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South Korea is setting its sights on joining the ranks of the world’s top four defence powers by 2030, with President Lee Jae Myung announcing a major funding boost for weapons and aerospace research at the country’s largest-ever arms fair on Monday.

Speaking at the Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition (ADEX) 2025, President Lee unveiled plans for a “larger-than-expected budget” dedicated to defence innovation, including next-generation weapons, unmanned systems, and AI-driven combat technology.

South Korea, currently ranked 10th globally in arms sales according to SIPRI data, has rapidly emerged as a major weapons exporter, fueled by rising global demand following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Becoming one of the top four powerhouses in the defence industry is by no means an impossible dream,” Lee declared, outlining a strategy centered on self-reliance and technological sovereignty.

Technological Focus: Building Independence

Lee emphasized that Seoul’s path to military dominance will hinge on indigenous innovation from advanced semiconductors to locally developed materials and components critical for modern warfare systems.

“We will establish technological sovereignty by focusing investment on technologies, parts, and materials that must be secured independently,” Lee said, signaling a drive to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers and strengthen Korea’s high-tech defence ecosystem.

Why It Matters

South Korea’s defence surge represents a new phase in global power dynamics, as traditional arms leaders like the U.S., Russia, and China face rising competition from technologically agile exporters. The move also underscores Seoul’s bid to leverage its world-class electronics and shipbuilding expertise for military dominance.

With defence exports surging from howitzers and missiles to warships and ammunition South Korea is fast becoming a preferred arms supplier for nations seeking reliable alternatives amid supply disruptions from traditional powers.

Government: Pledging billions in R&D and industry subsidies through 2030.

Korean Defence Firms (Hanwha, LIG Nex1, Hyundai Rotem): Showcasing AI-enhanced and unmanned weapons at ADEX to attract new export clients.

Overseas Buyers: Poland, Australia, and the UAE remain top partners, signaling Seoul’s growing footprint in both European and Middle Eastern markets.

Industry Analysts: See the move as a turning point that could push South Korea past traditional mid-tier arms exporters like France and the U.K. in global rankings.

What’s Next

South Korea plans to use the ADEX 2025 platform to announce new export deals and joint ventures aimed at expanding its defence technology abroad. The government is expected to release its 2030 Defence Industry Roadmap early next year, detailing specific spending targets and export goals.

If successful, Seoul’s ascent could redefine Asia’s military-industrial balance transforming the country from a security consumer into one of the world’s dominant arms producers.

With information from Reuters.

The incident is the first alleged defection of a North Korean soldier in more than a year.

South Korea says it has taken a North Korean soldier into custody after he crossed the country’s heavily guarded border.

The soldier crossed the military demarcation line (MDL) that divides the peninsula on Sunday, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, which said it “tracked and monitored” the soldier before securing him.

South Korea’s military said it would investigate the circumstances of the soldier’s crossing – a relatively rare incident in the mine-strewn border zone between the two nations still technically at war.

South Korean media described the crossing near the central part of the border as a “defection”, with the Chosun Ilbo daily saying the soldier expressed his wish to defect after being approached by a South Korean soldier.

If confirmed, the soldier would join tens of thousands of North Koreans who have fled poverty and repression in North Korea since the peninsula was split by war in the 1950s. Last year, 236 North Koreans arrived in the South, with women accounting for 88 percent of the total.

The last time a soldier from North Korea, which derides defectors as “human scum”, escaped to the South was in August last year.

Most defectors, however, take a different route – escaping across North Korea’s border with China before eventually making their way to the South. Direct crossings between the two Koreas are relatively rare and extremely risky, as the border area is full of mines and well-monitored on both sides.

Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said the latest soldier who crossed the border may have been able to navigate the dangerous terrain due to his “likely familiarity with the area”.

“The latest crossing will not be received positively by Pyongyang, as he could provide the South with information on its troop movements and operations in the border area,” the analyst told the AFP news agency.

In July, a North Korean civilian crossed the border by foot in a 20-hour operation aided by the South’s military.

The latest crossing came four months after liberal politician Lee Jae-myung took office as South Korean president, following months of political chaos, which began with the conservative President Yoon Suk-yeol’s short-lived attempt to impose martial law in December.

Lee has taken a different stance from his predecessor on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, promising to “open a communication channel with North Korea and establish peace on the Korean Peninsula through talks and cooperation”.

Diplomatic efforts have stalled on the Korean Peninsula since the collapse of denuclearisation talks between Washington and Pyongyang in 2019 during the first United States President Donald Trump administration, after a series of Trump-Kim summits, globally watched spectacles that bore little concrete progress.

Verstappen’s wire-to-wire victory in Austin narrows the drivers’ championship gap to 40 points behind Oscar Piastri, with six races remaining.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen dominated the US Grand Prix from pole position on Sunday, leading every lap to take another significant chunk out of Oscar Piastri’s Formula One championship lead on a perfect weekend in Texas.

McLaren’s Piastri finished fifth with his teammate and closest rival, Lando Norris, seconds after passing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, last year’s winner, five laps from the chequered flag.

Piastri now leads Britain’s Norris by 14 points, with five rounds and two sprints remaining, while Verstappen has slashed his gap to the Australian to 40 after being 104 behind at the end of August.

Verstappen also won the Saturday sprint from pole position at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas, while the McLarens collided and retired, on a weekend of maximum points for the four-time world champion.

McLaren has already sealed the constructors’ title.

Verstappen says the title chance is there

“For sure, the chance is there,” Verstappen said of the title battle. “We just need to try and deliver these weekends until the end.

“We will try whatever we can. It’s exciting,” he added after his third win in the last four races and 68th of his career.

Piastri said he still had full confidence in his ability to become Australia’s first champion since Alan Jones in 1980.

“I’d still rather be where I am than the other two,” added the 24-year-old.

Norris lost out to Leclerc at the start and then took 21 laps to find a way back past as the Monegasque, on the faster but less durable soft tyres, held a defensive masterclass.

Leclerc then battled with Lewis Hamilton, who started on mediums, before pitting on lap 23 and coming back out in ninth place, with his teammate moving up to third and Piastri to fourth.

Verstappen, by then, was 10 seconds down the road from his closest rival.

Once the rest of the frontrunners had made their pitstops, Leclerc was again second on the road – but more than six seconds behind Verstappen – with Norris third and having to overtake all over again with a track limits warning hanging over him.

Job done, Norris pulled away and finished 7.9 seconds behind Verstappen and 7.4 ahead of the Ferrari.

“It was tough. We did everything we could,” he said of a battle that gave the fans some excitement as Verstappen completed lap after lap largely absent from the global television feed.

“I expected a slightly easier second attempt to get through, but it wasn’t the case. Charles drove a very good race. It was good fun, good battles. So we have to take second. Not a lot more we could’ve done today.”

McLaren team boss Andrea Stella said, however, that Norris could have fought for the win had he not been held up by the Ferrari.

Hamilton was fourth, with Piastri just 1.1 seconds behind, and George Russell – the winner last time out in Singapore – taking the chequered flag in sixth for Mercedes.

Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda finished seventh, ahead of Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Haas’s Oliver Bearman. Fernando Alonso took the final point for Aston Martin.

The virtual safety car was deployed on lap seven when Mercedes’ Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli and Williams’ Carlos Sainz collided, with the Spaniard retiring after trying to overtake on the inside for seventh place.

Stewards handed Sainz a five-place grid penalty at next weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix, plus two penalty points, for causing the collision.

