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Quote:President Donald Trump warned Tuesday that if the Democrats don't approve funding, there are dangers to the future of Social Security and Medicare.
Trump said at a press conference that when he asked Democrats for feedback on the funding bills, one said, "It means death."
"There's nothing about death," Trump said. "Theirs is death because they're going to lose Medicaid, they're going to lose Social Security, they're going to lose Medicare, all of those things are going to be gone because the whole country would be bankrupt, and you're not going to have any kind of medical insurance."
Why It Matters
A point of contention leading to the government shutdown is the Democrats' refusal to accept a funding bill that would cut health care provisions, which many Republicans argue fund medical care for illegal aliens.
Social Security and Medicare represent vital support for tens of millions of Americans, especially retirees, seniors, and individuals with disabilities. As of late 2024, Social Security provided monthly benefits to about 53 million Americans—nearly 16 percent of the U.S. population. Medicare and Medicaid similarly underpin health insurance availability for seniors, low-income people, and many vulnerable groups.
Any potential reduction or administrative change to these programs has far-reaching implications for millions who rely on them for basic income or health care needs.
Federal funding gaps have become more frequent in the last 30 years, according to the Congressional Research Service, which added that the issues are often triggered by fights over budget policy and partisan spending demands.
Donald Trump Issues Warning on Social Security, Medicare: What We Know
Trump warned at the press conference that if an agreement is not reached with the Democrats, programs like Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare will be in danger. There are currently no changes to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid as the government shutdown, which just reached its third week, continues.
The president added of Democrats, "We will not be extorted on this crazy part of this. They've never done this before. Nobody has. You always vote for an extension."
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Newsweek in a statement on Tuesday, “Democrats chose to shut down the government because they want to give free health care to illegal aliens. They can choose to reopen the government at any point by supporting the bipartisan CR they voted for just six months ago. The Trump Administration is working day and night to mitigate the pain Democrats are causing.”
Can You Work and Collect Social Security?
Americans can work and collect Social Security retirement benefits at the same time.
However, if an individual has not reached their full retirement age, their benefits may be temporarily reduced if they earn more than the annual earnings limit established by the Social Security Administration.
In 2025, these limits and corresponding reductions will reflect cost-of-living adjustments, as set by the SSA.
Benefit reductions apply only before reaching full retirement age, after which there are no earnings limits.
Quote:Michael Wolff, author of four books on President Donald Trump, filed a lawsuit against First Lady Melania Trump in New York State court.
The filing came after Wolff received a letter from Melania Trump's legal team demanding he retract certain statements linking her to Jeffrey Epstein or face a lawsuit for over $1 billion in damages.
Among the contested statements was an allegation that Epstein had claimed Melania Trump first met or was intimate with Donald Trump on Epstein’s private jet, and suggestions about her involvement in the Trump administration’s management of Epstein-related controversies.
Wolff has requested that both Melania and Donald Trump testify under oath regarding their relationships and interactions with Epstein.
Why It Matters
Best-selling author Michael Wolff’s lawsuit against First Lady Melania Trump highlights the ongoing battle between high-profile individuals and the press over freedom of expression and defamation law.
The dispute also raises questions about the use of so-called Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) to intimidate journalists reporting on topics of significant public concern, in this case, alleged links between public figures and Jeffrey Epstein.
Legal experts and media watchdogs argued that such lawsuits have broad implications for First Amendment protections and the ability of journalists to report on controversial or politically sensitive subjects without fear of crippling legal reprisal.
What To Know
Wolff is the author of four books on President Trump as well as a co-host for the Daily Beast's podcast "Inside Trump's Head."
The author filed a lawsuit against First Lady Melania Trump in New York State court after receiving a letter from her legal team demanding he retract certain statements linking her to Jeffrey Epstein or face a lawsuit for “over $1 billion in damages," the Associated Press (AP) reported.
The First Lady’s attorney, Alejandro Brito, described his statements as “false, defamatory, and lewd,” and demanded retractions for claims made in podcasts and online articles, according to Wolff's court filings.
Among the contested statements was an allegation that Epstein had claimed Melania Trump first met or was intimate with Donald Trump on Epstein’s private jet, and suggestions about her involvement in the Trump administration’s management of Epstein-related controversies.
Wolff, in his lawsuit, asserted that the threatened suit was a "SLAPP," aiming to chill his freedom of speech and deter reporting on the Epstein topic.
The author is seeking a declaratory judgment protecting his reporting as speech on matters of public concern, as well as an order blocking Melania Trump’s threats and allowing deposition under oath of both Melania and President Donald Trump regarding their alleged links with Epstein.
The legal battle also encompassed broader claims by Wolff that Melania Trump undertook a campaign to block publication of his forthcoming book, The Art of Her Deal: The Untold Story of Melania Trump (Redux), by pressuring publishers and media outlets and issuing public statements challenging his credibility and motives. Wolff alleged this campaign led to lost book deals and significant financial damages.
The controversy began following Wolff’s remarks on The Daily Beast’s podcast and subsequent online articles. The Daily Beast, following complaints from the First Lady’s attorneys, retracted an article and removed podcast excerpts referencing Melania Trump and Epstein.
Melania Trump’s attorneys called Wolff’s claims “BS,” strongly denying any connections or involvement as alleged, and accused Wolff of fabricating stories and intimidating sources. They argued that his reporting lacks any substantial basis in fact or law.
Well, there was an old article telling us how one of the news outlets that promoted Wolff's story simply retracted its article on Trump and his wife.
Quote:The US military bombed two more suspected drug smuggling vessels — this time in the Eastern Pacific — killing five “narco-terrorists” on board, War Secretary Pete Hegseth revealed Wednesday.
The deadly assaults, which took place Tuesday and Wednesday, are the eighth and ninth strikes targeting suspected drug boats, but the first ones to be carried out outside the Caribbean Sea, marking an expansion in the Trump administration’s efforts to snuff out international narcotics traffickers.
“Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel being operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization and conducting narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific,” Hegseth wrote on X.
“The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking transit route, and carrying narcotics,” the Pentagon chief added. “There were two narco-terrorists aboard the vessel during the strike, which was conducted in international waters.”
“Both terrorists were killed and no U.S. forces were harmed in this strike.”
Aerial footage of the strike shows the boat racing along the water moments before it’s stopped dead in its tracks by a large blast, engulfing it in flames.
The subsequent strike similarly targeted a “known” boat being operated by a “Designated Terrorist Organization” and killed “three male narco-terrorists,” Hegseth wrote in a separate post.
“These strikes will continue, day after day,” Hegseth warned. “These are not simply drug runners—these are narco-terrorists bringing death and destruction to our cities.”
Footage of Wednesday’s strike, shared by Hegseth, showed bundles of what appeared to be drugs floating in the water after the blast that sank the boat.
It appeared that another missile was then used to destroy the drug bundles.
The war secretary did not reveal the origin point of either boat.
Colombia and Peru, among the world’s top producers of cocaine, have coastlines on the Eastern Pacific.
