- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Arshdeep, Chakravarthy help India hammer Bangladesh in T20 opener
- Lewandowski's quickfire hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Israel pounds Lebanon ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Toddler among 4 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Madrid beat Villarreal but Carvajal suffers knee injury
- Madrid beat Villarreal to move level with Liga leaders Barcelona
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- French rugby player on rape charge whistled but 'serene' on return
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
France arrests terror suspect over fire attack on synagogue
Police arrested a man suspected of setting fires and causing an explosion at a synagogue in southern France on Saturday in what officials suspect was a terror attack, the country's interior minister said.
"The suspected perpetrator of the criminal fires at the synagogue has been detained," minister Gerard Darmanin said on X, adding that officers who made the arrest came under fire.
Police earlier said they were hunting for a man who, draped in a Palestinian flag, was believed to have set fires at a synagogue and triggered an explosion that injured an officer in the seaside resort of La Grande Motte.
An official source who asked not to be named told AFP the arrest took place in the nearby town of Nimes. An official in the state prosecution service added that two people associated with the suspect were also detained.
France's interim Prime Minister Gabriel Attal earlier visited the site of the attack along with Darmanin and said: "We narrowly avoided an absolute tragedy."
"Once more, French Jews have been targeted and attacked as a result of their beliefs," Attal said.
"If the synagogue had been filled with worshippers... there probably would have been human victims."
Security around Jewish sites was tightened following the attack early Saturday at Beth Yaacov synagogue in La Grande Motte, near the city of Montpellier.
Two cars outside the synagogue were set alight, with a gas canister then likely exploding inside one of the vehicles, police said.
Two fires were also started at the entrance of the synagogue, damaging two doors, but were quickly put out, investigators said.
The wounded police officer had been injured by the blast after rushing to the scene after the fires were started, police said.
President Emmanuel Macron called the incident "an act of terror", adding on X: "The fight against anti-Semitism is a daily fight."
He said "all means are being deployed" to apprehend the suspect.
La Grande Motte's mayor, Stephan Rossignol, said that CCTV had picked up images of an individual setting fire to the cars.
In part of the footage, watched and authenticated by AFP, a man is seen with a Palestinian flag draped around his waist, his head covered by a red Palestinian keffiyeh.
The man carried two bottles filled with a yellowish liquid. The footage also seems to show the contours of a handgun.
Sources close to the investigation said the suspect left the scene on foot.
The fires and explosion came amid a heightened state of alert in France and other European countries because of the war in Gaza.
- 'Anti-Semitic acts' -
Attal said France's national anti-terror prosecutors had been tasked with investigating the incident.
The premier linked it to a rise in anti-Semitism since Palestinian militant group Hamas triggered the Gaza war with its cross-border attack on Israel last year.
"We are outraged, revolted and scandalised by this, given that anti-Semitic acts have increased dramatically, even more so since 7 October," he said, referring to the date of the Hamas attack.
The police presence outside Jewish sites in France would be increased following the explosion, Interior Minister Darmanin said.
The blast occurred during Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest that runs from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday, with many attending synagogue services.
There was, however, no religious service going on at the time of the incident, a police source said. A rabbi and four other people were inside the synagogue, but all were unharmed, investigators said.
The town of La Grande Motte has about 8,500 permanent residents, but the population swells during the summer tourism season.
Darmanin said this month that the government had counted 887 anti-Semitic acts in France in the first half of 2024, nearly three times as many as in the same period in 2023.
France is home to the biggest Jewish population outside Israel and the United States, as well as the largest Muslim community in the European Union.
The use of a gas canister "in a car at a time when worshippers are expected to arrive at the synagogue is not simply a criminal act", CRIF president Yonathan Arfi told AFP. "This shows an intention to kill."
L.Durand--AMWN