French court sentences serial arsonist to 12 years for 32 fires

A 30-year-old man was sentenced to 12 years in prison by the Charente criminal court for setting 32 fires between July 2022 and October 2023 in southern Charente. The sentence matches the prosecutor's request, who called the defendant a 'ticking time bomb'; the man will not appeal, though his lawyer deems the sentence 'inappropriate'. This is a notable domestic criminal case with no immediate geopolitical or market implications.