World

(KYIV, Ukraine) —  A barrage of at least 22 Russian missiles targeted Ukraine overnight, with at least one striking the capital, Kyiv, in what the Ukrainian minister of energy called a “massive” attack on energy infrastructure.

Russia also fired overnight at least 460 drones, several of which flew into either Moldova or Romania, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said early on Tuesday.

“That is why all partners must not forget that every day lives need to be saved,” Zelenskyy said on social media. “Weapons and air defense are important, just as important is the sanction pressure on the aggressor.

Six people were killed and another 13 were injured in Ukraine, Zelenskyy said. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko earlier said two people were killed and seven others were injured.

The missile-and-drone attack followed negotiations in Switzerland over the weekend on a United States-proposed Russia-Ukraine peace plan. The strike also followed a secret meeting on Monday between U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and a Russian delegation in Abu Dhabi, a U.S. official told ABC News.

“Last night, Russia launched another attack – at a time when Ukraine, together with America, Europe, and many others around the world, are working virtually around the clock to stop the bloodshed,” Zelenskyy said on social media.

Residents of the Ukrainian capital were urged to take shelter as air-raid alerts blared.

“And so this night we spend in bombshelters, listening how the missiles rain down on Kyiv,” Kira Rudik, a member of Ukrainian parliament, said on social media. “This is russia’s response to peace negotiations.”

Some areas were experiencing disruptions to power and water, the Klitschko said. A residential building in one area of the city was on fire after debris hit it, he said.

“The enemy attack on Kyiv is ongoing,” Klitschko said in a post to Telegram early Tuesday local time.

Military officials in Ukraine said 438 drones and 14 missiles were destroyed or otherwise didn’t hit their targets. Missile hits and 26 strike drones were recorded impacting across 15 locations, with falling debris reported at 12 locations.

Zelenskyy said Monday said negotiators were were working toward peace “as quickly as possible.” Though he warned Ukrainians that “Russia will not ease its pressure on Ukraine.”

“In these days and weeks, it is essential to take air raid alerts and all similar strike threats very seriously,” he said on X. “We clearly understand whom we are dealing with, and all necessary orders have been issued within the Air Force and across all other components of Ukraine’s Defense and Security Forces. We will react.”

The strikes on Kyiv come a day after Russia launched over 160 drones into the country, Ukraine’s air force said.

Air defenses shot down or suppressed 125 drones, the air force said, with 37 craft impacting across 15 locations. At least four people were killed in Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv in the attack, the local mayor said.

Officials in Moldova said in a statement that 11 Russian drones entered their airspace overnight into Tuesday morning, one of which fell on a house in the northeast of the country.

Another two entered Romania, which is a NATO member, officials there said. In Romania, two German Typhoons and two Romanian F-16s were scrambled.

A Romanian Defense Ministry spokesperson told ABC News that one drone crashed in the country’s eastern Vaslui County.

It was not immediately clear if the drones were Shahed-style attack drones.

Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine’s minister of foreign affairs, decried the drone intrusions, saying on social media that they amounted to “yet another reminder that Russian aggression directly threatens not only Ukraine but also other European nations and the transatlantic community as a whole.”

“We stand in solidarity with our Odesa Triangle partners, Romania and Moldova, and condemn these reckless Russian actions,” he added.

ABC News’ David Brennan and Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — The United States-proposed Russia-Ukraine peace plan now has fewer points following negotiations in Switzerland to try to make the draft proposal more acceptable to Ukraine, according to a Ukrainian official close to the matter.

The initial 28-point peace plan now has 19 points, according to the official. It is unclear what points were removed.

U.S., European and Ukrainian officials met in Geneva to discuss the contentious proposal put to Kyiv last week, with terms critics say would constitute a Ukrainian capitulation.

On Monday morning, U.S. President Donald Trump hinted at headway being made. “Is it really possible that big progress is being made in Peace Talks between Russia and Ukraine???” he wrote on social media.

“Don’t believe it until you see it, but something good just may be happening,” Trump added.

The talks come as fighting continues to wage in the nearly four-year war. At least four people were killed and 17 were injured in Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv in what the local mayor called a “massive” Russian drone attack on Sunday night.