Sainz’s teammate Alex Albon had also been caught up in a first corner collision with Sauber’s Brazilian rookie Gabriel Bortoleto.

The weekend was declared a heat hazard, although the air temperature during the race was lower than feared at about 28.6 degrees Celsius (83.5 Fahrenheit).

UN Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher has inspected damage in Gaza City as the agency plans to ramp up its humanitarian relief efforts. He visited a destroyed water treatment plant and emphasised the enormity of the response needed.

Paz, the son of a former president, promises ‘capitalism for all’ as election ends 20 years of socialist government.

Bolivians have elected Rodrigo Paz of the centre-right Christian Democratic Party (PDC) as their new president, ending almost 20 years of governance by the Movement for Socialism (MAS) party.

With 97 percent of ballots counted, Paz had won 54.5 percent of the vote in Sunday’s run-off race, well ahead of right-wing former interim President Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga, with 45.4 percent of the vote, according to the country’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE).

Paz, 58, followed his father, former left-wing President Jaime Zamora, into politics.

After studying economics in the United States, Paz returned home to Bolivia, where he went on to become a city councillor and mayor of the southern city of Tarija, before becoming a senator for the region in 2020.

He has pledged a “capitalism for all” approach, promising tax cuts, tariff reductions, and the decentralisation of the national government.

After the results were announced, Paz’s vice-presidential running mate, Edmand Lara, made a call for “unity and reconciliation”.

“We must ensure the supply of diesel and gasoline. People are suffering. We need to stabilise the prices of the basic food basket, and we must put an end to corruption,” Lara said.

Sunday’s run-off came after the incumbent MAS party suffered a major defeat in August’s preliminary election, after former left-wing President Evo Morales was barred from running and outgoing President Luis Arce, who had fallen out with Morales, opted out of the race.

Courts had ruled against Morales’s candidacy over term limits and technicalities related to party affiliation.

The division within their left-wing coalition, along with the country’s deep economic crisis, meant few expected MAS to return to power.

Outside of the National Congress, the new president will still face stiff opposition from Morales, who remains popular, especially among Indigenous Bolivians.

On Sunday, Morales told reporters that the two candidates each represented only “a handful of people in Bolivia”.

“They do not represent the popular movement, much less the Indigenous movement,” he said.

Arce is due to leave office on November 8 after serving a single presidential term that began in 2020. Bolivia’s constitution allows for two terms, but he did not seek re-election.

Economic woes

The Andean country has been struggling through an economic crisis, including annual inflation of almost 25 percent and critical shortages of US dollars and fuel.

Bolivians took to the streets to protest high prices and hours-long waits for fuel, bread and other basics in the lead-up to the August 17 general election.

Bolivia had enjoyed more than a decade of strong growth and Indigenous upliftment under Morales, who nationalised the gas sector and ploughed the proceeds into social programmes that halved extreme poverty during his stint in power between 2006 and 2019.

But after Morales, who was outspoken on environmental issues and climate change, chose not to expand the country’s gas sector, energy revenues fell from a peak of $6.1bn in 2013 to $1.6bn in 2024, seeing the government run out of foreign exchange needed to import fuel, wheat and other foodstuffs.

Meanwhile, Paz has been unclear about whether he plans to continue a fuel subsidy that has cost the government billions of dollars, at times saying he will restrict it to “vulnerable sectors” of the population.

Oct. 19 (UPI) — An early Sunday shooting on the main campus of Oklahoma State University has left three people injured, only one a student, authorities said, as they continue to investigate.

The shooting occurred as a result of what the Oklahoma State University Police Department said in a statement was a “disagreement” that occurred outside of Carreker East hall, a three-story residential building on the northeast side of campus, in Stillwater, located about 64 miles northeast of Oklahoma City.

None of the victims were identified.

The one student injured in the shooting suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen and was airflighted to the OU Health University of Oklahoma Medical Center in Oklahoma City after being transported by private vehicle to the Stillwater Medical Center. The victim is listed in stable condition.

A second victim, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, was also driven to Stillwater and airflighted to the OU Medical Center and was listed as in stable condition.

The third victim has since left St. John’s Hospital in Tulsa after receiving treatment.

Police said their investigation indicates that there was a large off-campus party at the Payne County Expo Center, which ended around 2:30 a.m. CDT. A group of individuals who left the party then made their way to Carreker East for an after-party when the shooting erupted, according to police.

According to authorities, police arrived at the hall “within minutes” of the shooting, secured the scene and determined there was no ongoing threat to campus.

The Stillwater Police Department said in a separate statement that its officers responded to the shooting at 3:42 a.m. and that they had performed “life-saving measures” at the scene.

The investigation is ongoing, and OSUPD is asking for members of the public with information about the shooting to come forward.

No indication of who is responsible was mentioned. A statement from OSUPD at 11 a.m. stated “the suspect is no longer on campus. As the event happened, all parties left campus.”

“We are working diligently to bring this to a close with the assistance of Stillwater Police Department and OSBI,” OSUPD said on its Facebook page.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation is collaborating with the OSUPD in processing evidence.

The Japanese legislature, known as the Diet, is set to meet for an extraordinary session to vote for the next prime minister.

The vote on Tuesday follows the collapse of a 26-year-old partnership earlier this month between the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the smaller Komeito party after Sanae Takaichi took the helm of the LDP.

The LDP has been the dominant force in Japanese politics since the 1950s, but over the past two years, it has lost its majority in both legislative houses after failing to address a series of problems, including a major corruption scandal and Japan’s cost-of-living crisis.

Now, the LDP is at risk of losing power completely unless it can bring another opposition party to its side.

Some Japanese media reports suggested on Sunday that the LDP had reached an agreement with the Japan Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin) to form a coalition that would ensure that Takaichi is elected prime minister. But details of the partnership remain unclear, and the two sides have yet to confirm it.

Who is Sanae Takaichi, and why is she controversial?

Takaichi, 64, is the former protege of late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and a member of the LDP’s conservative faction.

She was chosen to replace Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba as head of the LDP after he stepped down in September. Takaichi ran on a platform of aggressive fiscal expansion to resolve Japan’s ongoing economic problems.

Takaichi is also known as a foreign policy hawk who wants to strengthen Japan’s military, and she holds conservative views on same-sex marriage.

Following her election as LDP leader on October 4, the LDP and Komeito held policy negotiations. They hit an impasse when Takaichi failed to address Komeito’s concerns about corporate donations, according to Jeffrey Hall, a lecturer at Japan’s Kanda University of International Studies.

The disagreement follows a recent LDP scandal that revealed that party members had diverted more than 600 million yen (approximately $4m) of donations to a slush fund.

“[Takaichi] didn’t give them what they considered a serious answer on their concerns about corruption scandals, and they wanted more serious regulations around funding, especially corporate donations,” he told Al Jazeera.

Can Takaichi still become the next prime minister?

Takaichi still has the chance to become Japan’s first female prime minister, but experts say it will take some horse-trading.

The LDP has 196 seats in the lower house of the Diet, and Takaichi needs at least 233 seats to secure a majority. She could do this by negotiating with one of Japan’s other opposition parties, like the Japan Innovation Party.

Conversely, if opposition parties worked together, they could form a new government, but experts like Kazuto Suzuki, a professor at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Public Policy, say this would be challenging due to ideological disagreements.

The situation is very different from 2009, when the LDP last lost power, to a unified opposition, for three years.

“If the opposition is able to rally for the unified candidate, it is possible that Takaichi will lose, but more likely, Takaichi will win not by majority but as the first of the two candidates [in a run-off vote],” Suzuki said.

“But even if Takaichi wins, she is based on a very small minority,” he said. “It will be extremely difficult for Takaichi and the LDP to conduct policies of their own.”

Who could challenge Takaichi for the top job?

Experts say that Takaichi’s most likely challenger is Yuichiro Tamaki, 56, the leader of the conservative Democratic Party for the People (DPFP).

While the party holds 27 seats, it could secure a majority if it cooperated with the centre-left Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), which holds 148 seats, and the Japan Innovation Party, which holds 35 seats.

The DPFP and the CDP were once part of the same party but split due to ideological differences over foreign policy and the future of Japan’s military.

The Japan Innovation Party and the DPP also clash over policies like economic reform and deregulation, according to Stephen Nagy, a professor of politics and international studies at Japan’s International Christian University.

“There are a lot of contradictory positions that will make it unlikely they can form a coalition,” Nagy said.

In a more likely scenario, the Japan Innovation Party will form a coalition with the LDP, he said. They share views on major policy concerns like the United States, China, Taiwan, immigration, and the future of the imperial family.

What does this mean for Japan and the LDP?

Experts say the LDP will likely retain its hold over the government for now, but Takaichi will be a much weaker prime minister than many of her predecessors.

“The bigger question is whether she will survive more than a year, and there are external factors like the US relationship and [US President Donald] Trump’s unpredictability, and internal factors such as the direction of the economy and whether she’ll make decisions about Yasukuni shrine,” said Nagy, referring to the shrine to Japan’s war dead that includes war criminals.

Takaichi will also have to find a way to work with Japan’s other parties, and that means negotiating or softening her stance on more controversial policies.

Kanda University’s Hall said this could be a watershed moment for Japanese politics, especially if the opposition parties can retain their support from voters.

“We have a situation where there are several centre-right parties, there’s a far-right party, and there are a few smaller left-wing parties. There just simply isn’t the math for one party to put together a stable coalition with a partner that agrees with it on the big issues,” he told Al Jazeera.

“With this kind of multi-party democracy, they’re going to have new norms develop, where parties are more willing to compromise if they want to form a government – and if they don’t… then we’ll see no-confidence votes that oust prime ministers,” he said.

Manchester United condemned Liverpool to a fourth successive defeat as Harry Maguire’s late goal sealed a 2-1 win over the spluttering Premier League champions.

After losses against Crystal Palace, Galatasaray and Chelsea, Arne Slot’s side endured their most painful setback of the season at the hands of their bitter rivals on Sunday.

Bryan Mbeumo put United in front after two minutes and although Cody Gakpo equalised in the 78th minute, Maguire grabbed his club’s first win at Anfield since 2016 with an 84th-minute header.

Maguire’s goal also secured back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time in Ruben Amorim’s tenure as United boss.

The defeat leaves Liverpool four points adrift of Arsenal at the top of the table and Arne Slot still searching for answers on how to get the right balance after splashing out nearly 450 million pounds ($604m) on new players in the transfer market.

United close to within two points of their historic football rivals and up to ninth in the table to ease the pressure on Amorim after his biggest win in nearly a year in charge.

After three consecutive defeats for the first time in Slot’s reign, Liverpool could barely have imagined a worse start on Sunday.

Mbeumo sped past Virgil van Dijk with ease before firing past Giorgi Mamardashvili from Amad Diallo’s pass after barely a minute.

The home side and support were furious that play was not stopped in the build-up after Alexis MacAllister went down with a head injury, inflicted by his own captain, van Dijk.

Slot left big-money signing Florian Wirtz on the bench for the second consecutive game as he looked in vain to find the right balance between defence and attack.

Gakpo should have levelled for the defending champions when he hit the post from Mohamed Salah’s through ball in Liverpool’s one flowing move of the first half.

Bruno Fernandes then spurned a glorious chance to double the Red Devils’ lead when he hit the outside of the post when unmarked from the edge of the area.

At the other end, Senne Lammens was rarely troubled in the first 45 minutes, but produced a big save when called upon to deny Alexander Isak his first Premier League goal since joining Liverpool for a British transfer record 125 million pounds ($168m).

A Gakpo deflected cross then came back off the post and the Dutchman rattled the woodwork for a third time early in the second half.

Slot turned to his near 200 million pounds ($268m) in forward options off the bench as Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike were introduced on the hour mark to join Salah, Gakpo and Isak in a five-man attack.

Salah has scored more goals than any other player in this fixture, but his lack of form showed in a wild finish to slice wide with just Lammens to beat at the back post.

Liverpool’s wealth of attacking talent finally broke the door down when Federico Chiesa, who had replaced Isak moments earlier, drilled in a low cross that Gakpo converted from point-blank range.

Yet, their defensive frailties meant parity only lasted six minutes as Maguire was left unmarked to head in Fernandes’s looping cross.

Gakpo should still have rescued a point when he headed wide with the goal gaping from Jeremie Frimpong’s inviting delivery.

But Liverpool fell to their first league defeat at Anfield in over a year in another blow to their hopes of usurping United with a record 21st English top-flight title.

Maguire told Sky Sports that it “meant everything” to get the win.

“It has been a long time coming to come to this ground and pick up three points,” he said.

“The old cliche is that it is only three points, but it definitely isn’t – it means a lot more than that for the club, the boys and the fans.”

Van Dijk told Sky Sports that Liverpool need to stick together to get through such a difficult period.

“It is an interesting time because we have to stick together, not just us as players but as a club and the fans who want us to win,” Liverpool’s captain said.

“We need to stay humble, stay working and keep our confidence as high as possible. When things get tough, it is important we keep the mentality of being there for each other. It is a long season,” he said.

In Sunday’s earlier Premier League game, Emi Buendia’s curling shot sealed a 2-1 comeback win for Aston Villa against Tottenham.

The victory continued Villa’s resurgence after a desperate start to the season and denied Spurs the chance to provisionally move up to second in the standings.

Buendia shimmied his way across the edge of the box in the 77th minute at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before sweeping a perfect shot low into the bottom corner.

It was Villa’s fifth-straight win in all competitions after failing to pick up a victory in their first six games of the campaign.

It ended Spurs’ seven-game unbeaten run that looked set to continue when Rodrigo Bentancur fired the home team ahead after just five minutes.

Morgan Rogers levelled the game in the 37th before Villa went on to take all three points and consign Tottenham coach Thomas Frank to his second league loss since taking over in the summer.

Bereaved families are calling for a public inquiry into what they say are “repeated failures” by the UK government to protect vulnerable people from a website promoting suicide.

A report by the Molly Rose Foundation says departments were warned 65 times about the online forum, which BBC News is not naming, and others like it but did not act.

The suicide prevention charity says at least 133 people have died in the UK as a result of a toxic chemical promoted by the site and similar forums.

The government has not said whether it will consider an inquiry but said sites must prevent users from accessing illegal suicide and self-harm content or face “robust enforcement, including substantial fines”.

Families and survivors have written to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer asking him for an inquiry to look into why warnings from coroners and campaigners have been ignored.

David Parfett, whose son Tom took his own life in 2021, told the BBC successive governments had offered sympathy but no accountability.

“The people who host the suicide platforms to spread their cult-like messages that suicide is normal – and earn money from selling death – continue to be several steps ahead of government ministers and law enforcement bodies,” he said.

“I can think of no better memorial for my son than knowing people like him are protected from harm while they recover their mental health.”

David and six other families are being represented by the law firm Leigh Day who have also written a letter to the prime minister highlighting their concerns about the main suicide forum.

The letter says victims were groomed online, and tended to be in their early 20s, with the youngest known victim being 13.

It argues a public inquiry is needed because coroners’ courts cannot institute the changes needed to protect vulnerable people.

According to the report, coroners raised concerns and sent repeated warnings to the Home Office, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and Department of Health and Social Care on dozens of occasions since 2019, when the forum that has been criticised by the families first emerged.

The report highlighted four main findings:

• The Home Office’s refusal to tighten regulation of the substance, which remains easily obtainable online, while UK Border Force “struggles to respond to imports” from overseas sellers

• The media regulator Ofcom’s decision to rely on “voluntary measures” from the main forum’s operators rather than taking steps to restrict UK access

• Repeated failures by government departments to act on coroners’ warnings

• Operational shortcomings, including inconsistent police welfare checks and delays in making antidotes available to emergency services

A government spokesperson said that the substance in question “is closely monitored and is reportable under the Poisons Act” meaning retailers should tell the authorities if they suspect it is being bought to cause harm.

But campaigners say the government’s response has been fragmented and slow, with officials “passing the parcel” rather than taking co-ordinated action.

Adele Zeynep Walton, whose sister Aimee died in 2022, said families like hers had been “ignored and dismissed”.

“She was creative, a very talented artist, gifted musician,” she told BBC News.

“Aimee was hardworking and achieved great GCSE results, however she was shy and quiet and struggled to make friends.

“Every time I learn of a new life lost to the website that killed my sister three years ago, I’m infuriated that another family has had to go through this preventable tragedy.”

The demand for an inquiry follows concerns raised by the BBC in 2023, when an investigation revealed sites offering instructions and encouragement for suicide and evading regulations.

Andy Burrows, chief executive of the Molly Rose Foundation, said the state’s failure to act had “cost countless lives”.

He also accused Ofcom of being “inexplicably slow” to restrict UK access to the main website the Foundation has raised concerns about.

Under the Online Safety Act, which became law in October 2023, Ofcom got the power in March 2025 to take action against sites hosting illegal content, which includes assisting suicide. If sites fail to show they have systems in place to remove illegal material, Ofcom can block them or impose fines of up to £18m.

UK users are currently unable to access the forum, which is based in the US. A message on the forum’s homepage says it was not blocked to people in the UK as a result of government action but instead because of a “proactive” decision to “protect the platform and its users”.

“We operate under the protection of the First Amendment. However, UK authorities have signalled intentions to enforce their domestic laws on foreign platforms, potentially leading to criminal liability or service disruption,” the message reads.

In a statement, Ofcom said: “In response to our enforcement action, the online suicide forum put in place a geo-block to restrict access by people with UK IP addresses.

“Services that choose to block access by people in the UK must not encourage or promote ways to avoid these restrictions.”

It added the forum remained on its watchlist and a previously-launched investigation into it remained open while it checked the block was being maintained.

• If you, or someone you know, has been affected by mental health issues BBC Action Line has put together a list of organisations which can help.

Gaza Government Media Office says Israel has breached the truce agreement 80 times, including 21 violations on Sunday.

We are getting what could be our first look at China’s very large stealth ‘cranked kite’ flying-wing drone, unofficially dubbed the GJ-X, in flight. TWZ broke the news on the existence of this aircraft in September after it appeared in satellite imagery at China’s sprawling test airbase near Malan in Xinjiang province. We estimated then that the aircraft’s wingspan was roughly 42 meters (137 feet), which puts it in a very rare class for a stealthy uncrewed aircraft. Since our report, there have been persistent claims that the aircraft’s wingspan is larger than that of a B-21, but that is very unlikely to be the case. It’s still a gigantic stealthy flying wing drone, but it is not China’s largest, by a significant margin.

The short clip above shows what appears to be the same aircraft, or one with a very similar design, in flight. Building on that caveat, it is possible that the aircraft depicted is a different one than what was seen in the satellite image at Malan, with both aircraft sharing a similar ‘cranked kite’ planform. China has at least one other drone in development that shares a similar planform, although it’s possible that both aircraft are related developmentally.

It’s worth noting that we see ‘split rudders’ in the image as outboard control surfaces, which are common on flying wing concepts and found on the B-2. We also see a small hump that looks off center above the jet’s empenage. This is likely to be the top of the recessed engine exhaust pointing to a twin-engine design.

The most interesting detail from the short video clip is the aircraft’s underside coating. It appears to have a counter-shaded paint job that is intended to make it harder to properly identify the aircraft’s shape at altitude, with the dark design taking on a more traditional fuselage and wing shape. It’s possible this could also be a coating installation process byproduct, but the shape being so clearly like a conventional aircraft configuration points to camouflage. This technique has been used for many years to visually break up an aircraft’s shape and/or misidentify its orientation.

The purpose of this aircraft is perhaps the most contentious aspect of its existence. Some Chinese military watchers state it’s a very large unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) with kinetic operations as its focus. Others claim it is straight-up an unmanned stealth bomber. Meanwhile, a reconnaissance role, taking on a similar task as America’s rumored clandestine ‘RQ-180’ high-altitude, long-endurance stealth drone, is maybe the most overlooked and probable possibility. But having a multi-role aircraft that can take on various tasks, from kinetic attacks to reconnaissance, would also be highly advantageous. We just don’t know conclusively at this time what China’s intent is for the design.

The GJ-X is just one of a dizzying array of stealth combat aircraft developments over the last year, starting off with the simultaneous first flights (or at least publicly witnessed and disseminated first flights) of the so-called J-36 very heavy stealth tactical jet and the heavy J-XDS fighter, both advanced tailless designs. A steady stream of other unmanned tactical aircraft of a similar generation have been spotted or unveiled, as well. The speed at which China is now moving when it comes to advanced combat aircraft development is truly stunning, and this is just what we are allowed to see, and maybe some leaks. Much more is underway in the shadows.

Contact the author: [email protected]

Ukraine attacks Russian gas processing plant as Zelenskyy calls for more international pressure on Putin.

Here is how things stand on Monday, October 20, 2025:

Fighting

• The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said in a post on Facebook that it struck a gas processing plant in Russia’s Orenburg region, causing explosions and “a large-scale fire”.
• Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy said that the Orenburg gas processing plant, the largest facility of its kind in the world, had been forced to suspend its intake of gas from Kazakhstan following the Ukrainian drone attack.
• Orenburg Governor Yevgeny Solntsev had said earlier on Sunday that the plant, which is run by state-owned gas giant Gazprom, had been partially damaged, and that the drone attack caused a fire at a workshop at the facility. The blaze was later put out, Russian media outlet Kommersant reported, citing the operator.
• Ukraine’s General Staff also said that its forces hit the Novokuybyshevsk oil refinery in Russia’s Samara region.
• Russian forces launched a “massive” attack on a coal mine in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, private Ukrainian energy company DTEK wrote in a post on Telegram, adding that 192 mineworkers, who were underground during the incident, were being evacuated.
• Russia’s Ministry of Defence said it shot down 323 Ukrainian drones, two guided bombs, and three rocket launchers in a 24-hour period, according to Russia’s state TASS news agency.
• Russia launched more than 3,270 attack drones, 1,370 guided aerial bombs, and nearly 50 missiles against Ukraine in the past week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote in a post on Facebook.

