Elite French police arrested 10 suspected Islamists in early morning raids today in several cities, including Marseille, a police source said.

A Briton and Italian were abducted by a splinter cell of the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram and executed before a failed operation to rescue them, Nigeria's State Security Service said yesterday.

It had seemed remarkable enough that two of the first five in the JCB Triumph Hurdle market – Minsk and Dildar – were yet to leave the ground in public. Still less accountably, however, Dildar was actually eased in the betting after duly making a winning start to his hurdling career at Taunton yesterday.

Hopes of easing fraught diplomatic relations come as Islamabad faces fresh political crisis

Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been given extra police security following terrorist threats.

A ferry hijacking by a Kurdish militant was foiled yesterday after Turkish army commandos disguised themselves as hostages, infiltrated the boat and killed the hijacker.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that he would not apologise to Turkey over an Israeli raid that killed nine Turks on a ship bound for Gaza, reiterating his position after Turkey acted to downgrade relations with Israel.

A Royal Marine has been killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan.

Security forces will comb through cities 24 hours a day to conduct identity checks and searches

"It seemed a straightforward job, risky but straightforward. Flying a helicopter full of gold out of South Vietnam before the advancing North Vietnamese Army got their hands on it. As an ex-Australian Air Force chopper pilot, Brendan Beckett thought the job would give him no real trouble. So how did he come to be tied to a post, knee-deep in rising water?"

Even by Wootton Bassett standards, yesterday's repatriation was a solemn affair. As the bells marked the arrival of the cortege carrying Marine Sam Alexander MC and Lt Ollie Augustin, silence descended.

The families of two Royal Marines killed in an explosion in Afghanistan have paid tribute to their loved ones.