The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says he accepts the Annan peace plan, but Mr Assad said armed groups inside Syria must cease what he called "terrorist acts" against the government. On Thursday, at least 20 people were killed in clashes inside Syria. Meanwhile, Britain has announced an extra $700,000 of support for Syrian opposition groups.
The body of the Islamist gunman who shot dead seven people in and around the French city of Toulouse has been buried at a
cemetery
in the city following an intervention by President Sarkozy. The mayor of Toulouse had said he did not want Mohammed Merah buried there, but Mr Sarkozy
overruled
him. Kate Davenport, a journalist in Toulouse, described the burial.
Twenty or so of Mohammed Merah's close friends or family that were brought in a
sort of
highly secured minibus, and then basically the rest of the people there were police or, some of them were not in uniform, but they seemed to be security guards and so on. There were sort of
gendarmes
checking identity cards and taking the licence plates of anyone who entered the cemetery. Helicopters overhead, and very, very high security.
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A nuclear scientist at the prestigious Cern laboratory has gone
on trial
in France for allegedly plotting terrorist attacks. Adlene Hicheur has been in
custody
since his arrest two and a half years ago after police intercepted his emails to an alleged contact in al-Qaeda. The emails reportedly proposed targets and suggested Mr Hicheur was willing to be part of an active unit. His lawyers say all he did was express controversial views online, and he was never part of a plot.