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No camera covered Louvre wall where jewel thieves broke in, director says

No camera covered Louvre wall where jewel thieves broke in, director says3 hours agoShareSavePaul Kirby,Europe editor and Dearbail JordanShareSaveWatch: “Heist made it more exciting to go to the Louvre”, says tourist as museum reopensThe Louvre failed to spot a gang of thieves early enough to stop the theft of €88m (£76m) worth of French crown jewels, the museum's director has revealed.
Laurence des Cars, speaking publicly for the first time since the heist on Sunday, told French senators that CCTV around the Louvre's perimeter was weak and “aging”.
The only camera monitoring the exterior wall of the Louvre where they broke in was pointing away from the first-floor balcony that led to Gallery of Apollo housing the jewels, she said.
“We failed these jewels,” she said, adding that no-one was protected from “brutal criminals – not even the Louvre”.
Ministers have given press conferences and interviews and denied security failings, but des Cars cut through that and admitted the L..

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‘Don’t want to waste time’: Donald Trump on Vladimir Putin’s Budapest summit being shelved – watch

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he did not want a “wasted meeting” with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, expressing his frustration with previous fruitless attempts at resolving the Ukraine war.Reacting to his Budapest summit with Putin being shelved, he said, “I don't want to have a wasted meeting. I don't want to have a waste of time, so I'll see what happens.”Just days ago, Trump had indicated he would meet Putin within two weeks while pressuring Ukraine to cede the eastern Donbas region in exchange for peace. However, the Kremlin reportedly continued to insist on all its demands despite a recent call with Trump, prompting the White House to announce that no immediate meeting was planned.The Kremlin confirmed there is no set date for a new Trump-Putin meeting, following earlier talks in Alaska in August that failed to produce a breakthrough on Ukraine.Trump has shown signs of frustration with Putin despite claiming a personal rapport, but his stance ..

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Donald Trump pardoned January 6 rioter arrested for threatening to kill Hakeem Jeffries: ‘Cannot allow this terrorist to live’

A man from New York, who was pardoned by US President Donald Trump for his role in the January 6 Capitol attack, has been arrested for allegedly threatening to kill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York State Police said.34-year-old Christopher Moynihan was taken into custody on Saturday and charged with making terrorist like threats. He is the first pardoned Capitol rioter to face arrest over alleged political violence, reports ABC News. Investigators said Moynihan sent threatening text messages last week to an unidentified recipient. One message read, “Hakeem Jeffries makes a speech in a few days in NYC I cannot allow this terrorist to live.” Another said, “Even if I am hated he must be eliminated. I will kill him for the future.” The complaint said the messages “placed the recipient in reasonable fear of the imminent murder and assassination of Hakeem Jeffries by the defendant.”Moynihan appeared in the Town of Clinton Court and was sent to the Dutchess County Justice and T..

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‘Why are you gay?’: Musk appears to cross a line in SpaceX tantrum at Trump Transportation Secretary

Elon Musk’s hostilities with Sean Duffy reignited Tuesday with the billionaire accusing the Trump administration’s Transport Secretary of “trying to kill NASA” and attacking him with crude comments online.
The richest man in the world’s onslaught of criticism comes just a day after Duffy told CNBC that Musk’s rocket company was falling “behind” the administration’s timeline for getting humans back to the moon, and that he would now be opening up the government contract to others – including the Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin.
“We’re not going to wait for one company,” Duffy, who is also the Acting Administrator for NASA, said.
“We’re going to push this forward and win the second space race against the Chinese. Get back to the moon, set up a camp, a base and from there we’re gonna figure out how we can get to Mars,” he said.
The SpaceX boss posted a series of posts on his social media platform X in response to Duffy’s remarks, including a GIF of a famous exchange in which an anchor asked..

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Bernie Sanders stands by Maine oysterman taking on Susan Collins despite ‘racist’ posts and ‘troubling’ tattoo

Bernie Sanders on Tuesday defended Graham Platner, the Maine oysterman running against Republican Susan Collins in the state’s marquee Senate race, who has come under fire amid allegations of racist social media posts.
“In all due respect, alright, what I'm worried about? 50,000 Americans may die unnecessarily,” the Vermont senator told The Independent when asked about some old Reddit posts from Platner that have sparked allegations of racism.
Democrats are now fretting after the progressive insurgent oysterman vying for the party’s nomination to challenge the five-term senator has come under fire for a series of inflammatory posts on Reddit and also for having a tattoo that bears a striking resemblance to Nazi ink.
Pressed further about Platner’s comments about sexual assault, Sanders defensively shot back, “Have you served four tours of duty?”
Sanders, a socialist Independent who caucuses with the Democrats, has endorsed Platner — and he’s campaigned for him in Maine.
open imag..