Quote:The Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have announced new temporary measures to help businesses and lenders that are required to report car loan interest payments transition to the new reporting requirements under President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB).
These measures include interest deductions, penalty relief, and simplified reporting options, giving those affected greater flexibility in how they comply with the new IRS reporting rules during the transitional year.
Why It Matters
The transition relief for reporting car loan interest marks a significant change in tax policy under the OBBB, signed into law by Trump on July 4. The policy allows U.S. taxpayers to deduct interest paid on qualified new car loans—a move that affects millions of car buyers and the financial institutions that serve them. With over 80 percent of new U.S. vehicle sales financed through loans, the new transitional relief could impact tax filings, vehicle affordability, and lender operations nationwide, especially as the auto market remains central to U.S. consumer spending and borrowing.
What To Know
Under Notice 2025-57, the Treasury and IRS are granting temporary relief for entities required to report car loan interest payments. The measure allows qualifying taxpayers to deduct interest on loans for vehicles assembled in the United States, provided the loans were initiated after December 31, 2024, and before January 1, 2029.
Key provisions:
- Lenders must file returns and issue borrower statements showing total interest received on qualified passenger vehicle loans.
- Qualified vehicles include cars, SUVs, minivans, pickup trucks, vans, and motorcycles under 14,000 pounds gross weight, assembled in the U.S.
- For 2025, lenders may meet requirements by providing interest information through online portals, statements, or similar accessible formats. If they do so, the IRS will not impose penalties for failing to file traditional information returns.
- The rule applies only to lenders receiving at least $600 per year in interest from an individual borrower.
Quote:A Missouri sheriff has said a dead man previously charged with killing a woman has been linked to a second victim.
“We’re dealing with what’s possibly a serial killer. During his day he’s doing his deed to society and helping people and saving people but there was a dark side to Chris Revak,” Douglas County Sheriff Chris Degase told KY3.
Revak, who worked as an EMT, died by suicide in jail in 2009. He had been arrested and charged with the killing of Rene Williams.
Degase announced on Facebook on Tuesday that Revak had been identified as the killer of Deidre Harm, who was 19 years after her death in Wisconsin.
Why It Matters
Degase said the announcement would provide closure for the Harm family after 19 years.
“There is something to be said for persistence in this line of work. Thank you to the Wood County Sheriff’s Office and Wisconsin Rapids PD for having the tenacity to solve this case,” the sheriff wrote on Facebook.
What To Know
Degase said that while he was working on the Williams case, he “did not believe that this was the first time Chris Revak had committed a murder.”
When Degase began searching online for women who had been abducted from bars, he found an article about Harm’s abduction with a composite drawing of the last person she was seen with.
“There was no doubt in my mind that it was Chris Revak,” the sheriff said.
Degase said he contacted the Wood County Sheriff’s Office and Wisconsin Rapids Police Department to provide them with suspect information.
Records placed Revak in Wisconsin Rapids at the time of Harm’s abduction, Degase said.
Wisconsin Rapids police received a complaint about a missing woman on June 11, 2006. Harm’s friend told officials that Harm had been at the Finish Line Bar the prior evening and had not been seen since, Wood County District Attorney Jonathan E. Barnett wrote in a letter to Wood County Sheriff Shawn Becker.
The friend said it was unusual because Harm left her child with a babysitter and did not inform the babysitter of any changes in her plans. The friend also told the police that Harm’s father had not heard from her.
Harm’s remains were found later that year.
Revak’s wife at the time told officials that they had traveled to Wisconsin on several occasions. The woman confirmed that one of their trips lined up with Harm’s disappearance, Barnett said.
Barnett added that he believed the probable cause would be strong enough to take the case to trial if they had the ability to do so.
“I consider this case closed, though sadly, without the chance to try this case publicly,” the Wood County district attorney wrote.
Quote:Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is warning seniors that they could have a “worse” Medicare experience next year.
"Sometimes these policies change without you knowing it, and you will have a worse experience next year, so even if you're happy, just take a quick look," Oz said in an interview with Rhode Island news station WJAR. "Insurance companies change, you change, the opportunities that are out there are quite great."
Why It Matters
Roughly half of American seniors are enrolled in traditional Medicare, while the other half rely on privatized Medicare or Medicare Advantage plans.
These plans can often offer added benefits like prescription drug, dental, and vision coverage, but the changes in providers and premium costs can vary from year to year.
What To Know
Oz told WJAR that seniors should potentially expect the price of Medicare Part B to rise, while the price of Part D, which covers drugs, should actually decrease.
"Medicare Part B might be going up, but Medicare Part D, which is the benefit where you go to the drugstore, that's actually going down a little bit, and the Medicare Advantage prices, in general, are dropping so there's some up, there's some down," Oz said.
"In general, we fought hard for you to try to keep the prices stable. I think we've achieved that goal, but you will not be getting the most benefit from this if you don't pick the right plan.”
Oz also urged seniors relying on Medicare to carefully review what changes are made to their plan from year to year.
The best advice for Medicare open enrollment is to review your plan every renewal season, said Drew Powers, the founder of Illinois-based Powers Financial Group.
“Do not just blindly auto-renew your current policy, as provisions and coverages change year to year,” Powers told Newsweek. “This is the type of coverage that should be inspected in deep detail every fall.”
Still, Medicare costs could even out depending on which parts recipients are accessing based on their needs, according to Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin.
“The primary concern, obviously, is with inflationary pressures weighing heavily on seniors already, further rising costs in health care will strain their finances further. With health care services being essential, this could cause further personal budget cuts that could affect other industries,” Beene told Newsweek.
Quote:President Donald Trump on Wednesday defended his record on behalf of American cattle ranchers as he faced criticism from beef producers and agricultural-state Republicans over his proposal to purchase beef from Argentina.
“The Cattle Ranchers, who I love, don’t understand that the only reason they are doing so well, for the first time in decades, is because I put tariffs on cattle coming into the United States, including a 50% tariff on Brazil,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “If it weren’t for me, they would be doing just as they’ve done for the past 20 years — terrible!”
The White House has been considering a plan to buy Argentine beef to help lower costs for U.S. consumers.
Trump said “it would be nice if they would understand that,” but acknowledged that ranchers still need to bring beef prices down.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America and several other agricultural groups — typically among Trump’s strongest allies — have criticized the president’s proposal, warning it could harm American ranchers and feedlot operators.
Agricultural economists also note that Argentine beef makes up only about 2% of U.S. beef imports, meaning even a sharp increase would have little effect on consumer prices.
Later in the White House, Trump said he is committed to lowering beef prices and plans to meet with ranchers to discuss their concerns, arguing that his trade policies have “saved” the cattle industry.
“The only cost that’s really up is beef,” Trump said, touting his tariff strategy and predicting “$2 gasoline.”
Quote:Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned that his efforts to eliminate property taxes in his state are threatened by competing tax-cutting proposals that could end up on the ballot.
To be successful, a proposal needs to reach a 60 percent voter threshold.
"Placing more than one property tax measure on the ballot represents an attempt to kill anything on property taxes," the Republican governor said in a post on X overnight Wednesday. "It’s a political game, not a serious attempt to get it done for the people."
