Reporting by Idrees Ali; editing by Grant McCool
World
US troops attacked in Iraq, Syria and on alert for more strikes
A U.S army soldier stands with his weapon at a military base in the Makhmour area near Mosul during an operation to attack Islamic State militants in Mosul, Iraq, October 18, 2016. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
WASHINGTON, Oct 19 (Reuters) – U.S. troops have been repeatedly attacked in Iraq and Syria in recent days, U.S. officials said on Thursday, as Washington is on heightened alert for activity by Iran-backed groups with regional tensions soaring during the Israel-Hamas war.
President Joe Biden has sent naval power to the Middle East in the past two weeks, including two aircraft carriers, other warships and about 2,000 Marines.
There has been an uptick in attacks on U.S. forces since the conflict in Israel broke out on Oct. 7 when Palestinian militants from Hamas attacked southern Israel. On Wednesday, a drone hit U.S. forces in Syria resulting in minor injuries, while another one was brought down.
During a false alarm at Al-Asad airbase in Iraq, a civilian contractor died from a cardiac arrest.
Earlier this week, U.S. forces thwarted multiple drones targeting troops in Iraq. On Thursday, drones and rockets targeted the Ain al-Asad air base, which hosts U.S. and other international forces in western Iraq, and multiple blasts were heard inside the base.
Rockets hit another military base hosting U.S. forces near Baghdad’s international airport, Iraqi police said on Thursday, without providing further details.
“While I’m not going to forecast any potential responses to these attacks, I will say that we will take all necessary actions to defend U.S. and coalition forces against any threat,” Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder told reporters on Thursday.
“Any response, should one occur, will come at a time in a manner of our choosing,” Ryder said.
A U.S. Navy warship traveling near Yemen on Thursday intercepted missiles and several drones that were launched by what Ryder said was the Iran-aligned Houthi movement, though it appeared that the projectiles were potentially heading in the direction of Israel.
LINK TO ISRAEL-HAMAS CONFLICT?
Israel has called up a record 360,000 reservists and has been bombarding the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip nonstop following Hamas’s Oct. 7 assault, which killed about 1,400 people, mostly civilians.
At least 3,785 Palestinians have been killed and 12,493 wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza, the health ministry in Gaza said.
But Ryder said he did not see a link between the rise in attacks and the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
“At this point, again, the information that we have does not show a direct connection to the Hamas attacks on October 7,” he said.
The United States has 2,500 troops in Iraq, and 900 more in neighboring Syria, on a mission to advise and assist local forces in combating Islamic State, which in 2014 seized swathes of territory in both countries.
In Iraq, tension over the war in Gaza had already been high. Its top Shi’ite Muslim cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, last week condemned Israel and called on the world to stand up to the “terrible brutality” in besieged Gaza.
Kataib Hezbollah, a powerful armed faction with close ties to Iran, accused the United States of supporting Israel in “killing innocent people” and said it should leave Iraq.
In past years, Iranian-backed militias in Iraq regularly targeted U.S. forces in Iraq and the U.S. embassy in Baghdad with rockets. Such attacks had abated under a truce in place since last year, and Iraq has had a period of relative calm.
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World
Guillermo del Toro Says He’d ‘Rather Die’ Than Use Generative AI in His Films: ‘Not Interested’
During a recent sit-down with NPR, Guillermo del Toro asserted that he would “rather die” than use artificial intelligence, “particularly generative AI,” in any of his future films. He compared the growing cultural fascination surrounding the controversial tech to the “arrogance” displayed by the titular literary madman in his Netflix adaptation of “Frankenstein.”
“AI, particularly generative AI — I am not interested, nor will I ever be interested,” del Toro said. “I’m 61, and I hope to be able to remain uninterested in using it at all until I croak. … The other day, somebody wrote me an email, said, ‘What is your stance on AI?’ And my answer was very short. I said, ‘I’d rather die.’”
The “Pan’s Labyrinth” director explained that the true dangers aren’t with the technology itself, but with “natural stupidity,” which could drive the mishandling of AI. He added that “natural stupidity” is what pushes “most of the world’s worst features.” He went on to connect the character of Victor Frankenstein to those at the forefront of AI development.
“I did want it to have the arrogance of Victor [Frankenstein] be similar in some ways to the tech bros,” he said. “He’s kind of blind, creating something without considering the consequences and I think we have to take a pause and consider where we’re going.”
Del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” adapted from Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel of the same name, stars Jacob Elordi, Oscar Issac, Mia Goth, Christoph Waltz and Ralph Ineson. The film comes to Netflix on Nov. 7.
World
French officials arrest multiple suspects in Louvre crown jewel heist
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Multiple suspects have been arrested in connection with the theft of crown jewels from the Louvre Museum in Paris last weekend, French officials said Sunday.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said that investigators made the arrests on Saturday evening, including one man who was taken into custody as he was about to leave the country from Charles de Gaulle airport.
