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

A general strike crippled Sri Lanka on Thursday, as demands grew for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his family members to resign over the country's worst-ever economic crisis.

A French policeman has been charged with involuntary manslaughter after shooting dead a driver who sought to evade police and a passenger in Paris Sunday, hours after Emmanuel Macron celebrated re-election nearby, a judicial source said.

The death and destruction caused by Hurricane Ida in the United States last year has prompted the World Meteorological Organization to remove the name from a rotating list of storm titles.

Pele, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Neymar: Brazil has a long list of legendary black and mixed-race football stars. But the coach's bench remains a largely white domain.

Multiple PGA Tour winners Im Sung-jae and Kim Si-woo will tee up for South Korea at this year's Asian Games in China, where gold medals could potentially spare the pair from compulsory military service.

Israel came to a standstill on Thursday, halting the morning bustle for two minutes as sirens blared to honour millions murdered during the Holocaust.

The head of the UN arrived in Ukraine Thursday, calling war "an absurdity", after Brussels warned Russia it will not bend to "blackmail" over its support for Kyiv over the Kremlin's decision to cut gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland.

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics posted a near 60 percent rise in first-quarter net profits on Thursday, largely driven by steady memory chip demand and brisk smartphone sales.

Markets enjoyed some much-needed gains Thursday having so far suffered a troubled week, with sentiment lifted by bargain-buying, a positive lead from New York and Europe, and further pledges of economic support for China's economy.

Finnish telecom equipment maker Nokia on Thursday announced a 17 percent fall in quarterly profits due to its withdrawal from Russia and supply problems but said it would meet this year's target.

Rural peasant Eliecer Ortega was on his own at his farm when soldiers burst onto his property to first kidnap and then murder him.

The defending champion Milwaukee Bucks and resurgent Golden State Warriors completed 4-1 series victories to advance to the second round of the NBA playoffs on Wednesday.

John Fithian, head of the movie theater industry's trade body, is used to shrugging off claims that Netflix will spell doom for the big-screen, popcorn-munching experience.

Nicolas Lodeiro scored two second-half penalties as the Seattle Sounders stunned Mexican side Pumas UNAM to snatch a 2-2 draw in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League final on Wednesday.

The Chinese megacity of Guangzhou cancelled hundreds of flights Thursday and launched mass testing of 5.6 million people after one suspected Covid case, as the battle to contain the coronavirus sweeps across the country.

The defending champion Milwaukee Bucks and resurgent Golden State Warriors completed 4-1 series victories to advance to the second round of the NBA playoffs on Wednesday.

Kateryna Grybinichenko chose to sign up after rockets fell on her home city of Sloviansk, in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region.

Japan's central bank hiked its full-year inflation forecast on Thursday but cautioned that it sees rising prices, driven by a surge in commodity costs cause by the Ukraine war, as a volatile and temporary trend.

The fossils of three ichthyosaurs -- giant marine reptiles that patrolled primordial oceans -- have been discovered high up in the Swiss Alps, and include the largest ever tooth found for the species, a study said Thursday.

Indonesia began imposing a complete ban on palm oil exports Thursday, as the world's largest producer of the commodity risked destabilising a global vegetable oil market already hitting peak prices.

The former Australia Test batsman Michael Slater has had domestic stalking and intimidation charges against him dropped under mental health laws.

New Zealand Rugby has posted its first profit in four years with the announcement Thursday of a NZ$5.5 million (US$3.6 million) surplus for 2021.

Several countries and organizations, including the UN, pledged on Wednesday to bring to justice any perpetrators of war crimes committed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Asian markets enjoyed some much-needed gains Thursday having so far suffered a troubled week, with sentiment lifted by a bargain-buying, a positive lead from New York and Europe, and further pledges of economic support for China's economy.

Aston Villa and Leeds United will clash for a July friendly in Australia, the latest English Premier League clubs to announce a return to pre-season touring after the Covid pandemic.

The Veltins brewery in Germany was already wrestling with pandemic-spurred hikes in ingredient and transport costs over the last year, but a surge in energy prices sparked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine threatens to be a bitter pill for the business.

James Cameron said his long-delayed sequel to "Avatar," the highest-earning movie of all time, would "push the limits of what cinema can do," as Disney and Universal presented first looks at their upcoming movies in Las Vegas Wednesday.

Harsh spotlights and street lamps illuminate a vicious brawl between two furious shirtless men as the screams of a crowd echo beneath a Bangkok underpass: Fight Club Thailand is on.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 33 points as the Milwaukee Bucks brushed aside the Chicago Bulls to complete a 4-1 series victory in the NBA playoffs on Wednesday.

When Olivia Wilde was handed a mysterious envelope on stage midway through her presentation before a packed Las Vegas audience, many assumed it was the set-up for an elaborate joke.

The simmering gang violence plaguing Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince has exploded in recent days into open warfare, with at least 18 civilians killed amid reports of house burnings and rapes.

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics posted a 58.57 percent rise in first-quarter net profits on Thursday, largely driven by steady memory chip demand and brisk smartphone sales.