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Trump Eyes ‘Fair’ China Trade Deal, Plays Down Taiwan Tensions
US President Donald Trump on Monday expressed confidence in reaching a fair trade agreement with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and played down the chances of a confrontation over Taiwan, even as his top trade negotiator accused China of practising “economic coercion.”
Trump suggested to reporters that China had no designs on invading Taiwan but acknowledged he expected the issue to be on the agenda at a planned meeting with Xi on the sidelines of an economic conference in South Korea next week.
Trade tensions between the US and China, the world’s two biggest economies, have lingered. Disputes over tariffs, technology and market access remain unresolved days before the meeting. Trump spoke at the start of a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese where the two signed a critical minerals agreement aimed at countering China.
Trump Says China Doesn’t Want To Invade Taiwan
Trump’s comments on Taiwan reflect one of the most sensitive issues in US-China relations. Beijing has repeatedly pressed Washington to alter the language it uses when discussing its position on Taiwanese independence.
Trump pledged to accelerate deliveries of nuclear submarines to Australia and was asked if US actions in the waters of the Indo-Pacific were a sufficient deterrent to keep Xi from invading Taiwan.
“China doesn’t want to do that,” Trump said, before boasting about the size and strength of the US military.
He added: “We have the best of everything and nobody is going to mess with that … I think we’ll end up with a very strong trade deal. Both of us will be happy.”
Greer’s Warning
But US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer took a tougher line later in the day, warning the US would respond with unspecified action to what he called a “broader pattern of economic coercion” by Beijing against firms that make strategic investments in critical US industries.
Officials in South Korea said last week that China’s sanctions on US-linked units of shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean threatened to impact ambitious plans for shipbuilding cooperation between Seoul and Washington.
“Attempts at intimidation will not stop the United States from rebuilding its shipbuilding base and responding appropriately to China’s targeting of critical industrial sectors for dominance,” Greer said in a statement.
Taiwan Could Come Up In China Talks
Asked by a reporter whether the US might adjust its position on Taiwan independence in order to reach a trade deal with China, Trump said, “We’re going to be talking about a lot of things. I assume that will be one of them, but I’m not going to talk about it now.”
Speaking in Taipei, Wang Liang-yu, head of the Taiwan foreign ministry’s North American Affairs Department, said Taiwan-US communication is “quite smooth”, and that since Trump took office, the US has repeatedly reiterated its support for Taiwan.
“The foreign ministry will continue to closely pay attention to relevant developments and will maintain communication with the US side to ensure Taiwan-US relations continue to deepen in a stable way and that our interests can really be guaranteed,” she added.
Beijing has ramped up a campaign of military and diplomatic pressure on democratically governed Taiwan, which it views as its own territory. China has never renounced the potential use of force to bring Taiwan under its control.
The United States is Taiwan’s most important international backer and arms supplier despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties. Beijing regularly denounces any shows of support for Taipei from Washington.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Takaichi, Katayama To Make History In Male-Dominated Japanese Politics
Japan’s likely next prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, is expected to name former minister Satsuki Katayama as the country’s first woman to head the finance ministry, broadcaster FNN reported, marking a powerful symbol of breaking the glass ceiling as Takaichi herself is poised to become Japan’s first-ever female prime minister later on Tuesday.
Takaichi, a hardline conservative and an acolyte of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is now almost certain to become prime minister at a parliamentary vote on Tuesday after her Liberal Democratic Party on Monday agreed to a coalition deal with the right-wing Japan Innovation Party, known as Ishin.
Historic Appointments
Takaichi’s victory will make her the first female prime minister in a country where the top echelons of politics and business are still overwhelmingly male-dominated. Her election will also likely mark a harder tack to the right in a country increasingly worried about rising prices, lacklustre growth and immigration.
Takaichi plans to appoint Katayama, a former finance ministry official-turned-lawmaker, as finance minister, broadcaster FNN reported. Katayama would become Japan’s first female finance minister. She chairs the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s research commission on the finance and banking systems.
She has a strong background in economic and finance fields, having served as minister in charge of Local Economic Revitalisation under Abe.
Positive Market Responses
Lawmakers will vote later in parliament to elect the new prime minister. With a combined 231 seats in parliament’s dominant lower house, the coalition falls two votes short of a majority. But that tally is almost certainly enough for Takaichi to win the vote.
