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Stolen treasures, a crown dropped as thieves fled – and serious questions for Louvre security
It is the most spectacular robbery at the Louvre museum since the Mona Lisa disappeared in 1911.
And it poses serious questions about levels of security covering French artworks, at a time when they are increasingly being targeted by criminal gangs.
According to France’s new interior minister Laurent Nuñez, the gang that broke into the Apollo Gallery on Sunday morning was clearly professional.
They knew what they wanted, had evidently “cased the joint” in advance, had a brazenly simple but effective modus operandi, and needed no more than seven minutes to take their booty and get away.
In a truck equipped with an elevating platform of the type used by removal companies, they parked on the street outside, raised themselves up to the first floor, then used a disc-cutter to enter through a window.
Inside the richly decorated gallery they made for two display-cases which contain what remains of the French crown jewels.
Most of France’s royal regalia was lost or sold after the 1789 Revolution, but some items were saved or bought back. Most of what was in the cases, though, dates from the 19th Century and the two imperial families of Napoleon and his nephew Napoleon III.
The Marie Louis necklaces and a pair of earrings were among the items stolen (BBC)
According to the authorities, eight items were taken including diadems, necklaces, ear-rings and brooches.
They had belonged to Napoleon’s wife the empress Marie-Louise; to his sister-in-law Queen Hortense of Holland; to Queen Marie-Amelie, wife of France’s last King Louis-Philippe, who ruled from 1830 to 1848; and to the empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, who ruled from 1852 to 1870.
A crown of the empress Eugénie was also taken, but was recovered damaged near the museum after the thieves seemingly dropped it.
In a statement the culture ministry said that the alarms had sounded correctly. Five museum staff who were in the gallery or nearby followed protocol by contacting security forces and protecting visitors.
It said the gang had tried to set fire to their vehicle outside but were prevented by the intervention of a museum staff-member.
The heist took place in a gallery just a short walk from some of the world’s most famous paintings – such as the Mona Lisa.
But the criminal groups that order heists like this do not target world-famous paintings that cannot ever be displayed or sold. They prefer items that can be converted into cash – and jewels top the list.
However huge their historical and cultural value, crowns and diadems can easily be broken apart and sold in bits. Even large and famous diamonds can be cut. The final sales price might not be what the original artefact was worth, but it will still be considerable.
Two recent museum thefts in France had already alerted the authorities to the growing audacity of art gangs, and a security plan drawn up by the culture ministry is gradually being put into effect across France.
Thieves attempted to take Empress Eugenie’s crown but apparently dropped it during the getaway (BBC)“We are well aware that French museums are vulnerable,” said Nuñez.
In September thieves took raw gold – in its mineral state – from the Natural History Museum in Paris. The gold was worth about €600,000 (£520,000) and will have been easily disposed of on the black market.
In the same month thieves took porcelain worth €6m from a museum in Limoges – a city once famous for its chinaware. The haul could well have been commissioned by a foreign buyer.
The Louvre contains thousands of artworks that are famous around the world, and an equal number of more obscure items that are nonetheless culturally significant.
But in its 230-year history there have been relatively few thefts – largely thanks to the tight security in place.
The most recent disappearance was of a landscape by the 19th Century artist Camille Corot. Le Chemin de Sèvres (The Road to Sèvres) was simply removed from a wall in 1998 when no-one was looking, and has not been seen since.
But by far the most famous theft was the one that took place in 1911, when Leonardo da Vinci’s La Joconde – better known now as the Mona Lisa – was taken. The culprit back then hid in a closet overnight, then was able to remove the painting from its frame, wrap it up in his smock, tuck it under his arm and walk out.
It turned out he was an Italian nationalist who wanted the artwork brought back home. It was found in Italy in 1914 and returned to the Louvre.
Unless they have a quick success in catching the thieves, today’s investigators are unlikely to be so lucky.
The first aim of the gang will be to disperse the jewels and sell them on. It will not be hard.
(BBC)
The United States military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces conducted “self-defence” strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island and “defeated multiple” Iranian missiles and drones as civilian vessels and regional allies Kuwait and Bahrain came under attack.
Kuwait’s military said air defence systems intercepted incoming drones and missiles, while Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said warning sirens were activated. Earlier, Iranian media reported that explosions were heard in the vicinity of Qeshm Island.
