Headline

Thieves Steal French Crown Jewels From Louvre In Daytime Raid

Published

2 months ago

October 19, 2025

Thieves wielding power tools raided the Louvre in broad daylight Sunday, taking just seven minutes to grab some of France’s priceless crown jewels, but dropping a gem-encrusted crown as they fled, officials and sources said.

Authorities recovered the 19th-century crown — damaged — near the museum.

The spectacular heist, one of several to target French museums in recent months, forced the closure of the Louvre, the world’s most-visited museum and home to the Mona Lisa.

President Emmanuel Macron posted on social media that “everything is being done” to catch the perpetrators and recover the stolen items.

Police are looking for a team of four thieves, Paris’s chief prosecutor Laure Beccuau told the BFMTV channel.

Soldiers patrolled the famed glass pyramid entrance, while evacuated visitors, tourists and passersby were kept at a distance behind police tape.

It was “like a Hollywood movie”, one American tourist, Talia Ocampo, told AFP.

It was “crazy” and “something we won’t forget — we could not go to the Louvre because there was a robbery”, she said.

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A culture ministry statement said eight items of jewellery had been stolen from the Gallerie Apollon that houses the French crown jewels.

“Two high-security display cases were targeted, and eight objects of invaluable cultural heritage were stolen,” said the ministry statement.

They included the emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon gave his wife Empress Marie Louise, and the crown of Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III.

Beccuau said the thieves had threatened museum guards with the angle grinders they used to break into the jewellery cases.

A team of 60 investigators was working on the case, she added.

– ‘Unsellable’ –

The robbers used a powered, extendable ladder of the sort used to hoist furniture into buildings to get into a gilded gallery housing the crown jewels, said officials.

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Eugenie’s crown was recovered after the thieves dropped it as they made their escape, said the culture ministry statement.

The crown, featuring golden eagles, is covered in 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds, according to the museum’s website.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the thieves had used the furniture hoist to steal “priceless” items from two displays in the museum’s “Galerie d’Apollon” (“Apollo’s Gallery”).

The items stolen also included a necklace from the sapphire jewellery of Queen Marie Amelie and Queen Hortense and a pair of emerald earrings that once belonged to Marie Louise, said the culture ministry.

The thieves arrived between 9:30 and 9:40 am (0730 and 0740 GMT), the source following the case said, shortly after the museum opened to the public at 9:00 am.

One police source said the robbers had ridden up on a scooter armed with angle grinders and used the furniture hoist to get inside the Louvre.

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A witness named Samir, who was riding a bicycle nearby at the time, told the TF1 channel that he saw two men “get on the hoist, break the window and enter… it took 30 seconds”.

He said he saw four of them leave on scooters, and he called the police.

The robbery happened just 800 metres (half a mile) from Paris police headquarters.

The Louvre’s management told AFP it had closed because it wanted to “preserve traces and clues for the investigation”.

The director of the Drouot auction house told the LCI broadcaster he feared the jewels would be broken down into gems and precious metal to be sold, as they would be “completely unsellable in their current state”.

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– ‘Great vulnerability’ –

The Louvre used to be the seat of French kings until Louis XIV abandoned it for Versailles in the late 1600s.

It is the world’s most visited museum, last year welcoming nine million people to its extensive hallways and galleries.

Nunez, the capital’s former police chief who became interior minister last week, said he was aware of “a great vulnerability” in museum security in France.

Last month, criminals used an angle grinder to break into Paris’s Natural History Museum, making off with gold samples worth 600,000 euros ($700,000).

Thieves earlier in the month stole two dishes and a vase from a museum in the central city of Limoges, the losses estimated at 6.5 million euros.

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Last year, four thieves stole snuffboxes and other artifacts from another Paris museum, breaking into a display case with axes and baseball bats.

But thefts from the Louvre have been rarer.

A painting by French painter Camille Corot disappeared from the museum in 1998 and has never been recovered.

In 1911, an Italian worker at the museum stole the Mona Lisa, but it was recovered and today sits behind security glass.

Macron in January pledged the Louvre would be redesigned after its director voiced alarm about dire conditions inside. On Sunday, he said that that project included reinforced security.

Dati said Sunday that new security measures would be part of the renovation plan.

AFP

Headline

British Family Accused Of Boarding Dead Grandmother On EasyJet Flight

Published

2 days ago

December 20, 2025

Editor

A British family has been accused of trying to board a dead relative onto an EasyJet flight from Málaga, Spain, to London Gatwick on Thursday, passengers said.

The woman, reportedly 89 years old, was wheeled onto the plane by five family members, who told airline staff she was unwell and had fallen asleep.

Witnesses said the woman was pushed in a wheelchair to the rear of the plane and lifted into her seat. Some claimed they overheard a family member tell a boarding clerk, “It’s OK, she’s just tired,” adding, “It’s OK, we’re doctors.”

Just before takeoff, the cabin crew realized the woman had died, and the plane was turned around, delaying the flight by 12 hours.

