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The former French president Nicolas Sarkozy said he would “sleep in jail but with my head held high” after receiving a five-year prison sentence for criminal conspiracy – the first time a former head of state has been sent to prison in modern French history.

The verdict and sentencing followed a trial in which he and his aides were accused of making a corruption pact with the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi to receive funding for the 2007 French presidential election campaign.

In a surprise ruling, the head judge, Nathalie Gavarino, handed down a special form of sentence that means Sarkozy, 70, will have to serve a prison term even if he appeals. She justified the conviction and sentencing on the grounds the offences were of “exceptional gravity” and “likely to undermine citizens’ trust.”

The start of Sarkozy’s sentence will be set at a later date, with prosecutors given a month to inform him when he should go to prison. The judge also ordered Sarkozy, France’s rightwing president from 2007 to 2012, to pay a €100,000 (£87,000) fine.

Sarkozy’s prison sentence was harsher than many had expected. As he exited the courtroom, he expressed his anger in typically pugnacious style, telling reporters: “What happened today … is of extreme gravity in regard to the rule of law, and for the trust one can have in the justice system.”

He added: “If they absolutely want me to sleep in jail, I will sleep in jail, but with my head held high.”

Sarkozy, who had denied all wrongdoing in court, said he would launch an appeal against the verdict, reiterating: “I am innocent; this justice is a scandal.”

“Those that hate me this much think they will humiliate me,” said Sarkozy. “But what they have humiliated today is France, the image of France.”

The former president was found guilty of criminal conspiracy but acquitted of corruption, misuse of Libyan public funds and illegal election campaign funding.

As he walked out of the court with his wife, the singer and former model Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, TV cameras showed her grabbing the red cover of the microphone of investigative reporting website Mediapart, which first started reporting on the Libya allegations, and apparently throwing it on the ground.

She later posted on Instagram: “Love is the answer” with the hashtag #Hatewillnotwin.

Prosecutors had told the court that Sarkozy and his aides devised a “corruption pact” with Gaddafi and the Libyan regime in 2005 to illegally fund Sarkozy’s victorious presidential election campaign two years later.

The court had heard that in return for the money, the Libyan regime requested diplomatic, legal and business favours and it was understood that Sarkozy would rehabilitate Gaddafi’s international image. The autocratic Libyan leader, whose brutal 41-year rule was marked by human rights abuses, had been isolated internationally over his regime’s connection to terrorism, including the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie in Scotland in December 1988.

Prosecutors accused members of Sarkozy’s entourage of meeting members of Gaddafi’s regime in Libya in 2005, when Sarkozy was interior minister. Soon after becoming president in 2007, Sarkozy then invited the Libyan leader for a lengthy state visit to Paris during which he set up his Bedouin tent in gardens near the Élysée Palace.

In 2011, Sarkozy put France at the forefront of Nato-led airstrikes against Gaddafi’s troops that helped rebel fighters topple his regime. Gaddafi was captured by rebels in October 2011 and killed.

The allegations of a secret campaign funding pact made this the biggest corruption trial faced by Sarkozy. He has already been convicted in two separate cases and stripped of France’s highest distinction, the Legion of Honour.

In the first case, Sarkozy was convicted of corruption and influence peddling over illegal attempts to secure favours from a judge. He was given a one-year jail term, which he served this year with an electronic tag for three months before being granted conditional release. It was the first time a former French head of state had been forced to wear an electronic tag. Sarkozy had to wear the tag into the Paris criminal court during part of the trial over Libya campaign funding.

In a second case, Sarkozy was convicted of hiding illegal overspending in the 2012 presidential election that he lost to the Socialist candidate, François Hollande. He has appealed against both convictions.

Despite his convictions, Sarkozy continues to meet and be consulted by key figures on the right and in the centre of politics. He recently met his former protege, the new prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, who has yet to form a new government after the last government collapsed in a no-confidence vote this month.

In the wake of the verdict on Thursday, Bruno Retailleau, the outgoing rightwing interior minister, praised Sarkozy for his “energy and determination” and added: “I reiterate my full support and friendship to him during this difficult time.”

Elsewhere on the political spectrum, however, there was less support. Clémentine Autain, a leftwing MP, remarked on X: “Head held high, dirty hands. The rule of law did not fail.”

Other defendants in the trial saw mixed verdicts. Claude Guéant, who was the director of Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential campaign before being made his chief of staff and then interior minister, was found guilty of criminal conspiracy and corruption.