Politics and diplomacy

• United States President Donald Trump pressed Zelenskyy to give up territory to Russia during a White House meeting on Friday that left the Ukrainian delegation disappointed, Reuters reported, citing two unidentified officials.
• The Financial Times also reported that the meeting was tense, saying that Trump told Zelenskyy that Russian President Vladimir Putin would “destroy” Ukraine if Kyiv did not accept Moscow’s terms for ending the war.
• Polish President Donald Tusk wrote on X on Sunday that “none of us should put pressure on Zelenskyy when it comes to territorial concessions”.
• Zelenskyy told NBC that more pressure is needed on Putin, since the Russian leader is “more strong than Hamas”.
• The Ukrainian president also said that he should be included in upcoming talks between Putin and Trump in Hungary.
• In an interview on Fox News on Sunday morning, Trump again indicated that he was not willing to send more arms to Ukraine, saying: “We have to remember one thing. We need them for ourselves too. You know, we can’t give all of our weapons to Ukraine.”
• Germany’s Federal Foreign Office announced that it was temporarily recalling its envoy to Georgia, saying in a post on X that the country’s “leadership has for months been agitating against the EU, Germany and the German ambassador personally”.

Russia’s foreign policy framework places emphasis on adopting a plurality of approaches, including serious dialogues through conventional diplomacy, to all kinds of disputes and has taken concrete steps to coordinate the resolution of those in the Arab world. After lengthy preparations toward hosting the “Russia-Arab world” summit, primarily aimed at discussing regional security and energy relations and showcasing Moscow’s enduring influence in the Middle East, the Kremlin abruptly put off the scheduled gathering, citing contradictory positions and extremely low interest among Arab leaders, including those in North Africa.

The Russia-Arab Summit was supposed to open and be decisive for advancing the agreements on the Gaza Strip, agreements that have been energetically promoted by Egypt and Qatar, considered friends of Russia. It was also meant to address aspects of the Palestinian issue, to stop the bloodshed as soon as possible, and to offer possible pathways for the grave humanitarian issues faced by the people.

Notably, the overwhelming majority in the Arab world showed little interest in Russia being the organizer. Later, considering the apathy towards participation, “President Vladimir Putin reached an understanding with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Al Sudani and the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States to postpone the summit,” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Arab media reporters on October 13, during his media briefing.

“The final documents are practically ready, so we will still have the opportunity to get together, back for the summit,” Lavrov reassured. The relations with Arab countries are steadily progressing. The League of Arab States has demonstrated its value and is consolidating its role as a key pillar of the emerging multipolar world, authoritatively and actively participating in global affairs—in economics, finance, and increasingly contributing to the resolution of regional and, more broadly, political issues.

There is a noticeable sustained growth in trade turnover with the League’s member states, which has now exceeded $34 billion. Whilst this figure is modest compared to the trade volumes the United States and the People’s Republic of China maintain with the Arab world, it is several times greater than the trade turnover recorded two decades ago. That lapses, however—the growth dynamics are still positive. Arab partners are also showing keen interest in agricultural cooperation, including supplies of Russian food products and fertilizer.

Furthermore, in the sphere of cultural cooperation, Russia has traditionally maintained strong educational ties with many Arab states, a practice dating back to the Soviet era. Tourism is growing bilaterally. The fundamental trend remains the development of constructive relations grounded in mutual respect, the accommodation of each other’s interests, and the consolidation of a stable balance between them.

According to various reports monitored by Modern Diplomacy, the Kremlin was forced to shelve the gathering after only a handful of leaders, including Syria’s president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and the head of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, confirmed their attendance. For nearly a decade, the Middle East served as the stage for Putin’s long-sought return to global prominence. But analysts say the Arab majority expressed little interest in participating in deliberations, geopolitics, and conflict settlement with Moscow.

Nevertheless, an aide to the president of Russia, Yury Ushakov, in mid-October explicitly explained that “naturally, the Russian side outlined its principled position in favor of a comprehensive Middle East settlement on a generally recognized international legal basis that would ensure lasting peace for all the peoples in that region.”

In particular, Ushakov noted that Vladimir Putin provided a detailed assessment of the current situation, stressing Russia’s interest in achieving a peaceful resolution through political and diplomatic methods in the region and other similar conflicts around the world. In this context, Putin congratulated Donald Trump on his successful efforts to normalize the situation in the Gaza Strip. The US president’s peace work has been duly appreciated in the Middle East, in the United States itself, and in most countries around the world.

In several frank exchanges of views, experts noted the essential political developments in the Middle East and stressed the growing significance of the necessity for establishing peace. “But Russia’s diplomatic role in the Middle East has declined as a result of the Ukraine war,” said Hanna Notte, a Berlin-based expert on Russian foreign policy. “When it comes to all the big developments, the major players in the region don’t look towards Moscow anymore.”

But, the fact remains for geopolitical reasons, the primary objectives and challenges, that the situation has been very difficult and the future trends are uncertain in the region—the Middle East and North Africa. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, meeting with his Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita, also acknowledged Moscow’s readiness to work together with other interested countries to help resolve the issues facing the Middle East and North Africa.

“This certainly envisages continued cooperation as part of Russia’s interaction with the Arab League,” according to Lavrov. With Israel and Palestine, Russia hoped the agreements on Gaza reached through the mediation of Egypt, Qatar, the United States, and Turkey will be strictly and fully adhered to in every context and in the logically established international legal framework. 

On September 29, the White House released US President Donald Trump’s comprehensive plan to resolve the situation in the Gaza Strip. The 20-point document includes, among other measures, the establishment of temporary external administration in the Palestinian enclave and the deployment of international stabilization forces there. On October 9, Trump announced that Israeli and Hamas representatives had agreed on the first step of the peace plan after negotiations. According to Trump, the agreement included the release of all hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops to an agreed-upon line in Gaza.

Despite years of cultivating ties with the Arab countries, Putin called off, on 10th October, the Russia-Arab world summit, a clear sign of Russia’s dwindling influence in the Middle East. Notwithstanding that, Russia has been jostling to sustain its traditional relations across Central Asia and the Caucasus, and also with the former Soviet republics—including Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.

Substantive steps have been taken on Gaza, for instance, during the summit held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on October 13, and hopefully, the agreements on Gaza, reached with the mediation of Egypt, Qatar, the United States, and Türkiye, will be strictly and fully implemented. Key priorities include ensuring the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid to all those in need, creating the necessary conditions for the return of displaced persons, and addressing the comprehensive destruction of the enclave’s civilian infrastructure. 

The UN Security Council and General Assembly resolutions can additionally bring a long-awaited and lasting peace to all the peoples of the Middle East—an outcome in which we are deeply invested, achieving long-term stabilization in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone and the wider Middle East.

Oct. 19 (UPI) — Former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., a convicted fraudster and identity thief, has said he will work to reform U.S. prisons, having been released from a penitentiary Friday by President Donald Trump.

Trump commuted Santos’s seven-year sentence for wire fraud and identity theft, the latest in a series of moves by Trump to exonerate associates and Republicans involved in criminal activity.

Santos was expelled from the U.S. House in 2023 after refusing to resign following a scathing ethics investigation uncovered his criminal activity. In an interview with the Washington Post, Santos called his time in federal prison “dehumanizing” and “humbling.”

The former representative admitted to stealing the identities of 11 people, including his own family members. He served 84 days in prison before being exonerated by Trump and released from prison Friday night. He also admitted that he embellished and fabricated his biography during his run for Congress in 2020.

Santos called the prison system, and the facility where he was housed, FCI Fairton in N.J., as “broken” with “rotting facilities, and administrators who seem incapable or unwilling to correct it.” He said a large hole in the ceiling exposed “thick, black mold,” and claimed broken air-conditioning systems forced inmates to endure sweltering heat.

