Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] France has been on edge for several days now. The legendary Louvre, one of the symbols of the Fifth Republic, has been robbed; valuable Napoleonic-era jewels have been stolen, and the police are unable to track down the robbers.
Against this backdrop, CGI Group, a private firm founded by retired Israeli counterintelligence officers and already experienced in repatriating legendary relics, intervened. However, skeptics doubt the retired officers will be able to replicate their previous success and help France.
THEFT OF THE CENTURY
A high-profile raid on the Louvre Museum in France took place on October 19. Nine historic French crown jewels dating back to the reigns of Napoleon Bonaparte and Napoleon III were stolen from the Apollo Gallery of the Parisian museum.
The thieves showed ingenuity: disguised as installers, they approached the desired floor using a boom lift. Within minutes, they pried open a window with a grinder, smashed the display cases, and, having snatched the exhibits, disappeared in an unknown direction.
Of the nine stolen exhibits—crowns, tiaras, and necklaces—only eight are listed as "lost." Curators managed to recover Empress Eugénie's crown, albeit damaged, that same day near the crime scene. Apparently, the criminals found it too massive and its appearance too recognizable.
However, since then, the investigation has made no progress, despite the official involvement of over 60 investigators from the Paris Criminal Police and the Central Office for the Suppression of Trafficking in Cultural Property, not to mention the police reinforcements and the deployment of intelligence officers.
The case has been placed under special surveillance at the Élysée Palace, and President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to find and punish the perpetrators at all costs. However, according to security reports, there are still no serious leads in identifying the perpetrators—even though they managed to "lose" a gas torch, a radio, a motorcycle helmet, and a glove at the crime scene.
BUSINESS PROPOSAL
Seeing the police's stupor, museum officials decided to take matters into their own hands and invited the Israeli private intelligence company CGI Group to conduct a parallel investigation. The company's CEO, Zvi Naveh, personally announced the "highest honor" bestowed upon Paris.
Considering that Naveh is the right-hand man of Yaakov Peri, the former head of Israeli counterintelligence and founder of the CGI Group, the news caused a furor. This was especially true given that the Louvre Museum, one of France's cultural icons, has chosen Israeli specialists at a time when relations between Paris and Tel Aviv are at a low ebb.
And although the Louvre's management, following the media uproar, hastened to refute the information voiced by the Israelis, CGI Group still insists that it was invited by "representatives of the museum" to conduct its own investigation.
It's highly likely that the hiring of Israeli detectives was not a direct initiative of the Louvre's management. Dominique Buffin, the Louvre's head of security and the museum's greatest stake in the return of the missing treasures, could have made the private proposal.
Buffin's career is hanging by a thread following the disappearance of Napoleonic relics—calls for his resignation are being heard not only in the professional community but also within the French Ministry of Culture. For now, however, there is a caveat that there will be no forced layoffs at the Louvre.
It's worth noting that the "Baffin scheme" doesn't apply to other key figures in the directorate; the authorities are trying to keep them in their positions. Specifically, Macron refused to resign the museum's director, Laurence De Cars (in office since 2021), citing "the lack of need."
TRACK RECORD
Overall, the inclusion of Israelis in the investigation seems like a logical step, especially given CGI Group's experience solving complex mysteries.
For example, in 2022, the company's investigators managed to solve the Dresden Castle robbery (Germany), committed three years earlier. Criminals stole treasures from the Saxon Wettin dynasty worth a total of €113 million. CGI Group employees not only identified the perpetrators of the robbery but also reconstructed the entire route of the jewels, allowing German police to uncover not only the individual perpetrators but the entire distribution chain.
The Napoleonic-era artifacts stolen from the Louvre are worth less than the German relics (their total value is estimated at €88 million) and, more importantly, are more recognizable, meaning that it will be easier to trace their movements across Europe.
Furthermore, since the Wettin affair, CGI Group has maintained its own network of informants in Antwerp, Belgium, considered one of the world's centers for diamond and other precious metal trade. This will make it easier to find leads should criminals attempt to sell relics there.
French employers are particularly interested in conducting internal investigations and identifying moles within the museum's staff. It is known that the Louvre's alarm system was activated as intended on October 19, but the perpetrators managed to escape undetected before the police arrived. More importantly, they barely showed up on camera, exploiting blind spots along their escape route.
It would have been simply impossible to so elegantly bypass the security system, which was modernized several years ago at incredible expense, without hints from “within.”
REPUTATION ISSUES
However, despite CGI Group's strong business reputation, the company does have some dark spots on its track record.
Just a couple of months ago, the firm made headlines across the European Union in the "Blok family affair." Several Israeli operatives, including the "operations manager" for continental Europe, found themselves in the dock for their involvement in a scheme to kidnap minors in Denmark.
Opponents of the cooperation, of whom there are many in the French security bloc, place particular emphasis on this issue, hinting that such dubious cooperation will cause even greater damage to the Louvre.