Florida lawmakers, urged by DeSantis, have pushed forward eight pieces of legislation trying to offer property tax relief to homeowners, who have seen their bills rise sharply during the last five years. Seven of these are expected to appear on the 2026 general election ballot.
“What has been lost in this debate has been the fact that the ultimate decision on what should happen with property taxes belongs not with elected officials but with the people of Florida,” the state’s House Speaker Daniel Perez said in a memo issued last week, when the bills were announced.
“If we have faith in the voters to elect us, we should not be afraid to let them be a part of the conversation about the taxes they pay.”
DeSantis, who has repeatedly said he would back an effort to completely abolish property taxes in the state, now seems unhappy about this multipronged approach. The governor shared a post on X written by Florida former congressional candidate Maria Peiro, a conservative Republican, which called the bills unacceptable “half-measures.”
“Currently, there are 7 ballot measures related to lowering or abolishing ‘some property taxes’ for ‘some property owners’ that have been filed as joint resolutions in the Florida legislature,” Peiro wrote.
“We need to make it clear to our legislators that we do not accept these half measures and that we do not want all of these measures on the ballot. It is confusing and it will be very difficult to reach the 60% needed to place it on the constitution,” she added.
Quote:A Republican congressman has called for an investigation into the citizenship status of New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.
Florida Representative Randy Fine wrote on X that "we have clearly suffered from massive naturalization fraud," claiming that some immigrants "swore an oath to America but clearly came to destroy it."
He added that it was "time to go back and review every naturalization of the past 30 years, starting with Mamdani, Omar, and Hasan — and where fraud is found, denaturalize and deport." Fine was referring to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, and journalist Mehdi Hasan.
Fine’s comments came in response to a post on X by Hasan, who wrote: "One in three of the slaves who built this country were Muslims. They were here long before the Walsh family arrived. You'd know that if you’d studied history — but I know MAGA has an issue with studying. Oh, and I am guessing you don’t count slaves as people, or Americans."
Quote:The FBI posted new surveillance video on X showing previously unseen footage of the suspect who planted pipe bombs near the Democratic and Republican National Committee offices on Jan. 5, 2021, as officials renewed a $500,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
“The FBI is still offering a $500,000 reward for information that helps identify the person who placed pipe bombs at the offices of the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee on January 5, 2021,” the FBI wrote on X.
“As part of our ongoing investigation, we’re releasing an updated video of the subject, which includes previously unreleased footage, higher quality video, and longer clips of the subject’s movements.”
The new footage traces the suspect’s movements on the night before the Capitol riot, showing the individual carrying a backpack and planting bombs outside both party headquarters between 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. before disappearing from view in Washington, DC.
In the video, the FBI said the suspect is about 5 feet 7 inches tall and was seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, black gloves and distinctive Nike Air Max Speed Turf shoes with a yellow logo while carrying the explosive devices in a backpack and covering their face with a mask.
The FBI said the suspect was seen walking through Capitol Hill neighborhoods between 7:34 p.m. and 8:18 p.m., first appearing near 1st Street and North Carolina Avenue SE before stopping briefly on South Capitol Street to set down a backpack believed to contain one of the bombs.
The individual later sat on a bench outside the DNC headquarters, where video shows the first explosive device being placed around 7:54 p.m.
The suspect then continued toward the RNC headquarters, where the second device was planted at 8:16 p.m., before vanishing from view moments later.
In January, the FBI renewed its focus on the unsolved case by releasing new video footage of the suspect, and in May, Deputy Director Dan Bongino told “Fox & Friends” he was “pretty confident” the agency was closing in on suspects.
Investigators say they have followed hundreds of leads, reviewed thousands of video files and conducted more than 1,000 interviews.
Bongino emphasized the importance of public involvement and said social media is a vital tool for generating new case leads.
UKRAINE WAR
Quote:Several European countries are working with Ukraine to create a 12-point plan to end the war with Russia, Reuters reports, citing sources familiar with the matter.
President Donald Trump would then chair a peace board to see the proposal's implementation.
Newsweek has reached out to the Trump administration and the European Union by email for comment.
Why It Matters
The Trump administration and Ukraine have been working to reach a resolution in the Russia-Ukraine war for months. Now, joint efforts by Europe and Ukraine towards a 12-point peace proposal could mark a significant step forward in achieving those goals.
Trump, who said recently that he believes Ukraine could win the war in a significant reversal for the president, will still be closely involved with negotiations under the 12-point plan as chair of the proposed peace board.
What To Know
The plan includes security guarantees for Ukraine, alongside war-recovery funds and a clear pathway to joining the European Union.
It also calls for both sides to accept a halt to hostilities along present battle lines. Once Russia had agreed to the ceasefire, which Ukraine had already agreed to, a prisoner exchange would take place. Moscow would also see the return of all deported children to Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russian sanctions would also be gradually lifted, including around $300 billion in frozen central bank reserves, once Moscow agreed to contribute toward Ukraine's post-war reconstruction—a requirement that is likely to be a significant sticking point for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Further negotiations would then continue over the governance of contested regions. The proposal appears to be similar to those put forward by Europe previously.
The details of the 12-point peace proposal have yet to be formally confirmed by the European Union or other parties.
A senior diplomat told Reuters that the plans to include Trump as chair of the peace board was "an effort by the national security advisers to keep the United States on board."
Meanwhile, Trump on Friday urged Ukraine and Russia to “stop where they are” and bring an end to their war, following a lengthy White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
No further diplomatic meetings are expected between Trump and Putin, the White House said, despite rising speculation following calls involving senior U.S. and Russian officials.
On Monday, Trump said he believed Ukraine “could still win” its war with Russia, but he sounded less confident than he had just a few weeks earlier when he announced he thought the country could regain its annexed territory.
Quote:Moscow appears to have rejected President Trump’s latest call to freeze the current front lines in Ukraine, reiterating that “Russia’s stance doesn’t change.”
Addressing Trump’s proposal over the weekend that the war in Ukraine end immediately and each side keep the land they hold, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov scoffed at the prospect of allowing Kyiv to keep parts of the Donbas region.
“This topic was repeatedly raised in various forms during contacts between Russia and the US. The Russian side answered every time, this answer is well known: The consistency of Russia’s position doesn’t change,” Peskov told the local media.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated that Ukraine must surrender the entire Donbas region for any kind of cease-fire deal to go through.
The Russian military currently controls the vast majority of the Donbas, including all of the Luhansk Oblast and about 75% of the Donetsk Oblast, according to open source maps and independent analysts.
Moscow, however, has struggled to claim Donetsk’s so-called “fortress belt,” which has expelled Russia’s invasion forces for more than three years.
Ukraine has repeatedly said that surrendering the region is a non-starter, fearing that Russia would build up another invasion force and have an easier time conquering the country with the Donetsk fortress belt gone.
Putin made it clear to Trump during a phone call — which was held prior to the president’s meeting with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky — that Russia wanted Ukraine to surrender Donetsk, the Washington Post reported.
