The robbery is likely to raise awkward questions about security at the museum

International News via Reuters:

Thieves broke into Paris’ Louvre museum on Sunday, using a crane and smashing an upstairs window and stealing priceless jewellery from an area that houses the French crown jewels before escaping on motorbikes, the French government said.

The robbery is likely to raise awkward questions about security at the museum, where officials had already sounded the alarm about lack of investment at a world-famous site, home to artworks such as the Mona Lisa, that welcomed 8.7 million visitors in 2024.

The thieves struck at about 9.30 a.m. (0730 GMT) when the museum had already opened its doors to the public, and entered the Galerie d’Apollon building, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

ROBBERY WAS ‘VERY PROFESSIONAL’ WITH NO VIOLENCE

The robbery took around four minutes, Culture Minister Rachida Dati told TF1, and was carried out by professionals.

“We saw some footage: they don’t target people, they enter calmly in four minutes, smash display cases, take their loot, and leave. No violence, very professional,” Dati said on TF1.

She said one piece of jewellery had been recovered outside the museum, apparently dropped as the thieves made their escape.

Dati declined to say what the item was, but newspaper Le Parisien said it was believed to be the crown of Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugénie. The item was broken, the newspaper said.

“It’s worth several tens of millions of euros – just this crown. And it’s not, in my opinion, the most important item,” Drouot auction house President Alexandre Giquello told Reuters.

“Ideally, the perpetrators would realise the gravity of their crime and the dimension they’ve entered into, and return the items, since the jewels are completely unsellable,” Giquello said.

“We’re touching on the history of France … It’s a completely incomprehensible act, because the perpetrators will have every police force in the world on their tail, and in my opinion, they’ve put themselves in a very precarious situation,” he added.

PROBE UNDERWAY BY SPECIALIST UNIT

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told France Inter that three or four thieves got into the museum from outside using a crane positioned on a truck.

“They broke a window, headed to several display cases and stole jewels … which have a real historical, priceless value,” Nunez said, adding that the team had likely scouted the location and may have carried out similar thefts in the past.

A video posted on X by a museum guide showed visitors filing towards exits in the middle of their tour, initially unaware of the reason for the disruption.

No injuries were reported, Dati said.

Nunez said a probe had been opened, with a specialized police unit that has a high success rate in cracking high-profile robberies such as this one tasked with running it.

QUESTIONS ON SECURITY

The Louvre, the world’s most-visited museum, said on X it would remain closed for the day for “exceptional reasons”.

Joan and Jim Carpenter, from Santa Cruz, California, said they had been moved out of a gallery just as they were about to see the Mona Lisa.

“Well, when you rob the Louvre, that’s a big deal to all of France, so I knew something was up because of the way they swept the whole museum,” Joan Carpenter said.

The Mona Lisa was stolen from the museum in 1911 in one of the most daring art thefts in history, in a heist involving a former employee. He was eventually caught and the painting was returned to the museum two years later.

Earlier this year, officials at the Louvre requested urgent help from the French government to restore and renovate the museum’s ageing exhibition halls and better protect its countless works of art.

Dati said the issue of museum security was not new.

“For 40 years, there was little focus on securing these major museums, and two years ago, the president of the Louvre requested a security audit from the police prefect. Why? Because museums must adapt to new forms of crime,” she said. “Today, it’s organised crime – professionals.”

Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide; Additional reporting by John Cotton, Helen Popper, Clothaire Achi and Ardee Napolitano; Editing by Gabriel Stargardter and David Holmes

Sunday’s Anglican service and burial took place without major incident after an outpouring of national grief this week

International News via Reuters:

Thousands of mourners, relatives and dignitaries paid their final respects to Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga on Sunday as he was laid to rest close to his farm in Bondo near Lake Victoria in western Kenya.

Sunday’s Anglican service and burial took place without major incident after an outpouring of national grief this week, in which at least five people were killed and hundreds injured when surging crowds eager for a glimpse of his body overwhelmed authorities.

