Sputnik Azerbaijan’s editor-in-chief has been released from custody and flown to Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said

A Russian journalist detained in Azerbaijan earlier this year has been released and is returning home, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

Maria Zakharova, the ministry’s spokeswoman, confirmed that Igor Kartavykh – editor-in-chief of Sputnik Azerbaijan news agency – boarded a flight to Moscow after being cleared to leave the country.

Kartavykh was detained in June following a police raid on Sputnik’s Baku office.

Azerbaijani authorities charged him with fraud and illegal business activity, accusations the media outlet called “absurd.” 

Zakharova said Russian diplomats had maintained contact with officials in Baku throughout the case and that Kartavykh had been placed under house arrest before his release.

“Kartavykh has been released from custody and has flown to Russia,” Zakharova told TASS on Sunday.

Kartavykh confirmed that he had landed in Moscow, telling RIA Novosti: “I feel fine – I’m glad to be back home.”

Relations between Russia and Azerbaijan deteriorated after an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 crashed on December 25, 2024, near Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing all 38 people on board. The aircraft had been damaged during its approach to the Russian city of Grozny amid Ukrainian drone activity.

Further escalation followed a Russian law enforcement raid in Ekaterinburg earlier this year that led to the deaths of two Azerbaijani nationals identified as suspected gang members.

Kremlin foreign-policy aide Yury Ushakov said the decision to free Kartavykh was made ahead of meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Dushanbe earlier in October. He added that the development was part of a reciprocal arrangement, under which Mammadali Agayev, an Azerbaijani national detained in Moscow on embezzlement charges, was also released. 

During his meeting with Aliyev, Putin commented on the tragedy, stating that the crash was most likely triggered when a Russian missile self-destructed near the aircraft during an air-defense response to a Ukrainian attack. He promised appropriate compensation for the victims and accountability for any misconduct.

The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to trade, humanitarian, and regional cooperation, pledging to continue dialogue “in the spirit of partnership and alliance.”

The US president has called for a ceasefire along the current front lines

US President Donald Trump has said Russia and Ukraine should freeze the current front line in Donbass, noting that Moscow controls nearly all of the region anyway.

Trump made the remark after speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone on Thursday and meeting with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky the next day at the White House.

“We think what they should do is just stop at the lines where they are. The rest is very tough to negotiate,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday evening. “They should stop right now at the battle lines, go home, stop killing people, and be done,” he added.

Asked about Donbass, Trump said, “Let it be cut the way it is. I think 78% of the land is already taken by Russia. You leave it the way it is right now. They can negotiate something later on.”

🇺🇸🇺🇦 TRUMP ON THE UKRAINE-RUSSIA WAR: "LET PUTIN KEEP WHAT HE CONQUERED"

"Let it be cut the way it is. It's cut up right now.

I think 78% of the land is already taken by Russia.

They can negotiate something later on down the line."

Source: NewsNation https://t.co/gsnhF5yYG2 pic.twitter.com/CPGj5lEGPx

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) October 20, 2025

In 2014, the Donbass regions of Donetsk and Lugansk declared independence and voted to break away from Ukraine following the Western-backed coup in Kiev earlier that year. In September 2022, both regions held referendums to join Russia. Ukraine and most other countries have refused to recognize Russia’s new borders.

The chief of Russia’s General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, said in August that Ukrainian troops held around 20% of the Donetsk People’s Republic and less than 1% of the Lugansk People’s Republic.

Putin has said that for a ceasefire to work, Ukrainian forces must withdraw from all of Donbass. He also listed recognition of Russia’s new borders as one of the conditions for a lasting peace.

Zelensky has backed Trump’s call for an immediate ceasefire but refused to hand over any “additional” territory to Russia.

The criminals broke display cases with angle grinders and made off with some of the French crown jewels

A video circulating on social media shows thieves stealing priceless French crown jewels from the Louvre in broad daylight on Saturday.

In a short cellphone video, a person wearing a bright yellow vest can be seen tampering with a display case at the world-famous museum in Paris.