The call with Putin was followed by a three-hour sit-down with Zelensky, where Trump proposed to end the fighting and have the front lines stop “where they are.”
“So what I say is they should stop right now at the battle lines. Go home, stop killing people and be done,” Trump told reporters on Sunday.
The president denied reports that the meeting with Zelensky descended into a “shouting match” and that he urged the wartime leader to give up the entire Donbas region — or be “destroyed” by Russia.
Despite rejecting Trump’s proposal, Peskov said the Kremlin was still prepared to welcome a meeting between Trump and Putin to discuss a cease-fire deal.
Quote:The U.K. is prepared to deploy British troops to Ukraine to secure a future peace deal in the country, British Defense Secretary John Healey has said, ahead of a planned meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Peace is possible," Healey said during a speech in central London on Monday. "If President Trump can broker a peace, then we will be ready to help secure that peace for the long term."
Why It Matters
Trump said last week, after a two-hour phone conversation with Putin, he would meet the Russian president in Budapest "to see if we can bring this ‘inglorious’ war to an end." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is not invited, but has said he is willing to attend while criticizing host country Hungary—whose leader Viktor Orbán is close to Putin and to Trump—for its opposition to support for Kyiv.
The location is likely to be sensitive for Kyiv, the Hungarian capital closely associated with the Budapest Memorandum, or the agreement Ukraine signed with the U.S., U.K. and Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Kyiv agreed to give up nuclear weapons in exchange for security "assurances" that Ukraine's independence and borders would be protected. Russia violated the memorandum in 2014 and 2022.
The Alaska summit between Trump and Putin in August failed to yield concrete progress toward the peace deal Trump had pledged to secure for Ukraine. Although the Republican has become more overtly frustrated with Russia, he has held off slapping Moscow with punishing sanctions, which Ukraine has pushed for.
European nations, led by the U.K. and France, have for months toyed with what a peacekeeping or stabilizing force of some kind would look like, and what guarantees the U.S. would need to provide to make it viable.
What To Know
Healey said the likely cost of deploying U.K. forces as part of what has been termed a "coalition of the willing" in Ukraine would be "well over" £100 million, or roughly $134 million.
The U.K. has already earmarked millions in funding and checked the "readiness levels" of British troops to make sure a "multinational force Ukraine," could be ready to head for the country quickly, the defense secretary said. Roughly 200 military planners from 30 nations have been involved in the preparations, Healey said.
Progress on a European-led force for deployment in Ukraine post-ceasefire is "great news," said Oleksandr Merezhko, the chair of Ukraine's parliamentary foreign affairs committee and a member of Zelensky's party. But a ceasefire deal under which the force would be needed still feels a remote prospect, Merezhko told Newsweek.
European countries have watched on as Trump placed himself squarely between Russia and Ukraine, concern swirling over whether a U.S.-brokered deal will have Ukraine's, and Europe's, interests at heart. Merezhko said he hoped Trump would honor in a meeting with Putin the principle that Ukraine needs to be involved in deciding its own fate, and that European leaders also have a stake in a deal that could reshape European security.
Trump on Sunday suggested Ukraine and Russia should freeze their bitter conflict along the current front lines, which would cede vast swathes of Ukrainian territory to Russia—which Kyiv has long refused to entertain. Under Ukrainian law, territorial changes can only be approved by a nationwide vote.
Trump had last month swiveled in his long-held position on Ukraine, suggesting Kyiv could regain all of the territory Moscow currently controls with NATO assistance. Russia has seized about a fifth of Ukrainian territory in the country's south and east. Trump then poured fresh doubt on this assessment on Monday, telling reporters: "They could still win it. I don’t think they will, but they could still win it."
Zelensky came out of a meeting at the White House on Friday without the long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles the Trump administration had suggested could be on the table, but described having had a "pointed conversation." British newspaper the Financial Times reported Trump had pressed Zelensky to accept Russia's terms for a deal, citing people familiar with the matter who described the White House meeting as a "shouting match."
Trump reportedly urged Zelensky to cede all of the Donbas to Russia, even though Moscow does not exert control over the entire region. The Donbas, Ukraine's industrial heartland, is made up of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, where much of the fiercest fighting has taken place. Russia on Monday said its position was unchanged.
Merezhko said he "would like to see more consistency" from Trump in his messaging, and suggested the president may only follow through with a summit with Putin if he is sure it will mark a step forward, unlike in Alaska.
Russia has kept up its intensive aerial bombardment of Ukraine despite White House criticism of its strikes across the country. Ukrainian authorities said early on Tuesday Russia had attacked overnight with two ballistic missiles, four anti-aircraft guided missiles, and close to 100 drones.
Russia homed in on critical infrastructure in Cherkasy, in central Ukraine, the region's governor Ihor Taburets said in a post to messaging app Telegram. Vyacheslav Chaus, the governor of Chernihiv, a region north of Kyiv, said the area had been "subjected to a massive attack by strike drones" that had damaged the power supply to northern parts of the region and its main city.
Zelensky said on Monday he was working with the U.S. to make sure Ukraine receives the U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems it needs to intercept Russian missile attacks.
"This is not an easy task, but it is one of the security guarantees for Ukraine—and it will work in the long term," the Ukrainian leader said. He had said over the weekend Kyiv was prepping a deal to buy 25 Patriot systems.
Quote:The Trump administration announced new sanctions on Russia as U.S.-led efforts to end the war in Ukraine falter and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pleads for additional military aid.
“We are going to announce either after the close this afternoon or first thing tomorrow morning a substantial pickup in Russia sanctions,” Bessent told reporters at the White House.
The sanctions came as NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte visited Washington for talks and met with President Donald Trump.
Bessent spoke shortly after a new wave of Russian missile and drone strikes hit Ukraine overnight, killing at least six people, including a woman and her two daughters. The attacks, which targeted at least eight cities and a village near Kyiv, set homes ablaze and injured 29 others, among them five children, Ukrainian officials said.
Trump Admin's New Sanctions on Russia: What To Know
The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday announced sweeping new sanctions targeting Russia’s energy sector, designating state-linked oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil for their roles in funding Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine. The sanctions, issued under Executive Order 14024, block U.S. persons from conducting business with the companies or any subsidiaries they control and warn foreign financial institutions that helping Russia’s military-industrial base could trigger secondary sanctions. Bessent said the action aims to cut off revenue fueling the Kremlin’s aggression and called on Russia to “immediately agree to a cease-fire.”
“Hopefully he’ll become reasonable,” Trump said of Putin during remarks in the White House on Wednesday alongside Rutte. “And hopefully Zelensky will be reasonable, too. You know, it takes two to tango, as they say.”
Trump also said Wednesday he plans to discuss the war in Ukraine with Chinese President Xi Jinping during an upcoming meeting in South Korea, suggesting Beijing could help pressure Moscow to end its invasion.
“I think he could have a big influence on Putin,” Trump said of Xi.
China has not confirmed that the meeting will take place, but any talks would likely cover a range of issues beyond Russia’s war in Ukraine, including trade, regional security and North Korea.
