France marks first anniversary of November 13 Paris attacks

France on Sunday marked the first anniversary of the Paris attacks with sombre ceremonies and painful memories for the relatives of the 130 people killed.

President François Hollande unveiled plaques at sites across the city that were attacked by the Islamic State jihadist group, starting at the Stade de France.

Manuel Dias, 63, was killed by a suicide bomber outside the national stadium where France were playing Germany in a football match in the first of a series of coordinated attacks on the evening of November 13, 2015.

Hollande and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo also unveiled plaques outside bars and restaurants in the trendy neighbourhood where gunmen sprayed bullets at people enjoying a Friday evening out.

The final ceremony took place outside the Bataclan, the concert hall where 90 people were killed by three attackers during a rock gig in the culmination of the carnage.

The names of those killed at the concert were read out as hundreds of people gathered under rainy skies watched in silence.

Rock star Sting reopened the refurbished Bataclan with an emotionally charged show held amid tight security on Saturday.

“We will not forget them,” the British singer told the crowd in French after a minute’s silence for the victims.

Many in the crowd wept during the first song, “Fragile”.

The Bataclan management said they had prevented two members of the US group Eagles of Death Metal — who were on stage when the bloodshed started — from entering the Sting concert over controversial remarks by their lead singer Jesse Hughes.