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French President Emmanuel Macron is meeting trade unions and employers’ organisations, in a bid to defuse weeks of unrest in Paris and other cities.

Monday’s meeting comes ahead of a TV address in which he is expected to announce measures in response.

France has seen four weekends of violent protests against fuel tax rises, living costs and other issues.

About 136,000 “yellow-vest” protesters took to the streets on Saturday. More than 1,200 were taken into custody.

The capital Paris was particularly badly hit, with windows smashed, cars burned and shops looted, as 10,000 people took part in demonstrations.

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire described the situation as a “catastrophe for businesses” and the economy.

Protesters have staged demonstrations and road blocks across the country over the past four weekends.

Fighter jets scrambled from a Scottish RAF station due to unidentified aircraft approaching UK airspace.

Typhoon jets from RAF Lossiemouth in Moray were called out on Monday morning.

The RAF said the fighters were scrambled as a “precautionary measure”, but no intercept took place and the Typhoons returned to base.

They launched from RAF Lossiemouth with the Meteor air-to-air missile for the first time.

Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier said: “RAF Quick Reaction Alert Typhoon fighters are now armed with the most advanced air-to-air missile in the world.”

A teenager who sent thousands of hoax bomb threats to schools and triggered an American airline security scare has been jailed for three years.

George Duke-Cohan, 19, sparked nationwide panic and a transatlantic investigation from the bedroom of his home in Watford, Hertfordshire. He pleaded guilty at Luton Crown Court in September to three counts of making hoax bomb threats. It followed an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA).

Duke-Cohan, of Mutchetts Close, caused widespread panic in March when he emailed more than 1,700 schools, colleges and nurseries across the UK to warn about an explosive. Hundreds of the schools were evacuated. He was arrested days later but in April, he sent another batch of hoax emails to schools in the US and UK.

NCA investigators, working with the FBI, also found that while on bail for the bomb hoaxes, Duke-Cohan had made a fake report of a hijacked US-bound plane.

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Police investigating extreme right-wing activity in the UK have arrested three men on suspicion of terrorism offences.

Those arrested are a 17-year-old from London, a 21-year-old from Bath and an 18-year-old from Portsmouth.

The investigation relates to alleged activity by a neo-Nazi group called the Sonnenkrieg Division.

Searches are ongoing at four properties in Bath, London, Portsmouth and Leeds, officers said. Police said the arrests, made by officers from the North East Counter Terrorism Unit, were part of a planned operation. The three men are being interviewed in police stations in London and Bath.

The 21-year-old was arrested on suspicion of possessing material useful to someone preparing an act of terrorism and conspiracy to inspire racial or religious hatred.

The 17-year-old was arrested on suspicion of encouraging terrorism, dissemination of terrorist publications, and conspiracy to inspire racial or religious hatred.

The 18-year-old was arrested on suspicion of encouraging terrorism and dissemination of terrorist publications.

Russia will develop missiles banned under a Cold War agreement if the US exits the pact, President Vladimir Putin has warned.

His comments follow Nato’s accusation on Tuesday that Russia has already broken the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

Signed in 1987 by the US and USSR, it banned both country’s use of all short and medium-range missiles. But Mr Putin says the accusation is a pretext for the US to leave the pact.

In televised comments, the Russian leader said many other countries had developed weapons banned under the INF treaty. “Now it seems our American partners believe that the situation has changed so much that [they] must also have such a weapon,” he said. “What’s our response? It’s simple – in that case we will also do this.”

US President Donald Trump has previously said the country would leave the treaty because of Russian actions.

Analysts say Russia sees the weapons as a cheaper alternative to conventional forces.

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