UK must offer businesses certainty over green energy, says boss of FTSE 100 firm

Miles Roberts of packaging-maker DS Smith warns manufacturing will decline unless government provides clarity about decarbonisation

The UK risks seeing its manufacturing sector fall behind rival economies if the government does not offer certainty over policies on shifting to green energy, according to the head of FTSE 100 packaging maker DS Smith.

Miles Roberts, the company’s chief executive, said British government decarbonisation policy has lacked the clarity of European rivals, meaning DS Smith has moved ahead with a €90m (£78m) investment in a paper mill in Rouen, northern France, while waiting for more clarity from government before investing in upgrades in the UK.

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Private life of France’s Bonnie and Clyde revealed in love letters

Prison letters sent by ‘public enemy No 1’ Jacques Mesrine to his girlfriend Jeanne Schneider to be sold at auction

Bankrobber and serial prison escapee Jacques Mesrine had many names during his two-decade criminal career in the 1960s and 70s.

In disguise and on the run from police, he made headlines as “the man of a thousand faces” and “public enemy number one”. In Canada and the US with his girlfriend, Jeanne Schneider, the couple were nicknamed France’s Bonnie and Clyde.

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‘A lot of pain’: Europe’s Jews fear rising antisemitism after Hamas attack

Protection of Jewish sites increased in towns and cities across continent after outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas

In the usually bustling “Little Jerusalem” area of Sarcelles, north of Paris, the popular falafel and grill restaurant was eerily quiet. “People are not going out,” said Jérémy, the 33-year-old restaurant owner. Lunchtime and evening crowds are common in one of the largest Jewish communities on the Paris outskirts. But many thought it wiser to stay at home, fearing a growing number of antisemitic incidents in France and across Europe since the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October and the ensuing bombardment of Gaza.

In France, home to Europe’s largest Jewish community, police recorded more than 320 physical acts of antisemitism, and made more than 180 arrests, in the first 10 days of the war.

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Niger’s military rulers say ousted president tried to escape custody

Escape attempt failed and ‘main actors’ have been arrested, says regime spokesperson on state TV

Niger’s military rulers say they have foiled an attempt by Mohamed Bazoum, the former president they ousted in a coup in July, to escape custody.

“At around three in the morning, the ousted president Mohamed Bazoum and his family, his two cooks and two security elements, tried to escape from his place of detention,” the regime’s spokesperson, Amadou Abdramane, said on state television.

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Organisers cancel Europe Music Awards due to ‘volatility of world events’

Paramount postpones global music ceremony until 2024 citing Israel-Hamas war, saying now is a ‘moment of mourning’

The 2023 MTV Europe Music Awards have been cancelled in France, with the “volatility of world events” and the Israel-Hamas war given as reasons.

The annual ceremony, which celebrates music and artists from across the globe, was due to be held at the Paris Nord Villepinte exhibition centre, on 5 November, but will now be rescheduled for November 2024.

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Attacks across Europe put Islamist extremism back in spotlight

Even before the war in Gaza, authorities have been warning of rise in Islamist terrorism on the continent

For months now, authorities charged with keeping Europe safe from Islamist extremist violence have been sounding the alarm. In May, Dutch security services warned that the terrorist threat from Islamic State to Europe had increased. The same month, the French interior minister said the risk of Islamist terrorism was rising again and that his own country was being targeted, as well as its neighbours.

In recent days, these pessimistic forecasts appear to have been vindicated. France is deploying 7,000 extra troops on to its streets after a teacher was fatally stabbed on Friday in an attack that Emmanuel Macron condemned as “barbaric Islamic terrorism”. The suspected attacker swore an oath of allegiance to IS in an audio recording on his phone shortly before the killing, prosecutors have said.

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Macron calls for ‘ruthless’ approach to extremism in wake of Arras attack

Schools pay tribute to teacher killed last week as country placed on highest security alert

French secondary schools will hold a minute’s silence on Monday after a teacher was killed by a former pupil in what the government called an Islamist terror attack, prompting Emmanuel Macron to call for a “ruthless” approach towards extremists.

