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An 11-year-old British girl was shot dead in her garden in France after her father’s work on some hedges inflamed a long-running dispute, say prosecutors.

Solenne Thornton was killed playing outside her home in Saint-Herbot, a village near Quimper in Brittany, at about 10pm on Saturday.

A 71-year-old Dutch neighbour allegedly fired several shots which hit Solenne and her parents.

Her eight-year-old sister, Celeste, wasn’t hit and managed to raise the alarm.

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Shots fired after dad’s work on hedge ‘exacerbated’ situation

Local officials said there had been issues between the neighbours over a hedge and a plot of land.

Prosecutor Camille Miansoni told reporters the “family’s dad was doing gardening work on the hedges separating the two properties, this exacerbated the situation”.

“Later the suspect took a loaded 22mm rifle – three to four shots were fired, hitting the three victims,” he said.

Mr Miansoni said there was no evidence so far that the suspect had psychological problems or that he specifically aimed at the girl.

The Scene in Saint-Herbot
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The scene of the attack

According to TV network France 3, Solenne’s father Adrian Thornton is in a critical condition, while her mother Rachel has non-life-threatening injuries.

Both are reportedly in their forties.

The Scene in Saint-Herbot
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The girl was killed outside her home
The Scene in Saint-Herbot
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The incident took place in a village in Brittany
The Scene in Saint-Herbot,

It is believed the family had lived at the property for four or five years – and both girls were born in France.

The suspect has been arrested on suspicion of killing the girl, according to prosecutors. His wife was also reportedly being held.

Yannick, a local resident, told regional paper Le Telegramme de Brest: “We heard the bangs and we thought it was children playing with bangers.

“Then the kid ran into a neighbour’s house saying: ‘My sister is dead, my sister is dead’.”

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A gendarmerie tactical unit was dispatched and a negotiator persuaded the neighbour and his wife to give themselves up, said prosecutor Carine Halley.

She said the motive was not yet known but also cited a long-running dispute over some land.

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Exchanges between neighbours ‘heated’, says mayor

One neighbour said the dispute with the Dutchman began when they “cut down all the trees that bothered them”.

A neighbour told La Telegramme that on the night of the shooting he’d seen the family under the oak tree at the bottom of their garden.

“The two little girls were playing… the parents were sitting on their usual bench and having a barbecue,” he said.

Plonevez-du-Faou’s mayor, Marguerite Bleuzen, said a “conflict” had existed between the families going back a number of years but that police had never been involved.

However, she said villagers had spoken of “strained exchanges” between them on a “regular basis”.

Ms Bleuzen added: “He even took out his firearm once.

“If we had known that we would have reported it to the gendarmerie, the firearm would have been seized and we would probably not be in this situation.”

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Stock markets slump for second day running after Trump announces tariffs – in worst day for indexes since COVID

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Stock markets slump for second day running after Trump announces tariffs - in worst day for indexes since COVID

Worldwide stock markets have plummeted for the second day running as the fallout from Donald Trump’s global tariffs continues.

While European and Asian markets suffered notable falls, American indexes were the worst hit, with Wall Street closing to a sea of red on Friday following Thursday’s rout – the worst day in US markets since the COVID-19 pandemic.

As it happened: Worst week’s trading in five years

All three of the US’s major indexes were down by more than 5% at market close; The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 5.5%, the S&P 500 was 5.97% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 5.82%.

The Nasdaq was also 22% below its record-high set in December, which indicates a bear market.

Read more: What’s a bear market?

Ever since the US president announced the tariffs on Wednesday evening, analysts estimate that around $4.9trn (£3.8trn) has been wiped off the value of the global stock market.

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Mr Trump has remained unapologetic as the markets struggle, posting in all-caps on Truth Social before the markets closed that “only the weak will fail”.

The UK’s leading stock market, the FTSE 100, also suffered its worst daily drop in more than five years, closing 4.95% down, a level not seen since March 2020.

And the Japanese exchange Nikkei 225 dropped by 2.75% at end of trading, down 20% from its recent peak in July last year.