“Every night and every day bring new challenges for our city, new destructions and new work,” Mayor Ihor Terekhov said in a post to Telegram.

Kharkiv was among the targets of Russia’s latest overnight attack, which Ukraine’s air force said saw 162 drones launched into the country. Air defenses shot down or suppressed 125 drones, the air force said, with 37 craft impacting across 15 locations.

“The most damage was suffered by civilian infrastructure and private households in the Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions,” the air force said in a post to Telegram. “Unfortunately, there are civilian casualties.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces shot down at least 103 Ukrainian drones overnight and into Monday afternoon. Four drones were shot down over the Moscow region, of which two were heading toward the capital, the ministry said.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that the Geneva talks were “probably the most productive and meaningful meeting we’ve had so far in this entire process since we became involved.”

Rubio told reporters that the presidents of both countries would have to approve any framework, but said he was “comfortable” they would.

“We’re making some changes and adjustments in hopes of further narrowing the differences and getting closer to an outcome that both Ukraine and the United States can be comfortable with,” Rubio said. 

Rubio later Sunday said that all parties had made “great strides” on a potential peace settlement with Russia. He also said that the deadline for the parties to reach an agreement is “as soon as possible” and that the process could extend past a Thanksgiving deadline set by Trump. 

“It evolved. This is a work — this is a living, breathing document every day with input, it changes,” he said of the proposal.

Trump told reporters on Saturday that there is room for further negotiation. Asked by reporters whether the 28-point plan was his last offer, Trump replied, “No.” He added, “One way or another we’ll get it ended.”

But on Sunday, the president criticized Ukraine and its European backers, saying Ukrainian “‘leadership’ has expressed zero gratitude for our efforts” and noting that “Europe continues to buy oil from Russia.”

Asked later on Sunday whether the president still considered the Ukrainians “ungrateful,” Rubio said he believed Trump was now “quite pleased” with progress at the negotiating table.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile, said in a post to social media on Sunday that his delegation in Geneva “held a series of meetings — with the American side and with our European partners as well.”

“The delegation has just reported on the results of their discussions, and these were substantive conversations. A lot is changing — we are working very carefully on the steps needed to end the war,” Zelenskyy added. 

“It is important that there is dialogue with the American representatives and there are signals President Trump’s team is hearing us,” Zelenskyy wrote.

Speaking at a forum in Stockholm, Sweden, on Monday, the president said Kyiv will “continue working with partners, especially the United States, and look for compromises that strengthen, but not weaken us. And we will continue explaining how dangerous it is to pretend that aggression is something one can simply overlook and move on.”

In talks with the U.S. so far, Zelenskyy added, “we’ve managed to keep extremely sensitive points on the table, including the full release of all Ukrainian prisoners of war under the all-for-all formula and civilians, and the complete return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia. These are important steps, but to achieve real peace, more, more is needed.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that Russia had “not received anything official yet” regarding the outcomes of the Geneva talks.

“We are, of course, closely monitoring media reports, which have been abundant over the past few days, including from Geneva,” Peskov said.

“We have not seen any plan yet,” Peskov continued. “We have read the statement following the discussions in Geneva. Some adjustments have been made to the text we saw earlier. We will wait. Apparently, the dialogue is continuing there, and some contacts will continue. So far, I repeat, we have not received anything officially.”

On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a meeting of his Security Council that the Kremlin had received the new 28-point U.S. proposal. “I believe that it could also form the basis for a final peace settlement, but this text has not been discussed with us in detail,” Putin said.

“I believe the reason is the same: the U.S. administration has not yet managed to secure the agreement of the Ukrainian side, as Ukraine is opposed to it,” Putin added. “Apparently, Ukraine and its European allies are still under the illusion that they can inflict a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield.”

ABC News’ Joseph Simonetti contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — At least four people were killed and 17 were injured in Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv in what the local mayor called a “massive” Russian drone attack on Sunday night.

“Every night and every day bring new challenges for our city, new destructions and new work,” Mayor Ihor Terekhov said in a post to Telegram.

Kharkiv was among the targets of Russia’s latest overnight attack, which Ukraine’s air force said saw 162 drones launched into the country. Air defenses shot down or suppressed 125 drones, the air force said, with 37 craft impacting across 15 locations.