Trump's new sanctions mark one of Washington’s most significant steps yet against Russia’s oil industry, a key source of government income. By restricting access to Western financial systems and technology, U.S. officials hope to weaken Russia’s capacity to sustain its invasion and pressure President Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the war. Treasury officials said additional measures could follow if Moscow fails to change course.
The sanctions also follows the announcement that Trump and Putin will not be meeting in Hungary in the coming weeks.
Regional leader Mykola Kalashnyk said the deadly strike near Kyiv destroyed a house where a mother and her 6-month-old and 12-year-old daughters were staying. Kyiv appeared to be the main target, according to Ukraine’s air force, which said Russia launched 405 drones and 28 missiles in the assault.
In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, Russian drones struck a kindergarten while children were inside, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. One person was killed and six were injured, though no children were physically harmed.
Zelensky said many of the children were left in shock and that the attacks targeted 10 regions, including Kyiv, Odesa, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia, Cherkasy and Sumy.
The latest escalation comes as Western allies struggle to maintain unity on Ukraine policy amid war fatigue and shifting global priorities. Bessent said the new sanctions are part of Washington’s continued effort to pressure Moscow while supporting Kyiv’s defense.
Quote:The European Union (EU) has approved its 19th sanctions package against Russia, including on its lucrative gas sector for the first time and its "shadow fleet," to heap pressure on Moscow to end its war on Ukraine.
Newsweek has contacted the Russian government by email seeking comment.
Why It Matters
The approval of the EU sanctions comes a day after the administration of President Donald Trump imposed fresh bans on Russia's two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, also seeking to crank up the pressure on Moscow to make peace in Ukraine.
What To Know
The new sanctions came shortly after Trump postponed a proposed summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, intended to bring peace in Ukraine closer, when it became clear the Kremlin would not agree to a ceasefire.
The sanctions introduce the first-ever EU ban on imports of Russian liquefied natural gas, forbid all transactions with the energy companies Rosneft and Gazprom Neft and blacklist an additional 117 vessels from Russia's so-called shadow fleet, which Moscow uses to circumvent the price cap on Moscow's seaborne oil, the media outlet Euronews reported.
"We’re keeping the pressure high on the aggressor," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a post on X.
"For the first time we are hitting Russia’s gas sector—the heart of its war economy. We will not relent until the people of Ukraine have a just and lasting peace."
The sanctions include a range of financial measures, including some targeting foreign entities accused of enabling Russia to circumvent restrictions, including 12 in China and Hong Kong, Euronews reported.
"It [sanctions] targets Russian banks, crypto exchanges, entities in India and China, among others," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in a post on X.
The embargoes include a mechanism that can allow EU members to curb the movement of Russian diplomats across the passport-free Schengen Area.
"The EU is curbing Russian diplomats' movements to counter the attempts of destabilization. It is increasingly harder for Putin to fund this war," Kallas said.
Members of Russian missions in the EU, including administrative and technical staff and family members, will now have to notify authorities in their host country of their intention to travel to or transit through another member state.
Quote:Russia's wartime economy continues to face turmoil as a slump in growth amplified by sky-high interest rates and falling oil revenues takes its toll, according to an analysis.
The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies said after two years of relatively good growth fueled by President Vladimir Putin’s high military spending amid his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s GDP will only grow by 1.2 percent this year.
This is down from 4.3 percent last year and marks a 0.8 percent downward revision from the summer.
Newsweek reached out to the Russian Finance Ministry for comment.
Why It Matters
Despite Western-led sanctions aimed at punishing Putin’s aggression in Ukraine, Russia’s economy has faced turbulence but has been resilient, helped in part by record military spending.
Predictions of dwindling growth could pose a political problem for the Kremlin, and Finnish President Alexander Stubb said this week that economic threats, amplified by sanctions, should be used to bring Moscow to the negotiating table.
What To Know
In its autumn forecast for Central and Eastern Europe, the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies said that a technical recession, defined by two consecutive quarters of negative growth, was only narrowly avoided in Russia this year.
It said Russia's GDP growth for 2025 is forecast at 1.2 percent, down from 4.3 percent in 2024, with industrial production growing by 0.8 percent this year, almost entirely due to arms production.
Vasily Astrov, a Russia expert at the Institute, said that the main reason for the slump in growth is the Russian Central Bank’s (CBR) overly restrictive monetary policy. Its key interest rate is at 17 percent, but between October 2024 and June 2025, it was set at 21 percent to curb inflation, prompting criticism from business leaders that this rate stifled investment.
The official inflation rate has fallen to 4 percent, but Astrov said interest rates are still very high, even if further interest rate cuts are on the cards.
He told Newsweek that even if the key rate were cut aggressively by up to five percentage points in the coming months, it could help. However, the chances of this happening were unlikely, given the CRB's priority of avoiding a rebound of inflation rather than stagnation.
Russia is also facing lower revenue from oil exports due to lower prices, and its economy is operating at full capacity in many areas, according to the analysis. Astrov said that new growth would require investment in greater productivity, but this is stagnating.
Investment in new machinery and equipment, which is normally the biggest driver of modernization and productivity gains, had stabilized at the relatively low prewar level of 2021, he added.
Russia will this year record its largest budget deficit since the COVID-19 pandemic and will be able to borrow only domestically, the analysis said. But with high interest rates, the government must save and increase revenue, which has already led to a rise in taxes on private income and corporate profits.
In 2026, value-added tax (VAT) will also rise, with the annual revenue threshold for VAT tax breaks for small businesses being cut to 10 million rubles ($123,000) from 60 million rubles next year, pending parliamentary approval.
Declining government spending and tax increases will also slow growth, added Astrov.
Quote:A top Kremlin official said President Donald Trump has launched an "act of war" against Russia with fresh sanctions on its largest oil companies and the cancellation of a proposed summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"If any of the many commentators still harbored illusions — here you go. The U.S. is our enemy, and their talkative 'peacemaker' has now fully taken the road to war with Russia," said Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman to Putin on the Kremlin's Security Council and himself a former president, in a post on Telegram.
Trump has positioned himself as a "peacemaker," determined to add the war in Ukraine to his list of conflicts that now have ceasefire or peace deals. But in a surprise move on Wednesday, the White House announced sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies — Rosneft and Lukoil — in a bid to pressure Moscow to the negotiating table.
Ukraine has also targeted Russia's powerful oil industry in a bid to cut the Kremlin off from vital income streams propping up its war effort. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom sanctioned the two major oil companies last week, saying Rosneft alone produced nearly half of all Russia's oil.
Medvedev is well-known for his blunt social media statements, including those directed at Trump. "Yes, he doesn't always actively fight on the side of Banderite Kyiv yet, but this is now his conflict, not senile Biden's!" Medvedev said. The term "Banderite" refers to controversial World War Two-era anti-Soviet Ukrainian nationalist, Stepan Bandera.
"Of course they'll say he couldn't do otherwise, that he was pressured in Congress, etc.," Medvedev added. "That doesn't change the main point: the decisions made are an act of war against Russia. And now Trump has fully sided with mad Europe."
