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ISIS Claims Responsibility for Deadly Explosion in Afghanistan

Afghan athletes and police personnel inspect the Mellat boxing club, a day after an explosion took place at the site in the Dashti Barchi neighborhood of Kabul on October 27, 2023. (Photo by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP)
Afghan athletes and police personnel inspect the Mellat boxing club, a day after an explosion took place at the site in the Dashti Barchi neighborhood of Kabul on October 27, 2023. (Photo by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP)
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ISIS Claims Responsibility for Deadly Explosion in Afghanistan

Afghan athletes and police personnel inspect the Mellat boxing club, a day after an explosion took place at the site in the Dashti Barchi neighborhood of Kabul on October 27, 2023. (Photo by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP)
Afghan athletes and police personnel inspect the Mellat boxing club, a day after an explosion took place at the site in the Dashti Barchi neighborhood of Kabul on October 27, 2023. (Photo by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP)

ISIS claimed responsibility for an explosion in a Shiite neighborhood in Afghanistan’s capital that killed at least four people.
Seven others were critically wounded in the attack Thursday evening, according to Khalid Zadran, a spokesman for the Kabul police chief.
ISIS affiliates claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement late Friday through its news agency Aamaq, saying it “managed to leave a booby-trapped suitcase" inside a gathering place that exploded, killing and wounding about 35 people and inflicting heavy damage on a sports club.
Video taken after the explosion shows part of a building with its windows blown out and a fire inside. Shattered glass and other debris are strewn across the street below.
The scale of the damage was clearer Friday morning. There were craters in the ground and most of the interior was gutted, The Associated Press reported. Workers picked their way through boxing gloves and gym equipment on the blood-splattered floor.
The Dashti Barchi area of Kabul has been repeatedly targeted by the ISIS affiliate in the country, which has carried out major assaults on schools, hospitals and mosques.

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Le Pen Makes New Threat to Withdraw Support for French Government

French far-right leader and member of parliament Marine Le Pen, President of the French far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National - RN) party parliamentary group, talks to journalists as she leaves after a meeting with the French Prime Minister to discuss the 2025 budget bill (PLF) at the Hotel Matignon in Paris, France, November 25, 2024. (Reuters)
French far-right leader and member of parliament Marine Le Pen, President of the French far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National - RN) party parliamentary group, talks to journalists as she leaves after a meeting with the French Prime Minister to discuss the 2025 budget bill (PLF) at the Hotel Matignon in Paris, France, November 25, 2024. (Reuters)
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Le Pen Makes New Threat to Withdraw Support for French Government

French far-right leader and member of parliament Marine Le Pen, President of the French far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National - RN) party parliamentary group, talks to journalists as she leaves after a meeting with the French Prime Minister to discuss the 2025 budget bill (PLF) at the Hotel Matignon in Paris, France, November 25, 2024. (Reuters)
French far-right leader and member of parliament Marine Le Pen, President of the French far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National - RN) party parliamentary group, talks to journalists as she leaves after a meeting with the French Prime Minister to discuss the 2025 budget bill (PLF) at the Hotel Matignon in Paris, France, November 25, 2024. (Reuters)

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen issued a new threat on Monday to withdraw support for France's coalition government in a no-confidence vote, after talks with Prime Minister Michel Barnier failed to satisfy her party's demands for budget concessions.

Le Pen said nothing had changed following the discussions, and that she was not optimistic a compromise on the belt-tightening 2025 budget bill could be reached.

"Nothing appears less certain," she told reporters.

The Senate was set to debate on Monday following its rejection by lawmakers in the National Assembly after revisions by lawmakers in the lower house.

Opposition parties are threatening to topple Barnier's government as it seeks approval for the budget, and his fragile coalition relies on her National Rally (RN) party for its survival.

The government is seeking to squeeze 60 billion euros ($62.85 billion) in savings through tax increases and spending cuts to reduce the deficit to 5% of economic output next year from over 6% this year.

National Rally has said it will support the efforts to oust the government if certain demands are not met. Le Pen said last week that the RN opposes increasing the tax burden on households, entrepreneurs or pensioners, and that so far these demands were not reflected in the budget bill.

LEGAL PROBLEMS

Le Pen's own political future is also under threat, with prosecutors seeking a mandatory five-year ban from politics for her alleged role in an embezzlement scheme. Le Pen denies the allegations.

Some analysts have suggested her legal problems may accelerate her plans to bring down the government,

Barnier's struggles to secure approval for the budget have fueled speculation he will invoke article 49.3 of the constitution, which allows the text to be adopted without a vote. Such a move could trigger a no-confidence motion against the government.

"It is true that we find very little quality in this budget and very little time for the government to try to increase its qualities and reduce its defects," Le Pen said.

Barnier was also due to meet other political leaders on Monday to seek a compromise on the budget bill. A final vote on the overall budget is scheduled for Dec. 12.