Brice Hortefeux, another Sarkozy ally, who also served as interior minister, was found guilty of criminal conspiracy but acquitted of illegal campaign funding. Both he and Guéant are likely to appeal against their convictions.

Éric Woerth, another former minister who was Sarkozy’s head of campaign financing in 2007 and has since moved to Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party, was acquitted.

In a sudden turn of events this week, the Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine, who told the investigative website Mediapart in a filmed interview in 2016 that he had helped deliver suitcases of cash from Gaddafi to Sarkozy’s entourage, died of a heart attack in Beirut, two days before the verdict.

In 2020, Takieddine had suddenly retracted his incriminating statement about transporting suitcases of cash in the Libya case, prompting accusations that Sarkozy and close allies paid him off, something they have always denied. Shortly afterwards, Takieddine contradicted his own retraction.

A separate legal case has been opened into Takieddine’s retraction. Sarkozy, his wife and several others have been placed under formal investigation on suspicion of putting pressure on a witness over Takieddine retracting his allegations. They all deny any wrongdoing.

JLR has restarted a limited number of computer systems, as Britain’s largest automotive employer scrambles to recover from a crippling cyber-attack.

The maker of Jaguar and Land Rover cars said it had regained the ability to repay suppliers, send parts to mechanics to repair vehicles on the road, and to send finished cars that were at its factories to showrooms.

The company also said that “the foundational work of our recovery programme is firmly under way”, although it was unable to give guidance on when its factories in the UK, Slovakia, India and Brazil would be able to reopen.

JLR has not been able to assemble cars since the start of the month, after cyber-attackers penetrated its computer systems. The company was forced to shut down most of the computer systems it uses to track parts, vehicles and tooling in its factories, as well as everything to do with actually selling its luxury Range Rover, Discovery and Defender SUVs.

Government ministers have been in near-daily contact with JLR and some of the companies in its supply chain to assess whether it can provide targeted support to prevent supplier collapses. One option under consideration was the government buying parts from suppliers.

Analysts suggest that JLR will be able to survive, albeit at heavy cost. A report in the Insurer on Wednesday suggested that JLR had not bought cyber insurance cover. The production shutdown has proven disastrous for many of the companies in the manufacturer’s supply chain, which have had to cope with a sudden freeze in the cash coming into the business.

JLR has restarted payment systems in order to pay invoices for parts already delivered that had not been paid before the hack. The Guardian last week reported that payments had restarted using workarounds, but on Thursday JLR said that it had “significantly increased IT processing capacity for invoicing” in order to “clear the backlog of payments to our suppliers as quickly as we can”.

The company also said that its global parts logistics centre was “now returning to full operations”, so that existing customers will be able to secure parts for repairs, an important step to avoid alienating previous buyers. The company was worried that the backlog for spares could build up quickly, according to a person with knowledge of operations.

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JLR also said that its financial system for wholesale deliveries to retailers had been brought back online, enabling it to start bringing in cash once more. A spokesperson declined to comment on how many finished vehicles JLR has in its stocks.

Keir Starmer’s head of communications, Steph Driver, has announced she is leaving Downing Street, the latest in a series of trusted aides to the prime minister who have quit No 10 in recent months.

The departure of Driver, who spent five years at Starmer’s side as communications chief when he was opposition leader, before becoming deputy director and then director of communications at Downing Street, comes little more than a week after another key figure, Paul Ovendon, quit as the PM’s director of political strategy.

Also this month, James Lyons, who was the No 10 director of communications for strategy – Driver focused on day-to-day matters – left after only a year in the job.

A subsequent reshuffle of the comms operation led Starmer to bring in Tim Allan, an adviser to Tony Blair in No 10 who went on to fund the PR firm Portland, as executive director of government communications. While Driver and Lyons had equal status, Allan’s job made him more senior.

Driver was seen as particularly valued and trusted by Starmer, and it is understood the prime minister was among a series of senior figures who tried to persuade her to stay.

It was Driver’s decision to go. It is understood that after conversations with Starmer and Morgan McSweeney, the PM’s chief of staff, about the new communications team structure, Driver decided to step down following a period of leave for a family bereavement.

Starmer said: “Steph Driver has been a loyal and valued member of my team for almost five years. Steph played a leading role in transforming the Labour party and delivering our historic general election win. I will for ever be grateful for her calm, wise counsel, leadership and humour. I wish her all the best in her undoubted onward success.”

Driver said: “It has been an honour to work with and advise Keir through opposition and into government. Being part of the team to rebuild and rebrand the Labour party before securing an historic general election victory is an achievement and experience like no other.

