FRENCH prime minister Edouard Philippe and senior figures of the French government are attending the funerals for the four victims of last week’s extremist gun rampage.
The ceremonies are taking place in the quiet Aude region in the south of the country, the site of a deadly carjacking, gun spree and supermarket hostage-taking.
Philippe spoke to families of the victims and local residents in Trebes as the funeral convoys of Herve Sosna, 65, Christian Medves, 50, and Jean Mazieres, 60, arrived. Their coffins were put on display in a large square.
A private religious ceremony took place afterwards for gendarme Arnaud Beltrame in nearby Carcassonne, and was to be be followed by a burial later in the cemetery of Ferrals-les-Corbieres.
Yesterday, France held a national homage to the gendarme, who was given a posthumous Legion of Honour for his heroism in swapping himself for a hostage and potentially preventing further killings.
Meanwhile, a man and a woman have been arrested in connection with a failed car attack on French soldiers.
A police official said the unnamed man was arrested in his home in Grenoble on suspicion of shouting death threats and driving at soldiers who were out jogging near their military barracks.
He said the woman was arrested in Echirolles, a suburb of Grenoble, and was the owner of the car used.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here