“The most damage was suffered by civilian infrastructure and private households in the Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions,” the air force said in a post to Telegram. “Unfortunately, there are civilian casualties.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces shot down at least 93 Ukrainian drones overnight.

The latest exchange of strikes came as U.S., European and Ukrainian officials met in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss the contentious 28-point American peace plan proposal put to Kyiv last week, with terms critics say would constitute a Ukrainian capitulation.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that the talks were “probably the most productive and meaningful meeting we’ve had so far in this entire process since we became involved.”

Rubio told reporters that the presidents of both countries would have to approve any framework, but said he was “comfortable” they would.

“We’re making some changes and adjustments in hopes of further narrowing the differences and getting closer to an outcome that both Ukraine and the United States can be comfortable with,” Rubio said. 

Rubio later Sunday said that all parties had made “great strides” on a potential peace settlement with Russia. He also said that the deadline for the parties to reach an agreement is “as soon as possible” and that the process could extend past a Thanksgiving deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump.

“It evolved. This is a work — this is a living, breathing document every day with input, it changes,” he said of the proposal.

Trump told reporters on Saturday that there is room for further negotiation. Asked by reporters whether the 28-point plan was his last offer, Trump replied, “No.” He added, “One way or another we’ll get it ended.”

But on Sunday, the president criticized Ukraine and its European backers, saying Ukrainian “‘leadership’ has expressed zero gratitude for our efforts” and noting that “Europe continues to buy oil from Russia.”

Asked later on Sunday whether the president still considered the Ukrainians “ungrateful,” Rubio said he believed Trump was now “quite pleased” with progress at the negotiating table.

On Monday morning, Trump hinted at headway being made. “Is it really possible that big progress is being made in Peace Talks between Russia and Ukraine???” he wrote on social media.

“Don’t believe it until you see it, but something good just may be happening,” Trump added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile, said in a post to social media on Sunday that his delegation in Geneva “held a series of meetings — with the American side and with our European partners as well.”

“The delegation has just reported on the results of their discussions, and these were substantive conversations. A lot is changing — we are working very carefully on the steps needed to end the war,” Zelenskyy added.

“It is important that there is dialogue with the American representatives and there are signals President Trump’s team is hearing us,” Zelenskyy wrote.

“Ukraine has never wanted this war, and we will never be an obstacle to peace,” the president said. “Diplomacy has been reinvigorated, and that’s good. Very good. We expect that the outcome will be the right steps. The first priority is a reliable peace, guaranteed security, respect for our people, respect for everyone who gave their life defending Ukraine against Russian aggression.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that Russia had “not received anything official yet” regarding the outcomes of the Geneva talks.

“We are, of course, closely monitoring media reports, which have been abundant over the past few days, including from Geneva,” Peskov said.

“We have not seen any plan yet,” Peskov continued. “We have read the statement following the discussions in Geneva. Some adjustments have been made to the text we saw earlier. We will wait. Apparently, the dialogue is continuing there, and some contacts will continue. So far, I repeat, we have not received anything officially.”

On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a meeting of his Security Council that the Kremlin had received the new 28-point U.S. proposal. “I believe that it could also form the basis for a final peace settlement, but this text has not been discussed with us in detail,” Putin said.

“I believe the reason is the same: the U.S. administration has not yet managed to secure the agreement of the Ukrainian side, as Ukraine is opposed to it,” Putin added. “Apparently, Ukraine and its European allies are still under the illusion that they can inflict a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield.”

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — It took an extra day, but the delegates at COP30, the U.N. annual climate conference, have reached a deal on a final agreement.

The agreement, however, falls far short of the high expectations many delegates, environmental groups and non-governmental organizations had going into the conference in Belém, Brazil.

Despite more than 80 countries calling for a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels worldwide, the primary cause of human-amplified climate change, that demand did not make it into the final text.

Although the conference took place in what’s called the “gateway to the Amazon,” the COP30 agreement also doesn’t include any significant new initiatives to stop deforestation and protect the Amazon rainforest, known as “the lungs of the planet.”

“The venue bursting into flames couldn’t be a more apt metaphor for COP30’s catastrophic failure to take concrete action to implement a funded and fair fossil fuel phaseout,” Jean Su, energy justice director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement to ABC News, referencing a fire that broke out Thursday at the COP30 venue.

