Emotions mount on final day of Scottish campaign

September 17, 2014

EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — For Scots, Wednesday was a day of excitement, apprehension, and a flood of final appeals before a big decision. In a matter of hours, they will determine whether Scotland leaves the United Kingdom and becomes an independent state.

A full 97 percent of those eligible have registered to vote — including, for the first time, 16- and 17-year-olds — in a referendum that polls suggest is too close to call. A phone poll of 1,373 people by Ipsos MORI, released Wednesday, put opposition to independence at 51 percent and support at 49 percent, with 5 percent of voters undecided.

That means neither side can feel confident, given the margin of error of about plus or minus three percentage points. Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, himself a Scot, told a No campaign rally that the quiet majority of pro-Union Scots "will be silent no more," while pro-independence leader Alex Salmond urged voters to seize a democratic opportunity 307 years in the making.

In its final hours, the battle for Scotland had all the trappings of a normal election campaign: "Yes Scotland" and "No, Thanks" posters in windows, buttons on jackets, leaflets on street corners and megaphone-topped campaign cars cruising the streets blasting out Scottish songs and "Children of the Revolution."

But it is, both sides acknowledge, a once-in-a-generation — maybe once-in-a-lifetime — choice that could redraw the map of the United Kingdom. The gravity of the imminent decision was hitting home for many voters as political leaders made passionate, final pleas for their sides. More than 4.2 million people are registered to vote in the country of 5.3 million people.

Cathy Chance, who works for Britain's National Health Service in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, said she would leave Scotland if it became independent. "I don't want to live under a nation that's nationalistic," she said. "I don't think the world needs another political barrier."

On the other side, Yes campaigner Roisin McLaren said she was finally letting herself believe independence might be possible. "My family has campaigned for independence for a long, long time, and it's always been a pipe dream," the Edinburgh University student said as she knocked on doors in a last-minute effort to convert wavering electors. "Just in the last few days it's seemed possible, within reach. I can almost taste it."

Politicians on both sides expressed confidence in the Scottish public, but uncertainty rippled below the surface. Opinion polls have failed to put either side decisively ahead. Bookmakers, however, told a different story. A winning 1 pound bet on Yes would pay out 5 pounds from many bookies, while the same pound would return just 1.20 pounds from a winning wager on No. One firm, Betfair, has already paid out on a No win.

Brown, Britain's former leader, told supporters that the patriotic choice was to remain within the U.K. "The vote tomorrow is not about whether Scotland is a nation — we are, yesterday, today and tomorrow," he said. "The vote tomorrow is whether you want to break and sever every link," with the rest of the country.

Salmond, energetic leader of the Yes campaign, said Scots would seize "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take the future of this country into our hands." Despite gains in support for independence in recent weeks, Salmond said his side remained the underdog.

"However, as we know in life, in politics and certainly in this festival of democracy, underdogs have a habit of winning sometimes," he said. Amid the uncertainty, even the opinionated Rupert Murdoch hedged his bets. The media mogul, whose newspapers were long considered a powerful force in British elections, traveled to Scotland last week and wrote a series of tweets that seemed supportive of independence.

But on Wednesday his Scottish tabloid newspaper said it would not endorse either side. It ran opinion columns by Yes and No leaders and told Scots: "The Scottish Sun has faith in you to make the right choice."

A Yes vote would trigger months of negotiations between Scotland and the British government over the messy details of independence, which Scottish authorities say will take effect on March 24, 2016, the anniversary of the date in 1707 that Scotland decided to unite with Britain.

In Edinburgh, an unscientific but popular sweet-toothed survey has backed pollsters' predictions that the result will be close. For 200 days, the city's Cuckoo Bakery has sold referendum cupcakes — vanilla sponge with a center of raspberry jam, topped with white chocolate icing — in three versions, adorned with a Scottish Saltire, a British Union Jack or a question mark.

On Wednesday, the bakery announced the result of its cupcake referendum: 47.7 percent No, 43.5 percent Yes, and 8.8 percent undecided. Co-owner Vidya Sarjoo said the number of undecideds had plummeted over time.

"At first people really weren't sure — a bit scared, maybe, to make their decision," she said. The cupcakes, she stressed, "are all exactly the same flavor. And they all taste delicious."

Associated Press Writer Pan Pylas contributed to this report.

Is Scotland and France's 'Auld Alliance' back?