Stock markets also reacted positively and rose further on Tuesday, boosted by hopes that Takaichi will increase government spending to revive the slow economy. Investors also remained positive, and the Nikkei share average touched another record high, showing confidence in her expected economic policies.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Ex-French President Sarkozy To Begin 5-Year Prison Term
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy is set to begin a five-year prison sentence on Tuesday for conspiring to raise illegal campaign funds from Libya — a dramatic fall from grace for a leader once known for his charisma and global stature.
Sarkozy, who was the conservative president of France between 2007 and 2012, will become the first former French leader to be jailed since Nazi collaborator Marshal Philippe Petain after World War Two.
“I’m not afraid of prison. I’ll keep my head held high, including at the prison gates,” Sarkozy told La Tribune Dimanche newspaper ahead of his incarceration.
Access To TV, Landline And Private Shower
The conviction caps years of legal battles over allegations that his 2007 campaign took millions in cash from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was later overthrown and killed during the Arab Spring uprisings.
While Sarkozy was found guilty of conspiring with close aides to orchestrate the scheme, he was acquitted of personally receiving or using the funds.
He has consistently denied wrongdoing and called the case politically motivated, saying judges were seeking to humiliate him. He has appealed, but the nature of his sentence means he must go to jail as his appeal process plays out.
The former president has already been convicted in a separate corruption case, in which he was found guilty of trying to obtain confidential information from a judge in return for career favours, serving that sentence by wearing an electronic tag around the ankle.
At La Santé prison in Paris, which in the past has housed leftist militant Carlos the Jackal and Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega, Sarkozy will likely be held in the isolation unit, where inmates are housed in single cells and kept apart during outdoor activities for security reasons.
Conditions are similar to the rest of the prison: cells measure 9 to 12 square meters and, following renovations, now include private showers.
Sarkozy will have access to a television — for a monthly fee of 14 euros — and a landline telephone.
“The Count Of Monte Cristo” On Reading List
Sarkozy told Le Figaro he would take three books for his first week behind bars, including Alexandre Dumas’ “The Count of Monte Cristo” – the story of a man unjustly imprisoned who plots his revenge against those who betrayed him.
The decision to jail a former president has sparked outrage among Sarkozy’s political allies and the far right.
A Change In Judicial Approach
However, the ruling reflects a shift in France’s approach to white-collar crime, following reforms introduced under a previous Socialist government. In the 1990s and 2000s, many convicted politicians avoided prison altogether.
To counter perceptions of impunity, French judges are increasingly issuing “provisional execution” orders — requiring sentences to begin immediately, even as appeals are pending — legal experts and politicians told Reuters.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been banned from running for office under the same “provisional execution” provision, pending an appeal early next year.
According to an October 1 Elabe poll for BFM TV, 58% of French respondents believe the verdict was impartial, and 61% support the decision to send Sarkozy to jail without waiting for the appeal.
President Emmanuel Macron, who had warm relations with Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni, said on Monday he had met Sarkozy ahead of his incarceration.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Colombia Pulls Envoy After Trump Tariff Threat, Drug Leader Remark
On Monday, Colombia recalled its ambassador from Washington after US President Donald Trump threatened to raise tariffs and stop payments, deepening a dispute over US military strikes on ships accused of carrying drugs.
Trump also called Colombia’s leftist President Gustavo Petro an “illegal drug leader” on Sunday, which Petro’s government described as offensive, marking a new low in relations between Bogota and Washington.
“Daniel Garcia-Pena, Ambassador of Colombia in the United States of America, has been recalled for consultations by President Gustavo Petro and is now in Bogota,” Colombia’s foreign ministry said. “In the coming hours the national government will inform of the decisions taken.”
Colombia’s Objection To US Strikes
Petro has objected to the US military’s strikes against vessels in the Caribbean, which have killed dozens of people and inflamed tensions in the region. Many legal experts and human rights activists have also condemned the military actions.
Trump said US financial aid to Colombia would be cut off and details about the new tariffs would be unveiled on Monday, but it was not clear what funding Trump was referring to.
