It’s time UK joined air strikes: Cameron

Cameron, who lost a vote on air strikes against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in 2013, needs to persuade several lawmakers in his own Conservative Party and some in the opposition Labour Party to back his cause if he is to win parliament’s backing for military action. Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee criticised extending air strikes into Syria earlier this month, saying that without a clear strategy to defeat the militants and end the civil war such action was “incoherent”. But since Islamic State claimed responsibility for killing 130 people in Paris, some lawmakers who were reluctant to launch new strikes in Syria have increasingly felt action was needed to protect Britain from such attacks. “We do not have the luxury of being able to wait until the Syrian conflict is resolved before tackling IS,” Cameron wrote in a response to the committee’s objections.

Meanwhile Turkey released what it said was an audio re¬cording of a warning it issued to a Russian fighter jet before shooting it down near the Syrian border. A voice on the recording can be heard saying “change your heading”. Russia had said the plane received no warnings from the Turkish Air Force. The shooting saw furious allegations and counter-allegations between Turkey and Russia. On Thursday US Secretary of State John Kerry urged for calm and “stressed the need for both sides not to allow this incident to escalate tensions between their two countries or in Syria”. 

In a related development, Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has renewed his commitment to fighting terrorism alongside France. Meeting French President Francois Hollande in Paris on Thursday he said a broader coalition was needed to destroy the Islamic State. For the past one week, Hollande has been meeting world leaders and pushing for greater coalition among countries in the fight against IS, ever since the Nov 13 suicide attacks in Paris left 130 dead.

Officials say Belgium has lifted the lock-down in Brussels and is using cat images to lure toursits back to the city. Paris likewise is wooing tourists. Tourism in Paris is starting to recover, French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday.