In France, 25 members of a gang of African immigrants from a Paris banlieue have been convicted for the murder of a Jewish man three years ago. The ringleader, 28-year-old Youssouf Fofana, was jailed for life while his two main accomplices were given sentences of 15 and 18 years. Since some of the suspects were minors, the trial was held behind closed doors.

The gang held 23-year-old Ilan Halimi cptive in an apartment for three weeks, and tortured him. Eventually they abandoned him by a railway line, handcuffed naked to a tree. Mr Halimi was still alive when he was found but died on his way to hospital.

The prosecutors in the case argued that the gang targeted the man simply because he was Jewish. The murder led to mass protests against anti-Semitism in France.