Colombia was once among the largest recipients of US aid in the Western Hemisphere, but the flow of money was suddenly curtailed this year by the shuttering of USAID, the US government’s humanitarian arm.
As of late Monday evening, the Trump administration had made no tariff announcement, but Petro had held a meeting with US charge d’affaires John McNamara at the presidential palace. No details of the meeting were made available.
Colombia’s Largest Trading Partner
The oil-producing nation currently pays 10% tariffs on most imports to the US, the baseline level Trump has imposed on many countries.
The US is Colombia’s top trading partner, and shipments north account for 35% of the South American country’s exports, according to the Colombian-American Chamber of Commerce, while 70% of imports from the US are items not produced in Colombia.
Colombia’s foreign ministry has vowed to seek international support for Petro, who first rose to prominence as a senator by exposing links between right-wing paramilitary groups involved in drug trafficking and corrupt politicians, as well as for the country’s autonomy.
Petro on Sunday condemned a new bombing of a vessel which killed three people, saying the boat belonged to a “humble family,” and not the leftist National Liberation Army rebel group, as claimed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in his own comments.
‘Rude And Ignorant’
“Mr. Trump, Colombia has never been rude to the United States … but you are rude and ignorant to Colombia,” Petro said on X. “Since I am not a businessman, I am even less a drug trafficker. There is no greed in my heart.”
Petro has pledged to tame coca-growing regions in the country with massive social and military intervention, but the strategy has brought little success.
Colombia’s currency closed down 1.28% to 3,883 pesos per US dollar in trading on Monday.
Colombia, a major exporter of oil, coal, coffee, flowers and bananas, posted a $338 million trade deficit with the US between January and July, according to government statistics agency DANE.
Investors from the US invested $2.27 billion in Colombia in the first half of the year, according to central bank figures, some 34% of total foreign investment received during that period.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Russian Strike Hits Ukraine, Knocks Out Power Near Chornobyl
A fresh Russian strike on Ukraine’s Chernihiv border region on Monday disrupted power supply across northern areas, including the main town near the defunct Chornobyl nuclear plant, officials confirmed.
The local power company in the region, Chernihivoblenergo, said the latest assault targeted an energy site, but did not identify it.
Yuri Fomichev, the mayor of Slavutych, which lies 45 km (28 miles) west of the Chernobyl plant in Kyiv region, said on Telegram part of the town had lost power in the incident.
Backup Used
The town’s water supply system had been switched to reserve power and heating was uninterrupted at sites providing essential services. Emergency crews were working on restoring power supplies.
The head of Kyiv region also said emergency crews were restoring power.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports of the attack, and there was no immediate comment from Russia.
Targeting Power Grid, Gas Sector
Russian drone and missile attacks in recent weeks have focused on Ukraine’s power grid and the gas sector as winter approaches amid no letup in the more than 3 1/2-year-old war.
A barrage on Kyiv and other parts of the country earlier this month knocked out power to more than a million people.
Russian attacks this month forced Ukraine to suspend activities at several major gas facilities, leaving Kyiv in need of more imports. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that Ukraine may import gas worth around $2 billion from Europe, the United States and Azerbaijan this winter.
Chernihiv, north of the capital Kyiv, has been a frequent target of attacks, withstanding at the weekend a strike on an energy target that knocked out power to 55,000 customers.
Other towns in northern Ukraine also reported power disruptions.
An official in Izium, in northeastern Kharkiv region, said parts of his city had been plunged into darkness.
Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko on Monday discussed the resilience of Ukraine’s energy system with members of parliament as part of a new body devoted to coordinating work between the assembly, the president’s office and the government.
Ukraine has also launched its own long-range attacks on Russian energy targets, including at least 58 attacks on key sites since the start of August.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Apple Inches Closer To $4 Trillion Mark Driven By iPhone 17 Success
Apple shares soared to a record high on Monday, as strong demand for its latest iPhone pushed the tech giant closer to becoming the world’s third company to reach a $4 trillion market valuation.
Data from research firm Counterpoint showed the iPhone 17 series outperformed its predecessor in early sales in China and the United States, with the newer models out-selling the iPhone 16 series by 14% during their first 10 days of availability in the two countries.
Apple shares jumped 4.2% to $262.9, giving it a market capitalization of about $3.9 trillion and making it the second most valuable company in the world after AI-chip giant Nvidia.