France has been placed on its highest level of security alert after a 20-year-old terrorist suspect who had been under surveillance walked into his old high school in Arras, northern France, on Friday and stabbed to death a French teacher, Dominique Bernard, and injured three others. The 57-year-old teacher died from several wounds to the neck.

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Louvre in Paris evacuates staff and visitors after receiving written threat

Closure comes after decision to put France on high alert following fatal school stabbing by suspected extremist

Thousands of visitors have been evacuated from the Louvre in Paris after museum staff received a written threat.

The warning on Saturday came as France is on its highest alert for terrorist attacks after the killing of a teacher by a suspected radical Islamist in the north of the country on Friday.

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France on high alert after suspected radical Islamist kills teacher

Prime minister Élisabeth Borne says country will be on ‘urgent’ terrorist alert until level of risk established

France has been put on its highest level of security alert after a suspected radical Islamist killed a teacher and injured three others in the north of the country.

The prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, said on Friday night that the country would be on “urgent” terrorist alert for a limited time while the level of risk was established.

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Teacher killed and two injured in stabbing at school in northern France

Arrested suspect was on watchlist of people known to be security risk in connection with radical Islamism

A teacher has been killed and two other people critically injured in a stabbing at a school in Arras, northern France.

The suspected attacker, who has been arrested, was on a watchlist of people known to be a security risk in connection with radical Islamism. Local media reported that he was a former pupil at the Gambetta-Carnot school.

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European leaders pledge crackdown on antisemitism as incidents rise

Bans on pro-Hamas celebrations and pro-Palestinian protests announced in several countries amid tensions

Officials across Europe are scrambling to curtail any spillover of tensions from the Israel-Hamas war, with Germany pledging a “zero tolerance” approach to antisemitism and France banning pro-Palestinian protests amid concerns for public order.

The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, told parliament on Thursday that while thousands of people had rallied in support of Israel, the country had also seen “disgraceful images on our streets in which the most brutal acts of terror have been celebrated in broad daylight”.

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Researchers use AI to read word on ancient scroll burned by Vesuvius

University of Kentucky challenged computer scientists to reveal contents of carbonised papyrus, a ‘potential treasure trove for historians’

When the blast from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius reached Herculaneum in AD79, it burned hundreds of ancient scrolls to a crisp in the library of a luxury villa and buried the Roman town in ash and pumice.

The disaster appeared to have destroyed the scrolls for good, but nearly 2,000 years later researchers have extracted the first word from one of the texts, using artificial intelligence to peer deep inside the delicate, charred remains.

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Court finds police in France often use racial profiling in identity checks

Practice ruled to be discriminatory, but Conseil d’État says it does not have power to force change in policy

France’s highest administrative court has recognised discriminatory police identity checks based on racial profiling exist in France and are not isolated cases, but said it could not change political policy on the issue.

In a class action against the French state, six French and international organisations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Open Society Justice Initiative had asked for French authorities to be found at fault for failing to prevent the widespread use of racial profiling.

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Wednesday briefing: Is Britain about to get invaded by bedbugs?

In today’s newsletter: With Paris under siege by these tiny, blood-sucking terrors, many on the other side of the Channel are wondering if they’re next – and what can be done

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Good morning. Paris is being overrun by bedbugs, at a time when the country is hosting the Rugby World Cup and preparing to host the 2024 Olympics. The news has alarmed people living in France and those visiting: in a moment of particularly acute panic, the deputy mayor of the French capital declared that “no one is safe”, which certainly intensified the concern.

A bedbug epidemic on the other side of the Channel has unsurprisingly left many people worried that the hordes of insects are about to hop on a direct train to St Pancras International and invade the UK. London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, has said everything is being done to ensure that the problem does not get out of control, though he has acknowledged that it is a “real cause for concern”. Transport for London is disinfecting seats on buses and tubes every day and Khan is also in contact with Eurostar.

