5 d. ago LISTEN: What we know about the Louvre crown jewel heist as told by AP reporter John Leicester

In this episode of The Story Behind the AP Story, we hear from chief correspondent in Paris, John Leicester covering the Louvre heist — a stunning theft that has shaken the art world and raised questions about museum security. We break down what happened, what authorities know so far, and the big unanswered questions.

Politics

2 w. ago Louvre heist highlights thorny issue for museums: How to secure art without becoming fortresses

Many museums began reassessing security after the stunning jewelry heist at the Louvre in Paris

Politics

2 w. ago Pair arrested for Louvre robbery 'were tied to the scene by strands of their hair found in abandoned crash helmet and high

The two men, who have not been named, were taken into custody a week after the spectacular seven-minute heist at the world's most visited art museum.

Events

3 w. ago Pair arrested over Louvre £76million 'heist of the century' were trying to flee to Africa when police swooped

The men, who have not been named, were taken into custody a week after the spectacular seven-minute heist at the world's most visited art museum.

Economics

3 w. ago Brit art expert is 'convinced' he has been asked to authenticate Louvre heist jewels

Curtis Dowling said he was called by two separate people on the same day the daring museum heist took place in Paris, and was offered wads of cash to look at "some important French jewellery"

Politics

3 w. ago A film about an audacious art heist? Inside The Mastermind, the timeliest movie ever

Just days after the Louvre theft comes this drolly unconventional gallery robbery drama. Director Kelly Reichardt talks about solving crimes as a kid – and casting Josh O’Connor as a crook in autumnal knitwearThe term “cosy crime” describes the reassuring, cardigan-swaddled whodunnits that currently dominate both page and screen, but it carries different connotations for Kelly Reichardt, director of the new heist movie The Mastermind, as it surely must for anyone from a law enforcement family. Reichardt’s mother was an undercover narcotics agent, her father a crime scene detective. When the couple split up, she also gained an FBI agent as a stepfather. During weekends with her dad, who moved into a house with four other recently divorced colleagues, she would sometimes be given mysteries to solve, like some kind of junior Thursday Murder Club.“It sounds really cute,” says the 5ft-tall, 61-year-old director, whose film could not feel more timely, given the Louvre heist. “But I was on...

Culture

3 w. ago ‘A Cartier store is better protected’: Louvre heist puts spotlight on security

Securing historic public-facing buildings has never been easy, and is even less so in times of economic constraintTo break into the world’s most-visited museum in broad daylight, grab eight pieces of priceless Napoleonic jewellery and vanish into the Paris traffic on humble scooters may seem like the most audacious of crimes, carried out for international notoriety and ensuing Hollywood film treatments.Experts who observe trends in international art crime, however, see Sunday morning’s heist at the Louvre as something more prosaic: the latest in a series of smash-and-grab thefts focused more on the material value of precious stones or metals than the artifacts’ significance, continuing a pattern that has emerged over the last decade in Germany, Britain and the US. The location, they suggest, would have been of secondary concern to the criminals. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago ‘Smash, grab, melt it down’: how material value likely motivated the Louvre heist

Experts say thieves would struggle to find a buyer if the stolen goods remained intactTo break into the world’s most-visited museum in broad daylight, grab eight pieces of priceless Napoleonic jewellery and vanish into the Paris traffic on humble scooters may seem like the most audacious of crimes, carried out for international notoriety and ensuing Hollywood film treatments.Experts who observe trends in international art crime, however, see Sunday morning’s heist at the Louvre as something more prosaic: the latest in a series of smash-and-grab thefts focused more on the material value of precious stones or metals than the artifacts’ significance, continuing a pattern that has emerged over the last decade in Germany, Britain and the US. The location, they suggest, would have been of secondary concern to the criminals. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago How the Louvre’s other famous heist became part of art history

The jewellery heist at the Louvre on Sunday is only the latest in a series of thefts

Politics

4 w. ago The most famous art heists in history, from the Mona Lisa to a golden toilet

The Louvre, where jewellery was stolen on Sunday, has a long history of thefts

Politics