SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
France has declared a national state of emergency and has closed its borders after at least 40 people were killed in multiple shootings in Paris.
At least 15 people were killed near the Bataclan arts centre, where up to 60 people are being held hostage. Explosions and gunfire are reported.
Three people were killed in an attack near the Stade de France, with some reports suggesting a suicide blast.
Paris authorities have urged people to stay indoors.
Military personnel are being deployed across Paris.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/11/13/455943961/violence-reported-in-paris
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/13/world/paris-shooting/index.html
Update #1 [BBC updates]:
Scores of people have been killed in multiple gun and bomb attacks in Paris
At least 100 people are reported to have died inside the Bataclan concert hall in central Paris
Others died in attacks near the Stade de France, where France were playing Germany, and at restaurants
France has declared a national state of emergency and has closed its borders
Paris residents have been asked to stay indoors and military personnel are being deployed across the city
[...] Reuters. quoting an un-named official at Paris City Hall, says the current death toll in Paris is around 140.
According to the Paris prosecutor, of the four assailants who died during the sidge at the Bataclan, three committed suicide by detonating explosive vests. The prosecutor has warned that some of their accomplices may "still be on the loose".
[...] Here is what French president François Hollande told reporters outside the Bataclan concert hall just now: "To all those who have seen these awful things, I want to say we are going to lead a war which will be pitiless. Because when terrorists are capable of committing such atrocities they must be certain that they are facing a determined France, a united France, a France that is together and does not let itself be moved, even if today we express infinite sorrow."
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 14 2015, @02:35AM
I am really disapointed by all the shitty comments; I did not expect this much stupidity here. Now that I know that most of my friends and family are safe, I can just remind some people of simple facts.
You don't know who did this. Last january, all killers were french, born in France. They were petty criminals from poor neighborhoods around Paris who turned islamists in french jails and in extremist circles in french.
People who flee ISIS/Al quaeda/Boko Haram in Syria and other countries are as much victims as people from Paris. There might be terrorists using refugees' crisis to get in the country, but it's not the refugees bringing in weapons, planning which part of Paris to attack...
Anyway, this shows once more that spying the whole country is completely useless if a dozen terrorist could get together, find weapons, organize and plan such an attack without any action from the multiple
(Score: 4, Insightful) by goodie on Saturday November 14 2015, @03:48AM
This. For a bunch of people who claim to have well informed opinions, not watching Fox News etc. i see a lot of ignorance here. I am willing to bet my money on those people having nothing to do with refugees and i stead bein 2nd or 3rd generation French citizens much like the other attacks. And yes I grew up in France and still go there regularly. The main issue over there in terms of radicalization is not new immigrants. It is the new generation of already established immigrants. The reasons why they turn to such horrible actions is another complex topic. But please do not jump to a simple conclusion just because it is easy.
(Score: 2, Troll) by cubancigar11 on Saturday November 14 2015, @06:39AM
I have personally seen the kind of racism that exists among most French people. They aren't ready for immigrants at all. But since France has an impending economical catastrophe due to low population growth and exorbitant social security system, govt. just needs immigrants to keep it all together. French people are one of the most overtly intolerant people in western Europe - and not just to people with darker skin. France needs to ban immigration and let normal people realize the aforementioned need before trying to save itself. Sure, it will result in a Greece like situation but at least there will be less carnage.
Or maybe carnage is better than Greece like situation. France is one of the biggest exporters of military hardware. War!!!
(Score: 2) by fritsd on Saturday November 14 2015, @03:54PM
So, you're saying it's some kind of meta-terrorism problem?
(1) Leaders pick poisonous mullahs with "the gift of the word" but without criminal or violent history
(2) Send them to target host country to proselytise
(3) P.M. assembles a crowd of disgruntled and gullible 17-year-old "authoritarian follower" kids *with a host country passport, looks, and behaviour*
(4) P.M. molds their mind for years with his friday tirades
(5) P.M. weeds out the ones who have drawn the attention of the authorities, the ones that are too stupid, and the ones that might disobey orders
(6) P.M. waits for orders from higher up the hierarchy
(7) ???
(8) Boom!
That would explain why Britain and Norway wanted to get rid of Captain Hook [wikipedia.org] and Mullah Krekar, respectively. Those used "freedom of expression" and "freedom of religion" as a shield in order to ultimately get rid of that freedom of expression and religion.
Who can protect us from poisonous imams?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 14 2015, @10:58PM
> Who can protect us from poisonous imams?
Stop the ghettoization of immigrants. When society just keeps excluding you, you start feeling like an outsider. First gen immigrants came to france because they wanted to be a part of the country - they knew they were different so worked hard to become more french but expected that they would always be somewhat different. 2nd generation are born in france, speak french like a native, swim in french culture and yet still they are treated as outsiders. So they look for people who will accept them and the "poisonous imams" are right there to fill the social void. Just like gangs are there for the ghettos in America.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 14 2015, @04:41AM
Thank you for this ray of hope your comment brought to me. As a French I am destroyed seeing so much hate, ad nominen finger pointing and victim blaming when the only right thing to do should be using compassion toward the everyone affected. Let's wait for the anarchy to settle, the justice to do its work and make informed decisions after.
I still have to hear about some family members and former colleagues.
My thoughts are going to everyone affected tonight, their loves ones and friends.
[AC as I don't want any karma on such comment]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday November 14 2015, @12:35PM
Define "French" and "born in France" please.
I will argue that a second or third generation immigrant who grew up in Little Mecca is not French at all.
(Score: 2) by goodie on Saturday November 14 2015, @07:11PM
Not sure what you mean by Little Mecca. My take on this, for having lived in Parisian suburbs until I was 15 or so (and going back there everytime I go back to visit France) is that those are kids born and raised in France. Parents or grandparents came in, worked hard, and had kids. These are the people we are referring to (as far as I can tell). Have they ever seen the country where their parents come from? More than likely they have not. However, they've spent their fair share of time stuck in suburban HLM and other places where there's really not much to do, job prospects are meager and so on (watch Intouchables, you get the idea, this is not exaggerated, it is actually like that).
So those kids are born and raised in France. They are French (to me it's about citizenship, not ethnicity, personal affiliation etc.) in this case. My point is that they are easy targets because they are stuck in a circular loop of bad prospects. And if they are indeed at the source of such horrible acts, the first ones to be shocked by their actions will be their families. They won't understand. They'll blame society etc. but this is not something they would have encouraged or condoned. It's a strange thing because those kids' parents were drilled to assimilate, learn and talk exclusively in French etc. But the new generation goes back to their roots or whatever idea they have of them because they have no actual experience of "life back home".