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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: 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".