Picasso Sketchbook Worth $16M Stolen in Paris

Paris Museum of Modern Art finds 5 masterpieces missing

(NEWSER) - Five paintings—including masterpieces by Matisse and Picasso—were reported missing from the Paris Museum of Modern Art this morning, the AP reports. Staff discovered that a window and padlock had been broken, and security footage shows a person climbing in through the window. The works are worth an estimated $635 million. Experts say the well-known paintings would be impossible to sell openly, and speculate they may have been stolen to order. More»

Picasso, Rousseau works vanish after Degas is stolen

(NEWSER) - Brazen thieves grabbed $1.5 million worth of paintings by Picasso, Rousseau and other artists from a home in southern France while the owner was vacationing in Sweden. Discovery of the theft in the medieval town of La Cadière d'Azur occurred less than a week after a $1.6 million Degas was stolen from the the Cantini Museum in Marseilles.The painting had been on loan from the Musée D'Orsay in Paris. More»

(NEWSER) - French cops have busted 26 people linked to the biggest jewelry heist ever in France, reports the Guardian. Police swooped in after learning that foreign buyers were about to contact the team to purchase gems lifted late last year in a brazen daylight armed robbery in Paris. The suspects, both men and women aged 22 to 67, include a security guard and several gangsters in the $100 million heist in the American gem boutique Harry Winston. Cops recovered large amounts of cash, weapons and stolen jewelry. More»

Decided to make a break for the stable

(NEWSER) - A 15-year-old Paris military horse was feeling his oats, threw his rider and tried to hot-hoof it back to his stable, reports the BBC. The horse, who had been on duty at the presidential palace, clattered full gallop along the Seine with police in pursuit, stunning pedestrians and causing drivers to jump on the brakes. The usually obedient Garibaldi was finally grabbed by a policewoman leaning from squad car window. The steed was not seriously injured, despite a nasty fall. More»

1,000 cops bust 33 for riots in raid on immigrant communities

(NEWSER) - More than 1,000 French police stormed housing projects in three largely immigrant communities outside of Paris early today and arrested 33 suspects believed linked to riots in November, AP reports. Police sources said two gang leaders in particular organized the street violence that included armed rioters in what they described as a "quasi-military operation." More»