[Aljazeera]
In January 2024, the publication Axios reported that the United States president at the time, Joe Biden, was “running out of patience” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza had been raging for months by that point, and Biden was facing public backlash over US support for the conflict.
The assault would continue for the rest of Biden’s term and bleed into the first 10 months of Donald Trump’s second presidency.
Since then, media outlets have continued to publish anonymous accounts of rifts and “frustrating” calls between Trump and the Israeli prime minister. But US support for its Middle East ally has never wavered.
Another anonymously sourced report about a furious, expletive-laden call between US and Israeli leaders came out this week, and it spread rapidly across international media.
Axios reported on Monday that Trump called Netanyahu “f***ing crazy” and berated him over Israel’s escalation in Lebanon.
Around the same time, an Israeli attack killed six people, including two children, in the southern Lebanese town of al-Marwaniyah.
Experts say that despite leaks of feuds and harsh words between US leaders and Netanyahu, policies are ultimately what matters, and they have changed very little.
Ryan Costello, the policy director at the National Iranian American Council Action (NIAC), said political observers have grown to “mock” reports of closed-door anger from US presidents against Netanyahu.
“What’s really important is what actually happens in practice,” Costello told Al Jazeera.
Though there are reports of Trump giving Netanyahu a dressing-down, Isabelle Hayslip, an advocacy manager at the US-based rights group DAWN, said that US policy remains aligned with Israeli interests.
“Single-source reporting of Trump as a strongman who picks up the phone and yells at Netanyahu for undermining US policy is contradicted by the actual policy outcomes where Netanyahu gets exactly what he wants,” Hayslip told Al Jazeera.
“Trump has no final say over Israeli actions. Like his predecessors, the president has proved completely unable to prioritise American interests, instead catering to Israel’s expansionist whims.”
The latest report comes as Trump faces increasing pressure from his Democratic rivals and segments of his base over his handling of the war on Iran, which he launched jointly with Netanyahu on February 28.
The conflict, which saw Iran close the Strait of Hormuz, has sent gasoline prices soaring in the US and fuelled inflation.
Critics have accused Trump of allowing Israel to drag the US into a war that does not advance Washington’s priorities.
With negotiations to end the war stagnating, Israel’s escalation in Lebanon and its threat to bomb Beirut risks derailing the fragile truce that came into effect in April.
Iranian officials have suggested that they cut off contact with the US over the Israeli attacks in Lebanon.
Before the Axios report, Trump announced he had spoken to Netanyahu and an unidentified Hezbollah representative, and both sides agreed that “all shooting will stop”.
But Netanyahu was quick to assert that the Israeli military “will continue to operate as planned in southern Lebanon”, where it is deepening its invasion and turning entire towns into rubble.
Advocates say Israeli atrocities in Lebanon and across the region could not have happened without US backing.
Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, the US has provided Israel with nearly $25bn in military aid, helped fend off retaliatory Iranian attacks against the country and vetoed several ceasefire resolutions at the United Nations Security Council.
Nonetheless, anonymous accounts that the US president is angry at Netanyahu have become a regular feature in the media.
Such reports are attributed to US officials, but it is unclear how leaks with a similar message on the same topic have continued across two administrations from different political parties.
Publicly, aides of both Biden and Trump have largely refrained from criticising Israel.
Trump has regularly praised the Israeli prime minister, arguing on more than one occasion that Israel would have ceased to exist without Netanyahu’s leadership.
In December, the US president also called the Israeli prime minister a “hero” during a meeting in Florida.
“We’re with you, and we’ll continue to be with you,” Trump told Netanyahu.
Two weeks earlier, Axios reported that the White House had “scolded” Netanyahu over Israel’s ceasefire violations in Gaza.
“The White House message to Netanyahu was: ‘If you want to ruin your reputation and show that you don’t abide by agreements, be our guest, but we won’t allow you to ruin President Trump’s reputation after he brokered the deal in Gaza,” the publication quoted a US official as saying.
Few people know the exact content of high-level calls at the White House. Sometimes, top officials, including members of the National Security Council, sit in on conversations between the president and world leaders after briefings.
