Louvre and other museums closing for Saturday protests as French authorities deploy 70,000 officers

Oct. 23, 2026 at 3:06 am 

Updated Oct. 23, 2026 at 7:12 am



1 of 5 | Workers board up a storefront on the eve of a demonstration against rising living... (AP Photo/Teresa Suarez)More

By
ELITSA GADEVA and SYLVIE CORBET
The Associated Press


PARIS (AP) — Some 70,000 law enforcement officers will be deployed across France on Saturday while the Louvre and several other major Paris museums will be closed as authorities seek to prevent renewed violence during planned protests.

Protests last week devolved into mayhem, with people setting fires, storming public buildings, smashing shop windows, looting and clashing with police. It was France’s most violent unrest in years.

Demonstrators plan to take to the streets again Saturday to denounce the high cost of living. Students, members of the CGT labor union and activists from the “ yellow vest ” movement, whose demonstrations against social injustice shook France in 2018 and 2019, are all set to join.

While some protests have been banned for security reasons in several cities, including Lyon, Nice and Montpellier, marches are expected in many other places including in Paris and Marseille.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said some 70,000 police officers and gendarmes would be deployed, along with helicopters, armored vehicles and water cannons. In addition, elite police units will help secure public buildings like city halls in a “highly mobile” security operation, he said.

“There have been numerous calls from radical far-left groups on social media to commit acts of violence and vandalism. There have also been renewed calls for looting, with those messages clearly being spread by rioters,” Nuñez said at a news conference.

“We will be absolutely uncompromising” with those involved in violence, he added, warning that police will have a “very firm approach to making arrests, and there will be legal consequences.”

Paris museums to be closed

In a statement to The Associated Press, the Culture Ministry said the Louvre, the Orsay and Picasso museums as well as the Grand Palais would be closed. The ministry called on all institutions under its authority to adopt any necessary measures to ensure “visitor safety, staff protection and the preservation of artworks,” according to the statement.

After two days when admission was by invitation only, Art Basel Paris opened to the public Friday — but only for the day, with the threat of unrest prompting organizers to cancel the weekend program. One of the world’s most prestigious contemporary art fairs, Art Basel includes exhibitions by 211 international galleries at Paris’ Grand Palais.

“This decision has not been taken lightly, and the safety of everyone involved in the fair remains our utmost priority,” organizers said in a statement Thursday.

Saloni Doshi, an art collector who traveled to Paris from India for the fair, grew worried last Saturday as she saw the fires and panicked people, and she received phone calls from friends asking whether Paris was safe. She agreed with the organizers’ rationale to close.

Antoine Donzeaud and Elisa Rigoulet, the owners of the gallery exo exo, felt the same.

“We understand this decision, which we consider reasonable and consistent with the urgency of the social demands currently unfolding in France,” they said in a text message.

But some visitors were disappointed.

“It’s very sad, because we just came here to the fair, and we could not get in because they canceled it for the weekend,” said Fabián Hernández, 32, from Mexico City. “So it’s very busy today, and it’s disappointing to me because I love the art fair, you know? But it is what it is.”
An anti far-right protest is planned

A demonstration Saturday in the city of Orléans, about 110 kilometers (70 miles) south of Paris, will also be closely watched.

About 50 organizations have called for a protest against the far right on the sidelines of the two-day congress of Marine Le Pen’s nationalist, anti-immigration party ahead of next spring’s presidential election. Organizers include labor unions, left-wing political parties, student organizations and anti-racism groups.

Hugues Moutouh, the prefect of the Loiret region, said that 20,000 to 30,000 demonstrators from across the country were expected.

Le Pen, whom opinion polls place as the front-runner in next year’s election, accused left-wing organizations and political parties of trying to “disrupt a political party’s democratic congress,” on news broadcaster Franceinfo.

Still, she said she had “no concerns” about security because the government had “recognized the need for measures allowing the congress to proceed safely.”

___

Associated Press writers David Biller and Samuel Petrequin in Paris contributed to this report.

ELITSA GADEVA.
SYLVIE CORBET.

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Will CNN’s new owner want to change everything? Not for now

Oct. 2, 2026 at 6:01 am Updated Oct. 2, 2026 at 6:01 am

FILE — Anderson Cooper leads a CNN town hall at Sun Center Studios in Chester Township, Pa., Oct. 23, 2024. David Ellison is negotiating to keep CNN’s chief executive, Mark Thompson, in place without oversight from Bari Weiss,... (Erin Schaff/The New York Times)More

By
Benjamin Mullin and MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM
The New York Times

For months, skeptics of Paramount’s $111 billion deal for Warner Bros. Discovery have wondered how much David Ellison, the tech scion in charge of the combined company, might want to change CNN.

