A picture of late Father Jacques Hamel is placed on flowers at the makeshift memorial in front of the city hall closed to the church where an hostage taking left a priest dead the day before in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, Normandy, France, Wednesday, July 27, 2016. The Islamic State group crossed a new threshold Tuesday in its war against the West, as two of its followers targeted a church in Normandy, slitting the throat of an elderly priest celebrating Mass and using hostages as human shields before being shot by police. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Big bags banned from Cannes beaches as attacks precaution

PARIS – Vacationers in the French Riviera city of Cannes have been banned from bringing big bags to the beach for security reasons in hopes of deterring a terrorist attack.

Cannes Mayor David Lisnard says the restriction seeks to stop “bags that could contain explosives or weapons and allows police forces to intervene in a pragmatic way.”

Lisnard said Thursday that the ban on large backpacks, suitcases and other luggage would run until at least the end of October.

His decision comes two weeks after a Tunisian man used a truck to kill 84 people celebrating Bastille Day on the waterfront in Nice, 33 kilometres (21 miles) northeast of Cannes, and two days after a Catholic priest was killed while celebrating Mass in Normandy, northern France.

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