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| Europe |
| Hollande declares state of emergency |
| 2015-11-14 |
| French President Francois Hollande addressed the nation following attacks in several locations in Paris and announces that a state of emergency has been declared following the multiple attacks in Paris Friday. Gunmen and bombers attacked busy restaurants, bars and a concert hall at locations around Paris on Friday, killing dozens of people in what a shaken President Francois Hollande described as an unprecedented terrorist attack. Police sources said at least 40 people were killed and 60 wounded in up to five attacks in the Paris region. French media reported higher unofficial death tolls. The apparently coordinated gun and bomb assault came as the country, a founder member of the U.S.-led coalition waging air strikes against Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq, was on high alert for terrorist attacks ahead of a global climate conference due to open later this month. Hollande, who was attending an international soccer match with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier when several explosions took place outside the national stadium, declared a state of emergency in the Paris region and announced the closure of France's borders to stop perpetrators escaping. "This is a horror," the visibly shaken president said in a midnight television address to the nation before chairing an emergency cabinet meeting. All emergency services were mobilised, police leave was cancelled and hospitals recalled staff to cope with the casualties. Hollande said police were launching an assault at one of the attack sites as he spoke. A Reuters witness heard five explosions outside the Bataclan music hall, where up to 60 people were being held hostage. A second Reuters reporter later said police had completed an operation at the building. BMF TV said two gunmen had been killed. Earlier, witnesses said an elite anti-terror unit had taken up positions outside the popular concert venue, which was attacked by two or three gunmen, who were reported to have shouted slogans condemning France's role in Syria. "We know where these attacks come from," Hollande said, without naming any individual group. "There are indeed good reasons to be afraid." |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #15 @procopius: One can hope that the despair of 3rd century Rome will be followed by a 4th century revival. And that we can hope for a Belisarius after that. All of which is but a postponement of the deluge. BTWool: to all concerned - even back in the 90's when I belatedly attended grad school at Univ. of Chicago the term 'western civilization' was verboten by many in the social sciences. A real eye opener at that time for me. Self-hatred (for a noble pursuit) is a terrible thing. |
| Posted by: borgboy 2015-11-14 17:27 |
| #14 Two from Theodore Dalrymple lay out the dimensions of the problem facing France: The Barbarians at the Gates of Paris Surrounding the City of Light are threatening Cities of Darkness. Autumn 2002 Tyranny of the Minority There is more to fear in one terrorist than to celebrate in 99 well-adjusted immigrants. January 9, 2015 |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2015-11-14 12:13 |
| #13 Not always obvious to some I suppose. And not always obvious to those who visit or come here to live, and claim to "know it." |
| Posted by: Pappy 2015-11-14 11:52 |
| #12 It might serve as an instructional reminder, the reason we are here in this great United States of America, and not still in Europe. Our forefathers got it right. Not always obvious to some I suppose. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2015-11-14 09:37 |
| #11 Although mostly defanged, it is important to remember that Europe invented killing on an industrial scale and in it's death throes might reconnect with that part primitive part of its collective brain. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2015-11-14 09:33 |
| #10 Getting the feeling yet of the last Roman 'emperor' and his entourage ensconced in the enclave of Ravenna while the Vandals loot the city of Rome? |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2015-11-14 09:06 |
| #9 Maybe I see you as a part of EU |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2015-11-14 08:18 |
| #8 Unconfirmed reports of a new shooting going on in the small city of Bagnolet |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2015-11-14 07:41 |
| #7 The core of the problem lies in Riyad, Doha and Teheran. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2015-11-14 07:37 |
| #6 I concur g(r)om but you left the US out. Our elites are just as bad and insist on playing frog to the Islamic scorpion. I'd be more impressed if Hollande had declared a state of WAR rather than emergency. At least a couple of newspapers over there used that term. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2015-11-14 07:35 |
| #5 The problem is not Muslims, anon1---they just behave according to their nature. The problem is staunch refusal of EU ruling classes to admit that this nature is. Or, the stanch refusal of the EU masses to admit that it's Bastille Storming time again. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2015-11-14 04:08 |
| #4 holy crapoly this is a big one everyone should complain to their media outlets loudly and vocally if they do not describe the attackers as Islamist or Islamist fascists in the first 20 words. it is unacceptable to hide it till the end and just say *isil* did it dishonest. |
| Posted by: anon1 2015-11-14 02:08 |
| #3 For that to happen, AP, it would be necessary to recognize that Islam is not "just another religion" but an actual existential threat to Western Civ. I'd like to think it is the end of the beginning but we still have time for a few more choruses of Kumbaya. Right, Mr President? |
| Posted by: SteveS 2015-11-14 02:00 |
| #2 Time to clean out the Islamic enclaves, close the mosques, deport the Imams. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2015-11-14 01:34 |
| #1 I have a hunch that this is the end of the preliminaries. As WSC said "the end of the beginning". |
| Posted by: Shipman 2015-11-14 00:43 |