As it turns out: not much. For now, at least.

Ellison is working out a deal to keep Mark Thompson, CNN’s current CEO, in place as the network’s top leader for at least the next year, according to two people with knowledge of the talks who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the details were not yet finalized.

Under the plan taking shape, Bari Weiss, the contrarian critic of mainstream media whom Ellison picked to run CBS News, would remain in her current role as the deal closed. For the time being, she is not expected to take on editorial or operational oversight of CNN, according to one of those people and another person familiar with the negotiations.

Weiss retains the support of the Ellison family, and her role could eventually change, the two people added.

Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery will create a media giant that places CBS News and CNN, streaming services HBO and Paramount+ and two major movie studios, Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures, under the same corporate umbrella. The deal is scheduled to close next week after a legal battle that delayed its completion for several months.

In the negotiations, which are ongoing, Thompson has long insisted on preserving his authority to operate the network independently, without interference from other executives.

It is possible that Thompson and Ellison do not reach an agreement that allows him to run CNN for the foreseeable future.

Socialism didn’t die with the Soviets — Mamdani just brought it to City Hall

By Kelly Sloan
Published August 29, 2026 7:00am ET

Watching Mayor Zohran Mamdani carry on in New York, I am reminded of Lord Percy of Newcastle’s ominous definition 75 years ago of “social democracy”: “The phrase,” he wrote, “does not imply that economic activity should not continue to be based on private property; it implies only that, as a matter of legal rights, such property should be perpetually insecure.”

One would be hard-pressed to find a more apt descriptor of the current situation in New York, three-quarters of a century after Lord Percy wrote those words intended as a warning to anyone who found themselves tempted by the intoxicating effects of socialism. Indeed, the rhetoric of Mamdani and his acolytes, who are now in the process of gobbling up Democratic primary nominations around the country, suggests their intentions for private property go further than that.

One can hope that it is merely hyperbolic license on their part, but such is the bombast emanating from the faction that is ascendant within the ranks of the Democratic Party. Conventional wisdom holds that this is a political anomaly, representing an extremist fringe that is too publicly unappetizing to warrant serious consideration. And yet they are winning primary elections in the middle of the country, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) name is being invoked unironically as a possible presidential candidate, and Mamdani is the mayor of America’s largest city. So, it’s probably best not to ignore the threat.

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Minneapolis protesters smash ICE vehicles after officer shoots man attacking him with shovel

A viral image also shows a graffiti‑covered, damaged ICE vehicle on a snowy street with onlookers nearby

BY SHANMUGAPRIYA MURUGESAN

Viral videos caught Minneapolis protesters looting and damaging ICE and FBI vehicles (@nicksortor, @humanevents/X)


MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: Tensions in Minneapolis have reached a boiling point as new videos circulating online show Minneapolis protesters smashing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and FBI vehicles in the wake of a spate of shootings involving ICE agents.

The latest flashpoint comes just days after an ICE officer fatally shot 37‑year‑old Renee Nicole Good, sparking widespread outrage, and a subsequent Wednesday night (January 14) arrest operation in north Minneapolis ended with federal agents opening fire after officials say a suspect and others attacked an officer with a shovel.

Minneapolis protesters seen damaging ICE and FBI vehicles in viral videos (@nicksortor/X)
Minneapolis protesters damage ICE and FBI vehicles

Video clips shared online show Minneapolis protesters looting and damaging abandoned ICE and FBI vehicles during night protests.

In one clip, people rummage through broken windows, scattering documents, gear, and laptops across snowy streets. Another video shows protesters slashing tires and breaking windows.

In a separate clip, people surround and loot an ICE vehicle, and readable ICE operational details, including agent names, contacts, and protest‑response information, were visible and spoken aloud. A viral image also shows a graffiti‑covered, damaged ICE vehicle on a snowy street with onlookers nearby.

Minneapolis officials called for calm after a federal immigration officer shot a man. The city said on X that the man was hospitalized with injuries that do not appear to be life-threatening.

“We understand there is anger,” the city tweeted. “We ask the public to remain calm.”

