11 h. ago Louvre heist jewels valued at over US$100 million, as director faces grilling

The jewellery stolen from the Louvre in Paris was valued at more than US$100 million, a French prosecutor said Tuesday, as the museum’s director faces security questions from a Senate committee over the brazen weekend heist. The director, Laurence des Cars, has not made any public statement since thieves made off with royal jewels during a daylight robbery on Sunday that took just seven minutes. The Louvre is expected to re-open on Wednesday following two days of shut doors for the investigation...

Economics

11 h. ago Louvre heist jewels valued at over US$100 million as security row deepens

The jewellery stolen from the Louvre in Paris was valued at more than US$100 million, a French prosecutor said on Tuesday, as the museum’s director was set to face security questions from a Senate committee over the brazen weekend heist. The director, Laurence des Cars, has not made any public statement since thieves made off with royal jewels during a daylight robbery on Sunday that took just seven minutes. The Louvre was expected to reopen on Wednesday following two days of shut doors for the...

Economics

21 h. ago Chinese woman charged in Paris gold theft from Natural History Museum

A Chinese woman has been arrested and charged over the theft of gold from the Natural History Museum in Paris, in one of several recent high-profile break-ins targeting French cultural institutions, a prosecutor said on Tuesday. The theft – by what the museum’s director at the time said was an “extremely professional team” – took place on September 16, about a month before an audacious jewellery heist at the world-famous Louvre Museum on Sunday. A 24-year-old Chinese woman was arrested in...

Culture

22 h. ago China shop clerk breaks jade bangles worth US$140,000; owner seeks no compensation

A shop clerk in eastern China accidentally broke jade bangles valued at over one million yuan (US$140,000), yet the owner chose compassion over compensation, giving the young man a chance to learn from his mistake. The incident, which occurred in October at a jewellery shop in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, was captured on surveillance video. While moving a table, the clerk accidentally knocked over a box of jade bangles, resulting in a loud crash. He attempted to gather the pieces but squatted in...

Economics

25 h. ago Step Into China’s Imperial Glory: Why Beijing’s National Museum and Palace Museum Are Must

Step Into China’s Imperial Glory: Why Beijing’s National Museum and Palace Museum Are Must-Sees  Travel And Tour World

Politics

27 h. ago Louvre jewels may be irrecoverable as French police race against time

Crime gangs around Europe were increasingly robbing valuable jewels and gold from cash-needy museums like the Louvre, but while law enforcement often caught thieves, they struggled to recover the priceless goods, police and art experts have said. Only a small pool of criminals would be capable of such a job as Sunday’s audacious robbery in Paris and may already be known to police, the specialists said. But the objects themselves could be quickly broken down into component parts and sold on. “If...

Events

47 h. ago Yu Menglong case: Why Chinese actor's death is linked to Beijing Art Museum?

Yu Menglong case: Why Chinese actor's death is linked to Beijing Art Museum?  WION

Events

49 h. ago Hong Kong, Elior Group in land talks for Asia’s first aircraft parts centre

City authorities are in talks with a leading French aeronautical services company about the allocation of land to develop Hong Kong into Asia’s first aircraft parts processing and trading centre, with the firm set to start training classes in two months. Daniel Derichebourg, chairman and CEO of France-based Elior Group, said the company was still in talks with the government about solutions that would work best to help Hong Kong grow as a centre for aircraft parts dismantling, recycling and...

Politics

52 h. ago Spirit of Hong Kong Awards: boccia player who won Paralympic gold after 20 years

After two decades of quiet perseverance, Hong Kong boccia player John Loung finally struck gold at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. Loung’s story of endurance has earned him a place as a finalist in this year’s Spirit of Hong Kong Awards in the perseverance category. Co-organised by the South China Morning Post and Sino Group, the annual awards honour unsung heroes whose courage, compassion and determination make a positive difference in the community. Born with cerebral palsy, Loung has limited...

Events

63 h. ago Insider Alleges Yu Menglong’s Body Was Hidden in a Beijing Art Museum Linked to State

Insider Alleges Yu Menglong’s Body Was Hidden in a Beijing Art Museum Linked to State-Owned Firms  Vision Times

Politics

63 h. ago Thieves steal priceless French crown jewels from Louvre museum in Paris

Thieves wielding power tools robbed the Louvre in broad daylight on Sunday, taking just seven minutes to grab some of France’s priceless crown jewels, but dropping a gem-encrusted crown as they fled, officials and sources said. Authorities recovered the 19th-century crown – damaged – near the museum, but the culprits were still at large and the target of a manhunt. The spectacular robbery, one of several to target French museums in recent months, forced the closure for the rest of the day of the...

