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

French leader Emmanuel Macron and far-right rival Marine Le Pen on Thursday launched a final push for votes in working class heartlands of France after a pre-election debate from which the president was judged to have emerged on top.

US and European stock markets rose on Thursday, with Tesla shares shooting higher after the electric carmaker reported record profits and airlines soaring as the travel outlook brightened.

American Airlines reported another quarterly loss Thursday, but said a recent sharp improvement in bookings should enable it to achieve profitability in the second quarter.

At least 16 people were killed by bomb blasts in two Afghan cities Thursday -- including 12 at a Shiite mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group.

Cristiano Ronaldo expressed his gratitude to Liverpool fans for their show of support after his newborn baby son died.

The United Nations' top court on Thursday ordered the Colombian navy to stop interfering in Nicaraguan waters, ruling on a longstanding legal battle over maritime borders.

When Rui ventured out of her Shanghai apartment complex this week for the first time in 20 days, she found a city much altered since Covid-19 brought it to a standstill.

Catalan separatists have accused Spain's intelligence services of using spyware to snoop on their mobile phones, reviving tensions with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's minority leftist government which relies on their support to pass legislation.

Palestinian militants in Gaza and Israeli warplanes exchanged fire early Thursday in the biggest escalation in months, followed by fresh violence at Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque.

Shares in European airlines took off Thursday after United Airlines forecast surging travel demand as the pandemic impact fades on the aviation sector.

Erik Ten Hag has never shied away from a challenge, but the biggest task of the Dutchman's coaching career awaits after accepting the role of Manchester United manager.

Pavlo Makov fled Russia's invasion with almost nothing but is proud to represent Ukraine at this year's Venice Biennale, which raises questions about the role of art at a time of war.

A die-hard Queen fan unveiled a life-size bronze statue of Freddie Mercury on Thursday on South Korea's resort island of Jeju, after an eight-year quest to honour his late hero.

Erik ten Hag will leave Ajax to become Manchester United manager next season, the English giants confirmed on Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday claimed the "liberation" of the flattened city of Mariupol after nearly two months of fighting, but signalled he would forgo a final bloody offensive against beleaguered Ukrainian defenders there.

The European Union could agree on Friday a new regulation imposing unprecedented curbs on online content, the second part of its massive project to regulate tech companies.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrived in India Thursday touting job-creating investment but facing long odds to get his reluctant counterpart Narendra Modi to back Western action against Russia.

Libya's oil industry, the lifeblood of its economy, has fallen hostage once more to a political schism, as the re-emergence of parallel administrations has forced many hydrocarbon facilities to close.

President Emmanuel Macron and far-right rival Marine Le Pen on Thursday launched a final push for votes in working class heartlands of France after a pre-election debate marked by bitter clashes.

Toulon were dealt a hammerblow Thursday with news that South African winger Cheslin Kolbe will be sidelined for "several weeks" with a broken thumb.

Britain's controversial deal to send migrants and asylum-seekers to Rwanda has attracted a flood of criticism in the UK, with opposition politicians, campaigners and the UN refugee agency calling for the multi-million-dollar agreement to be scrapped.

An AFP team were the first journalists to discover the horrors of Bucha, a quiet commuter town near Kyiv occupied by the Russian army for over a month.

The cause of China's deadliest air crash in decades remains a mystery, with authorities giving few details in a preliminary report on Wednesday while enforcing strict censorship one month after the disaster.

Palestinian militants fired volleys of rockets from Gaza into Israel, which responded with air strikes in the early hours of Thursday in the biggest escalation since an 11-day war last year.

Canadian film-maker David Cronenberg has been shocking audiences for decades with his graphic "body horror" movies but he has now gone further by creating art from his own insides.

Fontaines DC's raw, romantic tales of Dublin street life marked them out as the Next Big Thing in rock. Moving to London in the pandemic has taken their music in a darker direction.

Floating on a river boat near a Liberian island, vet Richard Ssuna watches intently as animal carers wade towards the shore hurling fruits and imitating chimpanzee calls as they go.

The United States and its allies have warned the world: the next phase of the war in Ukraine will be long. And it will pose a daunting diplomatic task for Joe Biden, who must find a way to maintain unprecedented Western unity against Moscow -- for the duration.

President Emmanuel Macron and far-right rival Marine Le Pen on Thursday prepared for a final rush of campaigning before France's presidential election after an acrimonious debate where they clashed over relations with Russia and the Islamic headscarf.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrived in India Thursday touting job-creating investment but facing long odds to get his reluctant counterpart Narendra Modi to back Western action against Russia.

Ukraine's last defenders in devastated Mariupol are refusing to surrender, but have appealed for security guarantees with Russian forces on the brink of taking complete control of the strategically vital city.

Charles Leclerc is in for a momentous weekend if Ferrari's early season form holds firm in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix with the team's tifosi ready to turn Imola into a sea of red.