Experts at a zoo in the Moroccan capital are trying to understand why an elephant hurled a stone in the direction of visitors, killing a seven-year-old girl.

A man who beheaded his boss, pinned the head on a fence, and tried to blow up an industrial gas plant will be investigated on terrorism charges, the chief public prosecutor in France said, dismissing the suspect’s claim that his act was not motivated by connections with Islamist militants.

Even as French investigators piece together a clearer picture of events that led on Friday to the beheading of a transport firm manager and attempted destruction of a chemicals plant, the real motivation of the chief suspect remains elusive.

Masked French police have taken the man who admitted beheading a businessman to the suspect’s home to search it.

A detained truck driver with a history of radical Islamic ties is refusing to speak to police investigators over his implication in an explosion and beheading in south-eastern France.