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Obama orders flags at half staff for attacks in France

This is the third large attack in France since previous year.

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Before a lorry truck plowed through a crowd of Bastille Day revelers in Nice, France, Thursday night, the Vancouver French community was happily celebrating the national holiday at downtown’s Roundhouse Community Centre.

“There’s no known threat that we’re aware of”, LAPD Sgt. Aloaf Walker said Friday.

“Our thoughts are with the victims of this massacre, that is a result of jihadist barbarism, which strikes France after having sown death and destruction in the Middle East. We extend our condolences to the families affected by this bad terrorist attack, as well as to the city of Nice, local and national authorities, and the President of the Republic”. His neighbors don’t describe him as particularly religious and no organization has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

Traffic is closed on the Promenade des Anglais, and scheduled cultural events, including a jazz festival, have been canceled.

Bouhlal was completely unknown to either the French or Tunisian intelligence services.

He wrestled with the driver, who seized a revolver and fired several shots at the man and at police officers who arrived on the scene.

The announcement comes after Italy, Spain, Germany, Britain and Belgium, all of which are neighbours of France, held separate meetings to review their own security after the Nice attack.

She said the news left her feeling “terrified” and wondering, like other parents, how they can protect themselves and their young children.

A Texas-based newspaper, the Austin American-Statesman, reported that 51-year-old Sean Copeland and his 11-year-old son Brodie were among those killed in Nice, citing their friends and relatives.

Only hours earlier, Hollande had announced the emergency would be lifted by the end of this month.

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Hollande declared three days of mourning after the assault, as shellshocked France found itself again mourning its dead after attacks on Charlie Hebdo magazine in January 2015 and the November 2015 massacre in Paris.

How newspapers in France, Britain and around the world reacted to the Nice atrocity