Over the weekend, Evercore ISI added the stock to its Tactical Outperform List as the brokerage expects Apple to beat market expectations for the current three-month period and issue upbeat forecasts for the December quarter.
“The recent launch of online orders in China may be a positive tailwind for the Dec-qtr, as initial delivery time data reflects stronger initial demand relative to other regions at launch,” Evercore ISI analysts wrote in a note.
‘Much Better Than Anticipated’
Apple unveiled in September an upgraded line of new iPhones, including a slimmer iPhone Air, and held prices steady amid US tariff concerns.
“They rolled out the latest version of their iPhone and it’s doing much better than anticipated … the demand trends for the company’s iPhones are now on the front foot,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth.
Apple shares had struggled earlier this year on concerns over tough competition in China and uncertainties around how the company would navigate high US tariffs on Asian economies such as China and India, its major manufacturing hubs.
However, the stock has risen modestly since early August after the company pledged $100 billion in additional US investment, a move that could help it sidestep potential tariffs.
The stock is set for its biggest one-day jump in four weeks if gains hold and will be up more than 5% for the year.
Apple will report quarterly earnings after the bell on October 30.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Critical Minerals Deal Signed By US, Australia To Counter China
US President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday signed a crucial agreement on critical minerals, aimed at strengthening supply chains and reducing reliance on China. The deal, which marks a key step in strategic cooperation between the two allies, was finalised during a meeting in Washington. The otherwise formal engagement saw a moment of unease when Trump took a swipe at Australia’s envoy to the US over past criticism, briefly shifting focus from the diplomatic agenda.
China loomed large at the first White House summit between Trump and Albanese, with the US president also backing a strategic nuclear-powered submarine deal with Australia to bolster security in the Indo-Pacific.
‘I Don’t Like You Either’
While Trump and Albanese greeted each other warmly, the US president expressed ire about past criticism of him by Australia’s US ambassador Kevin Rudd, a former prime minister. Rudd in 2020 called Trump “the most destructive president in history,” later deleting the comment from social media.
Trump said he was not aware of the critical comments and asked where the envoy was now. Upon seeing him across the table, Trump said, “I don’t like you either, and I probably never will.”
The visit otherwise appeared to go smoothly, with Albanese and Trump signing a minerals deal that Trump said had been negotiated in recent months. Albanese described it as an $8.5 billion pipeline “that we have ready to go”.
A copy of the agreement released by both governments said the two countries will each invest $1 billion over the next six months into mining and processing projects as well as set a minimum price floor for critical minerals, a move that Western miners have long sought.
A White House statement on the agreement added that the investments would target deposits of critical minerals worth $53 billion, although it did not provide details on which types or locations.
“In about a year from now, we’ll have so much critical mineral and rare earths that you won’t know what to do with them,” Trump told reporters.
EXIM Announces Over $2.2 Billion In Investments
The US Export-Import Bank, which acts as the US government’s export credit agency, later announced seven letters of interest totaling more than $2.2 billion to advance critical minerals projects in Australia. It said the letters went to Arafura Rare Earths, Northern Minerals, Graphinex, Latrobe Magnesium, VHM, RZ Resources, and Sunrise Energy Metals.
EXIM said the projects span a range of critical minerals essential to advanced defence systems, aerospace components, communications equipment, and next-generation industrial technologies.
The investments would help support the re-industrialization of America’s high-tech manufacturing base, while helping to “counter China’s export dominance and ensure Western supply-chain resilience,” it said.
Gallium Refinery
Additionally, the Pentagon plans to build a gallium refinery in Western Australia. China blocked gallium exports to the United States last December.
The United States has been looking to boost its access to critical minerals around the world as China takes steps to strengthen control over global supply. Trade tensions between the United States and China have escalated ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea next week.
The term critical minerals applies to a range of minerals, including rare earths, lithium and nickel.
China has the world’s largest rare earths reserves, according to US Geological Survey data, but Australia also has significant reserves. The minerals are used for products ranging from electric vehicles to aircraft engines and military radars.
Trump Signals Support For Submarine Deal
Albanese got welcome support from Trump for the A$368 billion AUKUS agreement, reached in 2023 under then-President Joe Biden. Under the deal, Australia is to buy US nuclear-powered submarines in 2032 before building a new submarine class with Britain.
