Tuesday, November 25, 2025

BIG Wrap

Two arrested over theft of jewels at Louvre

(BBC News) Two suspects have been arrested over the theft of precious crown jewels from Paris's Louvre museum, French media say. The Paris prosecutor's office said one of the men had been taken into custody as he was preparing to take a flight from Charles de Gaulle Airport. Items worth $102 million were taken from the world's most-visited museum last Sunday, when four thieves wielding power tools broke into the building in broad daylight. France's justice minister...

Battle for Sudan’s el-Fasher intensifies as RSF claims seizing army HQ

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Fighting has intensified in Sudan’s besieged city of el-Fasher in North Darfur, as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group claimed it had captured a government-aligned Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) base seen as their last stronghold in the western region. An RSF spokesperson said in a statement on Sunday that its forces “managed to liberate the 6th Division in El Fasher, breaking the back of the army and its allies by establishing full...

Venezuela’s Maduro says U.S. ‘fabricating war’ as it deploys world’s largest warship

(BBC News) Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro has accused the US of "fabricating a new war", after it ordered the world's largest warship to be sent to the Caribbean. The USS Gerald R Ford can carry up to 90 aircraft, and its deployment marks a massive increase in US firepower in the region. The US has conducted 10 air strikes on vessels in the area as part of what it says is a war on drug traffickers. US...

Connolly wins Ireland’s presidential election in landslide

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Left-wing independent candidate Catherine Connolly has won Ireland's presidential election, securing 63 percent of the vote to defeat her centre-right rival. Connolly, 68, was officially declared the winner of Friday’s vote after all 43 constituencies finished counting ballots on Saturday evening. “I will be a president who listens, who reflects and who speaks when it’s necessary,” Connelly said in a speech at Dublin Castle. “Together we can shape a new republic that values...

U.S. says six killed in new strike on alleged drug boat in Caribbean

(BBC News) US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday that the US had carried out another strike against a ship alleged to belong to drug traffickers. The operation took place in the Caribbean Sea, against a group Hegseth identified as the Tren de Aragua criminal organisation. Hegseth said "six male narco-terrorists" were on board and killed. The US has carried out a series of strikes on ships in the region, in what President Donald Trump has described as an...

Why has Trump ended trade talks with Canada over Reagan advertisement?

(Al Jazeera Media Network) An advertisement released in the United States by Canada’s biggest province featuring former US President Ronald Reagan has set off new tensions between Washington and Ottawa, which already had icy relations over President Donald Trump’s tariff policy. In a post on Truth Social on Thursday night, Trump claimed that the advertisement – which shows Reagan, a fellow Republican, speaking negatively about tariffs as an economic policy – was “fake”. He cited...

Vance and Rubio criticize Israeli vote on West Bank annexation

(BBC News) US Vice-President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have criticized a move by Israel's parliament towards annexation of the occupied West Bank. On Wednesday, far-right politicians in the Knesset took the symbolic step of giving preliminary approval to a bill applying Israeli law in the territory, which the Palestinians claim as part of a hoped-for independent state. At the end of a trip to Israel, Vance branded it a "very stupid political...

NBA-related arrests rise above 30 in FBI crackdown on illegal gambling

(Al Jazeera Media Network) More than 30 people have been charged on Thursday, including Chauncey Billups, an NBA Hall of Fame player and head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, and Terry Rozier, a guard with the Miami Heat, in connection with two separate but related federal gambling investigations that involved the league and the mafia. The schemes – one of them focused on insider sports betting and another that rigged poker games nationwide – spanned...

Chess federation looking into Vladimir Kramnik’s public attacks on grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky prior to his death at 29

(BBC News) The world chess federation (FIDE) has said it is examining public attacks former world champion Vladimir Kramnik made against Daniel Naroditsky before the US grandmaster's death. FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky told the Reuters news agency it was "looking into" the Russian's comments accusing Naroditsky, who died this week at age 29, of online cheating. Before his death, Naroditsky denied any wrongdoing and indicated the controversy had taken its toll on him in his final Twitch broadcast. Kramnik...

Zuckerberg to testify in landmark social media trial

(BBC News) Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been ordered to testify in a landmark trial in the US over the impact of social media on young people. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Carolyn Kuhl this week rejected the argument his company, Meta Platforms, had made that an in-person appearance was unnecessary. Her order also applies to Snap boss Evan Spiegel, as well as Adam Mosseri, who leads Meta-owned Instagram. The trial, expected in January, is among...