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US indexes had the worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. Pic: Reuters

Trump holds trade deal talks – reports

It comes as a source told CNN that Mr Trump has been in discussions with Vietnamese, Indian and Israeli representatives to negotiate bespoke trade deals that could alleviate proposed tariffs on those countries before a deadline next week.

The source told the US broadcaster the talks were being held in advance of the reciprocal levies going into effect next week.

Vietnam faced one of the highest reciprocal tariffs announced by the US president this week, with 46% rates on imports. Israeli imports face a 17% rate, and Indian goods will be subject to 26% tariffs.

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Do Trump’s tariffs add up?

Read more:
Markets gave Trump a clear no-confidence vote
There were no winners from Trump’s tariff gameshow

China – hit with 34% tariffs on imported goods – has also announced it will issue its own levy of the same rate on US imports.

Mr Trump said China “played it wrong” and “panicked – the one thing they cannot afford to do” in another all-caps Truth Social post earlier on Friday.

Later, on Air Force One, the US president told reporters that “the beauty” of the tariffs is that they allow for negotiations, referencing talks with Chinese company ByteDance on the sale of social media app TikTok.

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Tariffs: Xi hits back at Trump

He said: “We have a situation with TikTok where China will probably say, ‘We’ll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariffs?’

“The tariffs give us great power to negotiate. They always have.”

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Financial markets were always going to respond to Trump tariffs but they’re also battling with another problem

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Financial markets were always going to respond to Trump tariffs but they're also battling with another problem

Global financial markets gave a clear vote of no-confidence in President Trump’s economic policy.

The damage it will do is obvious: costs for companies will rise, hitting their earnings.

The consequences will ripple throughout the global economy, with economists now raising their expectations for a recession, not only in the US, but across the world.

Tariffs latest: FTSE 100 suffers biggest daily drop since COVID

Financial investors had been gradually re-calibrating their expectations of Donald Trump over the past few months.

Hopes that his actions may not match his rhetoric were dashed on Wednesday as he imposed sweeping tariffs on the US’ trading partners, ratcheting up protectionism to a level not seen in more than a century.

Markets were always going to respond to that but they are also battling with another problem: the lack of certainty when it comes to Trump.

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He is a capricious figure and we can only guess his next move. Will he row back? How far is he willing to negotiate and offer concessions?

Read more:
There were no winners from Trump’s tariff gameshow
Trade war sparks ‘$2.2trn’ global market sell-off

These are massive unknowns, which are piled on to uncertainty about how countries will respond.

China has already retaliated and Europe has indicated it will go further.

That will compound the problems for the global economy and undoubtedly send shivers through the markets.

Much is yet to be determined, but if there’s one thing markets hate, it’s uncertainty.

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Court confirms sacking of South Korean president who declared martial law

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Court confirms sacking of South Korean president who declared martial law

South Korea’s constitutional court has confirmed the dismissal of President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached in December after declaring martial law.

His decision to send troops onto the streets led to the country’s worst political crisis in decades.

The court ruled to uphold the impeachment saying the conservative leader “violated his duty as commander-in-chief by mobilising troops” when he declared martial law.

The president was also said to have taken actions “beyond the powers provided in the constitution”.

Demonstrators who stayed overnight near the constitutional court wait for the start of a rally calling for the president to step down. Pic: AP
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Demonstrators stayed overnight near the constitutional court. Pic: AP

Supporters and opponents of the president gathered in their thousands in central Seoul as they awaited the ruling.

The 64-year-old shocked MPs, the public and international allies in early December when he declared martial law, meaning all existing laws regarding civilians were suspended in place of military law.

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Highs and lows of Five-Year Keir
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The Constitutional Court is under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement of the impeachment trial. Pic: AP
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The court was under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement. Pic: AP

After suddenly declaring martial law, Mr Yoon sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly.

He has argued that he sought to maintain order, but some senior military and police officers sent there have told hearings and investigators that Mr Yoon ordered them to drag out politicians to prevent an assembly vote on his decree.

His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on 14 December, accusing him of rebellion.

The unanimous verdict to uphold parliament’s impeachment and remove Mr Yoon from office required the support of at least six of the court’s eight justices.

South Korea must hold a national election within two months to find a new leader.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favourite to become the country’s next president, according to surveys.

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