“These negotiations keep hitting a wall because wealthy nations profiting off polluting fossil fuels fail to offer the needed financial support to developing countries and any meaningful commitment to move first,” she added.

Appearing to acknowledge the disappointment of some delegates and environmental and climate groups that the final agreement didn’t include the roadmaps on deforestation and fossil fuels, COP30 President André Corrêa do Lago said during his remarks during the closing plenary that he would use his authority as the COP30 president to create the roadmaps himself.

These roadmaps would not be binding, however, because they weren’t part of the approved agreement and aren’t backed by all 195 countries.

“I, as president of COP30, will therefore create two roadmaps. One on halting and reverting deforestation, another to transitioning away from fossil fuels in a just, orderly and equitable manner,” do Lago said during the final plenary session.

The World Resources Institute (WRI), an environmental research organization that sent a delegation to COP30, said that while there were some notable successes during the nearly two week conference, it didn’t deliver on what many delegates and advocates were hoping it would.

“COP30 delivered breakthroughs to triple adaptation finance, protect the world’s forests and elevate the voices of Indigenous people like never before. This shows that even against a challenging geopolitical backdrop, international climate cooperation can still deliver results,” Ani Dasgupta, the president and CEO of WRI, said in a statement to ABC News.

“But many will leave Belém disappointed that negotiators couldn’t agree to develop a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels. More than 80 countries stood their ground for a fair and equitable shift off fossil fuels, but intense lobbying from a few petrostates weakened the deal,” she added.

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) expressed disappointment that a stronger agreement couldn’t be reached but praised the delegates for making progress in some areas.

“The barely adequate outcome salvaged in the final hours of COP30 keeps the Paris Agreement alive but exposes the monumental failures of rich countries–including the United States and European Union nations–to live up to the commitments they made under that agreement,” Dr. Rachel Cleetus, senior policy director for the Climate and Energy Program at UCS, said in a statement to ABC News.

Cleetus acknowledged that the conference saw some progress in several key areas, including “a nod to tripling adaptation finance,” although she said that the specific details of how that will be implemented were left out of the text.

“On a positive note, the COP30 outcome includes a very encouraging agreement to develop a just transition mechanism to help enable a fair, funded transformation to a clean energy future with social and economic safeguards for workers and communities,” she said.

The Center for Biological Diversity praised delegates for the “establishment of a first-ever just transition mechanism for workers, Indigenous peoples and frontline communities transitioning to renewable energy economies.”

These initiatives will focus on ensuring that the shift to a low-carbon economy is fair to workers, communities, and ecosystems.

“It’s a big win to have the Belém Action Mechanism established with the strongest-ever COP language around Indigenous and worker rights and biodiversity protection,” said Su of the Center for Biological Diversity.

“The BAM agreement is in stark contrast to this COP’s total flameout on implementing a funded and fair fossil fuel phaseout,” Su added.

In his closing remarks, do Lago acknowledged that the outcomes of COP30 may disappoint many.

“I know some of you had higher ambitions,” said do Lago. “I know youth and civil society will demand we do more,” he said. “I will try not to disappoint you during my presidency.”

Next year’s COP31 will be held in Antalya, Turkey, with Australia leading the negotiations.

This rare splitting of responsibilities was part of an agreement to end a standoff between Turkey and Australia over who would host the event.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(KYIV and LONDON) — Amid a U.S.-proposed plan to end Russia’s nearly four-year war in Ukraine, the Office of the President of Ukraine said Saturday that “consultations on steps to end the war will take place in the coming days.”

“Yesterday, the President of Ukraine approved the composition of the Ukrainian delegation and the directives for the relevant talks,” the president’s office said in a statement posted on social media. “We anticipate constructive work and are ready to advance as swiftly as possible to achieve a real peace.”

“Ukraine never wanted this war and will make every effort to end it with a dignified peace,” the statement continued. “Ukraine will never be an obstacle for peace, and the representatives of the Ukrainian state will defend legitimate interests of the Ukrainian people and the foundations of European security. We are grateful for our European partners’ willingness to help.”

In another statement posted on social media Saturday, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umerov, said “we are starting consultations between high-ranking officials of Ukraine and the United States on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement in Switzerland.”

