- Deep takes two as Bangladesh totter in reply to India's 376
- Israel pounds Lebanon's Hezbollah after device blasts
- Revolution or mirage? Controversy surrounds new Alzheimer's drugs
- Ashwin's 113 powers India to 376 in Bangladesh Test
- Biden opens home to 'Quad' leaders for farewell summit
- Sally Rooney returns with 30-something questions
- Wallabies sense 'massive' chance to upset All Blacks
- Taiwan questions two in probe into Hezbollah pagers
- Viral Korean Olympic shooter scores first acting role as assassin
- Farrell set for 'challenge' of downing Bordeaux in Top 14
- Springbok Etzebeth diverts attention from looming caps record
- Inter on a high ahead of Milan derby as Napoli face Juve test
- Bank of Japan leaves key interest rate unchanged
- Arnold quits after six years in charge of Australia
- Asian markets track Wall Street record to extend global rally
- Guirassy and Anton to return to Stuttgart with new side Dortmund
- Marseille bidding to continue 'almost perfect' Ligue 1 start
- Arnold quits as coach of Australia men's football team
- Harris and Oprah hold star-studded US election rally
- Allies to remember failed WWII parachute operation
- Perez leading new-look Villarreal charge against leaders Barca
- Man City face Arsenal in Premier League title showdown, Postecoglou under pressure
- Fake celebrity endorsements, snubs plague US presidential race
- Documentary brings Argentine 'death flights' to the big screen
- Strike shows challenge to Boeing 'reset' of labor relations
- World leaders to gather at UN as crises grow and conflicts rage
- How plastic pollution poses challenge for Canada marine conservation
- Scientists track plastic waste in pristine Canada marine park
- South Africa's Buhai grabs LPGA Queen City lead
- Japan inflation firms to 2.8% ahead of BoJ rate decision
- Russia's Kadyrov accuses Musk of 'remotely disabling' his Cybertruck
- Titan sub had to abort a dive days before fatal implosion: testimony
- Ohtani makes MLB history with first 50-homer, 50-steal season
- Ohtani eyes MLB history after surpassing 50 stolen bases, 49 homers
- Ohtani eyes MLB history after surpassing 50 stolen bases
- Barca downed by Monaco as Arsenal held in Champions League stalemate
- Head's 'good night at office' after century seals win over England
- Dubois seeks legitimacy with Joshua scalp
- Rate cut could lift consumer spirits before US elections
- Last-gasp Gimenez strike sends Atletico past Leipzig
- Barca stumble at Monaco after early red card
- Raya heroics save Arsenal in Champions League opener at Atalanta
- Cathay Airbus engine fire linked to cleaning: EU regulator
- Guardians beat Twins to secure MLB playoff berth
- Jihadist attack in Mali capital killed more than 70: security sources
- Alonso hails 'efficient' Leverkusen after Feyenoord rout
- Head's hundred seals Australia win over England in 1st ODI
- Ex-Man United striker Anthony Martial joins AEK Athens
- NFL unbeatens meet as Texans visit Vikings, Steelers host Chargers
- Head's hundred seals Australia win over England in 1st ODI after Labuschagne strikes
Martyr or killer? Corsican nationalist's death inflames island
A jailed Corsican nationalist whose death in prison has turned him into a martyr for some is to be buried on Friday amid unease in Paris about fierce public support for the convicted killer.
Yvan Colonna, a former goat herder on the French Mediterranean island, was announced dead on Monday after being strangled and attacked in prison on March 2.
The 61-year-old was serving a life sentence after his conviction of assassinating a senior French official in 1998, but he is seen as a hero by some for his role in the violent struggle for Corsican independence.
"We want to show to the French state that there is a Corsican people," local musician and pro-independence activist Jean Mattei, 72, told AFP on Wednesday night during a vigil for Colonna attended by thousands.
"When you touch one of us, we're all there, whatever our divisions," he said.
Colonna will be buried Friday in his family fiefdom of Cargese on the rugged western coast of what is known as the Island of Beauty due to its mountains and pristine coastline.
News of the attack against him by an Islamic extremist sparked several nights of rioting in early March and led the government to make a surprise offer of talks about increased autonomy for the island.
- Tributes -
An estimated 4,000 people lined the streets on Wednesday evening after his body arrived by plane at the island's capital of Ajaccio, many burning flares and flying the black-and-white Corsica flag.
Marches, candle-lit vigils and a decision to lower flags on the regional council building and at Ajaccio airport this week underlined public affection for Colonna while causing deep unease on the French mainland.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the decision to lower flags was "an error and inappropriate" in an interview on Wednesday night.
Colonna was tried and convicted three times for murdering top French official Claude Erignac by shooting him at point-blank range in the head in 1998 as he headed to a theatre performance with his wife.
Although he maintained his innocence, Colonna went on the run before being arrested four years later when police tracked him down to a remote mountainous area in the south of the island.
"The death in the way it happened, in prison, for Yvan Colonna was an offence," Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure told RTL radio on Thursday.
"But to make him into a hero, to give the impression that he is a model for the young generations, is a scandal," he said.
The killing of Colonna and the subsequent riots have given a boost to the Corsican cause, however, with Macron's government agreeing to talks about greater political freedoms for the island.
The leader of Corsica's pro-autonomy regional council, Gilles Simeoni, welcomed the proposals as "important words that open up prospects, but they ought now to be extended and firmed up."
burs-adp/js/yad
O.Lorenz--BTB