- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
- Thousands march in London in support of Palestinians, 1 year after Oct 7
- Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
- Schutt, Mooney help Australia beat Sri Lanka in Women's T20 World Cup
- Liverpool extend Premier League lead with win at Palace
- Djokovic 'shakes rust off' to make third round of Shanghai Masters
- 'Imperfect' PSG fighting on all fronts - Luis Enrique
- Struggling Pakistan look to thwart adaptable England
- Child 'trampled to death' in asylum seekers' Channel crossing: minister
- Gauff fights back to set up Beijing final against Muchova
- Guardiola claims Premier League won't delay season for Man City
- Israel to mark October 7 attack as Gaza war spreads
- Gauff fights back to reach China Open final
- Recovering Stokes ruled out of first Pakistan Test
- Hezbollah battles troops on border as Israel pounds Lebanon
- Alcaraz, Sinner breeze into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Bagnaia wins Japan MotoGP sprint to cut Martin's lead
- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
Riots shake Corsica over assault of jailed nationalist figure
Violent clashes broke out between protesters and police overnight Wednesday to Thursday on France's Mediterranean island of Corsica where local anger is growing over the assault in prison of a nationalist figure.
Yvan Colonna, who is serving a life sentence for the assassination in 1998 of Corsica's top regional official Claude Erignac, is in a coma after being beaten on March 2 in jail by a fellow detainee, according to investigators.
The detainee is Cameroon national Franck Elong Abe, who is serving time for terror offences after being arrested in Afghanistan.
Investigators said Abe attacked Colonna while he was working out in the prison gym, pulled a bag over his head and tried to strangle him.
Some media initially reported Colonna dead from a shortage of oxygen to the brain, but doctors managed to keep him alive.
French prosecutors have charged Colonna's alleged jail assailant with attempted murder in association with a terror group.
According to France's top anti-terror prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard, he confessed to the attack, saying he had been angered by "blasphemous statements" made by Colonna while behind bars.
The incident has stoked anger on the island where some still see Colonna -- who was arrested only in 2003 after a five-year manhunt that eventually found him living as a shepherd in the Corsican mountains -- as a hero in a fight for independence.
Hundreds demonstrated in the main Corsican cities of Ajaccio, Calvi and Bastia with the protests rapidly degenerating into clashes with security forces, AFP correspondents said.
Corsica, one of the Mediterranean's largest islands, has been French since the 18th Century.
It is known as "Island of Beauty" because of its unspoiled coastlines, spectacular beaches and mild climate, which have made it popular with tourists who are the island's main source of income.
But there have also been constant tensions between independence-seeking nationalists and the central government, involving assassinations of officials sent by Paris, as well as frequent murders between the island's rival political factions.
- 'Considerable damage' -
Government buildings were the main focus of the overnight unrest, with protesters breaking into the main justice building in Ajaccio, setting fire to scrap papers.
"There was a fire on the court's ground floor which didn't spread to the upper floors, but there's still considerable damage," the chief of the southern Corsican fire services, Jean-Jacques Peraldi, told AFP.
Protesters then went on to ransack a bank situated on a square named after the murdered prefect Erignac.
Local authorities said 14 people were wounded in Ajaccio alone, including a journalist for France's TF1 TV channel who was hurt in the leg.
At least two people were arrested, a police source said.
In Calvi, dozens of demonstrators threw petrol bombs at government buildings and smashed windows with rocks, local authorities said.
In Bastia, 23 anti-riot police and three civilians were injured, they said.
Colonna was jailed in the south of France with authorities long rejecting his demand to be transferred to Corsica, saying his offence made him a special status detainee.
In a bid to ease tensions, Prime Minister Jean Castex on Tuesday removed this status, but the move failed to placate Colonna's supporters in Corsica.
A.S.Diogo--PC