Earlier this week, the White House presented Kyiv with a new 28-point peace plan drawn up in coordination with Moscow that contains conditions that are widely seen in Ukraine as effectively demanding the country’s capitulation.

U.S. Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll and Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George led an American delegation to Kyiv on Wednesday, with a U.S. official confirming to ABC News that the group was read in on the new peace plan. The U.S. military officials are the most senior delegation to visit Ukraine since President Donald Trump took office in January.

A U.S. official told ABC News Saturday that a U.S. delegation including Driscoll, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and envoy Steve Witkoff will meet in Geneva, Switzerland, with a Ukrainian delegation.

Additionally, the official said there are plans for the U.S. delegation to hold a separate meeting with a Russian delegation. No details were provided about the location of the planned meeting with the Russians.

“Since the first days of the war, we have taken one, extremely simple position: Ukraine needs peace,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his Friday evening address. “And a real peace — one that will not be broken by a third invasion.”

Driscoll met with Zelenskyy for an hour on Thursday and discussed “a collaborative plan to achieve peace in Ukraine,” according to a U.S. official.

“This is a comprehensive plan to end the war,” the official said of the plan, which was described as a collaboration between the U.S. and Ukraine.

The plan includes a number of maximalist demands that the Kremlin has long demanded and that have been previously dismissed as non-starters for Kyiv, including that Ukraine cut its armed forced by more than half and cede swaths of territory not yet occupied by Russia, according to a Ukrainian official.

Ukraine would also be forbidden from possessing long-range weapons, while Moscow would retain virtually all the territory it has occupied — and receive some form of recognition of its 2014 seizure of Crimea under the latest proposed U.S. plan.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(BELLA COOLA, British Columbia) — Eleven people, including children, were injured in a grizzly bear attack that occurred in the small, remote community of Bella Coola in British Columbia, Canada, on Thursday, according to regional and local officials.

On Thursday at 1:46 p.m., officials said received a call about an animal attack along a trail in Bella Coola, with two ambulances and a community paramedic responding to the scene.

Seven people were treated at the scene and four patients were transported to the hospital, according to the Provincial Health Services Authority.

The British Columbia Conservation Office Service, which was deployed to the scene along with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said three children were among the injured.

Acwsalcta School, an independent school in Bella Coola run by the Nuxalk Nation, said it will be closed Friday due to the “bear incident,” adding that “it’s hard to know what to say during this very difficult time.”

The victims were part of a school group of students and teachers who stopped along a trail near the river when a grizzly bear emerged from the forest and attacked. Multiple teachers physically intervened, using bear spray and a bear banger, to drive the bear away, the BCCOS said on Friday.

Four patients remain in the hospital as of Friday, officials said.

“Our thoughts are with the victims and their families, and we wish them a full and speedy recovery,” said BCCOS Insp. Kevin Van Damme said in a statement.

Nuxalk Nation said the animal “has still not been found” after warning of an “aggressive bear” in the Four Mile subdivision, a forested and residential area in the Bella Coola Valley where Acwsalcta School is located.

Preliminary information suggests the offending bear may have been previously injured, officials said.

Officials also urged people in the area to stay indoors, warning them to not go looking for the bear and to “not go down any trails.”

British Columbia is home to an estimated 15,000 grizzly bears, which makes up more than half of the total grizzly population in Canada, according to a 2012 assessment and status report by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.

ABC News’ Will Gretsky contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(MAIDUGURI, Nigeria and LONDON) — An unknown number of students and staff were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in an attack on a Catholic boarding school in western Nigeria early Friday, authorities said.

The incident occurred before dawn, around 2 a.m. local time, at St. Mary’s School in the Papiri community of the Agwara local government area in Niger state, according to the Nigeria Police Force’s Niger State Command, which said in a statement that “armed bandits” had “abducted a yet to be ascertained number of students from the school’s hostel.”

“Police tactical units, military components and other security agencies have moved to the scene, combing the forests with a view to rescue the abducted students,” police added.

The Niger state government also confirmed in a statement that it “has received with deep sadness the disturbing news of the kidnapping of pupils from St. Mary’s School in Agwara Local Government Area,” adding that the “exact number of abducted pupils is yet to be confirmed as security agencies continue to assess the situation.”

