Spotlight: A year on, France honors victims of Paris attacks amid persistent high terror risks

Under grey, rainy sky and in sombre atmosphere, French President Francois Hollande on Sunday returned to restaurants and coffee shops in the French capital where attackers converted the vibrant venue to a scene of carnage on Nov. 13, 2015.

Accompanied by government officials and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, Hollande unveiled memorial plaques at six sites targeted last year before observing a minute of silence.

A series of commemoration ceremonies began outside the Stade de France national stadium where three suicide bombers blew up themselves during an international football match, killing a man and starting deadly shootings and explosions that left 130 victims.

At the Bataclan music hall, where the heaviest casualties was reported, a wreath of flowers was laid out. The victims' names were read out in solemn atmosphere. A crowd, including the families of the victims, gathered outside the theatre centre to pay tribute to 90 people who lost their lives.

To mark the first anniversary of Paris attacks, British rock star Sting reopened the Bataclan Saturday where French revellers and many of last year's survivors attend the concert.

"Tonight we have two tasks to achieve: first to remember those who lost their lives in the attack, and then to celebrate life and music in this historic place," Sting told the crowd.

For the rest of the memorial day, Life for Paris association is planning concerts, roundtable on resilience and exhibition of memorial messages and drawings left in the attacks' sites.

The association, made up of 650 of the attacks' victims and their families, organized also a gathering outside Paris city hall where dozens of colored balloons are launched to represent all the victims.

A year after Paris attacks, France's worst terror assault, investigation showed that the series of shootings and bombings were organized from Syria, prepared in Belgium and executed in Paris with internal complicity.

However, questions about the mastermind remains without answer after the attacks' only survivor Salah Abdeslam, now in solitary confinement in a Paris jail, refused to testify on the attacks.

After November assaults, claimed by the Islamic State group (IS), the French president declared a state of emergency which remains in place following Nice carnage and priest killing.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said in an interview with BBC on Sunday that the state of emergency would "undoubtedly be extended by a few months" to ensure the security of the presidential election.

"It is difficult today to put an end to the state of emergency. Especially since we are going to engage in a presidential campaign in a few weeks with meetings and public reunions. So we must protect our democracy," he said.

In an opinion column published in several European newspapers, the premier warned that France is facing "heavy and constant (terror attack) threat."

"Terrorism will still strike us. But, we have all the means to resist and all the strength to overcome," he said. Endit