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Three people have been killed in a knife attack at a church in the French city of Nice, police say.

Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi said there had been a “terrorist attack at the heart of the Notre-Dame basilica”.

One elderly victim who had come to pray was “virtually beheaded”. A suspect was shot and detained shortly afterwards. Mr Estrosi spoke of “Islamo-fascism” and that the suspect had “repeated endlessly ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is greatest).”

President Emmanuel Macron is on his way to the scene. France’s national anti-terror prosecutors have opened a murder inquiry.

Mr Estrosi compared the attack to the recent murder of teacher Samuel Paty, who was beheaded close to his school outside Paris earlier this month. Police have not suggested a motive for the attack in Nice. However, it follows days of protests in some Muslim-majority countries triggered by President Macron’s defence of French cartoons that depict the Prophet Mohammed. There have been calls in some countries for a boycott of French goods.

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A police officer who strangled a mother of two after she exposed their affair to his wife has been jailed.

Timothy Brehmer killed nurse Claire Parry, 41, after they met in a pub car park in Dorset on 9 May. The two had been involved in a secret relationship for more than 10 years, a trial at Salisbury Crown Court heard.

Brehmer, 41, who admitted manslaughter and was acquitted of murder by a jury on Tuesday, has been jailed for 10 and a half years.

The trial heard Mrs Parry, who was married to another Dorset Police officer, met the defendant outside the Horns Inn in West Parley to confront him about another of his extra-marital affairs.

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A former defence worker breached the Official Secrets Act when he allegedly leaked details of a UK missile system “upon which the security of the realm partly depends”, a court heard.

Simon Finch, 50, from Swansea, is accused of sharing technical details classified as “top secret”. He denies recording and disclosing secret defence information and refusing to give authorities access codes to three electronic devices.

Mr Finch is on trial at The Old Bailey.

The jury heard how the software engineer had worked for companies, including BAE Systems and QinetiQ, contracted to provide services to the Ministry of Defence, from the late 1990s until 2018.

In October 2018, it is alleged Mr Finch, of Penlan Crescent, Uplands, sent an email to eight recipients including law firms, charities, trade unions, an MP and a US citizen, containing classified information he had accessed. It detailed operational information about the weapons system, which is still in use by the armed forces, the court heard.

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Seven people have been arrested on suspicion of seizing control of an oil tanker, police have said.

Sixteen members of the Special Boat Service (SBS) ended a 10-hour stand-off which started when stowaways on board the ship reportedly became violent. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said there had been a “threat to life”.

Hampshire Constabulary said the seven men were being held on suspicion of “seizing or exercising control of a ship by use of threats or force under Sections 9(1) and (3) of the Aviation and Maritime and Security Act 1990”. “All 22 crew members are safe and well and the vessel is now alongside in the port of Southampton,” a spokesman said. Investigators are now speaking to the ship’s crew to establish what happened.

The stowaways, believed to be Nigerians, were handed over to Hampshire police on Sunday night.

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A man has been charged with preparing for a right-wing terrorist attack on a major immigration law firm.

Cavan Medlock, 28, of Harrow, north London, is charged with preparing an act of terrorism by researching Duncan Lewis Solicitors with the intention of killing an immigration solicitor.

Prosecutors allege he equipped himself with a knife and handcuffs, as well as Nazi and Confederate flags before going to the offices in Harrow on 7 September. He faces a trial on 17 May.

Prosecutors say he is an extreme right-wing terrorist who planned to kill a solicitor at the firm because he objected to his involvement in preventing the government from deporting immigrants.

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