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French magazine Charlie Hebdo goes on sale in the UK

Hundreds of people queued from the early hours outside UK shops selling the latest edition of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

It comes as around 10 people have been arrested and questioned over the "possible logistical support" they may have provided three gunmen who carried out last week's attacks in Paris, Agence France-Presse reports.

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Rushdie attacks 'totalitarianism' after Paris massacre

Salman Rushdie prompted a furious reaction from some Muslims for his book The Satanic Verses. Credit: Reuters

Novelist Salman Rushdie has condemned what he calls "religious totalitarianism" after the massacre at Charlie Hebdo magazine headquarters in Paris.

Rushdie - who himself was sentenced to death by Iran's rulers and was subject of a series of death threats from hardline critics of his novel The Satanic Verses - called religion a "medieval form of unreason".

"This religious totalitarianism has caused a deadly mutation in the heart of Islam and we see the tragic consequences in Paris today," he said.

I stand with Charlie Hebdo, as we all must, to defend the art of satire, which has always been a force for liberty and against tyranny, dishonesty and stupidity.

'Respect for religion' has become a code phrase meaning 'fear of religion'. Religions, like all other ideas, deserve criticism, satire, and, yes, our fearless disrespect.

– Salman Rushdie

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