September 17, 2014

PARIS (AP) — As the Scottish decide whether to break from the union with England, the embers of an even older Scottish alliance are being revived: "The Auld Alliance" with the French.

Recently, there has been a flurry of behind-the-scenes agreements between the two former kingdoms, who for centuries allied over shared hostility toward England. Delegations and ministers have travelled between Edinburgh and Paris to sign pacts in cooperation in energy, education, culture and the arts.

Could the cultural and military alliance — which allowed Mary Queen of Scots to reign over France in the 1500s, had Scots fight with Joan of Arc against the English, and allowed Scotland to buy the fine Claret wine still enjoyed today — be regaining life?

"There is a great deal of affection in the Scots for the French, based on an understanding of our historical links. Also the Scottish kings had French wives for political reasons," said Fiona Hyslop, Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs, who was in Paris in December to sign with France's culture minister an agreement to collaborate in culture.

"In outlook, Scotland is far more like our European counterparts. ... It's the UK that's the anomaly," she said, adding that work to forge common agreements in energy and education will be boosted if Scottish voters say "yes" to independence in Thursday's referendum.

Old friends France and Scotland owe each other a great deal. "The Auld Alliance" dates to 1295 — and right up to 1830, Scottish officers formed the French royal bodyguard. Not only did the royal families intermarry, but the two cultures shared a passion for drink, food and textiles that continues to this day.

"Clearly the French have their champagne, we have our Scotch whisky. ... We are countries which produce quality products. We both have the synergy in understanding the finer and better aspects of quality of life," said Hyslop.

Paris, the capital of the luxury industry, even looks to Scotland for fashion know-how. Chanel paid homage to Scotland's impact on France's prized fashion industry recently by buying a Scottish textile company and hosting a fashion show in Linlithgow Palace, the former residence of the Stuarts and Queen Mary's birthplace.

But not all the French remember the "Auld Alliance" through such rose-tinted glasses. "An independent Scotland would be a strong shock," said Philippe Moreau-Defarges, expert on self-determination at the French Institute of International Relations.

"Yes, France and Scottish relations go back to medieval times. But the first employer of the French today is London. If we have to choose, don't be fooled: France will go in the direction of London."

Poland tests border protection in major exercise

September 24, 2014

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland launched a major military exercise with international allies on Wednesday to test joint response to security threats at a time of armed conflict in neighboring Ukraine.

Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said the original plan for the biannual Anakonda exercise was to involve only Polish command officers. But because of the Ukraine-Russia crisis and general fears that the conflict could spread to bordering countries, he decided it should have wider participation and should test collective defense readiness in accordance with NATO guidelines.

The Anakonda-14 exercise involves 12,500 troops, including about 750 from the U.S., Canada, Britain, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Hungary, as well as Lithuania and Estonia, which border Russia.

"Poland's biggest military exercise, Anakonda, has acquired special significance due to the events in Ukraine," Siemoniak said during the opening ceremony at the National Defense Academy. "This is the first exercise on this scale since the conflict began" in mid-April, Siemoniak said.

Many Poles and people in Baltic countries are nervous that Russian aggression could spread beyond Ukraine. Despite a Sept. 5 cease-fire agreement between Ukraine and pro-Russia rebels, shelling continues in areas of Donetsk, an eastern Ukrainian city.

The scenario for the 10-day exercise calls for the protection of borders and will be held at four test ranges in northern Poland and on the Baltic Sea. The exercise will use some 120 armored vehicles, more than 50 anti-aircraft units, and 15 missile launchers. A submarine and a missile frigate will be among the 17 warships training in the Baltic, while the air force will use 25 aircraft, including F-126 fighters, helicopters and Hercules transport planes.

New Polish govt loses some foreign policy heft

September 22, 2014

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's last government was a strong voice internationally on Ukraine, supporting Kiev's pro-Western reforms and calling for sanctions on Russia to punish it for its aggression there.

But with a new government sworn in Monday, the two leading figures of Polish foreign policy — Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski — are gone and their replacements lack the same stature and experience.

And with only one year in office before the next election, Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz and Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna will have little time to build the strong profiles of their predecessors. Poland's weakened foreign policy leadership comes at a critical time, with conflict in neighboring Ukraine rattling many in a region that only threw off Moscow's control starting in 1989. Under Sikorski and Tusk, Warsaw lobbied for sanctions on Russia and also for NATO to do more to protect Poland and the Baltic states, the countries that feel most vulnerable to Russia's new expansionism.

