Thieves broke into the Louvre museum in Paris and stole thousands of diamonds and other precious jewels, prompting questions about the museum’s security.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/10/20/louvre-museum-france-paris-robbery-investigation/
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner’s trip was planned in advance of Israeli strikes across Gaza, launched after two Israeli soldiers were killed and threatened the ceasefire.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/10/20/israel-gaza-ceasefire-trump-witkoff/
In an often fraught encounter, Trump told Zelensky to accept Putin’s terms to end the war, according to people familiar with the meeting.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/10/20/zelensky-trump-meeting-europe-russia/
Official data put the annual growth rate at 4.8 percent, a sobering number for Chinese Communist Party leaders as they begin an important planning meeting.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/10/20/china-economy-gdp-growth/
China, the world’s biggest importer of soybeans, has stopped buying U.S. crops to put pressure on Trump ahead of his trade-focused meeting with Xi Jinping.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/10/18/us-china-soybean-trade-war/
Aerial drones once changed the fighting in Ukraine. Now it’s explosive-laden, unmanned vehicles.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/10/20/ukraine-russia-battlefield-land-drones/
Trump says the U.S. is blowing up boats carrying deadly fentanyl to the United States. U.S. and other officials say the route under attack carries cocaine and marijuana to Europe and Africa.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/10/20/trump-attacks-venezuela-drug-boats/
Having transformed an Israeli attack on Qatari soil into diplomatic momentum for a ceasefire in Gaza, Doha is forging ahead on other thorny conflicts.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/10/20/qatar-diplomacy-gaza-ceasefire/
For all the triumphal nationalism on show at the White House, there are times when it’s unclear what American interests are boosted by Trump’s agenda.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/10/20/argentina-bailout-milei-trump-us-million/
Thieves broke into the Apollo Gallery, which houses the French crown jewels, and took with them objects adorned with thousands of diamonds.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/10/19/louvre-museum-robbery-jewels/
The Israel Defense Forces said Hamas militants fired at troops in Rafah in southern Gaza and later announced that two soldiers had been killed.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/10/19/amid-shaky-truce-israel-says-it-struck-gaza-after-hamas-attacks/
But humanitarian groups continue to face challenges in supplying assistance, including blocked roads, damaged warehouses and Israeli government restrictions.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/10/19/gaza-ceasefire-food-humanitarian-aid/
The Latin Mass has become toxically politicized and is posing a test for Pope Leo XIV as traditionalists call on him to reverse restrictions imposed by Pope Francis.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/10/19/latin-mass-pope-leo-catholic/
As Paris wrestles with ballooning debt and a budget impasse, two major Franco-German military projects and other E.U. integration initiatives could stall.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/10/19/france-political-chaos-eu-defense/
Commissioned by the Russian emperor Nicholas II, the diamond-covered Winter Egg is expected to fetch $27 million when it goes under the hammer in London on December 2https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-rare-faberge-egg-might-set-a-world-record-at-auction-for-the-third-time-in-its-history-180987537/
The temporary structures will return next month—but in the meantime, visitors will enjoy rare unobstructed views of the ancient hilltop temple in Athenshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/you-can-see-the-parthenon-without-scaffolding-for-the-first-time-in-decades-180987536/
In the two centuries since the Gothic novel's publication, the English writer's tale of a science experiment gone wrong has captivated audiences around the world and taken on a life of its ownhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/in-mary-shelleys-frankenstein-the-titular-scientist-laments-his-nightmarish-creation-but-the-real-world-cant-get-enough-of-his-monster-180987538/
You’ve got questions. We’ve got expertshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/why-did-the-us-post-office-start-airmail-so-early-and-more-questions-from-our-readers-180987469/
One author has been credited with creating the virtuous teenagers’ thrilling adventures for almost a century. But there’s a story behind that, toohttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/how-hardy-boys-cracked-case-getting-kids-hooked-reading-180987462/
Blaming the British for the destruction helped persuade some wavering colonists to back the fight for independence. But the source of the inferno was not what it seemedhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/january-1776-virginia-port-city-norfolk-set-ablaze-galvanizing-revolution-who-lit-match-180987460/