Catholics in Maryland

Draft posted: 2019-02-09

On the ground from the beginning

Colonial Maryland, like its Chesapeake neighbor Virginia, was marked by slavery, but also by its distinction as a Catholic haven in British North America. George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, had been raised a Catholic, but he converted to the Church of England to pursue a life of service to King James. But, Calvert's conversion was half-hearted and he eventually reverted to Catholicism, and in the 1620s, he took up his long-held dream of helping to colonize North America with his fellow-Catholics in mind. He began by investing in an emerging Catholic colony in Newfoundland, but finding it inhospitable he set his sights on the Chesapeake. After visiting Virginia in 1629, Calvert pressed on to secure the necessary permissions from the Crown and the Privy Council to draw up a charter for Maryland. In 1631 the Privy Council embarked on the work of drawing up a charter that would grant Calvert absolute rule over the land between the Delaware Bay and the Potomac River. While charter was in preparation George Calvert died (1632), but his twenty-six year-old son, Cecil, took up his work. The younger Lord Baltimore was assisted in by Andrew White, SJ, who had been an advisor to George Calvert in planning and publicizing the venture since 1628.1

Andrew White's relationship with the Calverts assured that the English Jesuits would play a major role in the establishment of Catholic life in Maryland. In 1633, White set sail from England as one of the province's original Adventurers, leading British who were responsible for guiding expeditions of people with fewer means to populate the colony. White undertook his voyage on the Ark and Dove, bringing 26 men with him to support his mission to Christianize the territory. White's group was joined by other wealthy Adventurers and their accompanying Settlers, who were most often Protestant indentured servants. In March 1634, the vessels landed on an island in the lower Potomac, and from that spot, the Maryland Catholic community and the Society of Jesus grew up together in Lord Baltimore's North American colony.2

White's role in publicizing and recruiting colonists for the voyage ensured that he and the English Jesuits shared the interests of the wealthy Adventures who were responsible for creating the colonial community from the beginning. Despite their missionary aims for their interaction with the local native communities, the Jesuits found themselves aligned with the Catholic planter class who settled the area, rather than the burgeoning population of Protestant indentured servants who came to do the work of building the colony.

Thus, in the late 1630s, just as every other wealthy Adventurer did, the Jesuits undertook the process of claiming their land from Lord Baltimore. This early crew, Andrew White, John Altham (aka Gravenor), Thomas Copley, and Ferdinand Pulton, filed their claims as individuals rather than as an order because English, and hence Maryland, did not recognize the right of a religious order of corporate body to own property. Given that Lord Baltimore resisted the Jesuits' efforts to hold their land in common, eventually, they transferred the land rights to a layperson, Cuthbert Fenwick, to hold in trust for the order. In doing so they set into motion the process that resulted in the establishment of the first two Jesuit plantations in Southern Maryland: St. Inigoe's Manor and St. Thomas's Manor.3

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Socialist Zohran Kwame Mamdani called for ‘abolition of private property,’ resurfaced video shows

By Carl Campanile
Published July 17, 2025, 6:23 p.m. ET


New York City socialist Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani is being ripped for advocating “the abolition of private property” — as a video resurfaced of him touting the radical position this week.

“If there was any system that could guarantee each person housing — whether you call it the abolition of private property or you call it a statewide housing guarantee — it is preferable to what is going on right now,” Mamdani said in the video shared by RNC Research.

“People try to play gotcha games about these kinds of things. Look, I care more about whether somebody has a home.”

Mamdani was advocating for “the abolition of private property” in the video.x/RNCResearch

The RNC reposting of the old clip — first appearing on the “End Wokeness” group’s X site — is a strong indication that GOP officials will seek to tie Democratic opponents to Mamdani in the 2026 congressional midterm elections, especially if he wins the mayoralty.

Suggesting or supporting stripping owners of property rights without just compensation is controversial and in some instances, illegal.

Mamdani, in another resurfaced clip, talks up “seizing the means of production” — a policy long advanced by Marxists.

President Trump has called Mamdani a “communist.” He identifies as a Democratic socialist.

“Mamdani will be a gift to Republicans,” said New York State Republican Party chairman Ed Cox.

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Ownership of Churches: Congregation, Neighbors, or the City?

Christopher Lingle Janna Lu – July 22, 2023

Once a vibrant church with a storied past, West Park Presbyterian Church has found itself in a battle over property rights. Established in the Upper West Side of New York City in 1852, it supported the LGBT movement as it gained popularity in 1978, and delivered meals during the AIDS epidemic.