Trump has repeatedly said Russia would not have invaded Ukraine if he had sat in the Oval Office in February 2022. He has also branded the conflict as President Joe Biden's war.
And yet, Putin keep provoking the Western world...
Quote:Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, launched a nuclear exercise on Wednesday during which ICBMs capable of striking the United States and cruise missiles were launched, the Kremlin announced.
The drill came a day after an expected meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Putin to discuss ending Russia's war with Ukraine was abruptly called off.
The exercises involved Russia's full nuclear triad—land-based, sea-based, and airborne assets, according to the statement reported by Russia's state RIA news agency on Telegram.
During the exercise, a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome and Tu-95MS strategic bombers conducted air-launched cruise missile strikes, the Kremlin said.
A strategic submarine cruiser launched a ballistic missile from the Barents Sea.
"The exercise tested the level of preparedness of the military command and the practical skills of the operational personnel in organizing the control of subordinate forces," the Kremlin statement said.
"All exercise tasks were completed."
White House Announces Trump-Putin Summit Is Off
The tests come amid high tensions between Russia and the West. NATO began military exercises last week.
Trump is trying to bring an end to the war in Ukraine, that has devastated large parts of the country. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
However, on Tuesday, an expected summit between Trump and Putin to be held in Budapest, Hungary, was called off.
The White House said there were no plans for Trump to meet with Putin "in the immediate future."
Russia Rejects Trump 'Battle Lines'
The White House statement came after Russia reiterated its peace terms, including Ukraine giving up the entire Donbas region, Reuters reported, citing three unnamed sources.
That was a rejection of Trump's statement on Sunday that the current front lines should form the basis of a peace settlement to end the war.
Quote:President Trump on Wednesday appeared to rule out providing Ukraine with Tomahawk cruise missiles, arguing that the long-range weapons are too complex for Kyiv to deploy without substantial US training.
“The problem with the Tomahawk is – a lot of people don’t know – It’ll take a minimum of six months, usually a year, to learn how to use,” Trump told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
“The only way a Tomahawk is going to be shot is if we shot it,” the president added.
“And we’re not going to do that.”
Trump added there is a “tremendous learning curve” when it comes to using the “highly complex” weapons, and he signaled that he wouldn’t want the US military to train other nations on how to effectively fire the “very accurate” missiles.
“It takes a year of intense training to learn how to use it, and we know how to use it, and we’re not going to be teaching other people.”
With a range of more than 1,500 miles, Tomahawk missiles would enable Ukraine to hit critical military, logistical and energy targets deep inside Russia, severely limiting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ability to continue the 32-month-long war.
The US has more than 1,000 Tomahawks available, though some experts believe Washington wouldn’t sell more than 50 to Ukraine, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly lobbied Trump for access to the missiles, but returned to Kyiv empty-handed after a White House meeting Oct. 17.
Trump’s interest in providing Ukraine with Tomahawks faded rapidly after a call with Putin the day before his meeting with Zelensky.
Earlier this week, Zelensky argued that US-provided Tomahawks should be viewed as a “major investment in diplomacy,” arguing that Putin’s willingness to end the war fizzled out after it became clear that Trump would not be offering the weapon to Ukraine in the immediate future.
Quote:Ukraine has unveiled a new generation of maritime drones that it has trialed in the Black Sea, hoping it can threaten Russia’s war machine.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) presented its latest “Sea Baby” maritime unmanned platforms—which it said could travel more than 900 miles, operate anywhere in the Black Sea, carry heavier weapons and use artificial intelligence for precision strikes. Newsweek has contacted the SBU for further comment.
Why It Matters
Despite being dwarfed by Russia’s navy, Ukraine has delivered significant blows during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion to Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet, which has been pushed away from its main base in Crimea.
The Sea Baby platform unveiled on Tuesday was used in Ukraine’s headline-grabbing strikes on the Crimean Bridge in June, and Kyiv will hope its additional capabilities can further tilt the balance of power in the Black Sea region.
What To Know
The SBU announced the latest model of the Sea Baby unmanned vessel, whose range has been expanded to 900 miles. It can carry over 4,400 pounds of payload and has features such as a multiple-rocket launcher and stabilized machine-gun turret.
A demonstration on Wednesday showed off the capabilities of the new weapons with different armaments on display, including a 10-round Grad multiple-rocket launcher and a gyrostabilized machine-gun mount with automatic tracking.
Ukraine has already used the unmanned naval drones to hit Russian vessels and infrastructure in the Black Sea.
Ukrainian drone strikes have hit Russian frigates and missile carriers forcing the Russian navy to relocate its main base from Sevastopol in Crimea to Novorossiysk on Russia’s Black Sea coast.
The SBU said sea drones have also helped its attacks against the Crimean Bridge, which is a symbol of Moscow’s occupation of the peninsula it illegally annexed in 2014.
DRONE ATTACKS
Quote:Russian strikes left four dead and hundreds of thousands without power and water in Ukraine’s Chernihiv region on Tuesday as the winter months loom.
Chernihiv and the northern part of the province lost all electricity supply after Russian strikes obliterated power facilities in the morning, the nation’s energy ministry said.
The attack also targeted the neighboring Sumy region, where local authorities said nine people were injured.
About 20 Russian kamikaze drones then attacked Novhorod-Siverskyi, killing four civilians and wounding at least seven more, according to officials.
It is unclear what the drones were targeting, but the town 20 miles from the Russian border suffered significant damage during the daytime assault.
Chernihiv residents used street cisterns to fill up water containers and took comfort from “invincibility points” — tents outfitted with stoves and generators for heat and electricity.
“It’s hard,” nursery assistant Nina Dymyrets, 45, said as she sat in a tent with her two grandsons.
“One child didn’t go to nursery because there was no power, another didn’t go to school because there was no power and no lessons either.”
The Chernihiv region along the Russian border has suffered regular disruptions to its power supply amid a brutal campaign of strikes.
Emergency crews were initially unable to repair damaged power facilities due to a lingering threat of Russian drone attacks, according to the energy ministry.
The ministry has accused Russia of circling drones above the damaged facilities to “deliberately prolong the humanitarian crisis” and delay repairs.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy later wrote on Telegram that repairs were underway.
“Russia’s tactics are to murder people and terrorize them with the cold,” he said.
By the afternoon, power supply was restored to some Chernihiv homes.
“(Russian President Vladimir) Putin pretends to be ready for diplomacy and peace negotiations, while in reality, this night Russia launched a brutal missile and drone attack,” Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X.
“Energy infrastructure was under heavy strikes once again. Many communities have been left without power amid cold autumn temperatures, some have been left without water,” he wrote.
Quote:Russia launched a wide drone and missile attack across Ukraine on Wednesday, killing at least six people, Ukrainian officials said, a day after President Donald Trump put his planned meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on hold, saying he didn’t want it to be a “waste of time.”
Ukraine’s energy minister said a “massive combined overnight attack” on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure was still underway early Wednesday — the latest in Russia’s effort to cripple the country’s energy system before winter.
At least 18 people were injured in the attack, said Kyiv administration head Tymur Tkachenko.
