A jewellery theft from the Louvre in Paris gave a very negative image of France as it implied a failure of security services, French Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin has said.
He admitted to security flaws in protecting the museum that had led to thieves on Sunday stealing imperial jewels in broad daylight, but said police would catch those responsible.
"What is certain is that we have failed, since people were able to park a furniture hoist in the middle of Paris, get people up it in several minutes to grab priceless jewels and give France a terrible image," he told France Inter radio on Monday.
Forensic teams are examining the site of the crime and adjoining access points while a full inventory is taken, authorities said. Officials have described the haul as of “inestimable” historical value.
It reignited a row over the lack of security in France's museums, which the country's Interior Minister Laurent Nunez acknowledged was a "major weak spot". According to the former Paris police chief, it was “clearly a team that had done their homework” as the windows were cut with a power tool.
"There are many museums in Paris, many museums in France, with priceless values in these museums," Mr Darmanin said, discussing the country’s reputation.
A global symbol of French culture, the Louvre is meant to be one of the most heavily guarded places in the capital. The museum has at times been breached, most famously in 1911 when Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa was stolen. The theft unfolded just 250 metres from where the Mona Lisa is currently hung behind bulletproof glass in a climate-controlled case.
Officials said a team of 60 investigators were working on the theory that the raid was planned and executed by an organised crime group.
The thieves arrived on powerful TMax scooters between 9.30am and 9.40am local time on Sunday, shortly after the museum opened to the public.
They used a furniture hoist to get access to the royal collection, and cutting equipment to get in through a window and open the display cases.
Culture Minister Rachida Dati said the gang broke into the Apollon Gallery – a sumptuous room on the first floor of the Petite Galerie that has housed the French crown jewels since 1887 – and that a piece of jewellery was recovered during the escape. “The vulnerability of museums is a long-standing issue,” Ms Dati said. “These museums must be adapted to new forms of crime.”
A brief clip of the raid, apparently filmed on a phone by a visitor to the museum, was broadcast on French news channels.
Alarms located on the exterior window of the Apollon Gallery and on the two display cases concerned were triggered, the ministry said. At the time of the break-in, which was “particularly quick and violent,” five museum security guards in the gallery and adjacent areas immediately intervened, it added.
The masked thieves stole nine 19th-century items of jewellery, one of which – the crown of the Empress Eugenie – was dropped and damaged as they made their escape.
The list also included a necklace containing 2,000 diamonds that Napoleon gave his wife Empress Marie Louise.
Also stolen was a necklace that once belonged to Marie-Amelie, the last queen of France. It has eight sapphires and 631 diamonds, according to the Louvre's website.
The raid took just seven minutes and was thought to have been carried out by an experienced team, possibly "foreigners", said Mr Nunez.
The intervention of the museum's staff forced the thieves to flee, leaving behind some of the equipment used in the raid, said the culture ministry.
The items would be impossible to sell on in its current state, said the president of the leading auctioneer Drouot Patrimoine, Alexandre Giquello. Recovery may prove difficult, though. “It’s unlikely these jewels will ever be seen again,” said Tobias Kormind, managing director of 77 Diamonds. “Professional crews often break down and re-cut large, recognisable stones to evade detection, effectively erasing their provenance.”
It was the first theft from the Louvre since 1998, when a painting by Corot was stolen and never seen again.
Sunday's raid relaunched a debate over what critics says is the poor security at the nation's museums, far less secure than banks and increasingly targeted by thieves.
Last month, criminals broke into Paris's Natural History Museum, making off with gold samples worth $700,000.
The same month, thieves stole two dishes and a vase from a museum in the central city of Limoges, the losses were estimated at $7.6 million.
Sunday's theft spilt instantly into politics.
"How far will the disintegration of the state go?" said far-right National Rally party leader Jordan Bardella on social media, calling the theft "an unbearable humiliation for our country".
President Emmanuel Macron said on social media that "everything is being done" to catch the perpetrators and recover the stolen treasures.
Mr Macron this year unveiled an ambitious 10-year “Renaissance” project to renovate the Louvre, which included plans to secure the museum’s premises. The Louvre is the most visited museum in the world, with about 9 million visitors per year, and often plays host to events including fashion shows and charity dinners.
The Paris public prosecutor’s office announced an investigation into organised theft and criminal conspiracy.
The specs
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Transmission: eight-speed automatic
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About Housecall
Date started: July 2020
Founders: Omar and Humaid Alzaabi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech
# of staff: 10
Funding to date: Self-funded
Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
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Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
The specs: 2019 Haval H6
Price, base: Dh69,900
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 197hp @ 5,500rpm
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Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
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BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
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White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Should late investors consider cryptocurrencies?
Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.
They do not usually recommend investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies due to the risk and volatility associated with them.
“It has produced eye-watering returns for some, whereas others have lost substantially as this has all depended purely on timing and when the buy-in was. If someone still has about 20 to 25 years until retirement, there isn’t any need to take such risks,” Rupert Connor of Abacus Financial Consultant says.
He adds that if a person is interested in owning a business or growing a property portfolio to increase their retirement income, this can be encouraged provided they keep in mind the overall risk profile of these assets.
Women’s World T20, Asia Qualifier
UAE results
Beat China by 16 runs
Lost to Thailand by 10 wickets
Beat Nepal by five runs
Beat Hong Kong by eight wickets
Beat Malaysia by 34 runs
Standings (P, W, l, NR, points)
1. Thailand 5 4 0 1 9
2. UAE 5 4 1 0 8
3. Nepal 5 2 1 2 6
4. Hong Kong 5 2 2 1 5
5. Malaysia 5 1 4 0 2
6. China 5 0 5 0 0
Final
Thailand v UAE, Monday, 7am
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
THE SPECS
Aston Martin Rapide AMR
Engine: 6.0-litre V12
Transmission: Touchtronic III eight-speed automatic
Power: 595bhp
Torque: 630Nm
Price: Dh999,563
UAE%20SQUAD
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
Muslim Council of Elders condemns terrorism on religious sites
The Muslim Council of Elders has strongly condemned the criminal attacks on religious sites in Britain.
It firmly rejected “acts of terrorism, which constitute a flagrant violation of the sanctity of houses of worship”.
“Attacking places of worship is a form of terrorism and extremism that threatens peace and stability within societies,” it said.
The council also warned against the rise of hate speech, racism, extremism and Islamophobia. It urged the international community to join efforts to promote tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
The years Ramadan fell in May
Ashes 2019 schedule
August 1-5: First Test, Edgbaston
August 14-18: Second Test, Lord's
August 22-26: Third Test, Headingley
September 4-8: Fourth Test, Old Trafford
September 12-16: Fifth Test, Oval
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Draw
Quarter-finals
Real Madrid (ESP) or Manchester City (ENG) v Juventus (ITA) or Lyon (FRA)
RB Leipzig (GER) v Atletico Madrid (ESP)
Barcelona (ESP) or Napoli (ITA) v Bayern Munich (GER) or Chelsea (ENG)
Atalanta (ITA) v Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
Ties to be played August 12-15 in Lisbon
