AP News in Brief at 11:57 p.m. EST
After attacks, Democrats debate terrorism and economy
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - With the country still reeling from deadly terrorist attacks in Paris, Hillary Rodham Clinton cast herself as America's strongest leader in a scary world, even as she found herself forced to defend her own role during the rise of the Islamic State militants.
"This election is not only about electing a president, it's also about choosing our next commander in chief," Clinton declared Saturday night in the Democrats' second debate of the presidential campaign. "All of the other issues we want to deal with depend upon us being secure and strong."
Amid the backdrop of global anxiety, Clinton found herself fending off questions about not only her foreign policy record but her economic ties, with both Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley painting the former senator from New York as a lackey for Wall Street and corporate interests.
"Let's not be naive about it," said Sanders, noting that Clinton collected millions in campaign donations from Wall Street bankers. "They expect to get something. Everybody knows that."
Clinton defended her relationship with Wall Street, citing her work in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but her statement met with criticism from Republicans who accused her of politicizing the terrorist assaults.
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AP FACT CHECK: Sanders on 1 percent; Clinton on donors
WASHINGTON (AP) - Bernie Sanders persisted in using shopworn stats on income inequality and Hillary Rodham Clinton glossed over the well-heeled donors to her campaign in the latest Democratic presidential debate.
Some of the claims in the debate Saturday night and how they compare with the facts:
CLINTON: "Since we last debated in Las Vegas, nearly 3,000 people have been killed by guns. Two hundred children have been killed. This is an emergency." She said that in the same period there have been 21 mass shootings, "including one last weekend in Des Moines where three were murdered."
THE FACTS: The claim appears to be unsupported on all counts.
The Gun Violence Archive has recorded 11,485 gun deaths in the U.S. so far this year, an average of just under 1,000 per month, making Clinton's figure appear to be highly exaggerated. The archive had more detailed data for children and teenagers, showing 70 from those age groups killed by firearms since the Democratic candidates debated Oct. 13 - not 200 as she claimed.
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Debate Takeaways: Somber on Paris, divisions on policy
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Call it a tale of two debates.
The deadly attacks in Paris cast a somber mood at the start of the second Democratic presidential debate, but the field spent the rest of the night tossing sharp elbows over Wall Street reform, gun control and the minimum wage.
Hillary Rodham Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley stood for a moment of silence at the start of the debate, their heads bowed and their hands folded. From there, they engaged in a direct but measured discussion during the next 30 minutes over the consequences of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the rise of the Islamic State group.
But the pace of the debate quickly picked up over domestic policy with Sanders and O'Malley challenging Clinton's willingness to police Wall Street. Clinton put Sanders on the defensive over his vote to shield gun manufacturers from legal liability in fatal shootings. O'Malley accused Clinton of being on "three sides" of gun control, saying she once portrayed herself as Annie Oakley.
Some takeaways from the Des Moines debate:
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Eiffel Tower goes dark as France mourns 129 dead
PARIS (AP) - The Eiffel Tower stood dark in a symbol of mourning Saturday night as France struggled to absorb the deadliest violence on its soil since World War II: coordinated gun-and-suicide bombing attacks across Paris that left at least 129 people dead and 352 injured.
President Francois Hollande vowed that France would wage "merciless" war on the Islamic State group, which claimed responsibility for the mayhem, as investigators raced to track down their accomplices and uncovered possible links to networks in Belgium and Syria.
Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said three groups of attackers, including seven suicide bombers, carried out the "act of barbarism" that shattered a Parisian Friday night.
He said the attackers in the Bataclan concert hall, where 89 people died, mentioned Syria and Iraq during their rampage. Of the hundreds wounded in the six attacks, 99 were in critical condition.
Seven attackers launched gun attacks at Paris cafes, detonated suicide bombs near France's national stadium and killed hostages inside the concert venue during a show by an American rock band - an attack on the heart of the pulsing City of Light.
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How a half-hour of horror washes Paris in blood; 129 dead
PARIS (AP) - The attackers worked in three synchronized teams, wearing matching suicide vests and carrying the same weapons. In an excruciating half-hour, they unleashed their terror. One suicide bombing after another at the national stadium, sprays of gunfire in the crowded restaurants and streets of central Paris, and finally a hostage standoff that drenched a 19th century dance hall with the blood of dozens of young people out for a night of rock music. Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said three suicide attackers died near the stadium, three in the concert hall, and one further south on the same boulevard.
Here is how it happened, based on accounts from French authorities and witnesses.
9 p.m.
Kickoff of the France-Germany soccer match at the French national stadium and the beginning of the rock show at the Bataclan concert hall. Both packed with fans, the match includes French President Francois Hollande among spectators. In the audience at the Eagles of Death Metal show is the sister of French striker Antoine Griezmann, who started in Friday night's game.
