海角大神

A ladder, a furniture hoist, an angle grinder. Seven minutes, in and out.

Nothing about grand theft is meant to be amusing. But the cinematic term 鈥渂razen heist鈥� got thrown around a lot this past week in connection with the broad-daylight lifting of more than $100 million in jewels from the Louvre in Paris. All that was missing was Inspector Clouseau.

鈥淥n top of it all, they managed to drop a bejeweled crown on their way out,鈥� says Colette Davidson, whose story today looks at French reactions to the crime. An American wag pointed to the robbery鈥檚 9:30 a.m. start time as a nod to European work-life balance. For their part, without a clear reason for fear, many Parisians exhibited a sharp, dismissive strain of French humor, Colette says. 鈥淚t was almost like these robbers were a bunch of jokesters instead of a skilled gang,鈥� she adds. 鈥淓veryone found it so humorous.鈥� In generally trying times, a little culturally calibrated relief.

藴
A note: Since we switched to morning publication, with its new logistics, Mondays have not included Daily audio. Next week will be different. We鈥檙e prepping a short studio interview with Middle East correspondent Taylor Luck by our editor, Christa Case Bryant.

As always, find our latest news briefs and stories on our homepage.