“I’m also proud of what this government has already delivered, and thank the sharp and talented No 10 press team for their hard work and support during my tenure.

“I’m grateful to the prime minister for his continued faith in me and my work, and for his offer of an open door in the future. His Labour government has my unwavering support.”

Almost always at Starmer’s side, particularly during the election campaign, Driver was a constant presence in his press operation, and was widely viewed by colleagues and journalists as loyal and unflappable.

After Labour won the election she initially served as deputy director of communications to Matthew Doyle, like Allan a veteran of the Blair years, who had worked for Starmer since 2021.

In March, Doyle said he was standing down from the role after nine months in No 10.

This repeated churn has in part been linked to worries about Downing Street communications being a weakness for Starmer since becoming prime minister. But a series of wider mishaps and errors, including the backbench revolt over changes to welfare and the dismissal of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington, has left many Labour MPs believing the more pressing issue is Starmer’s lack of political judgment.

One in three female students say they have endured sexual harassment during their time at university or college, with most of it taking place around campus, according to data published by England’s higher education regulator.

The results showed that nearly one in five women also experienced sexual assault or violence during their time as a student, often at the hands of other students or staff, with younger women, lesbian, gay or bisexual students and students with disabilities at higher risk.

The findings from the Office for Students (OfS) survey of more than 50,000 final-year undergraduates were described as “a national scandal” and suggest that the rate of sexual harassment and assault is worse than among students in other countries.

Jo Grady, the general secretary of the University and College Union, which represents academic staff and researchers, said: “These shocking figures expose just how widespread sexual harassment and assault are in our universities, with one in four students reporting harassment and one in seven experiencing assault.

“No one should have to fear abuse, yet institutions are still failing to protect them.

“It is a national scandal and vice-chancellors cannot keep turning a blind eye. This demands urgent, sector-wide reform and accountability. Students and staff deserve safe campuses, not excuses.”

While 24% of all students said they had experienced sexual harassment, including pestering and sending images, women were nearly three times more likely to experience the harassment than men, with 33% affected compared with 12% of men.

Women were also more than twice as likely as men to experience sexual assault or sexual violence, at 19% compared with 7% of men.

A similar survey carried out in Australia found that 16% of students had experienced sexual harassment and 4.5% experienced sexual assault while at university.

In England, nearly 40% of the harassment took place away from the university environment, but many of those cases involved someone from the university or college, mainly other students although 3% of cases involved academics.

Only 13% of students who experienced harassment in the past 12 months had reported it to their university or college. While sexual assault was more frequently reported, younger students aged 21 or under were less likely to do so.

Of those who formally reported incidents, only 47% rated the procedure as good, while 39% said it was poorly handled.

While older students were less likely to be sexually assaulted or attacked, the survey found that those over the age of 31 were far more likely to be assaulted by a member of staff, including lecturers, sports coaches or other staff.

Universities and colleges regulated by the OfS face new requirements to tackle harassment and sexual misconduct. Susan Lapworth, the OfS’s chief executive, said: “All students should expect their time at university or college to be free from sexual harassment or assault. We know that’s not always the case and we’re grateful to each student who told us about their experiences.

“Over the last year, universities and colleges have rightly renewed their efforts to tackle these issues – because when incidents do occur they can have a profound, even devastating, impact on students’ ability to thrive and succeed.”

Wednesday’s deadly shooting at an Immigration and Customs and Enforcement (Ice) facility in Dallas comes as the agency has heightened its crusade against undocumented people and bolstered its self-image of being under siege from violent enemies.

Little is known of the motives of the gunman who opened fire on the detention center near Love Field airport from a nearby roof, killing a detainee and wounding two others before killing himself.

But Kash Patel, the FBI director, was quick to seize on the “anti-Ice” message written on one of the bullets found at the scene.

Going further, Donald Trump sought to tie the shooting to “radical left terrorists” in a manner similar to how the president and his supporters have tarred the party over the recent murder of Charlie Kirk – even though senior Democrats have condemned the rightwing activist’s killing and political violence generally.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) issued a press release containing a list of supposedly incriminating quotes attributed to Democratic figures. Committee spokesperson Mike Marinella wrote: “Radical Democrats have been blatantly demonizing Ice agents and our law enforcement for years.

“A deep and pervasive sickness has infected the radical left in this country, and elected Democrats’ escalatory rhetoric is feeding it.”

Joe Rothrock, the FBI’s field agent for Dallas, told reporters that Wednesday’s attack was the latest episode of “targeted violence” in the state against agents involved in Trump’s immigration crackdown.