"(Diplomats) are all afraid that under Schetyna, Poland's voice will be weaker," said Wojciech Szacki, an analyst with Polityka Insight, a Warsaw-based center for policy analysis. "It is unavoidable because Sikorski was the foreign minister for seven years. He knew everyone in Europe and had contacts around the world. Schetyna doesn't know anyone and only has a year to learn."

Kopacz also didn't win much confidence with one of her first foreign policy comments. Asked Friday if she would send arms to Ukraine, she replied that Poland should act like a "reasonable Polish woman" and focus on protecting home and hearth — a comment met with widespread ridicule.

"You know, I am a woman," she said. "I imagine what I would do if a man suddenly showed up on the street brandishing a sharp tool or a gun. My first thought: behind me is my home and my children. So I would rush into the house and close the doors and take care of my children."

Critics say the response shows weakness and the lack of a clear policy on the Russia-Ukraine issue. "It's hard to figure out the meaning of this gibberish on the most strategically important issue for Poland," wrote commentator Lukasz Warzecha.

Marcin Zaborowski, director of the Polish Institute of International Affairs, said Kopacz's comments don't necessarily indicate weakness toward Russia and must be understood in the context of recent concessions Ukraine made to Moscow.

Ukraine last week granted temporary self-rule to pro-Russian regions in the east and postponed the full implementation of its association agreement with the European Union. "This is not the end of Poland's engagement on the issue," Zaborowski said. "That is not possible because of where we are. Poland has always been engaged on Ukraine."

Questions also surround Schetyna, who has little foreign policy experience except for his recent stint as head of the parliamentary commission on foreign affairs. Even his mother was quoted by the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper as saying her son feels Sikorski was the better person for the job.

"(This will be a) great challenge, especially with the difficult international situation on our eastern border," Schetyna said Monday as he entered the foreign ministry to take up his new job. Some continuity on the topic of Ukraine is provided by Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak, who was also named deputy prime minister. In contrast to Kopacz's comments, he said Monday that Poland is willing to sell weapons to Ukraine and that Ukrainians are now learning what Polish arms dealers can offer them.

Polish gov't to be named Monday, sworn in Sept. 22

September 12, 2014

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The Polish president's office says he plans to appoint parliament speaker Ewa Kopacz as the new prime minister on Monday and that he will swear in her new government Sept. 22.

Kopacz is to succeed Donald Tusk, who resigned as prime minster after being elected to head the European Council, an unprecedented leadership role at the European Union for an Eastern European. President Bronislaw Komorowski met Friday morning with Kopacz, who is in the process of building the government. The biggest question centers on the fate of Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, who has been a prominent voice on the conflict in Ukraine. Neither Sikorski nor Kopacz would reveal details of the new team on Friday.

There is speculation that Sikorski could become the new parliament speaker.

Official: New Polish prime minister this month

September 02, 2014

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's government spokeswoman says a new prime minister should be appointed before the end of the month to replace Donald Tusk who will take office as the European Council's president in December.

Tusk, a 57-year-old historian, has been democratic Poland's longest-serving prime minister since 2007, with one year to go in his second term. But he needs to resign with his entire Cabinet to take one of the top EU offices, which he was unanimously given at an EU summit last weekend.

Spokeswoman Malgorzata Kidawa-Blonska said Tuesday that Poland should have a new prime minister "before the end of September." This means the new Cabinet should be in place in October. Parliamentary Speaker Ewa Kopacz and Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak are mentioned as Tusk's possible successors.

Poland's PM: Ukraine's war must be stopped now

September 01, 2014

GDANSK, Poland (AP) — The outbreak of World War II 75 years ago shows why Europe must put an end to the war in Ukraine now, Poland's prime minister said Monday.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk, chosen by EU leaders to be the next president of the European Council, spoke at the Westerplatte peninsula on the Baltic coast, where some of the first shots of World War II were fired on Sept.1, 1939, by the Nazi warship Schleswig-Holstein. Two weeks later Soviet troops invaded from the east, acting on a Moscow deal with Germany to carve up Poland.

More than five years of brutal, global war followed, taking the lives of almost 60 million people. "Today, looking at the tragedy of Ukraine at war — because we should use this word — in the east of our continent, we know that September 1939 must not be repeated," Tusk said.

