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BySylvieCorbet, John Leicester and Raphael Satter The Associated Press PARIS Paris was plunged into panic Friday — again — when soldiers guarding the Louvre Museum shot an at- tacker who lunged at them with a machete and shouted "Allahu Akbar!" as the his- torical landmark went into lockdown. The threat appeared to quickly recede after the as- sailant was hospitalized, but it cast a new shadow over the city just as tourism was beginning to rebound after a string of deadly at- tacks. The timing was also unfortunate: just hours be- fore Paris finalized its bid for the 2024 Olympics. The suspect is believed to be an Egyptian national, two police union officials said, though no other infor- mation about his identity or motive was released. Anti-terrorism prose- cutors took charge of the investigation into what French President Fran- cois Hollande said was "no doubt" a terrorist attack. Police carried out raids near the tree-lined Champs- Elysees linked to the attack, which came two months af- ter authorities carried out a special anti-terrorism exer- cise around the Louvre. Friday's attack targeted an entrance to a shopping mall that extends beneath the sprawling museum, a medieval former royal pal- ace now home to the Mona Lisa and hundreds of other masterpieces. The 1,200 people inside the Louvre — one of the world's biggest tourist at- tractions — were first shut- tled into windowless rooms as part of a special security protocol before being evac- uated. The museum in central Paris remained closed for the rest of Friday but will reopen on Saturday, Cul- ture Minister Audrey Azou- lay told reporters. Hollande, at a news con- ference Malta where he was attending a European Union summit, said that while the Louvre incident was quickly contained, the overall threat to France re- mains. He said the incident showed the need for the in- creased security patrols de- ployed around France since attacks in 2015. Police union official Yves Lefebvre said the Louvre attacker was carrying two backpacks and had two machetes. He said the man lunged at the soldiers when they told him he couldn't bring his bags into the Car- rousel du Louvre shopping mall. "That's when he got the knife out and that's when he tried to stab the soldier," Lefebvre said. The four soldiers first tried to fight off the attacker before opening fire, said Benoit Brulon, a spokesman for the military force that patrols Paris and its major tourist attractions. The military patrols — numbering about 3,500 soldiers in the Paris area — were deployed following the January 2015 attacks on Paris' satirical maga- zine Charlie Hebdo and re- inforced after the Novem- ber 2015 bomb-and-gun attacks that left 130 peo- ple dead at the city's Bata- clan concert hall and other sites. Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux praised the sol- diers, saying "to wear a uni- form, as we can see in the propaganda of those who want to attack us, is to be a target." One soldier was slightly injured in the scalp, offi- cials said. Another soldier opened fire, gravely wound- ing the attacker in the stom- ach, said police chief Michel Cadot. "He is conscious and he was moving." Checks of the man's two backpacks found they didn't contain explosives, Cadot said. He said a sec- ond person who was "act- ing suspiciously" also was arrested but appeared not to have been linked to the attack. Restaurant worker Sanae Hadraoui, 32, was waiting for breakfast at a McDon- ald's in the Louvre's res- taurant complex when she heard the first gunshot, fol- lowed by another and then a couple more. "I hear a shot. Then a sec- ond shot. Then maybe two more. I hear people scream- ing, 'Evacuate! Evacuate!'" she said. "They told us to evacuate. I told my col- leagues at the McDonald's. We went downstairs and then took the emergency exit." MUSEUM VIOLENCE SoldiersthwartattackonLouvre;touristsevacuated THIBAULTCAMUS—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Police officers take position outside the Louvre museum in Paris on Friday. By Ian Deitch The Associated Press JERUSALEM Israeli set- tlers on Friday shrugged off White House criticism of settlement construc- tion, convinced they have the sympathies of Presi- dent Donald Trump. The Palestinians, still wary of Trump, warned that the set- tlers' hard-line stance could spell the end to a two-state solution to the conflict. Trump has been per- ceived as sympathetic to the settlements, an issue at the heart of the Israel- Palestinian conflict that was a frequent source of friction between Prime Minister Benjamin Netan- yahu and former President Barack Obama. Israeli na- tionalists believe