Petra Boddington, a passenger, said: “easyJet, when did you start letting dead people onto planes? Seriously!” Another, Tracy-Ann Kitching, added: “I saw her being wheeled onto the plane; someone was holding her head as they passed me! A doctor on board confirmed that was already dead when they sat her down.”

EasyJet has denied that a deceased person boarded the plane. The airline said the passenger had a fit-to-fly certificate and was alive when she boarded.

“The flight returned to the stand prior to take-off due to a customer on board requiring urgent medical assistance. The flight was met by emergency services, but sadly the customer passed away,” a spokesperson said.

The Guardia Civil in Málaga confirmed officers attended the aircraft, and the woman was declared dead on board. No arrests have been made.

Headline

Russian Strike On Odesa Region Kills Eight, Injures 27

Published

2 days ago

December 20, 2025

Editor

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service has reported at least eight people killed and 27 others injured on Friday night after a Russian ballistic missile strike hit the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa.

According to Ukrainian authorities, the attack targeted port infrastructure facilities in the town of Pivdenne, near Odesa, and damaged nearby civilian vehicles.

The strike came one week after much of Odesa was left without power, heat, and water following a “severe” aerial assault.

“Some of the injured were on a bus that was at the epicenter of the shelling. Trucks caught fire in the parking lot, and cars were also damaged,” the State Emergency Service said.

Emergency officials said the deaths occurred at a port infrastructure facility. Medical teams and first responders were deployed after the strike, but their work was disrupted by “ongoing air raid alerts,” according to Oleh Kiper, head of Odesa’s regional administration.

Russia has carried out repeated attacks on Odesa in recent days, damaging port facilities, civilian vessels, and key infrastructure.

Two major bridges linking the northern and southern parts of the Odesa region have also been hit, with repairs under way, Kiper said.

Elsewhere, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported a “massive” drone attack on the southern Mykolayiv region, which damaged civilian infrastructure and vehicles. No casualties were reported.

Odesa, Ukraine’s largest seaport and a major hub in the Black Sea region, has been a frequent target since the start of the war.

Last week, civilian, energy, and industrial sites in the city suffered extensive damage after what regional officials described as “one of the enemy’s most severe airstrikes,” leaving many areas without power and water.

Russia’s Defence Ministry has not commented on the attack.

Speaking hours before the strike during his annual Direct Line call-in show, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia was yet to “see Ukraine’s readiness for peace”.

“[Russia] is ready for negotiations and for ending the conflict via peaceful means,” Putin said, adding that it was up to Russia’s “Western opponents” to end the war.

(CNN)

Headline

Aircraft Crashes In Owerri With Four Persons Onboard

Published

6 days ago

December 17, 2025

Editor

Photo: File copy

A Cessna 172 aircraft with registration number 5N-ASR, operated by Skypower Express, has crashed at the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, Owerri, Imo State.

The aircraft had departed Kaduna International Airport en route to Port Harcourt International Airport before diverting to Owerri after the crew declared an emergency.

The crash occurred at about 8:00 pm on the airport premises, with four passengers and crew members onboard.

Confirming the incident, the Director, Public Affairs and Family Assistance of the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), Mrs. Bimbo Oladeji, said the agency had been notified of the crash.

According to the NSIB, the aircraft crashed on the approach area of Runway 17, but no fatalities have been recorded so far.

The statement said: “Following the occurrence, airport emergency services were successfully activated and arrived on site promptly. Reports indicate that there was no post-crash fire, and the runway remains active for flight operations, with other aircraft taking off safely after the incident.

“Efforts are currently underway to coordinate the recovery and evacuation of the distressed aircraft from the crash site to allow for a detailed wreckage examination.”

The NSIB said it has officially activated its investigation protocols in line with its statutory mandate

The Director-General of NSIB, Capt. Alex Badeh Jr., sympathised with the management of Skypower Express over the incident and expressed relief that no lives were lost.

Badeh Jr. added that the Bureau’s investigation team is already coordinating with relevant authorities to secure the crash site and commence a detailed investigation into the cause of the accident.

Two days ago, 11 persons narrowly escaped death as a private jet crash-landed at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, on Sunday morning.

The occupants, including passengers and cabin crew, were safely evacuated amid an intense atmosphere, eyewitnesses told The Guardian.

The private jet, owned by Flybird Aviation, crash-landed at about 9:30 a.m. while approaching Kano Airport en route to Abuja.

The incident attracted urgent attention, with emergency staff and other stakeholders converging at the runway to render rescue operations.

The management of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) is yet to release an official statement on the incident. Unofficial sources disclosed that the passengers have been taken to an unknown destination.

Several aircraft incidents have occurred at Kano Airport, with several lives lost.

The last incident occurred in May 2002, when an EAS Airline aircraft departed the runway at Aminu Kano International Airport at 1:29 p.m. local time en route to Lagos.