Negar Mortazavi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, a research nonprofit, said the leak about the tense call between Trump and Netanyahu may be aimed at making Trump look tough on Israel to quell outrage over the war.
“It could be sort of a way of moderating the anger or the blame at the US for continuing this unpopular, illegal, unnecessary war,” Mortazavi told Al Jazeera.
She added that the message it sends is, “Look, we’re very angry at Israel. We yell at them. We call them names.”
But Mortazavi stressed that policy is more important than rhetoric: “Does that change the facts on the ground?”
For his part, Costello argued that the leak was likely directed at Iran.
“I see this one primarily as a signal to the Iranians that Trump is serious, and he wants to insulate what’s happening in Lebanon and Israel’s attacks from the Iran negotiations,” Costello said.
“It remains to be seen the extent to which that excoriation has actually led to a change in Israel’s policies, and I think there is a strong incentive for continued defiance from Netanyahu.”
Axios, meanwhile, has defended its coverage.
“We stand by our reporting, which by the way noted ‘Trump and Netanyahu have had several tense calls in the past but have still coordinated closely on Iran and other issues,’” Jake Wilkins, a spokesperson for the publication, told Al Jazeera in an email.
Mortazavi warned that all sides of the war on Iran are trying to influence public perceptions of the conflict.
She pointed to recent reports that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had resigned, a rumour that was promptly denied by his office.
“This is a very hybrid war. It’s a war on the battlefield. It’s an intelligence war. It’s a war of narratives,” Mortazavi told Al Jazeera. “And then there’s also an information war, which includes disinformation, half-truths and strategic leaks.”
[Aljazeera]
Where once ODI bilaterals could have been fairly mocked for their lack of relevance, they are played less and less, and this series has a bit of heat to it. Qualification for the 2027 ODI World Cup is on the line, and both these sides know what it’s like to be left out of a major international tournament (both were missing from the last Champions Trophy, and West Indies had also not played the 2023 World Cup).
On March 31, 2027, the eight highest-ranking teams – aside from hosts South Africa and Zimbabwe – will qualify automatically for the World Cup, and teams slightly lower will have to fight their way in through a qualifier. Currently Sri Lanka are ranked sixth in ODIs, while West Indies are ninth. Both teams could do with a rankings boost.
Sri Lanka are in slightly better shape coming into this series. They have, at the very least, played ODIs this year, losing 2-1 at home to England. West Indies have lost four of their last five ODIs, and have not played the format for six months. Both teams have more or less their regular ODI troops to pick from, however. Sri Lanka’s seam stocks are in especially good health at present.
Sri Lanka’s ODI captaincy has been one of cricket’s most-puzzling roulette wheels over the past ten years. Kusal Mendis had had the job until 2024, when he was ousted with no reason provided. He has again been put in charge, perhaps with a view to him leading Sri Lanka into that 2027 World Cup campaign. There’s been little to recommend him for the role than his own buoyant batting form, however. How will he fare this time in what has turned out to be one of cricket’s most tumultuous positions?
With an average of 50.52 and 19 hundreds in this format, West Indies captain Shai Hope is the only batter in the series who can be called a reliable run machine. Hope hasn’t played competitive cricket since the T20 World Cup, but does have a decent record against Sri Lanka, against whom he has hit two ODI hundreds and four fifties. Like his opposite wicketkeeper-batter-captain Mendis, Hope will be a key figure as West Indies begin their push towards the 2027 World Cup in earnest.
West Indies will need to find a spot for Shimron Hetmyer, who is back in the ODI format. Ackeem Auguste may make way at the top of the order to allow Hetmyer back in. Gudakesh Motie will also likely lead the spin attack.
West Indies (possible): John Campbell, Shai Hope (capt.)(wk) , Keacy Carty, Shimron Hetmyer, Sherfane Rutherford, Roston Chase, Justin Greaves, Matthew Forde, Shamar Springer, Gudakesh Motie, Jayden Seales
Sri Lanka have serious decisions to make on the bowling front. In Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka, and Eshan Malinga, they have three bowlers capable of breaching 140kph.
Sri Lanka (possible): Kamil Mishara, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (capt, wk), Pavan Rathnayake, Charith Asalanka, Janith Liyanage, Kamindu Mendis, Wanindu Hasaranga, Eshan Malinga, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka
[Cricinfo]
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