifton Newman initially denied Michael Slager’s request for bail, claiming he was a flight risk and posed a danger to the community. But on Monday, Newman said he was disturbed by the delay in the trial, which is not expected to start for another 11 months. Slager had been held in solitary confinement at the Charleston County Detention Center since April, when he pulled over Walter Scott on a routine traffic stop. On cellphone video captured by a bystander, the two men can be seen getting into a physical altercation before Scott turned and ran. Slager shot at him at least eight times before Scott fell to the ground. Slager’s trial has been delayed in part because prosecutor Scarlett Wilson also is handling the state’s case against Dylann Roof, the man accused of killing nine African-American parishioners during a Bible study at a Charleston church.

Border controls. Traveling through Sweden and Denmark just got tougher. As of midnight Sunday, Sweden for the first time in 50 years requires photo ID for all people arriving by train, bus, or ferry. The new rules are an attempt to ease the strain on resources in the nation of fewer than 10 million people, where 160,000 migrants resettled in 2015. Nearby Denmark responded in kind. Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen called the restrictions a “step backwards” but necessary in light of what’s happening in Europe. Germany, Austria, and France tightened borders last year, stepping away from prior free border-crossing practices. Rasmussen says more countries will follow suit unless the EU protects its external borders.

Giant Jesus. More than 100 Catholic priests and hundreds of worshippers gathered in southeastern Nigeria over the weekend for the unveiling of Africa’s biggest statue of Jesus. Bishop Augustine Tochukwu Okwuoma presided over the mass and said the statue would be a symbol of faith. The statue, standing with arms outstretched, was commissioned by a local businessman and placed on the grounds of a local church. It was carved out of white marble and stands nearly 30 feet tall. Nigeria is home to the largest Christian population in Africa, with half its 175 million residents identifying as Christians.

WORLD Radio’s Mary Reichard and Steve Coleman contributed to this report.