“The building itself is hardly fit for long-term habitation: sheet metal walls, shoddy construction, the look and feel of a temporary warehouse rather than a permanent facility,” Santos wrote on The South Shore Press website while he was incarcerated.

As part of his plea deal, Santos agreed to pay $600,000 in restitution and forfeiture costs.

Santos pushed back on critics who claim the former congressman is not being held accountable for his crimes, and said that, beyond repentance, he has “dealt a second chance.”

“I understand people want to make this into “he’s getting away with it. I’m not getting away with it,” Santos said following his release. “I was the first person ever to go to federal prison for a civil violation … I don’t want to focus on trying to rehash the past and want to take the experience and do good and move on with the future.

In announcing Santo’s commutation on social media, Trump claimed that the former congressman had been “horribly mistreated,” and that “at least” the former representative had the “Courage, Conviction, and intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!”

Santos, 37, served fewer than three months of his seven year sentence. He said he has no plans to re-enter politics and would do his best to repay campaign donors based on “whatever the law requires of me.”

Barring new cases, the patient’s recovery kicks off a 42-day countdown to declaring the country’s 16th outbreak over.

The last Ebola patient in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been released from a treatment centre in Kasai province, according to the United Nations health agency.

The patient is the 19th to recover out of 64 total cases recorded since the outbreak was declared in September, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement on Sunday.

If no new cases are discovered in the next 42 days, the outbreak will be declared over.

Mohamed Janabi, the WHO’s director for Africa, said the recovery was a “remarkable achievement”, given the outbreak began just six weeks ago.

“The country’s robust response, with support from WHO and partners, was pivotal to this achievement,” he added in a social media post.

In a video alongside the post on X, health workers were seen celebrating as the final patient exited the treatment centre in Bulape.

Today, the last #Ebola patient in Bulape, #DRC was discharged from the treatment centre.

The country’s robust response, with support from WHO and partners, was pivotal to this achievement. A 42-day countdown to declare the outbreak over has now begun.

Until then, @WHO and… pic.twitter.com/YTEpGzYwPW

— Prof. Mohamed Janabi (@ProfJanabi) October 19, 2025

The outbreak, which is the DRC’s 16th to date, was declared on September 4 as Ebola cases appeared in the Bulape and Mweka areas of the Kasai province in the country’s southwest.

Since then, the WHO has tallied 53 confirmed and 11 probable cases, with patients showing typical Ebola symptoms such as fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and haemorrhaging. Forty-five people have died.

The remote Kasai province has proven challenging to reach, even as it may have helped to prevent the spread of the virus, health officials have said.

Still, the WHO deployed response teams and set up a 32-bed treatment centre for the first time “outside a simulation exercise” in the region, the organisation said. More than 35,000 people have received vaccinations in the Bulape area.

No new cases have been identified since September 25.

Ebola was first identified in 1976 after an outbreak in what is now the DRC. Without treatment, up to 90 percent of cases are fatal, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The largest outbreak occurred from 2014 to 2016 in West Africa, ultimately infecting 28,600 and killing 11,325 people, with the disease also spreading to Europe and the United States.

The DRC’s most recent outbreak occurred in 2022 and involved just one recorded case of the virus.

Tension between Indiana University and its student newspaper flared last week with the elimination of the outlet’s print editions and the firing of a faculty advisor who refused an order to keep news stories out of a homecoming edition.

Administrators may have been hoping to minimize distractions during its homecoming weekend as the school prepared to celebrate a Hoosiers football team with its highest-ever national ranking. Instead, the controversy has entangled the school in questions about censorship and student journalists’ 1st Amendment rights.

Advocates for student media, Indiana Daily Student alumni and high-profile supporters including billionaire Mark Cuban have excoriated the university for stepping on the outlet’s independence.

The Daily Student is routinely honored among the best collegiate publications in the country. It receives about $250,000 annually in subsidies from the university’s Media School to help make up for dwindling ad revenue.

On Tuesday, the university fired the paper’s advisor, Jim Rodenbush, after he refused an order to force student editors to ensure that no news stories ran in the print edition tied to the homecoming celebrations.

“I had to make the decision that was going to allow me to live with myself,” Rodenbush said. “I don’t have any regrets whatsoever. In the current environment we’re in, somebody has to stand up.”

Student journalists still call the shots

A university spokesperson referred an Associated Press reporter to a statement issued Tuesday, which said the campus wants to shift resources from print media to digital platforms both for students’ educational experience and to address the paper’s financial problems.

Chancellor David Reingold issued a separate statement Wednesday saying the school is “firmly committed to the free expression and editorial independence of student media. The university has not and will not interfere with their editorial judgment.”

It was late last year when university officials announced they were scaling back the cash-strapped newspaper’s print edition from a weekly to seven special editions per semester, tied to campus events.

The paper published three print editions this fall, inserting special event sections, Rodenbush said. Last month, Media School officials started asking why the special editions still contained news, he said.

Rodenbush said IU Media School Dean David Tolchinsky told him this month that the expectation was print editions would contain no news. Tolchinsky argued that Rodenbush was essentially the paper’s publisher and could decide what to run, Rodenbush said. He told the dean that publishing decisions were the students’ alone, he said.

Tolchinsky fired him Tuesday, two days before the homecoming print edition was set to be published, and announced the end of all Indiana Daily Student print publications.

“Your lack of leadership and ability to work in alignment with the University’s direction for the Student Media Plan is unacceptable,” Tolchinsky wrote in Rodenbush’s termination letter.

The newspaper was allowed to continue publishing stories on its website.

Student journalists see a ‘scare tactic’

Andrew Miller, the Indiana Daily Student’s co-editor in chief, said in a statement that Rodenbush “did the right thing by refusing to censor our print edition” and called the termination a “deliberate scare tactic toward journalists and faculty.”

“IU has no legal right to dictate what we can and cannot print in our paper,” Miller said.

Mike Hiestand, senior legal counsel at the Student Press Law Center, said 1st Amendment case law going back 60 years shows student editors at public universities determine content. Advisors such as Rodenbush can’t interfere, Hiestand said.

“It’s open and shut, and it’s just so bizarre that this is coming out of Indiana University,” Hiestand said. “If this was coming out of a community college that doesn’t know any better, that would be one thing. But this is coming out of a place that absolutely should know better.”

Rodenbush said that he wasn’t aware of any single story the newspaper has published that may have provoked administrators. But he speculated the moves may be part of a “general progression” of administrators trying to protect the university from any negative publicity.

Blocked from publishing a print edition, the paper last week posted a number of sharp-edged stories online, including coverage of the opening of a new film critical of arrests of pro-Palestinian demonstrators last year, a tally of campus sexual assaults and an FBI raid on the home of a former professor suspected of stealing federal funds.

The paper also has covered allegations that IU President Pamela Whitten plagiarized parts of her dissertation, with the most recent story running in September.

Richmond writes for the Associated Press.

The Louvre Museum in the French capital has closed for “exceptional reasons” after a group of intruders successfully stole eight pieces of priceless jewellery in a quick-hit heist that has rocked the world’s most-visited museum.

A manhunt for the thieves was under way in Paris on Sunday as police cordoned off the museum – famously home to Leonardo da Vinci’s painting Mona Lisa – with tape and as armed soldiers patrolled its iconic glass pyramid entrance.