While Trump has been eager to roll back Biden-era policies, he signaled his intent to back the AUKUS submarine agreement, months after his team launched a review of the deal over concerns about the ability of the United States to meet its own submarine needs.
Navy Secretary John Phelan told the meeting the United States and Australia were working closely to improve the original AUKUS framework for all three parties “and clarify some of the ambiguity that was in the prior agreement.”
‘Full Steam Ahead’
Trump said these were “just minor details,” adding that “there shouldn’t be any more clarifications, because we’re just – we’re just going now full steam ahead, building”.
Ahead of Monday’s meeting, Australian officials emphasized that their country is paying its way under AUKUS, contributing $2 billion this year to boost production rates at US submarine shipyards, and preparing to maintain US Virginia-class submarines at its Indian Ocean naval base from 2027.
The delay of 10 months in an official meeting since Trump took office had caused some anxiety in Australia as the Pentagon urged the Australian government to increase defence spending. The two leaders met briefly on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York last month.
The rare earths agreement came a week after US officials condemned China’s expansion of rare earth export controls as a threat to global supply chains.
Resource-rich Australia, wanting to extract and process rare earths, put preferential access to its strategic reserve on the table in US trade negotiations in April.
As part of the rare earths agreement, Trump and Albanese agreed to cut permitting for mines, processing facilities and related operations in order to boost production.
The deal called for cooperation on the mapping of geological resources, minerals recycling and efforts to stop the sale of critical minerals assets “on national security grounds.”
This was an oblique reference to China, which has bought major mining assets across the planet in the past decade, including the world’s largest cobalt mine in Congo, from US-based Freeport-McMoRan in 2016.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Zelenskyy Calls Talks With Trump Productive, Cites Progress On Air Defences
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described his recent meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump as a successful one, saying it led to progress on securing additional Patriot air defence systems—an account that stands in contrast to reports suggesting Trump had lashed out at him with profanity during their White House encounter.
In comments made to media on Sunday initially off-the-record but authorised for publication on Monday, the Ukrainian leader described Trump’s message at the meeting, which ended with Trump calling for a ceasefire with forces in place, as “positive”.
As a result of Zelenskyy’s visit to Washington, Ukraine was now preparing a contract to buy 25 Patriot air defence systems, a major boost to its defences against Russian missile attacks, Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy was speaking before news organisations reported that Trump had pushed Zelenskyy to give up territory during their meeting, which sources described as more tense than initially disclosed.
Trump’s Message ‘Positive’
“After many rounds of discussion over more than two hours with (Trump) and his team, his message, in my view, is positive: that we stand where we stand on the front line,” Zelenskyy said.
Ukraine and its allies have long called for an immediate ceasefire with troops in place, while Moscow has demanded Ukraine cede further territory before it would halt fighting.
The Ukrainian President did not specify how close his country had come to signing the contract for the 25 Patriots, but he said that a great deal of time on his trip had been spent discussing the issue, including directly with Trump.
Zelenskyy did not achieve his stated aim of persuading Washington to provide Ukraine with Tomahawk cruise missiles for long-range attacks inside Russia.
Zelenskyy said he believed this was because Trump did not want to take steps that would anger Vladimir Putin shortly before a plan to meet the Russian president at a summit.
Trump-Zelenskyy Relationship
Zelenskyy has spent half a year rebuilding his relationship with Trump since a disastrous meeting in February, in which Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated the Ukrainian leader in front of cameras in the White House Oval Office.
Zelenskyy returned to the White House on Friday to meet Trump, a day after Trump spoke by telephone to Putin.
Three sources described Trump’s meeting with Zelenskyy as tense, with Trump repeatedly using profanity.
“It was pretty bad,” one of the sources said of the meeting. “The message was, ‘Your country will freeze, and your country will be destroyed'” if Ukraine doesn’t make a deal with Russia.
It was the latest apparent shift in positions for Trump, who had said for months that Ukraine must give up territory to make peace, only to describe Russia last month as a “paper tiger” and say Ukraine could potentially win back all its land.
Trump and Putin are planning to meet in Budapest, capital of Hungary, a NATO and EU member that has maintained warm relations with Moscow throughout the Ukraine war.
