Trial of 20 accused in 2015 IS attacks in Paris begins amid tight security

In a custom-built secure complex embedded within a 13th-century courthouse, France on Wednesday began the trial of 20 men accused in the Islamic State group’s 2015 attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead and hundreds injured. The defendants were taken one by one into a glass-enclosed box at the side of the courtroom, surrounded by armed officers. Nine gunmen and suicide bombers struck within minutes of each other at France’s national soccer stadium, the Bataclan concert hall and Paris restaurants and cafes on Nov 13, 2015. Survivors of the attacks as well as those who mourn their dead packed the rooms, which can hold 1,800 plaintiffs and over 300 lawyers.