He said the lesson that Europe should draw from its past "must not be a lesson of naive optimism" because the continent's security requires "courage, imagination and resolute action." Europe's security is the top priority for a NATO summit Thursday in Wales. Mindful of their painful history, Poland and the Baltic nations are calling for a sizeable, permanent presence of NATO troops on their territory, a goal that may prove hard to achieve.

"There is still time to stop all those in Europe and in the world for whom violence, force, aggression are again becoming an arsenal of political activity," Tusk said. German President Joachim Gauck, also speaking at Westerplatte, called for the 28-nation European Union to "stand together."

"Stability and peace on our continent are in danger again," Gauck said. "We will oppose those who break international law, annex foreign territory and provide military support to breakaway movements in foreign countries."

His comments were a clear reference to Russia's actions in eastern Ukraine.

Poland honors Solidarity with new culture center

August 31, 2014

GDANSK, Poland (AP) — Poland's new European Solidarity Center should help raise future generations with an appreciation of freedom and democracy, President Bronislaw Komorowski said as the center opened on Sunday.

Komorowski and Lech Walesa, the legendary Solidarity leader and former president, both spoke at the opening of the multi-purpose center in the Baltic port city of Gdansk that marked 34 years since eastern Europe's first free trade union was founded. Solidarity led to the ouster of communism from Poland and to a democratic state.

"Freedom is not an easy thing, but it is truly a beautiful and extremely important thing," Komorowski said. "We must take care of our freedom ... but first of all we must remember the times when we did not have it, when it was only a dream."

Komorowski's words had additional weight at a time when Poland's two neighbors, Ukraine and Russia, are locked in armed conflict. The ceremony was disturbed by a small group representing pensioners and the unemployed who chanted "traitors, thieves" to demonstrate their discontent with the Solidarity-rooted government.

The Solidarity center houses documents and photos detailing Solidarity's history from its rise and its reluctant endorsement by the communist authorities in 1980, through incarceration and persecution of its activists under martial law in the 1980s, until successful negotiations that ended communism in Poland. It has a library, a conference hall and an education center for students. Walesa has his new office there.

Solidarity was born in August 1980 out of worker protests in Gdansk shipyard and soon became a nationwide freedom movement. In 1989 it peacefully toppled Poland's communist rulers, paving the way for similar change in other Soviet bloc nations.

Germany starts training 32 Kurdish fighters

September 28, 2014

BERLIN (AP) — Germany's army has started training 32 Kurdish peshmerga fighters at an army school in Bavaria to support them in their fight against Islamic State extremists.

A spokesman for the German defense ministry said Sunday that the 32 Kurdish fighters would stay in Germany until October 3 to receive weapons' training. Germany also began delivering arms to the Kurds in northern Iraq on Thursday, dispatching a shipment of 50 hand-held anti-tank weapons, 520 G3 rifles and 20 machine guns.

In total, the German plan calls for arming 10,000 Kurdish fighters with some 70 million euros ($90 million) worth of equipment. Germany is also sending some 40 paratroopers to help train the fighters on the weapons.

Anti-euro party strong in German state votes

September 14, 2014

BERLIN (AP) — A new party that has expanded its anti-euro stance into a broader appeal to protest voters won seats in two more German state legislatures Sunday, building on recent momentum and intensifying a headache for established parties.

The Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party won 10.6 percent of the vote in eastern Thuringia state and 12.2 percent in Brandenburg, which surrounds Berlin. "We're glad that people have voted for a political renewal in our country," leader Bernd Lucke said.

AfD fell narrowly short of the 5 percent support needed to enter Germany's national parliament last year. Since then, it has won seats in the European Parliament and, two weeks ago, its first seats in a state parliament in eastern Saxony.

Other parties say they won't govern with AfD, which advocates scrapping the euro in its current form. It has developed a socially conservative image, but also has appealed to protest voters of all shades with tough talk on crime and immigration.

Sunday's result left unclear who would govern Thuringia. The opposition Left Party, which has ex-communist roots, hoped to install its first state governor and end the 24-year reign over the region of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives.

Merkel's Christian Democrats were the strongest party, but with 33.5 percent support well short of a majority. Conservative governor Christine Lieberknecht hoped to continue an alliance with the center-left Social Democrats, the same combination that runs Germany.

The Social Democrats, however, had raised the possibility of serving in a three-party coalition under the Left Party's Bodo Ramelow, whose party finished second with 28.2 percent. They lost around a third of their support, polling just 12.4 percent.

