early hour
Tornado hits Paris suburbs leaving one dead
A tornado tore through Val-d'Oise, north of Paris, on Monday, toppling construction cranes, damaging properties and uprooting trees in its path. One person was killed and four others critically injured, authorities said. The town of Ermont, about 20 km (13 miles) northeast of Paris was hardest hit by the sudden twister, which caused damage in multiple districts. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on the X social media platform that it had been a storm of rare intensity. Drone footage shows blaze destroying the historic Bernaga Monastery in Italy.
BBC at scene of 'brazen' Louvre jewel theft
BBC at scene of'brazen' Louvre jewel theft A manhunt is under way for a gang of thieves who carried out a broad daylight raid on Paris's Louvre Museum, and stole jewels described as priceless. The gang appear to have used a mechanical ladder to reach a first-floor window, before breaking into display cases and escaping on motorbikes. The BBC's Hugh Schofield is outside the museum where the extraordinary, daring and brazen robbery took place. Drone footage shows blaze destroying the historic Bernaga Monastery in Italy. Could a Corrie cameo be on the cards for Daniel O'Donnell?
Watch: Fire at historic Italian monastery
Drone footage has emerged showing a blaze destroying the historic Bernaga Monastery in Italy. Founded in La Valletta Brianza in 1628, it is located about 30km (19 miles) east of Milan. More than 20 cloistered nuns were evacuated from the scene, according to Italian media reports. Could a Corrie cameo be on the cards for Daniel O'Donnell? Daniel O'Donnell said making a cameo on Coronation Street is on his bucket list.
Watch: Polar bears occupy abandoned Soviet-era research station
Drone footage has captured a group of polar bears living inside an abandoned research station on Russia's Kolyuchin Island. Travel blogger, Vadim Makhorov, shared video that shows several bears inside the scattered building, looking through windows and walking around the island. A bear could be seen trying to catch the blogger's drone as it approached. The Kolyuchin weather station was abandoned in the early 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russian Alexey Molchanov breaks his own 2024 world record in one of the most technically challenging freediving events.
Watch: Moment freediver sets new world record with breath-defying 126m plunge
Russian freediver Alexey Molchanov plunged 126m (413ft) in a single breath to set a new world record at the AIDA Freediving World Championships in Limassol, Cyprus. He descended deep below the Mediterranean Sea with nothing but a headlight, two fins and a rope as a guide, in a feat considered one of the most technically challenging freedive categories. Mr Molchanov broke his own 2024 world record of 125m, during which he held his breath for a staggering four minutes and 32 seconds. The BBC's Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg, reports from joint manoeuvres by Russia and Belarus, as part of the Zapad 2025 (West 2025) military drills. 'Looks like a toy, but it's real': BBC examines a downed Russian drone Drones like this one were shot down over Polish airspace in the early hours of Wednesday.
Notre-Dame's iconic towers reopen six years after fire
Notre-Dame's iconic towers reopen six years after fire The iconic Medieval towers of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris have reopened to the public, six years after a massive fire ravaged parts of the historical landmark and forced its closure. The central part of the cathedral was reopened in December 2024, but it has taken longer for Notre-Dame's twin towers to be accessible once again for visitors. A huge restoration project has taken place over the past few years to bring the cathedral back to its former glory after parts of it were substantially damaged during 2019's fire. French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday reopened the newly-restored towers to the public. The BBC's Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg, reports from joint manoeuvres by Russia and Belarus, as part of the Zapad 2025 (West 2025) military drills.
Titanic's Scottish scapegoat is CLEARED after 113 years: 3D scans confirm First Officer William Murdoch did NOT abandon his post as the ship sank
It has been 113 years since the Titanic sank beneath the waves, claiming the lives of more than 1,500 passengers and crew. But new evidence has finally cleared the tragedy's Scottish scapegoat: First Officer William Murdoch. For years, Officer Murdoch has been accused of taking bribes, abandoning his post, and was even depicted shooting a passenger in the James Cameron movie. Now, more than a century later, 3D scans show that Officer Murdoch did not flee his position, but died while helping passengers escape until the very end. Deep sea scanning company Magellan has snapped 715,000 photos of the Titanic wreck 12,500 feet beneath the Atlantic.
Huge Microsoft outage takes down Bing.com, DuckDuckGo and ChatGPT for thousands of users
A major outage struck Bing.com, Microsoft's search engine, early Thursday with the problem apparently spreading to the brand's application programming interface which means that services such as DuckDuckGo also went down. According to reports the outage also impacts ChatGPT and Ecosia. Despite Google's dominance in the world of web searching, Bing's API has numerous high profile clients. DuckDuckGo issued a brief statement on X. Users were greeted with an error page featuring a panda on Bing.com with the message: 'It's not you, it's us.' 'Announcement: We're currently experiencing an issue with DuckDuckGo Search that might prevent you from getting results.
More than 70 Russian drones hit Kyiv, wounding five: Ukrainian officials
At least five people were wounded after Russia fired more than 70 drones at Kyiv overnight, Ukrainian officials said, calling it the largest drone attack in the war so far. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the attack on the capital an act of "wilful terror", writing on the Telegram app that "the Russian leadership is proud of the fact that it can kill". The attack, which used Iranian-designed Shahed kamikaze drones, reportedly began hitting different districts of Kyiv in the early hours of Saturday, with more waves coming as the sun rose. The air raid warning lasted for six hours. Air force chief Mykola Oleschuk said 71 of the 75 drones launched at Ukraine had been downed.
Titanic remains reveal lost gold necklace made from the tooth of a megalodon
A necklace'made from the tooth of a megalodon shark' is revealed in new images from the wreckage of RMS Titanic. The stunning artefact – which has not been worn since the ship's sinking in April 1912 – was identified in footage taken last summer by Guernsey-based firm Magellan Ltd. The footage was shot during efforts to capture the first digital scans of the shipwreck, which present the wreck almost as if it's been retrieved from the water. Other objects surrounding the necklace have not been identified, although it appears to be surrounded by small ring-shaped beads. Magellan Ltd, which is working with Atlantic Productions on a documentary about last year's expedition, is prohibited from taking them from the sea floor, however.