France's National Assembly approves six-month extension of emergency rules after Nice attack

The National Assembly, France' s lower house of parliament, backed on Wednesday six-month extension of emergency rules to late January 2017 after last week's truck assault in Nice which killed 84 people.

At a predawn vote, 489 lawmakers approved a text to prolong the emergency state by six months while 26 were against and four abstained.

"Populism stalks us, ready to take any opportunity to blow on the embers of discord and stir up divisions, as every new division makes us more vulnerable," Prime Minister Manuel Valls said, referring to the opposition's mounting critics over the government security failure.

"We must remain united and focused because we must be strong in the face of this threat," he added while presenting the text overnight.

The state of emergency offers more power to police to search homes and arrest suspects without judicial warrant. It also allows them to dig freely their phones and computers.

The emergency rules have been imposed in the wake of last year's deadly attack in which a group of armed attackers stormed restaurants, theatre hall and soccer stadium, killing 130 people. Endit