French police shoot dead armed man suspected of planning synagogue attack

Police in Rouen, Normandy, have killed a man planning to set fire to a synagogue (Alamy/PA)

French police say a man shot and killed outside a synagogue in the Normandy city of Rouen threatened officers with a knife and a metal bar.

Police were alerted that smoke was rising from the synagogue and came face to face with the man when they got there, national police said.