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A serial killer who carried out a spate of murders and rapes in and around Paris in the 1980s and 1990s has been revealed as a retired police officer, according to reports in France.

Francois Verove, 59, is said to have used his police identity card and handcuffs to abduct and restrain his victims.

The serial killer has been known as “Le Grele”, meaning “the pockmarked man”, as he remained undetected for 35 years.

Verove confessed to his crimes in a suicide note written before he took his own life on Wednesday, Le Parisien reported.

He was said to have been among 750 gendarmes, a French paramilitary police officer, who had been called in for questioning on 29 September after authorities suspected the killer had worked in the security services.

Verove had been due to provide a DNA sample but never showed up, according to reports.

Instead he disappeared from his family home before being found dead at a rented flat near Montpellier in the south of the country on Wednesday.

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French media reported that he had left a note saying he had not been in a good state at the time of the crimes but had later “sorted himself out”.

The state prosecutor confirmed that DNA taken from Verove after his death linked him to several crime scenes, according to reports.

The serial killer was thought to be responsible for the rape and murder of 11-year-old Cecile Block, who was snatched as she left her apartment building for school in May 1986. The girl was found dead in a basement of the building.

She had been raped, strangled and stabbed in the chest.

Her half naked body was found covered by an old carpet.

During the subsequent police investigation, residents of the building recalled seeing a man in the elevator with pockmarked skin.

Luc Richard, Cecile’s older brother, was quoted in the Sud Ouest newspaper as saying: “He seemed very sure of himself. He spoke to me in a very bold, very polite way, too. He said something to me like, ‘Have a very, very good day’.”

Cecile’s parents both died without knowing who was responsible for their daughter’s death.

The serial killer was also responsible for the murders of Gilles Politi, 38, and his 21-year-old au pair Irmgard Mueller, both of whom were tortured.

The murder of a 19-year-old woman named Karine Leroy has also been attributed to Verove.

Genetic testing conducted a decade after Cecile’s murder is said to have revealed her killer had gone on to commit a series of rapes.

In three separate attacks, on a 26-year-old German woman, a 14-year-old girl, and an 11-year-old girl, he had identified himself as a policeman.

Investigators at the time thought this was just a ploy he used to gain control of his victims, according to reports.

However, it was also this detail that appears to have eventually led them to Verove – whose crimes are thought to have taken place between 1986 and at least 1994.

Officers eventually uncovered evidence that “Le Grele” was a member of the security forces who had been driving a white car.

In one case of abduction and rape, he reportedly showed his police card to make a lone girl get into his unmarked car.

The killer is also said to have used elaborate police or military restraint techniques during attacks.

His last known crime reportedly happened near a gendarmerie training centre.

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Ukraine war: Russia launches drone strike on Kyiv – as commander ‘sacked for lying about war progress’

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Ukraine war: Russia launches drone strike on Kyiv - as commander 'sacked for lying about war progress'

Russia launched a large drone attack on Kyiv overnight, with Volodymyr Zelenskyy warning the attack shows his capital needs better air defences.

Ukraine’s air defence units shot down 50 of 73 Russian drones launched, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries as a result of the attacks.

Russia has used more than 800 guided aerial bombs and around 460 attack drones in the past week.

Warning that Ukraine needs to improve its air defences, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: “An air alert has been sounded almost daily across Ukraine this week”.

“Ukraine is not a testing ground for weapons. Ukraine is a sovereign and independent state.

“But Russia still continues its efforts to kill our people, spread fear and panic, and weaken us.”

Russia did not comment on the attack.

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It comes as Russian media reported that Colonel General Gennady Anashkin, the commander of the country’s southern military district, had been removed from his role over allegedly providing misleading reports about his troops’ progress.

While Russian forces have advanced at the fastest rate in Ukraine since the start of the invasion, forces have been much slower around Siversk and the eastern region of Donetsk.

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Russian war bloggers have long complained that units there are poorly supported and thrown into deadly battles for little tactical gain.

Russia’s ministry of defence has not commented on the reports.

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Russian forces capture ‘former British soldier’ fighting for Ukraine – reports

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Russian forces capture 'former British soldier' fighting for Ukraine - reports

Russian forces have reportedly captured a British man while he was fighting for Ukraine.

In a widely circulated video posted on Sunday, the man says his name is James Scott Rhys Anderson, aged 22.

He says he is a former British Army soldier who signed up to fight for Ukraine’s International Legion after his job.

He is dressed in army fatigues and speaks with an English accent as he says to camera: “I was in the British Army before, from 2019 to 2023, 22 Signal Regiment.”

He tells the camera he was “just a private”, “a signalman” in “One Signal Brigade, 22 Signal Regiment, 252 Squadron”.

“When I left… got fired from my job, I applied on the International Legion webpage. I had just lost everything. I just lost my job,” he said.

“My dad was away in prison, I see it on the TV,” he added, shaking his head. “It was a stupid idea.”

In a second video, he is shown with his hands tied and at one point, with tape over his eyes.

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He describes how he had travelled to Ukraine from Britain, saying: “I flew to Krakow, Poland, from London Luton. Bus from there to Medyka in Poland, on the Ukraine border.”

Russian state news agency Tass reported that a military source said a “UK mercenary” had been “taken prisoner in the Kursk area” of Russia.

The UK Foreign Office said it was “supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention”.

The Ministry of Defence has declined to comment at this stage.

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Body of missing rabbi Zvi Kogan found in UAE – as Israeli PM says he was murdered in ‘antisemitic terror incident’

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Body of missing rabbi Zvi Kogan found in UAE - as Israeli PM says he was murdered in 'antisemitic terror incident'

The body of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi who went missing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been found, Israel has said.

Zvi Kogan, the Chabad representative in the UAE, went missing on Thursday.

A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s office on Sunday said the 28-year-old rabbi was murdered, calling it a “heinous antisemitic terror incident”.

“The state of Israel will act with all means to seek justice with the criminals responsible for his death,” it said.

On Saturday, Israeli intelligence agency Mossad said it was investigating the disappearance as suspicions arose that he had been kidnapped.

The Emirati government gave no immediate acknowledgment that Mr Kogan had been found dead. Its interior ministry has described the rabbi as being “missing and out of contact”.

“Specialised authorities immediately began search and investigation operations upon receiving the report,” the interior ministry said.

Mr Kogan lived in the UAE with his wife Rivky, who is a US citizen. He ran a Kosher grocery store in Dubai, which has been the target of online protests by pro-Palestinian supporters.

The Chabad Lubavitch movement, a prominent and highly observant branch of Orthodox Judaism, said Mr Kogan was last seen in Dubai.

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Israeli authorities reissued their recommendation against all non-essential travel to the UAE and said visitors currently there should minimise movement and remain in secure areas.

The rabbi’s disappearance comes as Iran has threatened to retaliate against Israel after the two countries traded fire in October.

While the Israeli statement on Mr Kogan did not mention Iran, Iranian intelligence services have previously carried out kidnappings in the UAE.

The UAE diplomatically recognised Israel in 2020. Since then, synagogues and businesses catering to kosher diners have been set up for the burgeoning Jewish community but the unrest in the Middle East has sparked deep anger in the country.

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