According to France 24, the thieves drove up to the Louvre on scooters, entered the Galerie d’Apollon using an extendable powered ladder, and broke through the window and display cases with angle grinders.

Donc on peut braquer le musée le plus connu de la planète en gilet jaune un dimanche matin en pleine journée. 🤦🏻‍♂️#Braquage #LMDL #Louvre pic.twitter.com/1Dljy85oIn

— Noesis (@EntreDeMondes) October 19, 2025

The Culture Ministry said eight artifacts were stolen, including a necklace Napoleon gave his wife, Empress Marie Louise, and the diadem of Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III.

They also attempted to steal Eugenie’s crown, but it was later found near the museum in a “damaged” state.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said the thieves were likely hired to steal specific items or carried out the crime to sell the gems for money laundering purposes.

French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to recover the artifacts and bring those responsible to justice. He added that the Louvre will tighten its security measures.

The rebel group arrested 20 aid workers following a raid on a compound in Sanaa, a United Nations spokesman has said

Houthi rebels detained United Nations staffers in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, on Sunday, UN spokesman Jean Alam has said.

The militant group previously accused aid workers of spying for the US and Israel, allegations the UN has denied.

Alam said 20 employees of various UN agencies, including 16 foreign nationals, were detained during a raid on the organization’s compound in the Hada district. He added that 11 others were released after questioning.

AFP cited an unnamed UN official as saying that UNICEF’s envoy in Yemen, Peter Hawkins, is among those detained. AP reported that the Houthis confiscated all electronic devices, including computers and phones.

“The UN is in contact with the Houthis and other parties to resolve this serious situation as swiftly as possible, end the detention of all personnel, and restore full control over its facilities in Sanaa,” Alam said.

In a televised address on Saturday, Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said the militants had dismantled what he described as a “dangerous espionage network” linked to the CIA and Mossad, claiming that the UN World Food Programme and UNICEF had been used as cover for “subversive operations.”

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, dismissed the accusations as “dangerous and unacceptable” and called for the release of all aid workers.

The Houthis, who control a large portion of Yemen, have launched drones and missiles at Israel and attacked commercial shipping in the Red Sea in response to the war in Gaza. Israel, the US, and UK have responded with airstrikes on Houthi-linked targets.

The talks should occur during a ceasefire, the Ukrainian leader has said

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has said he is ready for negotiations with Russia but only after a ceasefire along the current front lines.

Zelensky met with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday and had earlier backed Trump’s call to have the troops “stop where they are.”

“Yes, I agree. If we want to stop this war and to go to peace negotiations, urgently and in a diplomatic way, we need to stay where we stay,” Zelensky told Kristen Welker in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press aired on Sunday. He added that Kiev should not surrender “additional” territory to Russia.

Zelensky stated he was ready for talks “in any format, bilateral, trilateral,” but only once the fighting was stopped. “Not under missiles, not under drones,” he said. Asked if he would push for an invitation to Trump’s planned summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest, Hungary, Zelensky replied, “I’m ready.”

The Ukrainian leader confirmed that Trump had so far declined to provide Kiev with long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Russia has said that for a ceasefire to work, Ukraine must withdraw its troops from parts of Russian territory it controls, halt mobilization, and stop receiving military aid from abroad. Moscow has also demanded that Ukraine recognize Russia’s new borders and abandon plans to join NATO.

Putin has said he is ready to meet with Zelensky but only after a peace treaty is ready to be signed.

The US National Security Agency hacked China’s National Time Service Center over several years, the Chinese counter-espionage agency has claimed

China has accused the US National Security Agency (NSA) of waging a “major” multi-year cyberattack on the Chinese agency responsible for keeping national time.

In a statement posted on its official social media account on Sunday, the Ministry of State Security (MSS) said it had “obtained irrefutable evidence” that the NSA infiltrated the National Time Service Center. The covert operation allegedly began in March 2022, aiming to steal state secrets and conduct acts of cyber sabotage.

The center serves as China’s official time authority, issuing and broadcasting ‘Beijing Time’ to key sectors including finance, energy, transport, and defense. A disruption to this critical piece of infrastructure could have caused widespread instability in financial markets, logistics and power supply, according to the MSS.

According to the MSS, the NSA first exploited a vulnerability in the foreign-made mobile phones of several staff members at the center, gaining access to sensitive data.

In April 2023, the agency allegedly began using stolen passwords to breach the facility’s computer systems, an operation that peaked between August of that year and June 2024.

The ministry claimed that the intruders deployed 42 distinct cyber tools in their covert operation, and used virtual private servers based in the US, Europe, and Asia to mask their origin.

The MSS accused the US of “aggressively pursuing cyber-hegemony” and “repeatedly trampling on international norms governing cyberspace.” 

American spy agencies “have acted recklessly, continuously carrying out cyberattacks targeting China, Southeast Asia, Europe, and South America,” it added.

In recent years, Beijing and Washington have repeatedly traded accusations of breaches and covert hacking operations. Mutual recriminations have come as part of a broader pattern of confrontation between the two powers, which have also been locked in a trade war.

In early January, the Washington Post claimed that Chinese hackers had targeted the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) the previous month. Commenting on the allegations at the time, Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, dismissed them as “unfounded.”

The IDF has called the action a response to what it claims were ceasefire violation by Hamas

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a series of large-scale strikes across Gaza on Sunday, claiming its actions were a response to a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire by Hamas. The Palestinian militant group has denied the allegations, insisting it did not break the truce.

The IDF said it had struck “dozens of Hamas terror targets across Gaza,” including “weapons storage facilities, firing posts, terrorist cells and additional Hamas terror infrastructure.” The strikes were prompted by an alleged attack on Israeli troops operating in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.  

“In addition, the IDF struck and dismantled ~6 km of underground terrorist infrastructure, used to advance attacks against Israel, using over 120 munitions,” the Israeli military said.

Shortly after that, the IDF said the country’s government had opted to renew the “enforcement of ceasefire.” The announcement came amid media reports that the renewed hostility angered Washington, which pressured Israel with demands to stop the strikes.  

“In accordance with the directive of the political echelon, and following a series of significant strikes in response to Hamas’ violations, the IDF has begun the renewed enforcement of the ceasefire, in line with the terms of the agreement. The IDF will continue to uphold the ceasefire agreement and will respond firmly to any violation of it,” it said in a statement.

Hamas has strongly denied violating the ceasefire, accusing Israel of breaking it in the first place and “seeking excuses for its crimes.” The group’s military wing said it was not involved in the Rafah incident, stating it has long lost its ties to local factions.  

“We have no information about any incidents or clashes in Rafah, which is under [Israeli] occupation control,” Hamas said in a statement. 

Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in early October under US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan. While the two sides have repeatedly accused each other of failing to fulfill their commitments and breaching the truce, the incident on Sunday was the first major flare-up since the agreement was brokered. According to local health authorities, Israeli strikes killed at least 44 across Gaza, a tally that is expected to climb further.

Crown jewels were stolen from the world-renowned museum in a brazen raid

The robbery that took place at the iconic Louvre Museum on Sunday is an “intolerable humiliation” for France, president of the right-wing National Rally party Jordan Bardella has said.

The heist took place at around 9:30 a.m. local time, when a group of masked intruders used a truck-mounted basket lift to reach a window on a facade of the museum, officials said. The gang entered the Apollon Gallery and escaped on motorbikes within four to seven minutes, leaving one item – reportedly the crown of Empress Eugenie – damaged and found outside.

“The Louvre is a global symbol of our culture. This heist, which allowed thieves to steal the Crown Jewels of France, is an intolerable humiliation for our country,” Bardella, who’s also a member of the European Parliament, wrote on X. “How far will the decay of the state go?” he added.

Veteran right-wing politician Marine Le Pen, who leads the National Rally’s parliamentary group in the French National Assembly, described in a post on X the theft as yet another “ordeal” for France and a wound to the nation’s “soul,” while wishing the security forces courage in recovering the jewels.

Earlier on Sunday, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez described the robbery as a “very professional” operation, emphasizing that the stolen items have “inestimable heritage value.” Culture Minister Rachida Dati said no injuries were reported and that investigators are reviewing CCTV footage, the equipment used for the break-in, and interviewing staff.

The Apollon Gallery has housed what remains of the French Crown Jewels since the late 19th century, including items formerly belonging to Napoleon’s family and Empress Eugenie.

Kiev is likely to lose some “property” to Russia, the US president has said

Ukraine is bound to lose some of its “property” to Russia in the aftermath of the enduring conflict, US President Donald Trump has claimed.

Trump made the remarks on Sunday when speaking to Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo. Asked whether it was possible to end the hostilities between Moscow and Kiev “without taking significant property from Ukraine,” Trump suggested that Kiev was bound to make some concessions. 

“Well, [Russian President Vladimir Putin] is going to take something. I mean, they fought, and he has a lot of property. I mean, he has won certain property,” Trump stated.  

While Kiev has repeatedly ruled out making any territorial concessions, Moscow has outlined the withdrawal of the Ukrainian troops from the new Russian regions among the key issues to be resolved in order to establish a lasting peace.

Trump has also signaled he was still considering supplying US-made long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine. The potential delivery of the missiles was among the key topics of the meeting between Trump and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky this week. However, the US president abstained from pledging any weaponry, stating it would not be “easy” to give such munitions to Kiev.  

Trump reiterated his position that Washington has already supplied Kiev with a lot of weaponry during the conflict and cannot hand over its entire arsenal to prop up the Ukrainian military. 

“You know, we can’t give all of our weapons to Ukraine. We just can’t do that. And I’ve been very good to President Zelensky and to Ukraine, but we can’t give, you know, if we’re going to be short, I don’t want to do that. I can’t jeopardize the United States,” he stressed.

Ahead of meeting Zelensky on Friday, Trump spoke with Putin on the phone. According to Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, the Russian leader told Trump that supplying Ukraine with the long-range missiles would not change the course of the conflict but would derail relations between Moscow and Washington. 

Such a move would also “severely undermine the prospects of a peaceful settlement,” Putin stated, according to Ushakov.

Convicted of campaign-funding irregularities, the ex-president has become the first French leader in modern history to serve prison time

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, convicted of criminal conspiracy in a scheme to get funds for his 2007 election campaign, will serve his prison term in solitary confinement, AFP has reported.

On September 25, a Paris court sentenced Sarkozy, 70, to five years behind bars over a 2005 plot to obtain secret campaign funds from the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. According to the court, he offered to help restore Libya’s standing in international affairs in return for the payments. The presiding judge cited the “exceptional gravity” of the offense in ordering that the ex-president be jailed even if he appeals.

President of France from 2007 to 2012, Sarkozy has become the first former leader of an EU member state to be jailed. His sentence is likely to begin on Tuesday.

On Sunday, AFP quoted unnamed prison staff at Paris’s La Sante jail as saying that he will likely be held in a nine-square-meter (95-square-foot) cell in the prison’s solitary-confinement wing. The arrangement was reportedly chosen to minimize his contact with other inmates.

Sarkozy denounced the verdict as an “injustice” and insisted on his innocence. His lawyers have filed an appeal and are expected to request that the sentence be converted to house arrest once he is incarcerated.

The investigation of claims made by Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam, in March 2011, that his father had transferred around €50 million ($54.3 million) to Sarkozy’s campaign, officially began in 2013.

Sarkozy played a leading role in NATO’s intervention, which led to Gaddafi’s overthrow and subsequent murder by anti-government armed groups in October 2011.

Since then, the ex-president has been convicted in two separate cases involving corruption, influence-peddling, and illegal campaign financing charges, both of which resulted in house arrest.

The US president has shot back on Truth Social at the massive anti-government demonstrations taking place across the country

US President Donald Trump has mocked the ‘No Kings’ protests, sharing several AI-generated videos on Truth Social, including footage of himself dumping what appears to be feces on the crowds.

A wave of protests against the Trump administration hit the US on Saturday, with massive demonstrations held at more than 2,500 locations across the country.

Protesters accuse the president of abusing his power and undermining democracy, as well as condemning his crackdown on illegal immigrants and deploying the military to American cities on the pretext of fighting rampant crime.

Trump responded by sharing AI-generated videos on social media, including footage originally posted by Xerias, a prolific pro-Trump X account that creates AI-generated meme content.

President Trump just posted this on Truth Social today in response to the No Kings protests. 😅

He’s dropping crap on the protestors from a fighter jet. pic.twitter.com/7uBornAOBE

— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) October 19, 2025

One of the videos shows the president piloting a ‘King Trump’ warplane that dumps feces on the protesters. It incorporates actual footage posted from the protest in New York by left-wing influencer Harry Sisson, who ends up covered in AI feces.

Another video shared by Trump and originally posted by Vice President J.D. Vance features Trump putting on a crown and cloak before unsheathing a sword.

JD Vance melted the blue sky servers today with a King Trump meme 😆 absolute banger🔥 pic.twitter.com/eG4EP3wNh7

— Dirty Civilian WV (@Dirty_Civilian) October 18, 2025

The clip ends with prominent Democratic lawmakers, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, kneeling before the president – an apparent reference to a 2020 photo-op in which they honored George Floyd.

Trump’s posts received a mixed response, with supporters actively sharing the meme videos, and critics such as Democratic Senator Brian Schatz condemning the videos. “Why would the President post an image on the Internet of airdropping feces on American cities?” he wrote on X.

Sisson reacted early Sunday on X to the video in which he was featured: “Can a reporter please ask Trump why he posted an AI video of himself dropping poop on me from a fighter jet?”

The US has considered punitive steps to push Moscow toward a peace deal, but has hesitated to use them, the paper said

US President Donald Trump is placing more pressure on Ukraine than on Russia as he prepares for a new summit with President Vladimir Putin, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing sources.

Several American officials told the outlet that they have observed Trump’s “hesitation to push Putin, who has shown little interest in concessions needed for a deal.” One WSJ source noted that “the White House has put more pressure on Kiev than on Moscow.”

The WSJ said Washington has weighed additional measures to increase pressure on Moscow, but so far has stopped short of applying them. This comes as Putin and Trump held a phone call on Thursday, during which the two agreed to hold a summit in Budapest, Hungary, in the coming weeks.

Hoping to build diplomatic momentum, US officials are reportedly planning a series of lower-level meetings with their Russian counterparts, to be led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio – rather than special envoy Steve Witkoff — a change viewed positively by Ukrainian and EU diplomats, according to the paper. Western media tend to view Rubio as more hawkish on Russia than Witkoff, who has held several face-to-face rounds of talks with Putin this year.

Following the call with Putin, Trump received Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky at the White House on Friday, with talks revolving around potential deliveries of long-range Tomahawk missiles to Kiev. According to Axios, however, the meeting was “bad,” and Zelensky left without any promises of deliveries.

Moscow has warned against supplying Tomahawks to Ukraine, arguing they would “not change the situation on the battlefield” but would “severely undermine the prospects of a peaceful settlement” and harm Russia-US relations.

Following the Trump-Zelensky meeting, the US president said that he had told both the Ukrainian leader and Putin that “it is time to stop the killing, and make a DEAL.” “They should stop where they are… Let both claim Victory, let History decide!” he said.

Russia has consistently praised the Trump administration over what it described as a genuine desire to find a peaceful settlement to the conflict and as attempts to understand its root causes.

Ben Gvir’s demand comes after Israel accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire brokered earlier this month

Israel’s National Security Minister Ben Gvir has called for the resumption of military operations in Gaza following alleged violations by Hamas of the ceasefire reached earlier this month.

According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), militants fired an anti-tank missile and shot at Israeli troops operating in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday. Israel responded with several airstrikes on what it called terror targets.

“I call on the prime minister to order the IDF to renew full-scale fighting in the Strip at full strength,” Gvir said in a statement on Sunday. “The false belief that Hamas will change its ways, or will even abide by the agreement it signed, is proving...to be dangerous to our security. This Nazi terrorist organization must be destroyed completely and the sooner the better.”