Both the outgoing state government and Ramelow's hoped-for left-wing alliance would have only a one-seat majority. Voters didn't appreciate the lack of clarity about who the Social Democrats would ally with, party leader and vice chancellor Sigmar Gabriel conceded.

Gabriel added that established parties need to "deal more offensively" with AfD. "It's a job-killing program that they have," he told ARD television. In Brandenburg, the Social Democrats have long dominated and won again Sunday. The Left Party is their junior coalition partner there; they could continue that alliance or switch to Merkel's party.

Turnout was low in both states, a factor that may have boosted AfD's strength.

German train drivers go on strike for better pay

September 06, 2014

BERLIN (AP) — A strike by train drivers across Germany has brought hundreds of long-distance and commuter trains across the country to a standstill.

The GdL union for train drivers called for a three-hour national strike on Saturday morning to put pressure on German railway company Deutsche Bahn in their ongoing wage negotiations. The union said that up to 90 percent of trains across the country were brought to a standstill.

It demands a 5 percent salary increase for the drivers and two hours less work per week. The German news agency dpa reported that stranded travelers were cuing up at information counters at Munich's main train station and that Deutsche Bahn employees were distribution coffee for free.

German anti-euro party could enter state assembly

August 31, 2014

BERLIN (AP) — A party that wants Germany to ditch the euro currency is tipped to win its first seat in a state assembly Sunday.

A recent poll conducted for public broadcaster ZDF predicts that the party Alternative for Germany will receive 7 percent of the vote in elections for the Saxony state parliament. This would be enough for the party, founded only last year, to clear the 5-percent hurdle needed to enter parliament.

The party narrowly missed entering the national parliament and the Hesse state assembly last year, but won seven seats in the European Parliament this May. The poll puts Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union in the lead with 40.5 percent, ahead of the Left Party with 19 percent and the center-left Social Democrats with 15 percent.

Air France pilots end strike after 14 days

September 28, 2014

PARIS (AP) — Despite no deal in sight, Air France' s main pilots union on Sunday unilaterally ended a 14-day strike that grounded roughly half of the airline's flights, stranded passengers worldwide, cost tens of millions of dollars and led France's prime minister to decry a "selfish" walkout.

After a late-night, 15-hour negotiating session with management, leaders of the SNPL pilot union walked away with no accord, but with the realization that the strike "is not an end in itself," said union spokesman Antoine Amar. In a later statement, the union said it was ending the strike "in the interests of the company and passengers."

The walkout, which began Sept. 15, was the longest ever initiated by pilots at Air France, which was created in 1933. Today, the company conducts about 1,500 flights each day, and last year had 77.3 million passengers, making it one of Europe's biggest carriers.

Air France, in its own statement, said service would "progressively" start returning to normal on Tuesday — meaning that flights already canceled between now and then won't be reinstated. The company hailed the end of the strike, saying it "will have been costly and damaging. It has only lasted too long."

Alexandre de Juniac, chairman and CEO of parent company Air France-KLM, said management team members "are aware of the trauma that our customers, employees and partners just lived through," according to the statement. It said full service was likely to resume late this week.

At the center of the standoff are Air France's ambitions to develop a low-cost affiliate, Transavia, to tap into new markets in both France and elsewhere in Europe and better compete at a time when budget airlines have cut into the market share once dominated by giant European carriers like Air France.

The pilots union said it didn't oppose those plans to build the new business, but rejected the labor conditions that management had planned. They started the strike two weeks ago out of concerns that management was looking for a way to outsource their jobs to countries with lower taxes and labor costs.

In a tactical retreat, the carrier's management offered Wednesday to scrap a central part of the plan to shift most of its European operations to Transavia. But the pilots remained unsatisfied, saying the contracts sought for the low-cost carrier's operations in France alone were insufficient.

Air France, in its statement, "confirmed its decision to continue its accelerated development of Transavia in France, without delay" — which suggested that issues remain unresolved. The carrier said it is sticking to plans to create 1,000 jobs in France through Transavia carrier, including 250 pilot positions.

Several would-be passengers interviewed by The Associated Press expressed frustration and anger during the strike; some grumbled about the tendency of many French workers to strike — and snarl services in the process.