Gaza | A massive Israeli military buildup is continuing along Gaza’s border, as the country’s military confirmed the death toll from Saturday’s Hamas attack – the deadliest militant assault in its history – had passed 1,200 and wave after wave of airstrikes hit the territory.

Labour | Keir Starmer has made a direct appeal for “despairing” Conservative voters to back Labour at the next election, telling them he would repair a Britain broken by 13 years of Tory governments.

Bibby Stockholm | The Home Office plans to return asylum seekers to the Bibby Stockholm barge next week following a lengthy evacuation after legionella was found there.

Disinformation | The EU has issued a warning to Elon Musk over the alleged disinformation about the Hamas attack on Israel, including fake news and “repurposed old images”, on X, which was formerly known as Twitter.

Luton airport | A major incident has been declared at London Luton airport after a huge fire broke out at a car park in the terminal, with all flights being suspended.

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France closes seven schools over bedbug infestations

Education minister says ‘cases are piling up’ and that ‘an immediate response is needed’

France has been forced to shut seven schools over growing concerns over an infestation of bedbugs, the education minister has said.

“Bedbugs were detected at various levels in … I believe 17 institutions, and currently as I speak to you, seven institutions are closed for this reason,” Gabriel Attal told France 5 television.

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‘Bedbugs don’t discriminate’: Paris ‘scourge’ sparks fears of international infestation

After French capital hosted fashion week and Rugby World Cup there are concerns the problem will spread

Paris is burning its luggage and bed linen as it battles a “scourge” of bedbugs, stoking fears of infestation around the world as pest controllers report an uptick in inquiries and transport operators and hoteliers seek to assuage concerns.

The city of light is reportedly under siege from the nocturnal bloodsuckers, leading the French transport minister, Clément Beaune, to meet transport operators. “It’s a real nightmare,” says Yacine, a schoolteacher in Paris who declined to give his surname. “I’m so afraid to take the Métro, I don’t go to the cinema – it’s very alarmant.”

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France’s departure from Niger reflects years of failure in its former colonies

Niger is only the latest of several west African countries to reject France’s long-standing attempts to interfere in the Sahel

When the French president, Emmanuel Macron, announced he would withdraw France’s ambassador and troops from Niger after a military takeover, the new regime welcomed a historic step forward for the country.

“Imperialist and neocolonialist forces are no longer welcome on our national territory,” it said. “The new era of cooperation, based on mutual respect and sovereignty, is already under way.”

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France to begin pulling out troops from Niger this week

Paris says it is unable to work with putschists, leaving efforts to counter Islamists in Sahel in disarray

France will begin withdrawing troops from Niger this week following a coup in the west African country, in what marks a turning point in western nations’ efforts to counter a decade-long Islamist insurgency in the Sahel region.

“We will begin our disengagement operation this week, in good order, safely and in coordination with the Nigeriens,” the French military headquarters said.

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Former pupils demand apology from Irish school over Nazi teacher’s bullying

Louis Feutren joined a nationalist group in occupied France and went on to teach at a prestigious Dublin school

There was never any mystery about the fact that Louis Feutren, a French teacher at St Conleth’s school in south Dublin, was a Nazi collaborator.

He had a taste for violent punishments and bizarre humiliations that terrorised pupils. He liked to reminisce about the second world war, when he had joined a Breton nationalist group that fought on the side of Germany. And he showed pictures of himself in uniform.

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UK campaign group chief says Poland deported him at France’s request

Head of Cage says criticism of Emmanuel Macron’s government for Islamophobia is reason for forced return to Britain

The UK director of the campaign group Cage has claimed he has been deported from Poland at the behest of French authorities because he criticised Emmanuel Macron’s government for Islamophobia.

Muhammad Rabbani, who heads a group that campaigns on behalf of those affected by the “war on terror”, was due to give a speech this week at an international security conference in Warsaw that would have been critical of France’s handling of anti-government protests.

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