they now have an ally in the White House and have made no secret they will push for more settlements in the West Bank. The White House said Thursday that although the administration doesn't "be- lieve the existence of settle- ments is an impediment to peace, the construction of new settlements or the ex- pansion of existing settle- ments beyond their current borders may not be helpful in achieving that goal." The unexpected warn- ing came hours after Ne- tanyahu vowed to establish the first new West Bank set- tlement in over two decades "as soon as possible," prom- ising to make up for a court- ordered demolition of an il- legal settlement outpost. Israeli security forces dis- mantled the West Bank out- post of Amona earlier in the day amid clashes between police and dozens of hard- line settlers who had barri- caded themselves in a syn- agogue. Oded Revivi, the chief foreign envoy of the Yesha settlers' council, said his group "thanks the White House for asserting that our communities were never an impediment to peace." Us- ing the biblical name for the West Bank, he said "nothing is more natural and morally just than Jews building in Judea." "We look forward to working closely with our friends in the new Trump administration to build a brighter future all," he added. The settler movement is a potent political force in Is- rael, and Netanyahu's nar- row nationalist coalition government is dominated by settlers and their sup- porters. The Palestinians claim all of the West Bank and east Jerusalem along with the Gaza Strip — areas cap- tured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war — for their state. The Palestinians and much of the international community consider all Is- raeli settlements illegal and view them as a hindrance to reaching a two-state so- lution to the conflict. Husam Zomlot, a spokes- man for Palestinian Presi- dent Mahmoud Abbas, said "this statement of the White House is in the right direction, but we need more than words to protect the two-state solution, other- wise we will find nothing to talk about when President Trump" unveils his policies on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "We need actions rather than words to stop the Is- raeli settlements expansion, which is violating the inter- national law and killing the two-state solution," Zomlot added. Israeli nationalists, in- cluding Netanyahu, defend the settlements on both se- curity grounds and the his- toric religious ties to the territory. They say east Je- rusalem, home to key sites sacred to Jews, Muslims and Christians, is an eter- nal part of Israel's capital and not up for negotiation. MIDDLE EAST Is ra el i se tt le rs s hr ug o ff W hi te H ou se c ri ti ci sm ODED BALILTY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Israeli police evict settlers from the West Bank settlement of Ofra Thursday following the evacuation of Amona outpost. By Maria Danilova The Associated Press WASHINGTON Betsy De- Vos moved closer toward confirmation as educa- tion secretary Friday after clearing a major hurdle in the Senate, even as Demo- crats and labor unions fer- vently sought another Re- publican vote against her. Tensions flew on the Senate floor during an early-morning session, with a senior Republican saying DeVos will make an "excellent" secretary and a top Democrat calling her "one of the worst nomi- nees." Republicans over- powered Democrats, vot- ing 52-48 to cut off debate on the nomination, setting the stage for a final vote on Tuesday. DeVos, a billionaire Re- publican donor, has faced fierce criticism from labor unions for her promotion of school choice. Demo- crats and teachers' organi- zations have accused her of seeking to dismantle pub- lic education and divert taxpayer money to charter schools and private school vouchers. Two Republican sen- ators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, have said they would vote against her nomination, and others are being bombarded by phone calls and letters from par- ents and teachers across the country. If all Demo- crats vote against her and no other Republicans dis- sent, Vice President Mike Pence would have to break a 50-50 tie to gain DeVos' confirmation. Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, chairman of the Health, Education, La- bor and Pensions Commit- tee, praised DeVos's work in reforming the school system through charter schools. "Teachers have more freedom and parents have more choices, they are pub- lic schools and Betsy Devos is in the forefront of help- ing create that opportu- nity for public education," Alexander said shortly af- ter Friday's vote limiting debate. 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