New Charlie Hebdo Sells Out in Minutes

A week after gunmen massacred the satirical publication's staff, defiant Parisians snapped up copies of the new issue of Charlie Hebdo and even scuffled over scarce copies. It sold out within minutes as news kiosks around the city opened at dawn, even though the print run had been increased to 3 million from the usual 60,000. "I've never bought it before, it's not quite my political stripes, but it's important for me to buy it today and support freedom of expression," one man waiting in a long line outside a kiosk in central Paris tells Reuters, which notes that distributors have waived their usual cut for the "survivors' edition" to help support the publication and the families of victims. More:

• As news kiosks put up signs saying "Charlie Hebdo: none left," at least one outlet said there had been fisticuffs among customers squabbling over copies, the AP reports.

• This issue is being produced in French, Italian, and Turkish versions, with English, Spanish, and Arabic versions being offered in electronic form, new editor-in-chief Gerard Biard told reporters yesterday, although a columnist earlier said it would be available in 16 languages. Whatever the language, there's strong demand from overseas, with the manager of a French-American bookstore in New York City telling the Guardian that "tons of people" have asked for copies.
• The cover features a weeping Prophet Muhammad holding an "I Am Charlie" sign under the headline "All Is Forgiven." There are no more depictions of Muhammad inside, though one typically irreverent cartoon features two jihadis in heaven asking where the "70 virgins" are while the slain Charlie Hebdo staff are seen enjoying an orgy in the background.
• There are fears the cover cartoon could raise tensions further, but supporters call it a tribute to the slain cartoonists, the New York Times reports. "I have no worries about the cover," Renald Luzier, the cartoonist who drew it, told reporters. "We have confidence in people's intelligence, and we have confidence in humor. The people who did this attack, they have no sense of humor."
• A new video from al-Qaeda in Yemen, meanwhile, was aired today claiming it "chose the target, laid out the plan, and financed the operation" as "vengeance for the prophet," reports the BBC. (More on that here.) New video shows the gunmen boasting of having avenged the prophet.

(More Charlie Hebdo stories.)