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Trump says Ukraine talks with Putin off for now, doesn’t want ‘wasted meeting’

AdvertisementUkraine warWorldUnited States & CanadaTrump says Ukraine talks with Putin off for now, doesn’t want ‘wasted meeting’The US president’s comments are the latest twist in his stop-and-go effort to resolve the war
Reading Time:3 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPAssociated PressPublished: 6:28am, 22 Oct 2025US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that his plan for a swift meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin was on hold because he doesn’t want it to be a “waste of time”. It was the latest twist in Trump’s stop-and-go effort to resolve the war in Ukraine.
AdvertisementThe decision to hold off on the meeting in Budapest, Hungary, which Trump had announced last week, was made following a call on Monday between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
“I don’t want to have a wasted meeting,” Trump said. “I don’t want to have a waste of time – so we’ll see what happens.”
Trump’s hesitancy is likely to come as a relief to European leaders, who ha..

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How ‘paramount leader’ Trump could prove a guard rail in US-China ties

AdvertisementUS-China relationsChinaDiplomacyHow ‘paramount leader’ Donald Trump could prove to be a guard rail in US-China tiesFor now, the US president has tamed the China hawks on his team while opting not to antagonise counterpart Xi Jinping, analysts say
Reading Time:6 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPDewey Simin BeijingPublished: 6:00am, 22 Oct 2025China’s rocky trade relationship with the United States was on full display this month as US President Donald Trump threatened to impose additional tariffs on Chinese imports.AdvertisementSeparately, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent denounced China’s move to expand curbs on rare earth exports, calling it “a sign of how weak their economy is”. He also described Li Chenggang, one of China’s trade negotiators, as “pretty unhinged and very aggressive”.Trade ties between the rival powers remain fraught, even as Bessent held “frank” talks over video with Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng on Saturday, with the pair set to hold fresh in-person neg..

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Trump says he did not want ‘wasted meeting’ after plan for Putin talks shelved

Trump says he did not want 'wasted meeting' after plan for Putin talks shelved45 minutes agoShareSaveLaura GozziShareSaveWatch: “I don't want to have a wasted meeting”, says Trump on talks with PutinDonald Trump has said he did not want a “wasted meeting” after a plan to have face-to-face talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine were put on hold.
The US president indicated that a key sticking point remained Moscow's refusal to cease fighting along the current front line, in remarks at the White House on Tuesday.
Earlier, a White House official had said there were “no plans” for a Trump-Putin meeting “in the immediate future”, after Trump said on Thursday that the two would hold talks in Budapest within two weeks.
Key differences between US and Russian proposals for peace became increasingly clear this week, appearing to have dashed chances of a summit.
Trump and Putin last met in Alaska in August, during a hastily organised summit w..

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French ex-president Sarkozy begins jail sentence for campaign finance conspiracy

French ex-president Sarkozy begins jail sentence for campaign finance conspiracy11 hours agoShareSavePaul KirbyEurope digital editor andHugh Schofieldin ParisShareSaveWatch: Sarkozy was cheered by supporters as he embraced his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy outside their Paris homeNicolas Sarkozy has become the first French ex-president to go to jail, as he starts a five-year sentence for conspiring to fund his election campaign with money from late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Not since World War Two Nazi collaborationist leader Philippe Pétain was jailed for treason in 1945 has any French ex-leader gone behind bars.
Sarkozy, who was president from 2007-2012, has appealed against his jail term at La Santé prison, where he will occupy a small cell in the its isolation wing.
More than 100 people applauded and shouted “Nicolas!” as he left his villa in the exclusive 16th district of Paris, holding his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy by the hand.
His son Louis, 28, had appealed to supporters for a..

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‘Behave, be good or you will be eradicated’: Donald Trump’s warning to Hamas against Gaza truce breach – watch

US President Donald Trump on Monday warned Hamas against violating the Gaza ceasefire, asking the militant group to “be good” or it would be “eradicated”.”We made a deal with Hamas that they're going to be very good, they're going to behave, they're going to be nice,” he told reporters at the White House as he hosted Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.”And if they're not, we're going to go and we're going to eradicate them, if we have to. They'll be eradicated, and they know that,” he added.He further claimed that Hamas had no support of Iran and said: “They don't have the backing of really anybody anymore. They have to be good, and if they're not good, they'll be eradicated.””They got very rambunctious, and they did things that they shouldn't be doing, and if they keep doing it, then we're going to go in and straighten it out, and it'll happen very quickly and pretty violently,” he said.Israeli forces, on Sunday,..