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world NEWSMonday 7 December 2015

At Press Time:

Polls put far right National Front on top in French elections

Far right National Front party regional leader for southeastern France, Marion Marechal-Le Pen percent support nation- cal landscape.
wide, followed by former The National Front is hop-
arrives at a meeting with supporters, after the first round of the regional elections, in Carpentras, President Nicolas Sarkozy’s ing the two-round voting
Republicans party and the that started Sunday will
southern France, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015. French voters are casting ballots Sunday for regional governing Socialists. consolidate political gains
The elections Sunday took she has made in recent
leaders in an unusually tense security climate, expected to favor conservative and far right place in an unusually tense years — and strengthen its
security climate just over legitimacy as she prepares
candidates and strike a new blow against the governing Socialists. (AP Photo/Claude Paris) three weeks after deadly to seek the presidency in
attacks on Paris — a cli- 2017.
ANGELA CHARLTON France’s regional elections The agencies Ifop, Opin- mate expected to favor The unpopular Hollande
MILOS KRIVOKAPIC on Sunday, in a new boost ionWay and Ipsos based conservative and far right has seen his approval rat-
Associated Press for Marine Le Pen’s anti- their projections on actual candidates. ings jump since the Paris
PARIS (AP) — Polling agen- immigration strategy and vote count in select con- While National Front had attacks, as he intensified
cy projections suggest the a new blow to President stituencies. They project- significant support Sunday, French airstrikes on Islamic
far right National Front took Francois Hollande’s Social- ed that the National Front it’s unclear whether the State targets in Syria and
the lead in the first round of ists. won between 27 and 30 party can translate that Iraq and ordered a state of
into victory in the second emergency at home. But
round of voting on Dec. 13 his party, which currently
for leadership of France’s runs nearly all of France’s
13 newly drawn regions. regions, has seen its elec-
Sarkozy’s Republicans par- toral support shrivel as the
ty and its allies were pro- government has failed
jected to come in second to shrink 10 percent job-
place at around 27 per- lessness or invigorate the
cent. economy.
The Socialists, who cur- Many political leaders are
rently run nearly all of the urging apathetic voters to
country’s regions, are pro- cast ballots as a riposte to
jected to come in a weak fundamentalists targeting
third place, with between democracies from France
22 and 24 percent. to the U.S.
The Paris attacks on Nov. First-time voter Eli Hodara,
13 that killed 130 people an 18-year-old Paris stu-
and a Europe-wide mi- dent, expressed hope that
grant crisis this year have more young people would
shaken up France’s politi- turn out.q

Israeli premier rejects Kerry’s warning of binational state

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s tacks. the Brookings Institution a sidewalk in Jerusalem, ing. Violence erupted over
prime minister insisted Sun- At his weekly Cabinet in Washington that if that injuring them lightly before tensions at a sensitive holy
day that his country is not meeting Sunday, Ben- were to happen, Israel he got out of the vehicle site in Jerusalem, sacred
heading toward becom- jamin Netanyahu said, would have to assume full brandishing a knife and to both Jews and Muslims,
ing a binational state, re- “Israel will not be a bina- governance of the West stabbed an officer. and quickly escalated and
jecting a warning to that tional state, but in order Bank, potentially leading A soldier who saw the inci- spread.
effect by U.S. Secretary of to have peace, the other to a one-state solution that dent as he stepped off a Since then, 19 Israelis have
State John Kerry. side needs to decide that would endanger Israel’s fu- bus ran toward the attack- been killed in Palestinian
Also Sunday, police said a it wants peace as well.” ture as a Jewish and dem- er, opened fire and killed attacks, mostly stabbings
Palestinian stabbed sev- Kerry had warned Satur- ocratic state. him, police said. and shootings.
eral Israelis before he was day about the dangers of Later Sunday, police said Near-daily Palestinian at- At least 107 Palestinians
shot and killed, the latest the possible collapse of the a Palestinian intentionally tacks on Israelis that be- have also died, includ-
incident in more than two Palestinian Authority. crashed his car into two gan in mid-September are ing 72 said by Israel to be
months of Palestinian at- He told a conference at young people walking on showing no signs of relent- attackers.q