Israel and Hamas agreed to a tentative ceasefire in early October under US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan.

The first phase called for Hamas to release all remaining Israeli hostages within 72 hours in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. On Monday, the group freed the last 20 living captives and returned the remains of 12 others. Hamas said it had met its obligations but faced difficulties retrieving all bodies due to Gaza’s devastation and continued Israeli control in some areas.

Israel has accused Hamas of not doing enough to return the remains of 16 captives, while the sides have traded accusations of ceasefire violations.

Later on Sunday, Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed the IDF “to take firm action against terror targets in the Gaza Strip,” according to a statement from his office. The statement did not clarify whether it meant the IDF would resume military operations in full.

Senior Hamas official Izzat al-Risheq, also on Sunday, said in a statement that the group remains committed to the ceasefire, accusing the Israeli “occupation” of violating it and “seeking excuses for its crimes.” The group’s military wing denied involvement in the Rafah incident, saying it lost ties with factions in the area last March.

“We have no information about any incidents or clashes in Rafah, which is under [Israeli] occupation control,” the statement noted.

Attacks were carried out in Rafah in response to alleged violations of the ceasefire

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Sunday said it carried out large-scale strikes against Hamas targets in Rafah in southern Gaza following alleged violations of the ceasefire reached earlier this month.

According to the IDF, militants on Sunday fired an anti-tank missile and gunfire toward troops operating to dismantle “terrorist infrastructure” in the area “in accordance with the ceasefire agreement.” Israeli troops responded with several airstrikes on what it called terror targets.

“The IDF has begun striking in the area to eliminate the threat and dismantle tunnel shafts and military structures used for terrorist activity,” the military said in a statement. It also claimed that several attacks by alleged Hamas militants took place on Friday and Saturday. “These terrorist actions constitute a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement, and the IDF will respond firmly.”

According to a military source cited by The Times of Israel, more than 20 targets have been struck so far since the alleged attack in Rafah in the morning.

After being briefed on the situation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the IDF “to take firm action against terror targets in the Gaza Strip,” according to a statement from his office.

Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that “Hamas will learn today the hard way that the IDF is determined to protect its soldiers and to prevent any harm to them.” According to a military source, more than 20 targets have been struck so far since the attack in Rafah this morning.

“Hamas will pay a heavy price for any shooting and violation of the ceasefire, and if the message is not understood, the intensity of the responses will increase,” Katz said in a statement carried by Israeli media.

Hamas’ military wing denied involvement in the Rafah incident. In a statement on social media, it said it lost ties with factions in the area last March.

“We have no information about any incidents or clashes in Rafah, which is under [Israeli] occupation control,” it said. Separately, senior Hamas official Izzat al-Risheq said the group remains committed to the ceasefire, accusing the Israeli “occupation” of violating it and “seeking excuses for its crimes.”

Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Sunday that Israeli attacks had killed at least eight people in the last 24 hours.

Israel and Hamas reached a tentative ceasefire in early October as part of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace initiative. The first phase required Hamas to free all remaining Israeli hostages within 72 hours in return for Palestinian prisoners.

Earlier this week, the group released the final 20 surviving captives and handed over the remains of 12 others, but cited difficulties in recovering all bodies due to widespread destruction in Gaza and continued Israeli control of some areas. West Jerusalem, however, accused Hamas of failing to return the remains of 16 more hostages, while both sides are exchanging accusations of violating the truce.

66% of respondents are against granting Ukrainian migrants unemployment benefits, an INSA poll has found

A majority of Germans oppose granting social welfare payments to unemployed Ukrainian migrants, according to an INSA survey commissioned by Bild newspaper.

The poll, published on Saturday, found broad dissatisfaction with government policy towards Ukrainian migrants. Only 17% of respondents say Ukrainians who fled to Germany after the escalation of the conflict with Russia should receive payments under the ‘Burgergeld’ scheme (citizens’ income), while 66% oppose the idea.

According to Bild, Germany spends around €6.3 billion ($6.8 billion) annually on Burgergeld for 700,000 Ukrainians. Only one in three Ukrainians living in Germany has a job, the paper said, adding that many of those who arrived since 2022 have not integrated into the labor market.