The attack caused emergency power blackouts across the country, Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said. Repairs were underway where possible and electricity would be restored “as soon as possible,” it said.
“Another night that proves Russia does not feel enough pressure for prolonging the war,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement.
He said the strike caused damages in the cities of Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia, as well as Odesa, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia, and the wider regions of Kyiv, Cherkasy, and Sumy.
Pressuring Russia
Zelensky urged the European Union, the United States and the Group of Seven industrialized nations, or G7, to take steps to sanction Russia.
“It is very important that the world does not remain silent now and that there is a united response to Russia’s treacherous strikes,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Army General Staff said the country’s forces struck a chemical plant in Russia’s Bryansk region late on Tuesday night using air-to-surface Storm Shadow missiles.
The plant is an important part of the Russian military and industrial complex producing gun powder, explosives, missile fuel and ammunition.
Relentless attacks
In the Kyiv region, rescuers discovered the bodies of three people — including two children — after a strike set a private house ablaze in the village of Pohreby, regional governor Mykola Kalashnyk said. According to him, the victims were a woman and her two daughters — an infant of 6 months and a 12-year-old girl.
“Their bodies were found at the site of the fire,” the governor said. “This is a tragedy for the entire community, for the Kyiv region, and for the country.”
Quote:Russia blasted a Ukrainian daycare and kindergarten with killer drones early Wednesday, setting the facility ablaze as gut-wrenching photos showing terrified toddlers crying as they clung to first responders.
The tots — aged three to five — were shepherded into the basement shelter by staff ahead of the strike, saving their lives. There, they huddled together in trembling silence until rescue workers arrived, according to Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov.
Rescuers and police evacuated nearly 50 children, officials said.
The frightened children — many born during Russia’s nearly four-year-old war — desperately clutched the shoulders of firemen rescuing them from the flames.
“According to the kindergarten staff, no children remained in the building,” Terekhov said in a local broadcast. “Rescuers are now working on the second floor, which has completely collapsed.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the kids were suffering from “acute stress reactions” following the strike.
“There is no justification for a drone strike on a kindergarten, nor can there ever be. Clearly, Russia is growing more brazen,” Zelensky said in a post to X.
“These strikes are Russia’s spit in the face to everyone who insists on a peaceful resolution. Thugs and terrorists can only be put in their place by force.”
Mothers and fathers rushed to the scene following the strike and wept tears of relief as they collected their youngsters from rescuers.
“There is and cannot be any justification for a drone strike on a kindergarten. It is obvious that Russia is becoming more impudent,” Victor Mykyta, the deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office told The Post.
EUROPE
Quote:US tourists described the terrifying moment they narrowly came face-to-face with the brazen Louvre Museum robbers who escaped the world-famous Paris museum with irreplaceable treasures in broad daylight.
Curt Dale Clark, Artistic Director of the Maine State Music Theatre, said he and 28 others from the theatre group had only seen “five or six really fantastic pieces of art” on Sunday when they were about to “enter the room next door to the room where the robbery happened.”
Clark recalled that Louvre security guards suddenly began acting “horrible and rude” toward them, but didn’t understand what was happening since no one in the group spoke French.
Moments later, the presence of heavily armed officers made it clear something serious was unfolding.
“When we started seeing SWAT teams and military people, I was like, I think there’s something more going on here,” Clark told WMTW. “And so, we all turned and hightailed it.”
Unaware of the robbery, Clark said the group was worried there had been a terrorist attack.
The theatre group was then rushed down the stairs and into the lobby of the Louvre as more armed SWAT officers poured into the historic landmark.
He said the experience left the group shaken, but he was thankful no one was harmed.
“We did find everybody. We did get out of there, but it was almost instant action by the French police and the French military,” Clark recalled.
The masterminds behind the daring heist have not yet been identified.
More than 100 investigators are working to capture the four suspects who stole artefacts valued at roughly $102.1 million (88 million euros), Paris Public Prosecutor Laure Beccuau told a French radio station Tuesday.
The four crafty criminals, posing as construction workers, used a construction lift to reach a second-floor window, cut through the glass with an angle grinder, and then entered the Galerie d’Apollon — stealing thousands of diamonds and other priceless jewels before fleeing on scooters.
Indiana couple Jacob and Holly Barker were inside the famed Galerie d’Apollon when the thieves entered the museum for their heist and heard the crew cut through the glass.
“It was terrifying. I mean, it’s just like the movies. So we knew at that point we needed to take action,” Jacob Barker told TODAY. “We didn’t know if there was one chainsaw-wielding robber behind that window, or if there were 100 mass terrorists, but we knew that we didn’t want to stick around to stick around to find out.”
Like Clark, the Barkers were ushered into the lobby until the tourists were allowed to leave.
“In the back of my head, I’m thinking it also could be a mass shooting situation or a terrorist attack. But again, there was this controlled chaos where no one was giving us any instruction,” Barker told the outlet.
Quote:The Louvre reopened on Wednesday to long lines beneath its landmark Paris glass pyramid, just three days after one of the highest-profile museum thefts of the century stunned the world with its audacity and scale.
The thieves slipped in and out, making off with eight pieces from France’s Crown Jewels at the world’s most-visited museum — a cultural wound that some compared to the burning of Notre-Dame Cathedral in 2019.
The Sunday raid — steps from the Mona Lisa and valued at over $100 million — has put embattled President Emmanuel Macron and Louvre chief Laurence des Cars under fresh scrutiny.
It comes just months after the museum’s workers went on strike, warning of chronic understaffing and underresourced protections, with too few eyes on too many rooms.
Crowds bunched at the barriers as they were being removed on Wednesday, a coda to frantic forensic work and staff briefings that had taken place. Inside, the scene of the crime — the Apollo Gallery housing the Crown Diamonds — stayed sealed, a folding screen obscuring the doorway at the gallery’s rotunda entrance.
Disbelief among visitors
Three days on, the jewels remain missing and the thieves are still at large — and reactions are divided.
“For a place like the Louvre, it’s unfathomable,” said Amanda Lee, 36, an art teacher from Chicago. “I heard it took under four minutes. How is that possible here, with no police in sight?”
Others were unperturbed.
“We told the kids it’s a history lesson. The Apollo Room is shut, but we saw the masterpieces,” said Claire Martin, 41, a French lawyer from Versailles visiting with her two children during a school holiday.
“We came for the art,” she said. “The police can deal with the thieves.”
France acknowledges failings
Authorities say the thieves spent less than four minutes inside the Louvre on Sunday morning: a freight lift was wheeled to the Seine-facing façade, a window was forced open, and two vitrines were smashed.
Then came the getaway on motorbikes through central Paris. Alarms had gone off, drawing agents to the gallery and forcing the intruders to bolt.
“We have failed,” Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said, noting that the ability to plant a freight lift undetected on a public way projects “a very negative image of France.”
As it reopened, the Louvre declined questions from The Associated Press to detail any reinforced protocols. It said no uniformed police were posted in the corridors. With school holidays swelling demand, the day was fully booked and access was limited.