Events

63 h. ago Thieves steal crown jewels from France’s Louvre in daring minutes

Thieves raided Paris’ Louvre museum in broad daylight Sunday, taking just seven minutes to grab some of France’s priceless crown jewels, but dropping a gem-encrusted crown as they fled, officials and sources said. The spectacular heist, one of several to target French museums in recent months, forced the closure of the Louvre, the world’s most-visited museum and home to the Mona Lisa. President Emmanuel Macron posted on social media that “everything is being done” to catch the perpetrators and...

Events

63 h. ago France hunts thieves who stole crown jewels from Louvre in daring minutes

The hunt was on Monday for the band of thieves who stole eight priceless royal pieces of jewellery from the Louvre Museum in the heart of Paris in broad daylight. Officials said a team of 60 investigators were working on the theory that Sunday’s raid was planned and executed by an organised crime group. In France, it reignited a row over the lack of security in France’s museums, which the new Interior Minister Laurent Nunez acknowledged was a “major weak spot”. The thieves arrived between 9.30am...

Politics

66 h. ago Bob Yuan, Leo Ye clinch second GT World Challenge Asia crown

Bob Yuan, Leo Ye clinch second GT World Challenge Asia crown  Xinhua

Politics

3 d. ago China, India and Brazil set to steer global climate change agenda at Cop30

As the West falters in its commitment to fighting climate change, analysts expect emerging economies led by China, India and Brazil to seize the initiative at next month’s UN climate summit. The Cop30 conference, from November 10 to 21 in the Brazilian city of Belem, comes as the United States under Donald Trump remains largely disengaged from climate challenges following his successive orders to withdraw the world’s largest economy from the 2015 Paris Agreement, while Europe’s attention appears...

Politics

3 d. ago Gangs in China exploiting US gift cards to move stolen cash, DHS says

Gift cards, one of the most basic financial products in the US retail market, have become the backbone of a billion-dollar criminal economy that investigators say is moving American money into China. Homeland Security Investigations agents say Chinese organised-crime groups have built a laundering network that uses US retailers, mobile wallets and cryptocurrency to steal and export wealth. Operatives inside the US drain compromised gift cards, buy high-value goods such as iPhones and laptops,...

Events

4 d. ago Hong Kong to showcase 4,000 years of ancient Egypt, reinforcing belt and road ties

A nearly three-metre-tall (9.8-foot) statue of Tutankhamun, ancient Egyptian jewellery and other historical artefacts covering 4,000 years of history will be exhibited in Hong Kong next month, as ties between China and the African nation deepen under the Belt and Road Initiative. The exhibition, titled “Ancient Egypt Unveiled: Treasures from Egyptian Museums”, will be held at the Hong Kong Palace Museum from November for nine months. It is also organised in anticipation of the 70th anniversary...

Politics

5 d. ago Trump unveils plans for a monument some have dubbed ‘Arc de Trump’

US President Donald Trump has unveiled proposals for a new arch in Washington DC to be built across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial as he continues to burnish his legacy as a master builder. The ceremonial project, which some have dubbed the “Arc de Trump” because it resembles the famed Arc de Triomphe in Paris, would rise at the foot of the bridge that connects Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia to the National Mall. “It’s going to be really beautiful. I think it’s going to be...

Politics

5 d. ago As fragile Gaza ceasefire holds, world powers plan stabilisation force

France and Britain, in coordination with the United States, were working to finalise a UN Security Council resolution in the coming days that would lay the foundation for a future international force in Gaza, France said on Thursday. With a shaky US-mediated ceasefire between Israel and Hamas holding, planning has begun for an international force to stabilise security in the Palestinian enclave, two senior US advisers said on Wednesday. Speaking to reporters in Paris, French Foreign Ministry...

Events

5 d. ago Xi and Trump Steal Each Other's Tactics to Gain Trade War Edge

Xi and Trump Steal Each Other's Tactics to Gain Trade War Edge  Bloomberg.com

Events