Zelenskyy criticised the choice of venue, suggesting that Hungary’s domestic politics had played a role in the choice: “We are talking about peace in Ukraine, not elections in Hungary”. However, he said that he would be willing to attend talks there if he were to be invited.
(With inputs from Reuters)
South Korea Tightens Security In Gyeongju Ahead Of Crucial APEC Summit
South Korea has intensified security preparations in the southeastern city of Gyeongju, the venue for next week’s annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit involving 21 member economies.
Authorities have conducted large-scale security drills and raised the national terrorism alert level in anticipation of the high-profile gathering.
Up to 18,500 police officers, SWAT teams and coast guard staff as well as anti-drone jammers, armoured vehicles and helicopters will be mobilised as international leaders gather in Gyeongju, a quiet city known for its heritage tourism.
The stakes are extra high at this year’s summit, scheduled for October 31-November 1, with U.S. President Donald Trump expected to use it to hold his first meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping since returning to the White House and instigating a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.
From October 28 to October 31 around 1,700 global industry leaders, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, will also visit the city for the APEC CEO Summit.
Security Exercises
Various security exercises took place on Monday in preparation for the meetings, with the coast guard conducting underwater search operations in Bomun Lake in the centre of the Bomun Tourist Complex, where the main event venues and luxury hotels are located.
“The coast guard is strengthening patrol and surveillance operations in the area of Bomun Lake to prevent terrorism and other illegal activities ahead of the APEC summit,” said a member of the Sea Special Attack Team.
The coast guard will also take security measures around the cruise ships docked in the nearby coastal city of Pohang to accommodate event participants.
The security operations are being led by the country’s Presidential Security Service, with the spy agency, army, police, coast guard and fire agency taking part.
Nationwide, terrorism-alert levels will be raised from “Attention” to “Caution” from Friday, the government said. In both North and South Gyeongsang provinces, including Gyeongju, the security level will be raised to “Alert”, the second highest in the four-tier system, from October 28 to November 1.
Prime Minister Kim Min-seok on Friday also ordered measures to limit any discrimination or hatred towards foreigners, in the wake of recent anti-Chinese rallies in the country.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Louvre Jewellery Heist Paints France In ‘Deplorable’ Light, Minister Says
A jewellery heist at Paris’ Louvre museum has cast France in a “deplorable” light, Justice Minister Gérard Darmanin said Monday, while opposition politicians condemned the government, calling it a national humiliation.
Thieves on Sunday broke into the Louvre, one of the world’s most famous museums, using a crane to smash an upstairs window, then stealing priceless objects from an area that houses the French crown jewels before escaping on motorbikes.
The theft, which several newspapers called the “heist of the century”, grabbed headlines globally.
“What is certain is that we failed,” Darmanin told France Inter radio, saying the heist gave a “negative” and “deplorable” image of France. “The French people all feel like they’ve been robbed.”
Emergency Meeting Over Security
The break-in raised awkward questions about security at the museum, which is home to artworks such as the Mona Lisa and which welcomed 8.7 million visitors in 2024. The museum remained closed on Monday.
The robbery took between six to seven minutes and was carried out by four people who were unarmed but who threatened the guards with angle grinders, the Paris prosecutor has said.
Darmanin said the robbers, who are still on the run, would eventually be found. But that did not soothe the anger over the theft.
This heist “is an unbearable humiliation for our country. How far will the disintegration of the state go?”, Jordan Bardella, leader of the far-right National Rally party, said on X.
Francois-Xavier Bellamy, of the conservative Republicans party, called it “a symptom of a country that cannot protect its heritage”.
The stolen jewellery included a tiara from the jewellery set of Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense, from the early 19th century, as well as an earring, part of a pair from the sapphire jewellery set of the same queens.
The crown of Empress Eugenie was found outside the museum. The thieves apparently dropped the piece, made of gold, emerald and diamonds, as they made their getaway.
The Culture and Interior Ministries were holding an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss the security of the Louvre, officials said.
Meanwhile, the museum, which had been expected to reopen on Monday, remained closed. “Due to exceptional circumstances, the Louvre Museum will remain closed today. Visitors who had booked a tour for today will be refunded,” its website said.
(With inputs from Reuters)