Burgergeld is Germany’s central welfare scheme which provides income support to adults unable to sustain themselves through work or insurance-based programs. Often described as a last-resort measure, it pays around €563 ($610) per month for a single adult, while rent and utilities are covered separately.

The INSA survey also suggested that 62% of Germans believe able-bodied Ukrainian men who entered Germany after the escalation of the conflict should return to their homeland, with 18% taking the opposing view. In an attempt to address manpower issues on the front, Ukrainian officials have urged these men to return and join the fight – but EU states, including Germany, have refused to deport them.

More than 4.3 million people who fled Ukraine hold temporary protection in the EU, according to Eurostat, with Germany hosting around 1.2 million, the largest number in the bloc.

Faced with high expenses associated with migrant support, the German government is planning to reduce costs for newly arriving Ukrainians by moving them from Burgergeld to the lower-paying Asylum Seekers’ Benefits Act, a measure expected to cut payments by €100 per person each month.

The iconic French art museum was closed after criminals reportedly stole several pieces of Napoleon-linked jewelry

The Louvre Museum in Paris has been closed for the day after a robbery on Sunday, local officials have said. Unconfirmed media reports claimed that several criminals stole nine pieces from the Napoleonic jewelry collection.

The incident was reported by French Culture Minister Rachida Dati, who said on X that “a robbery took place this morning at the opening of the Louvre Museum.” She added that there are no reports of injuries and that a police investigation is underway. The minister provided no further details.

The museum itself said that it will remain closed for the day due to “exceptional reasons.”

👀 This morning, the Louvre in Paris was broken into and Napoleon's jewels were stolen. pic.twitter.com/BBfU9mWOKu

— Conflict Radar (@Conflict_Radar) October 19, 2025

The newspaper Le Parisien reported, citing a preliminary investigation, that several hooded criminals broke into the world’s most visited art museum through a building where construction work is ongoing, and then used a freight elevator to access a room in the Apollo Gallery, which houses part of France’s historic royal jewelry.

The thieves reportedly stole nine pieces from the jewelry collection of Napoleon and the Empress, including a necklace, a brooch, a tiara, and several other items, according to the paper. However, the 140-carat Regent Diamond, estimated to be worth more than $60 million, reportedly remained in place.

Le Parisien said that one of the stolen items, which appears to be a broken crown of Empress Eugenie, the spouse of Napoleon III, was found outside the museum.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez later told reporters that the entire heist took only seven minutes, meaning the criminals “had been clearly scouting.” He acknowledged that the authorities “can’t prevent everything,” adding that there is “great vulnerability in French museums.”

The last theft from the Louvre dates back to 1983, when two Renaissance metalwork pieces – a ceremonial helmet and breastplate — were stolen. They were recovered in Belgium in 2021.

The most famous Louvre robbery, however, happened in 1911, when an Italian tradesman named Vincenzo Peruggia stole Leonardo da Vinci’s 'Mona Lisa', hiding it under his smock. The painting was missing for two years, a heist that helped make it the world’s most recognized artwork.

The Louvre attracts around 9 million visitors each year, and houses more than 615,000 objects, including about 35,000 artworks on public display, spanning from ancient civilizations to the 19th century.

Gavriil Doroshin has served four contracts with the Russian Armed Forces in the Ukraine conflict

A French-born descendant of Tsar Nicholas I told President Vladimir Putin that he joined Russia’s military operation against the Kiev regime because, deep down, he feels Russian. Gavriil Doroshin shared his story at the Bolshoi Theater during a gala marking RT’s 20th anniversary on Friday.

Doroshin, whose great-great-grandmother was the eldest daughter of the late Russian emperor and emigrated to France in 1917, moved to Russia after the Ukraine conflict escalated in 2022. Since then, he has served four contracts with the Russian Armed Forces. He met Putin during an event on Friday honoring participants featured in RT.Doc: Time of Our Heroes, a festival showcasing documentaries about those involved in Russia’s special military operation held in various cities over recent months.