The statement noted that the “unfortunate incident comes despite prior intelligence” warning of heightened threats in part of Niger state and the governor” ordering the temporary closure of all boarding schools within the affected zone as a precautionary measure.”

“Regrettably, St. Mary’s School proceeded to reopen and resume academic activities without notifying or seeking clearance from the State Government, thereby exposing pupils and the staff to avoidable risk,” Abubakar Usman, secretary to the Niger state government, said in the statement.

Local media reports say a roll call at the school revealed that 52 students are missing as well as a number of staff. ABC News is working to confirm this.

It’s the latest in a string of recent attacks by armed groups across Nigeria, including Monday’s kidnapping of 25 schoolgirls in nearby Kebbi state. The incidents have prompted Nigerian President Bola Tinubu to postpone planned trips abroad.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(BELLA COOLA, British Columbia) — A grizzly bear attack has been reported Thursday in the small, remote community of Bella Coola along the Central Coast of Canada’s British Columbia province, according to regional and local officials.

The British Columbia Conservation Office Service, which was deployed to the scene along with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said “initial information suggests several people may have been injured.”

Acwsalcta School, an independent school in Bella Coola run by the Nuxalk Nation, said it will be closed Friday due to the “bear incident,” adding that “it’s hard to know what to say during this very difficult time.”

Nuxalk Nation said the animal “has still not been found” after warning of an “aggressive bear” in the Four Mile subdivision, a forested and residential area in the Bella Coola Valley where Acwsalcta School is located.

Officials also urged people in the area to stay indoors, warning them to not go looking for the bear and to “not go down any trails.”

ABC News has reached out to regional and local officials for more information.

British Columbia is home to an estimated 15,000 grizzly bears, which makes up more than half of the total grizzly population in Canada, according to a 2012 assessment and status report by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(PARIS) — The director of the Louvre in Paris addressed on Wednesday a new security breach at the museum while detailing plans underway to overhaul the facility’s security system in the wake of last month’s $102 million jewel heist.

Laurence des Cars, president and director of the Louvre, appeared before the National Assembly Culture Affairs Committee and was grilled about a new security breach that occurred at the museum last week.

Lawmakers asked the director how two Belgian influencers were able to hang a portrait of themselves on Friday in a gallery housing Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa painting.

Saying she wanted to “put things in perspective,” des Cars said the security breach was one of a string of incidents that have plagued the 232-year-old museum over the years.

“We constantly have incidents in the Louvre’s galleries. Two years ago, it was activists,” des Cars, referring to environmental activists who hurled soup on paintings, a tactic other museums around the world have experienced.

She said the new security apparatus being implemented at the museum will help staff head off such incidents in the future, including the installation of what she described as anti-intrusion systems.

Des Cars said a major security improvement will be the construction of a police station on the grounds of the Louvre.

The director said the police station is among more than 20 “emergency measures” that will be put in place “in the coming days.”

She said the security measures will also include the installation of 100 new security cameras at the Louvre, including cameras to monitor the perimeter of the museum that were severely lacking during the Oct. 19 jewel heist.

The creation of a security coordinator position is also part of the security boost, des Cars said. She also said two galleries that were recently closed will get a security upgrade before they reopen.

Des Cars said the “appalling irony of the situation” is that the Louvre jewel heist occurred as many of the security improvements were being made. She said that between 2022 and 2025, 134 digital cameras were installed throughout the museum as part of a $933 million “Louvre New Renaissance” plan.

“I want to instill a genuine security culture,” said des Cars, adding that she has been calling for the security upgrades since she became the museum’s director in 2022.

Since the robbery at the Louvre, several security issues have emerged, highlighting concerns about the world’s most visited museum.

Among the revelations was that a single perimeter security camera outside the Louvre was not facing the Apollo Gallery, where the robbers used a truck-mounted mechanical cherry picker to reach the gallery and power tools to cut their way in. Earlier this month, a museum employee with knowledge of the security system revealed that the password for the museum’s video surveillance system was simply “Louvre.”

On Monday, the Louvre announced that a public gallery and several offices were being temporarily closed because they had become structurally fragile.