On 2 July, Ice agents reported that one of their vehicles was rammed by a man trying to evade arrest in Linda Vista, near San Diego, before three activists allegedly attacked agents.

Two days later, as referenced by Rothrock, attackers dressed in black military clothing opened fire on Prairieland detention center in Alvarado, south-west of Dallas, in what was described as an ambush of enforcement officers.

Ten people were arrested in connection with the attack, and the FBI offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Benjamin Hanil Song, a former US marine reservist, who faces three counts of the attempted murder of federal agents in the incident.

Later in July, a man armed with an assault rifle, later identified as Ryan Louis Mosqueda, fired multiple rounds at a Customs and Border Protection (CPB) facility in McAllen, near the southern border, injuring three people. He was shot and killed by a CPB agent.

The incidents were part of what Ice officials say was a 700% increase in assaults from “activists masquerading as immigrant advocates”.

Meanwhile, counter-narratives have described both agencies as engaging in rough and sometimes violent tactics against detainees and protesters.

Agents concealing their faces behind masks have smashed car windows to arrest suspects deemed to be insufficiently cooperative. Some US citizens have been reportedly detained for no other reason than their appearance marked them as potentially undocumented immigrants.

In June, the Democratic California senator Alex Padilla was wrestled to the floor and handcuffed by agents when he tried to question Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, at a news conference in Los Angeles.

The latest flashpoint is Chicago, where Gregory Bovino’s El Centro border squad has been deployed outside the city’s Broadview facility – roughly 2,000 miles from its southern California base.

Sixteen protesters were arrested last weekend in confrontations that saw both sides accuse the other of violence.

The National Lawyers Guild accused agents of using violent tactics against protesters. Officials called the protesters “rioters” and said they had thrown bricks, bottles and even fireworks

Two weeks ago, a Mexican man, Silverio Villegas-González, was shot and killed by an Ice agent after an attempted traffic stop in Illinois. Officials said the shooting happened after he attempted to evade arrest and dragged an agent a “significant distance” in his car. His family has demanded greater transparency over his death.

From these competing and often confused storylines, the Trump administration has tried to construct a clear picture of “radical left” violence – depicting this as a much graver problem than its far-right equivalent.

Experts, detailed studies and recent violent attacks on Democratic political figures suggest a more complicated picture of violent extremism from both ends of the spectrum.

This year – after a deadly New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans that killed 14 and an explosion that blew up a Tesla Cybertruck in Las Vegas – Brian Levin, founder of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, predicted such a scenario.

“There’s going to be several types of extremists that are going to be emboldened by Trump,” he told the Guardian.

“With what we have going on internationally, where we have the highest frequency of conflicts we’ve seen in some time; add in idiosyncratic extremists, either their single-issue or idiosyncratic prejudices and hatreds, then you see there really is a perfect storm. The key words going forward are everything, everywhere, all at once.”

President Donald Trump has added a “Presidential Walk of Fame” to the exterior of the White House, featuring portraits of each of the previous commanders-in-chief – except for one.

Instead of a headshot of Joe Biden , the Republican incumbent instead placed a photo of an autopen signing the Democrat’s name – a reference to Trump’s frequent allegation that the former president was addled by the end of his term in office and not really the one making decisions.

The snub amounts to the latest attempt by Trump to delegitimise a predecessor he routinely belittles, including in front of more than 100 world leaders on Tuesday at the UN general assembly gathering. Trump has never acknowledged his own defeat to Biden in the 2020 election, instead falsely chalking up the outcome to voter fraud.

Trump had previously signalled he would represent Biden with an autopen on the walkway. Trump has alleged without evidence that Biden administration officials might have forged their boss’s signature by using the autopen and taken broad actions he wasn’t aware of.

He’s also cast doubt on the validity of pardons and other documents that Biden signed with an autopen, even though other presidents before him have also relied on the device to sign key papers. A key Republican-led House committee is investigating the Biden administration’s autopen use.

White House staff sent out a burst of social media posts Wednesday afternoon gleefully promoting the finished project. The media may get its first in-person glimpse of the display when Trump hosts a dinner on Wednesday night on the new Rose Garden patio that sits adjacent to the West Wing Colonnade on which the portraits hang.

The addition is the latest in a series of design changes he has made at the White House since resuming office. He’s also added gold flourishes to the Oval Office walls, installed massive new flagpoles on both lawns, replaced the grass in the Rose Garden with patio stone and started construction on a massive new ballroom .