Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur)

‘DOZENSOFIS MILITANTS IN EUROPE, MORE ATTACKS LIKELY’

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Pakistan. Analysts were unsure yet of the implicatio­ns of Mattis’s appointmen­t on ties with India, but a legislatio­n currently on route to passage in congress will make it difficult for him or Trump to downgrade ties without repealing it.

A section of the National Defense Authorizat­ion Act for 2017, the US military budget for the coming year, commits the US government, irrespecti­ve of who was in charge, to treating India as a “major defense partner”. only duty will be to continue to lead my country,” he said.

The Socialist leader has some of the lowest approval ratings for a French president since World War II. His term has been marked by U-turns on major policies, terror attacks, a sickly economy and embarrassi­ng revelation­s about his private life.

A new poll on Wednesday predicted he would win just seven percent of votes in the first round of next year’s election -strengthen­ing Socialist Party THE HAGUE: The Islamic State is likely to launch more attacks in Europe, the EU police agency Europol warned on Friday, with several dozen militants already in place and more possibly arriving.

In a report on the threat the Islamist group poses to the 28-nation bloc, Europol said the most probable form of attacks would be those used in recent years, from the mass shootings and suicide bombings seen in Paris and Brussels to stabbings and other assaults by radicals acting alone.

Car bombs and kidnapping­s, common in Syria, could emerge as tactics in Europe, it said, while protected sites such as power grids and nuclear power stations were not seen as top targets.

Essentiall­y the entire European Union is under threat as almost all its government­s back the US-led coalition in Syria, the agency said, warning that IS was likely to infiltrate Syrian refugee communitie­s in Europe in an effort to inflame hostility to immigrants that has shaken many EU government­s.

“If IS is defeated or severely weakened in Syria/Iraq by the coalition forces, there may be an increased rate in the return of foreign fighters and their families from the region to the EU or to other conflict areas,” Europol said in a statement.

It said the IS was also likely to start planning attacks and sending militants to Europe from Libya and that other groups, including al Qaeda and its affiliates, also continue to pose a threat to the continent. Europol director Rob Wainwright said EU states had stepped up their security cooperatio­n in the wake of IS attacks in the last couple of years, allowing more plots to be thwarted. REUTERS

EUROPOL SAID THE MOST PROBABLE FORMS OF ATTACKS WOULD BE MASS SHOOTINGS, SUICIDE BOMBINGS

AND STABBINGS

critics who view him as a lame duck.

Voter surveys currently tip rightwing Republican­s party candidate Francois Fillon to win the election, with the far-right National Front (FN) candidate Marine Le Pen seen as the closest challenger.

But the full range of candidates remains unknown and the role of independen­ts such as 38-year-old ex-economy minister Emmanuel Macron are difficult to predict.

 ??  ?? US President Barack Obama along with his family on Thursday marked his final time lighting the National Christmas Tree with a wish that Americans will care for the sick, the hungry and the downtrodde­n this holiday season and treat one another as they...
US President Barack Obama along with his family on Thursday marked his final time lighting the National Christmas Tree with a wish that Americans will care for the sick, the hungry and the downtrodde­n this holiday season and treat one another as they...
 ?? AFP ?? French President Francois Hollande delivers an official statement at the Elysee Palace on Thursday.
AFP French President Francois Hollande delivers an official statement at the Elysee Palace on Thursday.

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