“Now finally Baba is home,” said his son and namesake, Raila junior, as his father’s casket, draped in the Kenyan flag, stood under a marquee. Odinga senior had died on Wednesday aged 80 in India where he was receiving medical treatment.

CHAMPION OF PEACE

Odinga was widely referred to as “Baba” or “father” in the Swahili language. After the main service at a local university, the funeral cortege headed to a private interment with a military band gun salute.

In a message on social media platform X, former U.S. President Barack Obama praised Odinga as a champion of peace who placed his country’s interests ahead of personal ambitions.

“Like few other leaders anywhere, he was willing to choose the path of peaceful reconciliation without compromising his core values,” Obama said.

Tributes also came from current Kenyan President William Ruto, as well as former Kenyan and Nigerian presidents, Uhuru Kenyatta and Olusegun Obasanjo, who were at the service in Bondo.

Though mainly known as an opposition figure, Odinga became prime minister in 2008 and struck political pacts with Kenyatta in 2018, and with Ruto last year, in a career of shifting alliances. He was once imprisoned for treason and ran unsuccessfully for president five times.

SEVERAL KILLED, MANY INJURED

Back from India on home soil, the first public viewing of his body on Thursday turned deadly when officers opened fire to disperse crowds after they breached a stadium gate.

On Friday, another two people were killed and more than 160 others injured at the state funeral in capital Nairobi, while dozens of mourners were injured on Saturday after his body was flown to the city of Kisumu, the political heartland of his Luo tribe.

“I’m feeling so low having lost him and this feels like a bad dream … I still can’t believe Baba is gone,” Ainea Opilu, a 25-year-old tutor, told Reuters.

Reporting by Vincent Mumo in Nairobi; Writing by Ammu Kannampilly, Portia Crowe and Wendell Roelf; editing by David Holmes

The blaze broke out on Saturday afternoon in the import section of the airport’s cargo village

International News via Reuters:

A massive fire at the import cargo complex of Dhaka airport has caused extensive damage to goods and materials belonging to major garment exporters, with losses and impacts on trade likely to run into millions of dollars, industry leaders said on Sunday.

The blaze broke out on Saturday afternoon in the import section of the airport’s cargo village, forcing a temporary suspension of flights. Smoke continued to rise from the charred remains of the facility on Sunday as firefighters and airport officials assessed the damage.

The fire gutted storage areas used for imported raw materials, ready-to-export apparel, and product samples — all essential to Bangladesh’s $47 billion garment industry.

“This incident has caused serious damage to the country’s export trade, especially the garment sector,” said Inamul Haq Khan, senior vice-president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). 

“High-value goods and urgent air shipments have been destroyed — including garments prepared for shipment, raw materials for production, and, most importantly, product samples.”

He warned that the loss of samples could jeopardise future business. “These samples are essential for securing new buyers and expanding orders. Losing them means our members may miss out on future opportunities,” he added.

ESSENTIAL SAMPLES BURNED IN FIRE

BGMEA has begun gathering information from affected exporters to determine the extent of the losses. “We have asked all members to submit detailed lists of damaged goods, and an online portal has been launched to speed up data collection,” Khan added.

The airport cargo village is one of Bangladesh’s busiest logistics hubs, handling more than 600 metric tons of dry cargo daily — a figure that doubles during the October to December peak season.

“Every day, around 200 to 250 factories send their products by air,” Khan said. “Given that scale, the financial impact is significant.”

The cause of the blaze has not yet been determined, and an investigation is underway.

The incident marks the third major fire reported in Bangladesh this week. A fire on Tuesday at a garment factory and an adjacent chemical warehouse in Dhaka killed at least 16 people and injured others. On Thursday, another burned down a seven-storey garment factory building in an export processing zone in Chittagong.

Bangladesh is the world’s second-largest exporter of apparel after China. The sector, which supplies major global retailers such as Walmart, H&M, and Gap, employs about 4 million workers and generates around $40 billion a year — more than a tenth of the country’s GDP.

The fire, which struck during the peak export season, is expected to delay shipments and pose additional challenges in meeting international delivery deadlines.

Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by Louise Heavens