France seeks global coalition in renewed fight against IS

French President François Hollande called on the United States and Russia on Monday to join a global coalition to destroy the Islamic State (IS) group following the attacks across Paris, announcing a wave of measures to combat terrorism in France.

“France is at war,” Hollande told a joint session of parliament at the Palace of Versailles, promising to increase funds for national security and strengthen anti-terrorism laws in response to the suicide bombings and shootings that killed 129.

“We’re not engaged in a war of civilisations, because these assassins do not represent any. We are in a war against jihadist terrorism which is threatening the whole world,” he told a packed, sombre chamber.

Parliamentarians gave Hollande a standing ovation before spontaneously singing the “Marseillaise” national anthem in a show of political unity after the worst atrocity France has seen since World War Two.

Here are the latest developments:

• US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Paris Monday evening ahead of planned talks with Hollande at the Elysée Palace. A State Department spokesman said Kerry will use his visit to reiterate a shared resolve to counter violent extremism in France and elsewhere.

• France observed a minute’s silence at noon on Monday in memory of the victims of the attacks, which killed 129 people and injured more than 350.

• Two people detained in Belgium on Saturday in the wake of the Paris attacks have been charged with terrorism according to the federal prosecutor’s office, which added that a major police operation in the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek had yielded no new evidence or arrests.

• The Paris prosecutor’s office named two more suspected suicide bombers who blew themselves up at the Bataclan concert hall and the national stadium during Friday’s attacks.
   
• France carried out massive air strikes Sunday night on IS targets in Raqqa, Syria.
   
• A search is under way for “the eighth man” in the Paris attacks. French police late on Sunday issued a public appeal for information on 26-year-old Belgian, Salah Abdeslam, in connection with the attacks.

• Schools, offices and museums reopened on Monday on the country’s third and final day of national mourning.
   
• French authorities have a number for people looking for missing loved ones: +33 (0) 800 40 60 05. There is also a special number for tourists: +33 (0)1 45 55 80 00. Information that can help police in the investigation into the attacks can be called in (from France) by dialling: 197.