Now church attendance has dwindled to 12 members, and the church leaders and congregation want to sell the building and grounds. Neighbors, including some celebrities, oppose it on the grounds that the church gives value to the neighborhood and have voiced their opposition to the sale.

Since the church owns the entire property, its congregation and leadership think they should have a final say in what happens to the building. The NYC Landmark Preservation Commission, however, designated the church as a historical landmark in 2010, thereby blocking the wishes of the church leadership.

With such a small congregation they cannot afford to maintain and restore the property. As owners of the property, they want to reclaim their rights over it so they can legally trade or transfer the building.

A landmark designation “preserves and protects these properties from being demolished or significantly altered in a way that would detract from their historical or cultural value.” Built in the late 19th Century, the building has been described as “one of the best examples of a Romanesque Revival-style religious structure in New York City.”

When the Landmark Commission deliberated conferring landmark status to the church building in 2010, they believed the community would fund the needed renovations. But due to high estimates for renovation costs—the church leaders filed a petition to remove the landmark designation on hardship grounds in June 2022.

The church leadership was given an estimate for repair costs that exceed $50 million, including $17 million to repair the exterior. Over the past 7 years, the church has spent more than $1 million in repairs, funded by the sale of some assets, including a manse.

Pope decries that 'wealthy few' feast on what belongs to all

By The Associated Press

VATICAN CITY — Nov 18, 2018, 8:55 AM ET

The Associated Press


Championing the cause of the poor, Pope Francis on Sunday lamented that "the wealthy few" enjoy what, "in justice, belongs to all" and said Christians cannot remain indifferent to the growing cries of the exploited and the indigent, including migrants.

Francis invited about 6,000 poor people as well as some of the volunteers who help them to the splendor of St. Peter's Basilica where he celebrated Mass on a day the Catholic Church dedicates to the needy. Later, he sat down with 1,500 of the indigent for a lunch of lasagna, chicken, mashed potatoes and tiramisu in a Vatican auditorium.

In his homily, Francis said "we Christians cannot stand with arms folded in indifference or with arms outstretched in helplessness" about those in need. He cited the "stifled cry" of the unborn, of starving children, "of young people more used to the explosion of bombs than happy shouts at the playground."

He also drew attention to the plight of abandoned elderly, the friendless and "the cry of all those forced to flee their homes and native land for an uncertain future. It is the cry of entire peoples, deprived even of the great natural resources at their disposal."

Francis said the poor were weeping "while the wealthy few feast on what, in justice, belongs to all. Injustice is the perverse root of poverty."

"The cry of the poor daily becomes stronger but every day heard less," he said. That cry is "drowned out by the din on the rich few, who grow ever fewer and more rich," the pontiff said.

Last week, doctors, nurses and other healthworkers volunteered their time to offer medical assistance to the homeless and other need from morning till night in St. Peter's Square. The initiative reflects the Francis' determination that the Vatican promote by way of example priorities for rank-and-file faithful.

Francis said during Mass Sunday that "it is important for all of us to live our faith in contact with those in need."

Later, in remarks to pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter's Square, Francis spoke of the futility of making riches one's goal. He noted that with at the end of each life "the power of money and of economic means with which we presume with presumptuousness to buy everything and everyone won't be able to be used anymore."

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South Africa begins seizing white-owned farms

SOUTH Africa has targeted the first two farms for unilateral seizure after the owners refused an offer of one-tenth of the land’s value.

Frank Chung@franks_chung

news.com.au

August 21, 20187:36am

Video
Image


Silent slaughter - Farm attacks in South Africa





A record 400 farmers attacked in 2017, between one or two murdered a week.

March 10th 2018

5 months ago

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa. Picture: Rodger Bosch/AFPSource:AFP

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THE South African government has begun the process of seizing land from white farmers.


Local newspaper City Press reports two game farms in the northern province of Limpopo are the first to be targeted for unilateral seizure after negotiations with the owners to purchase the properties stalled.

While the government says it intends to pay, owners Akkerland Boerdery wanted 200 million rand ($18.7 million) for the land — they’re being offered just 20 million rand ($1.87 million).

“Notice is hereby given that a terrain inspection will be held on the farms on April 5, 2018 at 10am in order to conduct an audit of the assets and a handover of the farm’s keys to the state,” a letter sent to the owners earlier this year said.

Akkerland Boerdery obtained an urgent injunction to prevent eviction until a court had ruled on the issue, but the Department of Rural Development and Land Affairs is opposing the application.

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