Quote:MADRID — Spanish police have busted a criminal group dedicated to stealing your seat. Literally.
Spain’s National Police said Wednesday that they had arrested seven people suspected of stealing more than 1,100 chairs from outdoor seating areas at restaurants and bars in Madrid and another nearby municipality in just two months.
The group of six men and a woman worked at night to pilfer the chairs from 18 different establishments in Madrid and Talavera de la Reina, a smaller city to the southwest of the capital, in August and September. The estimated impact of the stolen property was around 60,000 euros ($69,000), according to police.
The suspects, who face charges of theft and belonging to a criminal organization, resold the chairs in Spain but also in Morocco and Romania, police said.
In Spain, many restaurants and bars leave tables and chairs, which are usually made of metal or hard plastic, outdoors during the night. The chairs will normally be kept in stacks and chained down.
Quote:Berlin has offered to front the paychecks of US military employees stationed in Germany as Washington’s government shutdown drags on, according to the German Ministry of Finance.
The German government stepped in to “initiate an unscheduled expenditure to ensure that October salaries are paid on time” to civilian workers on US bases in the country, a ministry spokeswoman told Agence France-Presse.
Senate Democrats have blocked 11 separate attempts to reopen the government this month alone.
“It’s sad that German officials care more about American troops than Democrats in Congress, who shut down the government to push free healthcare for illegal immigrants, complained about paying military servicemembers and view struggling families as ‘leverage,’” White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told The Post.
“President Trump has prioritized funding military pay, but Chuck Schumer and Democrats should reopen the government today so that no one has to consider any alternative solutions to support our military servicemembers.”
There are roughly 11,000 civilian Pentagon staff based in Germany who support roughly 35,000 US troops in the country, according to latest totals.
The temporary financial lifeline would cover local US civilian employees working on American bases in Germany, including those at the sprawling Ramstein Air Base and in Stuttgart, where the Department of War’s European Command is headquartered.
While the Pentagon did not confirm the arrangement was accepted, a DOW official told The Post that “we value the important contributions of our local national employees around the world.”
“Arrangements for pay to local national employees vary country-to-country based on specific agreements the US has with each host nation,” a DOW official said.
If agreed to, Germany anticipates that the US would reimburse Berlin for the payments once the shutdown lifts.
Military and political analysts weighed in on the news, criticizing lawmakers for continuing the shutdown — now the second-longest in history — while military employees and other federal workers are left without paychecks.
Quote:A Spanish mayor’s ex-husband was mysteriously found dead in a dumpster when horrified sanitation workers emptied it into a garbage truck — and saw his legs sticking out just before it was crushed.
Businessman Vicente Dominguez, 45, was spotted among the trash being dumped into the truck in Castellon on Sunday, local outlet Castellon al Dia reported.
Workers who saw his legs poking out then managed to quickly stop the truck’s compression system from crushing the body.
Dominguez — who was once married to the adjacent town’s mayor, Maria Tormo — was likely already dead when his body was dumped into the truck, authorities said.
His cause of death still hasn’t been confirmed but Dominguez’s body was covered in “bumps and bruises” consistent with a beating, according to law enforcement sources.
The mayor’s ex, who had a rap sheet, reportedly suffered from alcohol-related problems and had fallen on hard times.
Authorities are probing whether his death is tied to possible drug traffickers settling scores, the outlet said.
Cops are reviewing nearby surveillance footage and are awaiting autopsy results.
Quote:A Russian court freed a French cyclist on Thursday after finding him guilty of illegally crossing the Russian border, state news agency RIA reported.
Sofiane Sehili, a French citizen who describes himself as an “ultra-endurance racer and adventure cyclist,” was freed by the court in Russia’s Far East and exempted from paying a 50,000 fine, RIA reported.
French newspaper Le Monde reported in September that Sehili had been arrested after twice attempting to cross the Russian border from China while trying to break the world record for the fastest cycle crossing of the Eurasian landmass, from Lisbon to Vladivostok.
MIDDLE EAST
Quote:Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has directly mocked U.S. President Donald Trump's claims that Washington had "obliterated" Iran’s nuclear industry.
Posting on his official X account Monday, Khamenei wrote: “The U.S. President boasts that they've bombed and eliminated Iran’s nuclear industry. Very well, in your dreams!” The statement underscores his defiance in the face of U.S. military actions and political pressure.
Newsweek has reached out to the State Department and Iran's Foreign Ministry for comment.
Why It Matters
Khamenei’s post comes amid heightened tensions following U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites and the recent 12-day war with Israel. Coupled with the collapse of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or Iran nuclear deal, and the failure of recent diplomatic talks to revive it, the post signals that Tehran is resisting pressure from Washington, including ongoing sanctions aimed at crippling its economy and nuclear ambitions.
His online mockery highlights that, despite military threats, regional conflict, and economic pressure, Iran is unwilling to concede to U.S. claims or diplomacy dictated from Washington, underlining persistent risks for regional stability.
What To Know
In a series of posts, both in Farsi and in English, Khamenei began by ridiculing Trump’s claims, repeating his earlier “in your dreams!” jab before expanding on Iran’s defiance.
He followed by asserting Iran’s independence in nuclear matters: “Our nuclear industry has nothing to do with America,” Khamenei said. “You may believe you have destroyed Iran’s nuclear industry—very well, keep imagining that. But who are you to decide what a country can or cannot do in its nuclear field? What does it have to do with America?”
Khamenei warned Iran would not hesitate to act militarily if threatened again. “These missiles were not bought or borrowed—they are the creations of Iranian youth. If necessary, we will use them again.” He accused Washington of hypocrisy, calling it “the embodiment of terrorism” and saying sanctions and pressure proved U.S. hostility toward the Iranian people: “You are the enemy of this nation, not its friend.”
Khamenei also mocked Trump’s recent visit to Israel, saying his speech there was meant to lift morale among “disappointed Zionists.”
Quote:Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha touched down in Israel for urgent, high-level talks Tuesday — as the US tries to shore up the shaky Gaza cease-fire deal.
The veep and second lady arrived at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport ahead of his sit-down with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials.
Vance didn’t make any official remarks on his arrival.
After being greeted by US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and other officials, Vance met with White House envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
The vice president, who is expected to stay in the region until Thursday, is also slated to meet with the families of hostages whose bodies still haven’t been released during his visit.
The high-level talks come as Washington tries to stabilize the first phase of the cease-fire deal — and push Israel and Hamas towards the harder concessions asked of each side.
Both sides have accused each other of repeatedly violating the cease-fire since it was formally agreed upon on Oct. 10. but have insisted they are committed to the deal.
President Trump, for his part, has made it clear that the 20-point plan he brokered has to succeed.
A senior Israeli official said the purpose of Vance’s trip was to advance the Gaza talks to the second phase of the cease-fire.
Under the terms of the cease-fire, Israel is still waiting for Hamas to turn over the remains of 15 hostages. Thirteen have been turned over since the cease-fire began.
Israel, meanwhile, handed back another 15 Palestinian bodies on Tuesday, officials said.
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
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My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
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Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
