Journal du Club des Cordeliers - News from Marseille, the political, economic and cultural centre of southern France and the whole world

A blue monochrome by French artist Yves Klein sold for 18.4 million euros (more than $21 million) on Thursday, auction house Christie's said, the most a Klein painting has ever sold for in France.

American Airlines reported a smaller than expected loss Thursday, pointing to robust travel demand from wealthier customers that has offset weakness among lower-income consumers.

US President Donald Trump issued a stark warning to Israel over annexing the West Bank in an interview published Thursday, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in the country to bolster his Gaza truce.

Lionel Messi has agreed a contract extension with Inter Miami which will see the Argentine superstar remain in Major League Soccer until the end of the 2028 season, the club confirmed on Thursday.

Fewer than a hundred aid trucks operated by the UN and its partners have entered Gaza each day since a ceasefire earlier this month, a fraction of the total 600 trucks a day promised under the plan brokered by US President Donald Trump, data analysed by AFP shows.

France's government on Thursday moved to delay the application of a controversial 2023 pensions reform, but sparked criticism for seeking to pay for it with increased health insurance taxes and frozen pensions.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky urged EU leaders Thursday to agree a mammoth new loan using Russian frozen assets, after US President Donald Trump buoyed Kyiv by hitting Moscow with sanctions.

The World Health Organization said Thursday there had been little improvement in the amount of aid going into Gaza since a ceasefire took hold -- and no observable reduction in hunger.

Lionel Messi has agreed a contract extension with Inter Miami, Major League Soccer confirmed on Thursday.

A fragile ceasefire has brought respite to Gazans exhausted by two years of fighting, but even without the daily bombing they are struggling to live amid the catastrophic destruction wrought by the war.

Republicans sounded the alarm Thursday over potential turmoil at US airports as the government shutdown threatens to drag into November, warning of ruined holiday plans for millions of Americans.

NBA coach Chauncey Billups of the Portland Trail Blazers and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier were arrested on Thursday for alleged involvement in illegal gambling, US officials said.

Kenya's marathon world record holder, Ruth Chepngetich has been banned for three years for doping, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) announced on Thursday.

The latest Asterix cartoon adventure released on Thursday is being published in 19 languages and across 25 countries as it takes the indomitable Gaulish warrior to ancient Portugal.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who turns 80 next week, confirmed Thursday he will run for a fourth term in office in 2026 elections.

The ATP announced Thursday the creation of a new Masters 1000 event which will take place annually in Saudi Arabia from as early as 2028.

French magistrates this summer issued a new arrest warrant against ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad over deadly chemical attacks in 2013, a judicial source said on Thursday.

US Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that Israel would not move to annex the occupied West Bank, after Washington warned that such a step could jeopardise a fragile US-brokered truce in Gaza.

MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez will miss the rest of the season due to an injured shoulder, his Ducati team announced on Thursday.

China's ruling Communist Party said Thursday the country has to "vigorously boost consumption" and "consolidate national security" in the next five years, state media reported, as a key gathering concluded in Beijing.

A judge in Belfast on Thursday acquitted a British ex-paratrooper of killing unarmed civilians during the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre.

A composed 74 from Matt Short and a maiden half-century by Cooper Connolly steered Australia to a two-wicket win over India on Thursday, sealing the three-match one-day series with a game to go.

The European Parliament on Thursday definitively adopted rules clamping down on pollution from the tiny pellets that constitute the building blocks of most plastic products.

Three leading European aerospace groups announced Thursday a plan to merge their satellite operations to create a powerhouse for competing in particular against Elon Musk's Starlink internet system.

A French court Thursday ruled oil and gas giant TotalEnergies had engaged in "misleading commercial practices" by overstating its climate pledges, in what activists said was the first such ruling worldwide against a major oil company for climate misinformation.

After making a thunderous return to the court on Wednesday with a 40-point performance, French phenomenon Victor Wembanyama has not escaped the eternal debate about height in the NBA -- where measurements are often surrounded by a certain amount of mystery.

Former world number one Dustin Johnson rolled in nine birdies Thursday at the inaugural International Series Philippines with a thrilling opening round that had a dash of everything.

Taiwanese Olympic boxing champion Lin Yu-ting won gold on her return to the ring following the gender row that exploded at the 2024 Paris Games, her coach told AFP Thursday.

King Charles III, the head of the Church England, became the first British monarch Thursday to pray publicly with a pope in a Vatican service led by Leo XIV.

From Montjuic in Barcelona to Montmartre in Paris, the 2026 Tour de France presents champion Tadej Pogacar and his rivals with a plethora of mountain passes and peaks, including two stages tackling the revered Alpe d'Huez.

Skipper Aiden Markram says lessons learnt from the spin-dominated drawn Test series in Pakistan will put South Africa in good stead for their tour of India next month.

Oil prices surged more than five percent Thursday after US President Donald Trump targeted Russia's key oil industry with new sanctions in a bid to end the war in Ukraine.

Australia made 13 changes and named Nick Champion de Crespigny captain as they begin a five-Test tour on Saturday in Tokyo against Eddie Jones's Japan, with the former Wallabies coach plotting a shock.

La Liga's plan to move Barcelona's trip to face Villarreal in December to Miami in the United States collapsed this week under heavy pressure within Spain. AFP Sport looks at how, why and what happens next.

The verdict in the crimes against humanity case against ousted Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina will be delivered on November 13, the attorney general said, as the trial ended on Thursday.

The third T20 between New Zealand and England was rained off on Thursday with only 22 balls bowled in Auckland.

King Charles III met on Thursday with Pope Leo XIV during a state visit to the Vatican, where he will make history as the first head of the Church of England to pray publicly with a pontiff.

Two-time world champion Marta Bassino will miss her home Winter Olympics following surgery on Thursday on a broken leg she suffered during a training fall this week.

Top US diplomat Marco Rubio warned that Israel's moves towards annexing the occupied West Bank risked undermining a fragile US-brokered truce in Gaza, as he headed to Israel on Thursday.