9:20 p.m.
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Security up in some US locales, business as usual at others
NEW YORK (AP) - Times Square, French consulates and sports stadiums saw increased security Saturday, but authorities noted the stepped-up patrols were out of an abundance of caution following the Paris terror attacks that killed more than 120.
Consulates in New York and Boston received extra security along with French-owned sites in Washington. But elsewhere, like Minnesota's Mall of America, it was business as usual.
"I think like all New Yorkers, we feel solidarity, we know how this feels; it hits home personally," said Ronnie De La Cruz, who was born in Paris, but has lived in the United States since the 1960s. After leaving a floral tribute at the French Consulate on Fifth Avenue, across from Central Park, he shrugged off any concerns about security.
"I think that certainly here in New York is probably about as best as it can be," he said.
Sports venues were mindful of security in response to the attacks, which included suicide bombings outside the Stade de France during a soccer match between France and Germany.
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Obama heads to G-20 with new urgency following Paris attacks
WASHINGTON (AP) - The global anxiety sparked by a series of deadly attacks in Paris by the Islamic State group has given new urgency to President Barack Obama's upcoming talks with world leaders.
The crisis in Syria, where the Islamic State group has taken root, was already high on the agenda at the meeting of 20 leading industrialized and emerging-market nations. But the violence in Paris that killed at least 129 people will dramatically change the dynamic of the talks in Antalya, Turkey, a seaside resort city just a few hundred miles from the Syrian border.
In remarks from the White House shortly after the attacks, Obama said, "We're going to do whatever it takes to work with the French people and with nations around the world to bring these terrorists to justice, and to go after any terrorist networks that go after our people."
French President Francois Hollande said Islamic State militants were behind the attacks and the extremist group claimed responsibility Saturday. The White House said Saturday that no information they have contradicts the French assessment that IS carried out the Paris attacks.
Obama met with his national security team at the White House on Saturday before departing for Turkey. His trip includes stops in the Philippines and Malaysia for a pair of Asia-Pacific summits.
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Diplomats set plan for political change in Syria
VIENNA (AP) - Invoking the need for joint action after the attacks in Paris, foreign ministers of nearly 20 nations agreed Saturday to an ambitious yet incomplete plan for bringing peace to Syria and ending its role as a breeding ground for ISIS and other radical Islamic groups.
Countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, which support different sides in the conflict, put aside their dispute to condemn the bombings and shootings that left at least 123 people in the French capital dead Friday. So did Moscow and Washington.
Standing next to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov ahead of Saturday's full ministerial meeting, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called the attacks "the most vile, horrendous, outrageous, unacceptable acts on the planet". He said they "encouraged us today to do even harder work to make progress and to help resolve the crises that we face."
"The events in Paris underscore the threat that Daesh poses to all of us," he later told reporters, referring by an alternate name to ISIS, which claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks. Kerry spoke in French for part of his post-meeting remarks, in a bow to the victims of those attacks.
Lavrov said there was "no justification for terrorist acts, and no justification for us not doing much more to defeat ISIS and al Nusra and the like," adding: "I hope that this meeting as well would allow us to move forward."
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Paris attacks provoke fresh migrant fears in Europe
BERLIN (AP) - The news that one of the assailants in the Paris attacks may have crossed into Europe with refugees fleeing Syria is raising the fierce debate over Europe's immigration policy to a new pitch.
Chancellor Angela Merkel, already under pressure from political foes and allies, seemed Saturday to hold onto her stance of placing no limits on the number of people Germany is willing to give refuge to - a stance that is increasingly being called into question.
In a somber statement hours after the attacks, she urged her countrymen to uphold European values of humanity and compassion in the face of terror.
"We believe," she said, "in the right of every person to seek happiness and to enjoy it, in the respect for others and in tolerance."
But her optimism, reflected in Merkel's signature phrase that "we will manage it," is being met with growing skepticism in Germany and abroad, and not just by those on the far right who have long opposed immigration.
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PLAYOFF PULSE: Ohio State readies for season-making stretch
No. 2 Ohio State negotiated its 11-week tuneup with a few missteps and some less-than-stellar performances, but the Buckeyes remain unbeaten.
At last there are some big games for Ohio State to play.
Next week, No. 14 Michigan State visits Columbus, Ohio. The following week, Ohio State is at No. 15 Michigan.
The defending national champions registered yet another ho-hum victory on Saturday, beating Illinois 28-3 in J.T. Barrett's return from a suspension. The Buckeyes have rarely been threatened by mostly so-so opposition on their way to 10-0, but they have also rarely looked like the juggernaut many expected this season.
The College Football Playoff selection committee slotted the Buckeyes at No. 3 in its rankings, a nod to their unbeaten record and maybe a case of the panel having a hard time wiping from its collective memory last season's impressive championship run by Ohio State.