Four suspects have been arrested and charged in the October robbery, but the eight pieces of the French crown jewel collection swiped from the Apollo Gallery have not been recovered, authorities said.

French investigators said the jewel heist from start to getaway took seven minutes.

Prosecutors have not ruled out making more arrests in the case, but said investigators have yet to find any evidence implicating members of the museum staff in the robbery.

ABC News’ Joseph Simonetti contributed to this report.

 

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(HONG KONG) — China will suspend imports of Japanese seafood, according to ABC News partner NHK, escalating a diplomatic dispute triggered by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s recent comments suggesting Tokyo could take military action if China attacks Taiwan.

Chinese authorities said the import halt is necessary to monitor treated wastewater being released from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, according to Japanese broadcaster NHK.

China had only recently resumed buying Japanese marine products after imposing a ban when Japan began releasing the wastewater in 2023 after the Fukushima plant was damaged in the 2011 earthquake.

The move comes as tensions spike between the two countries following Takaichi’s remarks to parliament that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan — a formal classification that could justify a military response. Beijing saw this statement as a challenge to its claim of sovereignty over independent Taiwan.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Wednesday that Takaichi’s statements “fundamentally damaged the political foundation of China-Japan relations,” adding that there was “no longer a market for Japanese seafood” as a result.

Japan has since warned its citizens in China to take safety precautions and avoid crowded places. China has also advised its citizens against traveling to Japan and postponed the release of two Japanese films.

A senior Japanese official met his Chinese counterpart in Beijing on Tuesday, but the talks made no progress. Chinese diplomat Liu Jinsong later made rare comments to state media, saying he was “dissatisfied” with the meeting.

Mao warned Wednesday that “if Japan refuses to retract its remarks, or even continues to make wrong moves, China will have no choice but to take severe and resolute countermeasures, and Japan will bear all the consequences that arise.”

China has also summoned Japan’s ambassador and publicly warned that Japan would face a “crushing military defeat” if it intervened militarily in Taiwan.

The dispute marks one of the sharpest downturns in relations between China and Japan in recent years, reopening long-standing tensions over security, history and regional influence in the Indo-Pacific.

On Sunday, Chinese coast guard vessels sailed through waters surrounding a group of disputed East China Sea islands. Japan’s coast guard said it drove the ships away. The islands, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China, have long been a flashpoint, particularly since Japan nationalized them in 2012.

Japan also scrambled fighter jets Saturday after China flew a drone between Taiwan and Japan’s Yonaguni Island in a move Tokyo called provocative, though not unprecedented.

Chinese state media and diplomats have escalated rhetoric online, including one consul general who posted, and then deleted, a comment saying “the dirty neck that sticks itself in must be cut off.”

U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass weighed in on social media, criticizing Chinese officials and writing that “Halloween has been and gone” after a Chinese diplomat called Takaichi an “evil witch.”

Meanwhile, China’s travel warning for Japan has added economic pressure as Japanese tourism and retail stocks fell 5% to more than 10% just this week amid fears that a downturn in Chinese visitors, who make up roughly a quarter of all inbound tourism to Japan, could significantly affect the sector.

Japan has attempted to cool tensions by sending senior envoys to Beijing and reiterating that its stance on Taiwan and the “One China” policy has not changed but China’s foreign ministry said Premier Li Qiang does not plan to meet Takaichi during this week’s G20 summit in South Africa.

Japan ruled Taiwan for 50 years beginning in the late 19th century, leaving complex historical, cultural and economic ties.

After World War II, the island was placed under the control of China’s Nationalist government, which later fled to Taiwan after losing the civil war to the Chinese Communist Party. The Communist government in Beijing, however, claims sovereignty over the island despite having never directly governed it.

Japan today maintains unofficial relations with Taiwan but has grown more outspoken about regional security concerns. Several of Japan’s westernmost islands lie approximately 70 miles away from Taiwan.

The dispute is unfolding as competition between the United States and China has been intensifying across the Indo-Pacific as Japan hosts the largest concentration of U.S. military personnel outside the United States.

Washington’s response so far has been measured but firm after Glass’ comments condemning hostile rhetoric from Chinese diplomats as unprofessional and urging de-escalation without directly challenging China’s core claims on Taiwan.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.