Toulouse

The trial continued this week of Abdelkader Merah and Fettah Malki, both accused of complicity in the crimes of Mohamed Merah, the Islamist terrorist brother of Abdelkader Merah who murdered seven people in and around the city of Toulouse, southern France, in March 2012. Both men have denied the charges. The court hearings, which opened on October 2nd, have been marked by ill-tempered verbal exchanges, while a lawyer for Abdelkader Merah has claimed to have received death threats. But the rowdy debates suddenly fell silent this week when witnesses took to the stand to recount Merah’s massacre of a rabbi and three children, aged 3, 5 and 8, at a Jewish school in Toulouse. Matthieu Suc was in court to hear their harrowing testimony.

The trial of Abdelkader Merah, 35, accused of aiding his younger brother Mohamed Merah during the latter's nine-day spree of killings of seven people, including soldiers and Jewish children, in and around the southern French city of Toulouse in March 2012, opened in Paris on Monday.

Investigators 'know' it comes from a Boeing 777 but they still need to identify a number inside wing part to confirm it is missing jet.

Suspects planned to use corrosive acid to dissolve dismembered corpse of 23-year-old female victim, as depicted on TV show.

Identification of aircraft part found on Réunion island last week could be first clue to fate of missing Malaysia Airlines flight.

Aircraft wing part washed up on Réunion will be driven to Toulouse defence laboratory for confirmation it belonged to missing Boeing 777.

Rabbi lodges complaint for discrimination after being told to remove skullcap because voting was in a state school and subject to secularism laws.

The suspects from Toulouse and Albi are believed to have handled questionable money transfers and recruited candidates to wage jihad.

Local residents and councillors have launched a legal bid to stop one of France's leading regional airports falling under the effective control of a Chinese-led consortium. Though economy minister Emmanuel Macron denies that Toulouse-Blagnac Airport in the south-west of the country is being 'privatised', Mediapart has published leaked documents that contradict this. For while the joint Chinese-Canadian group involved has bought 'only' 49.9% of the shares, they will have full de facto authority over key decisions about the airport's future. On Tuesday the takeover's opponents failed to get an emergency injunction to stop the sale going ahead. But the courts will now examine in detail whether the sale procedure was conducted legally. Laurent Mauduit reports on the fight to keep the airport under public control.

The arrests for 'conspiracy to prepare acts of terrorism' focussed on a network allegedly based in the south-west city of Toulouse.

Economy minister insists controversial sale of share in biggest airport in south-west France is not 'privatisation' but 'opening up of capital'.

Government-funded group consists of four staff and a dozen volunteers who get paid expenses to look into reports of strange sightings in the skies.

Running battles took place between youths and police in Nantes and Toulouse after protests over death last week of botany student Rémi Fraisse.

The three men, extradited from Turkey, include the brother-in-law of Toulouse gunman Mohamed Merah who murdered seven people in 2012.

French interior minister says Souad Merah, whose brother shot dead seven people in south-west France in 2012, is believed to be in Syria.