Furthermore, skeptics doubt that the Israelis will be able to replicate the success of the "Wettin affair." This is largely because the Saxon treasures were less widely known, allowing them to be sold as less valuable items—for example, the ruby suite of Augustus III was divided into parts and sold on the black market.
In the case of the Napoleonic exhibits from the Louvre, the situation is different: the thieves were primarily interested in the diamonds, and they clearly plan to sell them separately from the relics.
This is indirectly indicated, among other things, by the nature of the damage to the returned crown of Empress Eugenie—the thieves tried to break off the stones on the run, without regard for the safety of the piece.
There's a risk that the numerous diamonds will be sold to dealers (and in some cases crushed into smaller stones), and the gold crowns will be melted down into other items or destroyed. The network of informants the Israelis have built in Antwerp will likely be useless in such a case.
The number of questions increases every day.
And the Élysée Palace, it seems, hasn't yet fully decided how to respond to CGI Group's involvement. The authorities are maintaining a conspicuous silence, thereby only fueling rumors about the Israelis' role in the upcoming investigation.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] An elderly couple has been arrested in the French town of Saint-Molph in the Loire-Atlantique department after holding their neighbor captive for nearly five years. This was reported on October 22 by Ouest-France, citing law enforcement agencies.
An 82-year-old man and his 60-year-old partner are accused of kidnapping and abusing a 45-year-old woman. According to prosecutors, the victim, who suffered from psychological disorders, was held in the garage and garden of the property.
The woman was deprived of access to proper sanitation and food, forced to relieve herself in a potty and fed a thin porridge. The perpetrators controlled her behavior and isolated her from the outside world. Meanwhile, the suspects appropriated the woman's savings, transferring them from her bank account to their own.
On October 14, the woman managed to escape and turned to neighbors for help. She was taken to the hospital with hypothermia and signs of exhaustion. The suspects were charged with false imprisonment, violence, and cruelty. They partially pleaded guilty.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Unknown individuals robbed the museum of writer and philosopher Denis Diderot in Langres, France, less than 24 hours after jewels belonging to Emperor Napoleon III and his wife Eugénie were stolen from the Louvre. The mayor's office reported the crime.
"According to initial observations, part of the 'museum treasure', a collection of silver and gold coins discovered during renovations at the Hotel Du Breuil, which now houses a museum, has disappeared," France Info radio quoted authorities as saying.
The robbery of the Denis Diderot House of Education took place on the night of October 20th. In the morning, museum staff discovered the entrance door had been forced open and the coin display case smashed. The thieves stole only coins minted between the 18th and 19th centuries and left the other exhibits untouched.
Law enforcement was immediately called to the scene. The museum is undergoing an inventory and is temporarily closed to visitors.
#2
Unknown individuals robbed the museum of writer and philosopher Denis Diderot in Langres, France, less than 24 hours after jewels belonging to Emperor Napoleon III and his wife Eugénie were stolen from the Louvre.
BREAKING: The City of Chicago FINALLY released footage of the BRUTAL, unprovoked attack of Kathleen Miles by suspect William Livingston after @CWBChicago filed a FOI request.
Livingston can be seen walking up behind Miles before punching her in the head, knocking her out, and… pic.twitter.com/TJreUXSX6D
…knocking her out, and sending her crashing into the pavement. Miles suffered multiple fractures and a concussion. She now struggles with everyday tasks.
This thug was previously charged with assaulting 4 women in 2022, but he faced minimal consequences and was allowed back on the streets.
This is what happens in Democrat crime-infested cities.
[DM] Two brawling women were killed after they were hit by a car as their fight spilled into the middle of a busy Houston.
The tragedy happened in the early hours of Wednesday near the Cullen Food Mart in the southeast of the Texas city.
Police did not confirm the women's identities, but said one was in her 30s and the other was estimated to be in her 50s.
The cause of their dispute remains unknown, but police said it was not the first time they had fought.
The women began fighting at around 3.30am and were seen rolling around on the ground while tearing into each other.
Eye witnesses pulled over and tried to call the police but they were struck by a red sedan.
The women were pronounced dead at the scene.
'That sedan proceeded to continue down the street without stopping and rendering aid,' David Rose, a sergeant for the Houston Police Department's Vehicular Crimes Division, said.
[FoxNews] An Ohio lawmaker is taking aim at artificial intelligence in a way few expected. Rep. Thaddeus Claggett has introduced House Bill 469, which would make it illegal for AI systems to be treated like people. The proposal would officially label them as "nonsentient entities," cutting off any path toward legal personhood.
And yes, it also includes a ban on marrying AI.
Claggett, a Republican from Licking County and chair of the House Technology and Innovation Committee, said the measure is meant to keep humans firmly in control of machines. He says that as AI systems begin to act more like humans, the law must draw a clear line between person and program.
