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The Louvre, the most-visited museum in the world, came to a halt on Monday as staff members went on strike, protesting what they described as unmanageable tourist crowds. Thousands of visitors hoping to view iconic works like the Mona Lisa faced long, stagnant lines outside the museum's famous glass pyramid entrance designed by I.M. Pei. The strike began unexpectedly after a routine staff meeting escalated into a walkout. Employees—including security personnel, ticket clerks, and gallery attendants—refused to report to their posts, citing unbearable working conditions due to excessive visitor numbers, which they said were causing significant physical stress and making it increasingly difficult to manage day-to-day operations. Japanese artist Takashi Murakami unveils major exhibit at Cleveland Museum of Art The Louvre Is Breaking Down The recent strike at the Louvre has brought renewed attention to a deepening internal crisis, reflecting concerns previously raised during staff walkouts in 2013 and 2019. However, this time, frustrations among employees appear to have reached a tipping point. The museum, which hosted more than 8.7 million visitors last year, is grappling with several critical issues. These include a lack of adequate rest areas for staff, limited on-site facilities, and an aging infrastructure that is increasingly ill-equipped to meet current demands. Louvre President Laurence des Cars has also raised alarms over the condition of the building itself. In an internal memo cited by The Washington Post, she warned that certain parts of the museum are no longer waterproof, and that extreme temperature fluctuations pose a threat to the priceless artworks. She described the present-day environment for both visitors and staff as “a physical ordeal.” The Opening Of The 'Louvre New Renaissance'The French President Emmanuel Macron recently announced a 10-year plan to fix the Louvre's problems. Macron unveiled a decade-long restoration initiative, the "Louvre New Renaissance," which promises a new entrance for the Mona Lisa - which alone draws around 20,000 visitors per day into the Salle des États, as reported by Associated Press. While the plan promises to address long-term improvements, it does not address the museum's and the staff's immediate needs. The staff called the action hypocritical as Macron promotes new projects, but little is being done to fix the problem at hand. São Paulo celebrates city art museum’s new Renoir exhibit The Louvre employees also don't want to wait years for relief. Workers argue that the state's operating subsidies for the museum have declined by over 20 percent in the last decade, but the number of visitors continues to increase.  One of the most iconic cultural spots is now caught in limbo, struggling to fix a problem that no one has a solution to, according to AP. With inputs from NDTV

Two climate activists hurled soup Sunday at the glass protecting the Mona Lisa at the Louvre Museum in Paris and shouted slogans advocating for a sustainable food system. This came amid protests by French farmers against several issues, including low wages. In a video posted on social media, two women with the words "FOOD RIPOSTE" written on their t-shirts could be seen passing under a security barrier to get closer to the painting and throwing soup at the glass protecting Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece. How genocide officially became a crime, and why South Africa is accusing Israel of committing it "What's the most important thing?" they shouted. "Art, or right to a healthy and sustainable food?" "Our farming system is sick. Our farmers are dying at work," they added. The Louvre employees could then be seen putting black panels in front of the Mona Lisa and asking visitors to evacuate the room. Paris police said two people were arrested following the incident. Protests against Germany's far right draw hundreds of thousands — in Munich, too many for safety On its website, the "Food Riposte" group said the French government is breaking its climate commitments and called for the equivalent of the country's state-sponsored health care system to be put in place to give people better access to healthy food while providing farmers a decent income. Angry French farmers have been using their tractors for days to set up road blockades and slow traffic across France to seek better remuneration for their produce, less red tape and protection against cheap imports. They also dumped stinky agricultural waste at the gates of government offices. On Friday, the government announced a series of measures that farmers said do not fully address their demands. Those include "drastically simplifying" certain technical procedures and the progressive end to diesel fuel taxes for farm vehicles. Some farmers threatened to converge on Paris, starting Monday, to block the main roads leading to the capital. German citizenship to become easier; here are the details New Prime Minister Gabriel Attal visited a farm on Sunday in the central region of Indre-et-Loire. He acknowledged farmers are in a difficult position because "on the one side we say 'we need quality' and on the other side 'we want ever-lower prices'." "What's at stake is finding solutions in the short, middle and long term," he said, " because we need our farmers." Attal also said his government is considering "additional" measures against what he called "unfair competition" from other countries that have different production rules and are importing food to France. He promised "other decisions" to be made in the coming weeks to address farmers' concerns.

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Paris, Oct 22 (AP/UNB) — Much about Leonardo Da Vinci remains an enigma: the smile of the "Mona Lisa"; why the world's most famous painter left so many works unfinished; and more recently, who bought the contentious "Salvator Mundi."

Rome. Oct. 10 (Xinhua/UNB) -- A court in the northern Italian region of Veneto has suspended a plan to loan Leonardo Da Vinci's iconic Vitruvian Man to Paris' Louvre Museum.