Louvre reopens 24 hours after machete attack

Art lovers returned to the Louvre in Paris today, 24 hours after soldiers outside the museum shot and seriously wounded a machete-wielding attacker, whose condition stabilised overnight.
The incident yesterday thrust security and the terror threat back into the limelight three months before elections in France, with authorities saying it was a "terrorist" assault.
It also risked dealing another blow to Paris' lucrative tourism industry which has been badly affected by a string of attacks since 2015.
By today morning, a crowd had gathered outside the museum's main entrance as the doors re-opened to visitors at 09:30 am (local time).

"I'm quite worried about coming today, but as we weren't able to visit yesterday we decided to come back," 28-year-old Russian visitor Elena Lordugen told AFP.
As usual, soldiers with machine guns could be seen patrolling nearby with museum security staff carrying out routine bag checks.

Ali Tali, a Turkish tourist in his 40s, shrugged off their presence. "We're used these security measures in Turkey," he said.
Investigators say the attacker, who was carrying two machetes and wearing a black T-shirt with a skull design, lunged at four soldiers shouting "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greatest").
One of soldiers, who was struck on the head, was slightly injured and a second soldier opened fire, hitting the assailant in the stomach and leaving him "seriously wounded," Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said late yesterday.

Held at a Paris hospital overnight, the suspect's condition stabilised and by Saturday morning it was "no longer life-threatening", a source close to the case said today.
But he was not yet well enough to communicate with investigators.
Based on his phone and visa records, he is thought to be a 29-year-old Egyptian national living in the United Arab Emirates who entered France legally on a flight from Dubai on January 26.
Investigators believe he rented an expensive apartment near the Champs Elysees, sources close to the case told AFP.
They are examining the Twitter account of an Egyptian named Abdallah El Hamahmy after around a dozen messages were posted in Arabic just minutes before to the attack.

"In the name of Allah... For our brothers in Syria and fighters across the world," he wrote, before referring to the Islamic State jihadist group in another tweet a minute later.
Speaking to AFP in Cairo, retired police general Reda El Hamahmy said he believed the wounded suspect was his son, Abdallah, who was in Paris on a business trip.