French government and museum officials said several intruders entered the Galerie d’Apollon (Apollo’s Gallery) through a window shortly after the museum opened, relying on a lift used to hoist furniture into buildings.

Within just four minutes, the thieves stole away on motorcycles laden with eight items dating back to the Napoleonic era, dropping a ninth on their way out.

French President Emmanuel Macron took to social media to denounce the heist as an “attack on a heritage that we cherish”.

“The perpetrators will be brought to justice,” he added. “Everything is being done, everywhere, to achieve this, under the leadership of the Paris prosecutor’s office.”

Here’s what we know about the heist, which arrives as the Louvre faces questions over large crowds and overworked staff.

What happened?

Around 9:30am local time (07:30 GMT) on Sunday, as tourists already roamed the halls of the Louvre, the thieves zeroed in on Apollo’s Gallery – a gold-gilded, lavishly painted hall commissioned by King Louis XIV that houses the French crown jewels.

Describing the incident as a “major robbery”, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the thieves used a basket lift to reach the museum’s windows, entered the gallery and escaped via motorbike with “jewels of inestimable value”.

The Louvre evacuated all visitors and posted a notice online that the museum would remain closed throughout the day under “exceptional” circumstances.

Police meanwhile sealed the gates, cleared courtyards and even closed off nearby streets along the Seine River as authorities kicked off an investigation.

It was “crazy”, one American tourist, Talia Ocampo, told the AFP news agency – “like a Hollywood movie”.

No injuries were reported, but the thieves – believed to number four people – remained at large as of Sunday evening.

What was stolen during the heist?

Thieves successfully removed eight items from two high-security display cases, the Ministry of Culture confirmed late on Sunday. These include pieces that belonged to Empress Marie-Louise, the wife of French Emperor Napoleon I, and others that belonged to Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III.

These are the items that were stolen:

• Tiara from the jewellery set of Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense
• Necklace from the same duo’s sapphire jewellery set
• A single earring from the sapphire jewellery set
• Emerald necklace from the Marie-Louise set
• Pair of emerald earrings from the Marie-Louise set
• Brooch known as the “reliquary” brooch
• Tiara of Empress Eugenie
• Another large brooch of Empress Eugenie

The crown of Empress Eugenie was recovered outside the walls of the museum, the ministry said, where it was dropped by the thieves as they fled. The crown contains 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds, according to the Louvre.

Apollo’s Gallery is home to a range of other priceless gems, including three historical diamonds – the Regent, the Sancy and the Hortensia – and “the magnificent hardstone vessel collection of the kings of France”, according to the museum’s website.

Anthony Amore, an art theft expert and co-author of the book Stealing Rembrandts: The Untold Stories of Notorious Art Heists, told Al Jazeera the items contained in the collection were priceless “not just in terms of dollars, but in terms of cultural patrimony”.

“It’s not like stealing a masterpiece where instantly news media … would publicise this image,” Amore said. “You might see pieces like this broken up and individual jewels sold that are indistinguishable to members of the public.”

How did the thieves do it?

The thieves used a combination of power tools, motorcycles and efficiency to pull off the minutes-long heist, authorities said.

The group drew up on a scooter armed with angle grinders, one police source told AFP. They used the hoist to access the gallery from the outside, cutting windowpanes with a disc cutter.

One witness, who told the TF1 news outlet that he was riding his bicycle nearby at the time, said he saw two men “get on the hoist, break the window and enter”, adding that the entire operation “took 30 seconds”.

Le Parisien reported that the thieves entered the museum – located inside a former palace – via the facade facing the Seine, where construction work is ongoing. Two were dressed as construction workers in yellow safety vests, the newspaper said.

Culture Minister Rachida Dati said authorities arrived “a couple of minutes after we received information of this robbery”.

“To be completely honest, this operation lasted almost four minutes – it was very quick,” she said.

Footage showed the hoist braced to the Seine-facing facade and leading up to a balcony window, which observers said was the thieves’ entry point before it was removed Sunday.

What happens now?

With the thieves still at large, forensic teams have descended upon the Louvre and surrounding streets to gather evidence and review CCTV footage from the Denon wing, where Apollo’s Gallery is located, and the Seine riverfront.

Authorities also planned to interview staff who were working when the museum opened on Sunday, they said.

The Interior Ministry said it was compiling a detailed list of the stolen items, but added that “beyond their market value, these items have priceless heritage and historical value”.

Dati, the culture minister, suggested the thieves were “professionals”.

“Organised crime today targets objects of art, and museums have of course become targets,” she said.

Have similar heists happened in the past?

The Louvre’s most famous heist occurred in 1911, when the Mona Lisa portrait disappeared from its frame. It was recovered two years later, but decades afterward, in 1956, a visitor threw a stone at the world-famous painting – chipping paint near the subject’s left elbow and prompting the portrait to be moved behind bulletproof glass.

In recent years, the museum has struggled with growing crowds, which totalled 8.7 million in 2024, and frustrated staff who say they are stretched too thin.

In June, the museum delayed opening due to a staff walkout over chronic understaffing.

One union source, who asked to remain anonymous, told AFP that the equivalent of 200 positions had been cut at the museum over the past 15 years, out of a total workforce of nearly 2,000.

The fact that Sunday’s theft took place in broad daylight inspired a wave of consternation from French citizens and politicians.

“It’s just unbelievable that a museum this famous can have such obvious security gaps,” Magali Cunel, a French teacher from near Lyon, told the Associated Press news agency.

Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to an “immediate ceasefire” after a week of deadly clashes along their border, as the ties between the two South Asian neighbours plunged to their lowest point since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

Both countries agreed to stop fighting and work towards “lasting peace and stability” after peace talks in Doha, the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday, about the deal it mediated alongside Turkiye.

Dozens of people have been killed and hundreds wounded in the worst bout of violence in recent years. The violence erupted on October 11 at multiple fronts along their 2,600km (1,600-mile) border, after Islamabad allegedly carried out strikes in Kabul and the southeastern province of Paktika against what it said were armed groups linked to attacks inside Pakistan.

So, what do we know about the truce agreement and what might come next?

What do we know about the ceasefire?

After a round of negotiations between Pakistan and Afghanistan in the Qatari capital, Doha, “the two sides agreed to an immediate ceasefire and the establishment of mechanisms to consolidate lasting peace and stability between the two countries,” Qatar’s Foreign Ministry announced in a statement.

“The two parties also agreed to hold follow-up meetings in the coming days to ensure the sustainability of the ceasefire and verify its implementation in a reliable and sustainable manner, thus contributing to achieving security and stability in both countries,” the statement added.

Following the Qatari ministry’s statement, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif posted confirmation of the deal on X.

“Cross-border terrorism from Afghan territory will cease immediately,” Asif wrote. “Both countries will respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Asif further confirmed a “follow-up meeting between the delegations is scheduled to take place in the Turkish city of Istanbul on October 25 to discuss the matters in detail.”

Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said the truce was “the first step in the right direction”.

“We look forward to the establishment of a concrete and verifiable monitoring mechanism, in the next meeting to be hosted by Turkiye, to address the menace of terrorism emanating from Afghan soil towards Pakistan. It is important to put all efforts in place to prevent any further loss of lives,” he posted on X.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesperson, said that under the terms of the agreement, “both sides reaffirm their commitment to peace, mutual respect, and the maintenance of strong and constructive neighbourly relations.

“Both sides are committed to resolving issues and disputes through dialogue,” Mujahid said in a post on X. “It has been decided that neither country will undertake any hostile actions against the other, nor will they support groups carrying out attacks against the Government of Pakistan.”