Beccuau did not confirm the number of arrests, though French media BFM TV and Le Parisien newspaper earlier reported that two suspects had been arrested and taken into custody. She did not say whether the jewels had been recovered.
Thieves took less than eight minutes to steal jewels valued at 88 million euros ($102 million) — a high-profile heist that sparked a national reckoning and stunned the world.
BRAZEN LOUVRE ROBBERY CREW MAY HAVE BEEN HIRED BY COLLECTOR, PROSECUTOR SAYS
A police car parks in the courtyard of the Louvre Museum, one week after the robbery, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)
The crew of thieves used a basket lift to scale the Louvre’s façade, forced open a window, smashed display cases and fled, according to French officials. The Louvre’s director Laurence des Cars acknowledged there was a “terrible failure” in the museum’s security.
Beccuau said investigators from a special police unit in charge of armed robberies, serious burglaries and art thefts made the arrests. She said the premature leak of information could hinder the work of over 100 investigators “mobilized to recover the stolen jewels and apprehend all of the perpetrators.”
Beccuau said further details will be unveiled after the suspects’ custody period ends.

Police secured the area outside the Louvre Museum in Paris last week, where burglars used a truck-mounted moving lift to reach a second-floor window and steal royal jewelry valued at more than $100 million. (Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images)
LOUVRE DIRECTOR GRILLED ON SPECTACULAR SECURITY FAILURES, INCLUDING CAMERA POINTING AWAY FROM KEY BALCONY
French Interior minister Laurent Nunez praised the investigators for their tireless work, adding that they always had his “full confidence.”

Police officers stand near the pyramid of the Louvre Museum after the theft of crown jewels on Oct. 19, 2025. (Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)
The thieves slipped away with a total of eight objects, including a sapphire diadem, necklace and single earring from a set linked to 19th-century queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense. They also stole an emerald necklace and earrings tied to Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife, and a reliquary brooch. Empress Eugénie’s diamond diadem and her large corsage-bow brooch — an imperial ensemble of rare craftsmanship — were also part of the loot.
Eugénie’s emerald-set imperial crown with more than 1,300 diamonds was later found outside the museum, damaged but recoverable.
This is a breaking news story; check back for updates.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
World
Trump meets Brazil’s Lula at ASEAN summit, touts ‘pretty good deals’
Both countries’ negotiating teams will start ‘immediately’ to address US tariffs and sanctions, says Brazil’s President Lula.
Published On 26 Oct 2025
United States President Donald Trump and Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva have held what Brazil described as a constructive meeting on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Kuala Lumpur, raising hope for improved relations after stinging US tariffs.
Lula said the Sunday meeting with Trump – who is an ally of his political rival, embattled former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro – was “great” and added that their countries’ negotiating teams would get to work “immediately” to tackle tariffs and other issues.
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“We agreed that our teams will meet immediately to advance the search for solutions to the tariffs and sanctions against Brazilian authorities,” Lula said in a message on X following the meeting.
Trump had linked the July tariff move – which brought duties on most Brazilian goods entering the US to 50 percent from 10 percent – to what he called a “witch hunt” against Bolsonaro, far-right leader who has been sentenced to 27 years in prison for attempting a coup after losing the 2022 presidential election.
Bolsonaro’s supporters rioted in the political centre of the country’s capital, evoking a riot by Trump’s supporters in Washington, DC on January 6, two years earlier.
The US government has also sanctioned numerous Brazilian officials, including Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversaw the trial that led to Bolsonaro’s conviction.
Ahead of the meeting on Sunday, though, Trump said he could reach some agreements with Lula and expected the two countries to enjoy strong ties despite his concerns about Bolsonaro’s fate.
“I think we should be able to make some pretty good deals for both countries,” Trump said.
Lula previously described the US tariff hike as a “mistake”, citing a $410bn US trade surplus with Brazil over 15 years.
‘Conclude negotiations in weeks’
Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said that negotiations would start immediately and that Brazil had requested a pause in tariffs while talks proceed, though it was unclear whether the US had agreed.
“We hope to conclude bilateral negotiations that address each of the sectors of the current American [tariffs on] Brazil in the near future, in a few weeks,” Vieira said.
He added that Lula also offered to help mediate between the US and Venezuela, where Washington has deployed its largest warship and threatened ground strikes targeting alleged drug cartels, operations Caracas has denounced as “fabricated” pretexts for war.
Bolsonaro was not mentioned during the Trump-Lula meeting, said Marcio Rosa, the executive secretary for Brazil’s Foreign Ministry.
Higher US tariffs on Brazilian goods have begun reshaping the global beef trade, pushing up prices in the US and encouraging triangulation via third countries such as Mexico, while Brazilian exports to China continue to boom.
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