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WORLD NEWSThursday 26 November 2015
French lawmakers vote to extend airstrikes against IS
has spread its violence be- convinced with words, it
yond Syria to Europe and must be fought with military
North Africa. means.”
Merkel indicated her coun- On the investigative front,
try would do more in the in- France and Belgium con-
From left, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French president Francois Hollande and Paris May- ternational fight against IS. tinued a manhunt for two
or Anne Hidalgo pay their respects to the victims of the attacks of the 13th November on the Place “We know that this attack fugitive suspects believed
de la Republique where they each left a white rose prior to a meeting at the Elysee Palace, in wasn’t just intended for the to be directly linked to the
Paris, Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015. Merkel’s visit to Paris is part of president Hollande’s diplomatic people of Paris, but for our Paris attacks.
offensive to get the international community to bolster the campaign against the Islamic State whole way of life,” she said In the Belgian capital,
after laying a single white schools reopened despite
rose at the Place de la Re- the city remaining on the
publique, the Paris square highest possible alert level.
that has become the focal Authorities raised it on Sat-
point of tributes for the vic- urday saying the threat of
tims. a further attack was serious
Germany, Merkel said, and imminent.
wasn’t just saddened by Police armed with au-
the attacks, “it also feels tomatic weapons stood
challenged to do ev- guard outside schools,
erything to prevent such while Brussels’ subway sys-
events from happening tem partially reopened,
again.” bringing a sense of relative
Hollande said it would “be normalcy back to the city.
a very good signal in the The heightened alert lev-
fight against terrorism” if el had shut down shops,
Germany could do more schools and the subway
system in Brussels since Sat-
militants. against IS in Syria and Iraq. urday. The Belgian govern-
(Etienne Laurent, Pool Photo via AP) Germany currently pro- ment also ordered health
ELENA BECATOROS national fight against the IS targets in Syria in Septem- vides weapons and training and emergency services to
THOMAS ADAMSON group. Parliament’s upper ber. President Francois Hol- for Kurds fighting against IS take precautionary mea-
Associated Press house, the Senate, voted lande cited specific threats in Iraq. sures to ensure their ser-
PARIS (AP) — French law- 325-0 with 21 abstentions to against French interests “If the French president asks vices aren’t infiltrated by
makers voted Wednesday prolong France’s airstrikes stemming from IS in Syria. me to think about what extremists.
to continue airstrikes in Syr- in Syria beyond early Janu- The vote came as Hollande more we can do, then it’s “When ambulances ar-
ia against the Islamic State ary. The lower house had and German Chanellor An- our task to think about that rive, we have to see from
group that claimed respon- earlier voted 515-4 in favor. gela Merkel discussed how and we will act quickly,”
sibility for the Nov. 13 at- French fighter jets joined to combat the group that Merkel said, adding that where they come, who is in
tacks that killed 130 people the U.S.-led coalition the Islamic State “can’t be
it. Really as a precaution,”
Health Minister Maggie De
Block told VRT network.q
in Paris, while Germany’s against Islamic State ex-
Croatia:chancellor said her country tremists in Iraq in 2014, and
would do more in the inter- expanded their mission to Biden meets leaders at summit on refugees
DUSAN STOJANOVIC quiring dialogue and left 130 dead and hundreds
Associated Press agreement to better pro- wounded. At least two of
ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — tect the EU’s external bor- the militants involved in the
Former Balkan rivals on ders and substantially al- Paris attacks had passed
Wednesday pledged joint leviate migrant pressure through Greece, appar-
efforts with the United on affected countries,” a ently posing as asylum-
States and the European declaration issued after the seekers.
Union in protecting Europe- summit said. In Washington, the House
an borders from a record Without outlining concrete of Representatives has
surge of asylum-seekers border measures, the dec- passed laws tightening vet-
amid fears that Islamic mili- laration added that for ting for refugees from Syria
tants may have infiltrated lasting peace and stability and Iraq, although the
the flow. of the once war-ravaged White House contends the
Southeast European lead- region, all countries should additional restrictions will
ers met at an urgent sum- have the option of joining effectively block people
mit in the Croatian capital the European Union and from those countries.
attended by U.S. Vice Presi- NATO. The summit included “The refugee crisis is re-
dent Joe Biden to discuss all former Yugoslav states straining the resources of
the crisis that has seen hun- and Albania, of which only the countries in the region,”
dreds of thousands of peo- Slovenia and Croatia are Biden said. “It is clear there
ple fleeing war and poverty both in the European Union is a need to improve cross-
in the Middle East, Asia and and in NATO. border cooperation, infor-
Africa cross the Balkans. Biden’s trip came amid a mation sharing to deal with
“The present dramatic mi- heated debate in the U.S. the flow of refugees, while
grant crisis poses and un- about whether to admit stepping up the capabil-
precedented challenge Syrian refugees following ity to counter the terrorist
from both humanitarian the Islamic State group’s threats as well.”q
and security aspects, re- Nov. 13 attacks in Paris that