Mujahid said the countries have agreed on refraining “from targeting each other’s security forces, civilians, or critical infrastructure”.

Mujahid, as well as Dar and Asif, thanked Qatar and Turkiye for their role in facilitating the talks that led to the ceasefire.

Why Pakistan has blamed the Taliban for attacks inside its territory?

Pakistan wants the Taliban to rein in armed groups such as the Taliban Pakistan, known by the acronym TTP, and others blamed for carrying out attacks on its territory. Armed attacks by TTP rebels and the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which operates in the resource-rich Balochistan province, have surged in recent years, with 2025 on track to become the deadliest year.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, which border Afghanistan, have borne the brunt of the violence.

At least 2,414 deaths have been recorded in the first three quarters of this year, according to the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), an Islamabad-based think tank.

Pakistan and the Taliban, once allies over shared regional security interests, have fallen out as Islamabad claims that Afghanistan is giving haven to the TTP – an allegation Kabul has rejected.

Kabul and Islamabad have also clashed over their international border, called the Durand Line, which is recognised by Pakistan but not by Afghanistan.

TTP’s ideology is aligned with the Taliban in Afghanistan. However, the groups have different goals and operate independently.

Pakistan has sought assurances from the Taliban that these groups, which operate in the porous border regions with Afghanistan, will not be allowed to operate freely and that the attacks across the border will cease.

In a post later on Sunday, Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, stressed that the Afghan soil “will not be allowed to be used against any other country”. It is “the consistent stance of the Islamic Emirate” he said, referring to the official name of the Afghanistan government.

“It does not support any attack against anyone and has always emphasised this stance,” he posted on X.

Islamabad also wants the Taliban to prevent the regrouping or expansion of anti-Pakistan networks within Afghanistan, which the government considers a threat to Pakistan’s stability and broader regional strategy.

Abdullah Baheer, a political analyst based in Kabul, said the bombing of Afghanistan and killing of civilians is “a problematic model”.

“Show me one piece of evidence that shows they hit any TTP operative in Afghanistan in the past week of bombing, despite the 50-odd dead and 550 injured,” he told Al Jazeera.

He added that the TTP is a local rebel group within Pakistan that far precedes the Taliban’s coming to power in Afghanistan. “Are you expecting the Taliban to come forth and stop the TTP from pursuing any of its political or military goals?” he asked.

“Let’s take the argument that TTP are operating from safe havens within Afghanistan. The question is, you mistake influence over a group that is an independent group to an extent of controlling them,” he added.

As previously mentioned, the Taliban denies providing safe haven to TTP within Afghanistan’s borders.

Why the spike in attacks inside Pakistan?

Islamabad was the prime backer of the Taliban after it was removed by US-led NATO troops in 2001. It was also accused of providing a haven to Taliban fighters as they waged an armed rebellion against the United States’ occupation of Afghanistan for 20 years.

But relations have soured over the surge in attacks inside Pakistan.

The TTP has re-emerged as one of Pakistan’s biggest national security threats, as it has conducted more than 600 attacks against Pakistani forces in the past year, according to a report by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), an independent nonprofit.

According to the CRSS, the Islamabad-based think tank, the first three-quarters of this year have seen a 46 percent surge in violence compared with last year.

The violence attributed to the TTP had decreased from its peak in the late 2000s and early 2010s after Islamabad involved the armed groups in talks and addressed some of their demands in 2021, which include the release of their members from prison and an end to military operations in the tribal areas.

The TTP also demanded the reversal of the 2018 merger of the tribal region with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. A stricter imposition of their interpretation of Islamic law is also one of their demands.

A month after the Taliban took over Kabul in August 2021, it mediated talks between the Pakistani military and the TTP, a decision endorsed and pushed by Imran Khan, Pakistan’s then-prime minister. But Khan, who championed talks with the armed groups, was removed as prime minister in April 2022.

Violence surged after the TTP unilaterally walked out of the ceasefire deal in 2022, after accusing Islamabad of renewed military operations in the region.

Since its founding in 2007, the TTP has targeted civilians and law enforcement personnel, resulting in thousands of deaths. Their deadliest attack came in December 2014, when they targeted the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar, killing more than 130 students.

The group remains banned in Pakistan and has been designated a “terrorist” group by the US.

The Pakistani army has conducted multiple operations to eliminate the group, but has struggled to achieve its goal as fighters have used the porous border to move back and forth between the neighbouring countries.

Baheer, the political analyst, said that there are “no winners in war. There are only losers”.

“This logic of bombing Afghanistan into submission didn’t work for the United States for 20 years of their occupation. Why do we think it will work now?” the Kabul-based analyst asked.

Oct. 19 (UPI) — As protesters marched against the Trump administration on Saturday, Vice President JD Vance took the stage at an event and live artillery demonstration at Camp Pendleton in California, honoring the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps.

The spectacle was criticized as a “dangerous” show of force by the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom.

“Firing live rounds over a busy highway isn’t just wrong — it’s dangerous. Using our military to intimidate people you disagree with isn’t strength — it’s reckless, it’s disrespectful, and it’s beneath the office he holds,” Newsom said in a statement. “Law and order? This is chaos and confusion.”

Vance, a former Marine who served in Iraq, delivered a speech in which he attacked Democrats for the ongoing government shutdown and previous diversity initiatives in the military.

He also promised that service members would be paid during the shutdown as hundreds of thousands of other federal workers go without paychecks.

“I know we’re here to talk about the Marine Corps. But I have got to get just a little political,” Vance said during his speech. “Because congressional Democrats seem to want to keep the government shut down even though it would mean that a lot of you would not get your paycheck.”

The demonstration was reported to have been the largest in the United States in a decade and showcased fighter jets, the Naval fleet and live fire from M777 howitzers over a major interstate freeway.

Newsom’s office said in the statement that California officials were recently notified that the White House intended to fire live artillery rounds but were assured on Thursday by Marine Corps officials that they would not be fired over Interstate 5.

“That afternoon, the federal government also directed cancellation of train services, which run parallel to the I-5, on Saturday between Orange County-San Diego County,” Newsom’s office said in the statement.

“Late on Friday, the state then received notice from event organizers asking for CalTrans signage to be posted along the I-5 freeway that would read: ‘Overhead fire in progress.'”

Newsom’s office said California officials then asked the federal government for additional details about the event and were told that the live fire activities would take place.

His office said he closed the freeway to traffic during the demonstration.

“If Gavin Newsom wants to oppose the training exercises that ensure our Armed Forces are the deadliest and most lethal fighting force in the world, then he can go right ahead,” William Martin, Vance’s communications director, told CNN. “It would come as no surprise that he would stoop so low, considering his pathetic track record of failure as governor.”

Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to stop fighting, after talks in the Qatari capital, Doha.

Cross-border violence in the past week or so marked the most serious escalation since 2021, when the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan.

Islamabad accuses Kabul of harbouring fighters from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, an armed group that’s stepped up attacks in Pakistan. Afghanistan’s Taliban leaders deny the accusations.

Mediators say the foundations have been laid for long-term peace. But what are the guarantees? And how does the conflict play out regionally?

Presenter: Adrian Finighan

Guests:

Javaid Ur-Rahman – Investigative journalist and parliamentary correspondent for The Nation, a Pakistani daily newspaper

Elizabeth Threlkeld – Senior fellow and director of the South Asia Program at the Stimson Center

Obaidullah Baheer – Adjunct lecturer at the American University of Afghanistan