Speaking to reporters Sunday, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said: "This strike was misunderstood, it was corporatist. It was selfish." "It inconvenienced hundreds of thousands — millions — of consumers. It inconvenienced other Air France staffers who made a number of sacrifices over the years. This strike costs a lot in terms of the company's image," he said. "And it has left a trail of division, fracture within its ranks."

Air France-KLM had said previously that the walkout cost up to 20 million euros ($25 million) a day, which could put the total financial bite as high as €300 million ($382 million), though Air France wasn't providing specifics yet. The French state holds a 16-percent share of the company, and appoints three board members, a spokeswoman said.

Valls, a Socialist, appeared to side with management, saying the Transavia plan was "indispensable" — and sought to parlay Air France's woes as a metaphor for France's need for reforms more broadly. Valls has been criticized on France's vocal political left in recent weeks for cozying up to business leaders amid the country's persistent economic slump.

"We are in a competitive universe, the low-cost one, and it needs to be faced with the proper weapons," Valls said. "It shows our country needs reforms at every level, and it's true especially in the transportation sector."

French Muslim minister wants respect after slurs

September 03, 2014

PARIS (AP) — France's new Muslim education minister called for more respect Wednesday after becoming the target of slurs, while a top Socialist politician said a magazine should be convicted of inciting racial hatred for referring to her religion and ethnic background as a "provocation."

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, a 36-year-old rising star in the Socialist Party, said she has been the target of racially-motivated verbal attacks over the last week, including being branded "Ayatollah" by a conservative weekly.

"I call for respect," she told The Associated Press in an email. "And I repeat in particular that racism is not an opinion, but a crime." The Morocco-born Vallaud-Belkacem, who doesn't publicly speak about her religion, is seen as an easy target to attack the unpopular Socialist government led by President Francois Hollande.

She is a young, Muslim woman in a political landscape made up mostly of white, Catholic men. She's an outspoken defender of gender and racial equality, and supported a divisive law legalizing gay marriage last year. She also intervened in a national debate on the negative impact of halal meat, saying society should stop pointing the finger at Muslims.

One conservative politician referred to Vallaud-Belkacem as a "smiling Vietnamese Communist," and a fake identity card has appeared on social media falsely claiming she changed her name from Claudine Dupont to a more ethnic-sounding one to get promoted.

A top Socialist Party official threatened legal action against "Minute" magazine, which in its latest edition calls her religious and ethnic background a "provocation." The official, Jean-Christophe Cambadelis, said the magazine should be convicted of inciting racial hatred.

"Minute," which has sympathies with France's ever-growing far-right National Front party, faced accusations of racism last year when it put black Justice Minister Christiane Taubira on the cover with the wording: "Taubira Finds Her Banana."

Taubira tweeted in support of Vallaud-Belkacem: "They must have nothing in their heads, be empty in their heart, and have hardened souls. Najat, you're flying high with our ambitions for schools. Thanks."

Valeurs Actuelles' cover, to be published Thursday, features the headline "Ayatollah" over a sinister-looking photo of the minister's face. The publication's general director said the reference to Islam was purely coincidental despite an outcry that it was racist— and he said the criticism is purely about politics.

"We speak of 'Ayatollah' with no reference to the Muslim religion whatsoever ... We're concerned that her nomination poses a problem as she's pursuing an ideology in schools that worries us," Yves de Kerdrel told the AP without elaborating.

Government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said, "You can be in disagreement. But we cannot accept these kind of attacks." France has Western Europe's largest Muslim population, estimated at 5 million. French rights group, SOS Racism, meanwhile, issued a petition in her defense, which has been signed by more than 4,000 people.

Some commentators insist the criticism against her has nothing to do with religion or her sex. "She just has no competence in education." Versailles deputy mayor Francois-Xavier Bellamy said.

Britain joins fight against Islamic State group

September 26, 2014

LONDON (AP) — British lawmakers have voted to join the U.S.-led coalition of nations launching airstrikes on Islamic State group militants in Iraq, committing warplanes to the struggle against the extremists.

Prime Minister David Cameron described the moves as critical to national security, arguing that facing down terrorists has become a matter of urgency. He made a passionate plea that spelled out the consequences of inaction in drastic terms — noting that the militants had beheaded their victims, gouged out eyes and carried out crucifixions to promote goals from the "Dark Ages."

The vote was 524-43. Earlier in the day, Belgium and Denmark also voted to join the coalition. Britain is expected to deploy Tornado fighters, which are in Cyprus — within striking distance of northern Iraq.