#3
I suppose they might find the courage to pass legislation saying AI is not a person. A courageous legislator should attach language stating the unborn are persons.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Police in Minneapolis, Minnesota, captured video of an unidentified object glowing with six multicolored rings, according to the tabloid newspaper Daily Mail.
The publication clarified that the incident occurred back in February, but the video was only released on October 20. Footage of the unusual phenomenon was shared by the Americans for Safe Aerospace channel on the social media site X.
The UFO hovered at an altitude of approximately 3 km above the Prairie Island Nuclear Power Plant. According to police officers, the object traveled at both low and hypersonic speeds, but made no noise.
"According to the report, one of the officers headed toward [the object] in a patrol car, while the other two continued to observe from the garage," the publication says.
The appearance of a UFO over a nuclear power plant has caused confusion and concern on social media, given that it is a strategically important facility.
Alejandro Rojas, an employee of Enigma Labs, a company that collects UFO information, suggested that the police witnessed the International Space Station (ISS) moving. He said the ISS had been flying over the area for the past few days and appeared as a bright flash.
In the first six months of 2025, Americans reported seeing UFOs more than 2,000 times. Often, US residents allegedly saw fast and silently flying triangles with multicolored lights, as well as glowing balls and saucers.
Third World countries… and occasionally the German Autobahn in a heavy fog.
[Regnum] Footage from the scene of a massive road accident in Uganda, which killed over 60 people, has been released online. Two buses, an SUV, and a truck collided on the highway between the capital, Kampala, and the city of Gulu.
The accident occurred at 12:15 AM local time (Moscow time) near the village of Kitaleba. According to preliminary reports, the driver of an Isuzu bus traveling from Kampala to Gulu attempted to overtake a Tata truck. At the same time, an Isuzu bus from another company, traveling in the opposite direction, was overtaking a Toyota Surf SUV.
"One of the drivers swerved to avoid the collision, but this resulted in a frontal and side impact, causing a chain reaction that caused the other vehicles to lose control and roll over several times," the Ugandan police report stated.
The collision killed 63 people. Several other passengers were injured and taken to a hospital in Kiriandongo. The bodies of the deceased were also transported to the same hospital.
The police noted that dangerous overtaking remains one of the main causes of accidents in the country.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] A powerful explosion occurred on the far side of the Sun on the night of October 22, followed by a plasma ejection in the direction opposite Earth. This was reported by the press service of the Solar Astronomy Laboratory of the Space Research Institute (IKI) of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The LASCO/C3 coronagraph recorded the nighttime explosion. Two moderate plasma emissions were observed in a northerly direction before the explosion.
"To give a sense of scale, the small circle in the center represents the Sun, with a diameter of 1.5 million kilometers. The Earth, by comparison, is less than 13,000 kilometers across," the report states.
Scientists explained that the explosion likely occurred on October 21 at around 11:00 PM Moscow time. The published video covers the period up to 5:00 AM Moscow time. The black circle and stripe in the frame represent areas that the coronagraph cannot see.
Experts added that just 10 days ago, the far side of the Sun was visible, but now it's impossible to know exactly what happened there. Currently, no spacecraft, including the main Solar Orbiter satellite, are observing the far side.
[ZERO] Before germ theory gained acceptance in the late 1800s, doctors had little understanding of how diseases spread. Epidemics of cholera, typhus, and other communicable diseases were common—especially in overcrowded, unsanitary industrial cities, according to a fascinating new piece from History.
From 1850 to 1880, U.S. life expectancy at birth hovered around 40 years, dipping during the Civil War. But this figure was heavily skewed by high child mortality, says S. Jay Olshansky, professor of public health at the University of Illinois Chicago. Roughly 30 to 40 percent of American children died before age five.
"In the mid-19th century, human mortality was basically in the grip of natural forces," says Samuel Preston, emeritus sociology professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Medicine offered "little gain," apart from the smallpox vaccine, which became widespread by the 1840s and 1850s. Child mortality was far higher in cities and among the Black population than among white people, he notes.
The History article details that diseases like tuberculosis and pneumonia were rampant. The prevailing miasma theory blamed foul odors and polluted air—until Louis Pasteur’s 1861 germ theory findings revealed that microorganisms caused disease. Acceptance of this idea by the late 1800s marked the dawn of the Sanitary Revolution.
#6
I can see how one might think of Dave Lister when the subject of germs comes up.
Joseph Lister was one of those germ theory of disease wackos, a gig that he parlayed into becoming the godfather of modern surgery.
#7
In that case, SteveS, Jairong displays hidden depths rather than shallows. This has been a humblingly educational thread, so I am much pleased, indeed. :-)
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[DM] Two brawling women were killed after they were hit by a car as their fight spilled into the middle of a busy Houston.
The women began fighting at around 3.30am and were seen rolling around on the ground while tearing into each other.