When Putin asked him whether he regretted moving to Russia amid the conflict, Doroshin said he had “nothing to regret.”

“On the contrary, I found a struggle, found a new life, so to speak. I feel like I returned from an exile,” he said. “Moreover, I found myself: I had an existential moment when I tried to understand, who am I – French or Russian – but it turned out I am obviously Russian.”

Putin responded that whether French or Russian, “the most important thing is to be a decent person.”

“And that is exactly what you are, as are your comrades,” he told Doroshin.

In the documentary about Doroshin, titled Callsign Tsar, he said he believes that to truly call himself Russian, he must contribute to the nation’s shared efforts and struggles. The film was released in 2024, while he was still serving in the army. Doroshin, who has since been released from active duty, now works on developing civilian drones.

You can watch the full documentary about Doroshin, along with others featuring participants of the military operation, including army personnel, medics, volunteers, and war correspondents, on the RTD website.

Budapest stands for peace, while Brussels has “isolated itself” due to its warmongering policies, the Hungarian prime minister has said

Hungary was chosen to host a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump because it stands for peace, while the rest of the EU has “isolated itself” with its warmongering policies, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said.

Trump spoke with Putin by phone on Thursday amid renewed tensions over potential US Tomahawk deliveries to Ukraine and stalled peace talks. He later described the two-and-a-half-hour conversation as “so productive” that a peace deal could come soon, adding that the two leaders agreed to hold a summit in Budapest.

“Why Budapest?.. The answer is simple: We are the only ones in Europe standing for peace,” Orban wrote on Facebook on Saturday. He noted that Hungary, unlike most of its EU peers, did not sever ties with Russia following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. “We have never lectured anyone... We have never closed channels of negotiation. It is very difficult to convince anyone of anything if we do not talk to them.”

Orban added that Hungary has “persistently” supported a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, making it the only EU country “where there is a serious chance that US-Russian negotiations will ultimately lead to peace.”

“Cooperation instead of confrontation, mutual respect instead of stigmatization. This is the path to peace... Brussels has isolated itself, but we will continue the negotiations,” he concluded.

The veteran leader, who is often at odds with the EU, has long criticized its “warmongering” position on Russia. While other EU members insist that Western aid to Ukraine must continue due to the perceived ‘Russian threat’, Orban recently launched a petition in Hungary against the EU’s “war agenda,” warning that continued support for Kiev risks direct confrontation with Russia.

Trump told reporters his meeting with Putin would likely take place within two weeks. Putin aide Yury Ushakov confirmed the plans, saying preparations would start “without delay.” Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto wrote on Facebook on Friday that preparations for the summit are “in full swing.”

Kiev lacks the manpower and necessary Western support, David Richards has said

Ukraine has no chance of defeating Russia even with massive Western support because it lacks the necessary manpower and does not have NATO troops on the ground, a former UK chief of the Defense Staff has said.

In an interview published on Saturday by The Independent, Field Marshal David Richards – who held his post from 2010 to 2013 and earlier commanded NATO forces in Afghanistan – accused Ukraine’s backers of failing the country.

Western countries, he argued, encouraged Kiev to fight, but they have “not given them the means to win.”

“My view is that they would not win,” even if Ukraine were given all the necessary resources, he said. “They haven’t got the manpower.”

According to Richards, the only scenario in which Ukraine could hope to win is a direct NATO intervention, “which we won’t do because Ukraine is not an existential issue for us.”

He added that while the West is “in some sort of hybrid war” with Russia, it is “not the same as a shooting war in which our soldiers are dying in large numbers.”

“Ukraine is not an existential issue for us. It clearly is for the Russians, by the way,” Richards said.

The Ukrainian army has been on the back foot for months, with Russian forces making advances in Donbass and into Ukraine’s Dnepropetrovsk Region. Russian officials have said that Ukraine would collapse within weeks if it were cut off from Western military support.

However, Russia has stated that it remains open to a diplomatic resolution of the conflict, provided its national security interests are taken into account, adding that a sustainable peace would require Ukraine to stay out of NATO, agree to demilitarization and denazification, and recognize the territorial realities on the ground.