In a televised address on Tuesday evening, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, said he wanted to see the Notre Dame Cathedral rebuilt within five years. French authorities have revealed that the historic building was ‘15 to 30 minutes’ away from complete destruction
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Notre Dame was ‘15 to 30 minutes’ away from complete destruction
Firefighters risked their lives to stop the raging fire spreading to the two belfry towers
Notre Dame Cathedral was within “15 to 30 minutes” of complete destruction as firefighters battled to stop flames reaching its gothic bell towers, French authorities have revealed.
A greater disaster was averted by members of the Paris fire brigade who risked their lives to remain inside the burning monument to create a wall of water between the raging fire and two towers on the west facade.
Continue reading...Notre Dame fire is devastating – but iconic cathedral will live on
Edifice joins long list of culturally significant buildings with history of destruction
The history of beloved, culturally significant buildings is inextricably connected to a history of destruction – and very often fire. Less than a century after building of the present Notre Dame began in 1163, fire damage is thought to have prompted the remodelling of parts of the cathedral. The Gothic structure replaced an earlier church that had been built on the site of a Roman temple to Jupiter. By the 19th century the building was in a state of deep neglect: almost a ruin and lacking its spire.
Related: Notre Dame Cathedral fire – a visual guide and timeline
Continue reading...Assessing the damage at Notre Dame Cathedral – in pictures
After Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral was engulfed by flames on Monday, work has begun to assess the damage to the 850-year-old building
Continue reading...Inside Notre Dame as fire swept through cathedral – video
Footage from Monday night shows firefighters surveying the damage inside Paris's fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral. A blaze swept across the top of the Paris landmark, collapsing its spire as locals and tourists watched aghast. In the interior footage, smouldering ashes can be seen, along with red embers falling from the roof.
- Notre Dame: experts assess damage after fire extinguished - live updates
- Fears over fate of Notre Dame's priceless treasures
Notre Dame fire: fears over fate of cathedral’s treasures
The 850-year old building is home to priceless works of art, statues and religious relics
On Monday night, as Notre Dame Cathedral burned, firefighters scrambled to save its precious contents.
The 850-year-old cathedral is home to priceless works of art, architecture, musical instruments, statues, woodwork and religious relics – from the 8,000-pipe great organ to Nicolas Coustou’s sculpture Descent From the Cross. A full list of the masterpieces housed in the cathedral is posted on its website.
Continue reading...Notre Dame fire: Macron pledges to rebuild devastated cathedral
Fire brought under control on Tuesday but spire of centuries-old landmark destroyed after flames burst through the roof
A fire that devastated Notre Dame Cathedral in the heart of Paris was brought under control by firefighters in the early hours of Tuesday morning, though officials warned there were still residual fires to put out.
Thousands of Parisians watched in horror from behind police cordons as a ferocious blaze devastated Notre Dame Cathedral on Monday night, destroying its spire and a large part of the roof.
Continue reading...Notre Dame through the ages – in pictures
From a 15th-century coronation of an English king, to the liberation of Paris in 1944 and this year’s yellow vest protests, the 850-year old cathedral has stood witness to the sweep of history. For many Parisians, Notre Dame is the very heart of their city. Thousands of them looked on on Monday night as a fire ravaged the Gothic monument
Continue reading...Our hearts bleed for our beloved Notre Dame | Christine Ockrent
The cathedral has always meant more than mere Gothic splendour throughout France
When the spire broke and fell over, we felt as if it was plunging straight into our hearts. To all of us in Paris, and throughout France, Christians or not, believers or non-believers, Notre Dame has always meant more than mere Gothic splendour.
Related: Notre Dame fire: Paris cathedral devastated by ferocious blaze
Continue reading...Huge fire sweeps through Notre Dame Cathedral – in pictures
Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral was engulfed in flames on Monday afternoon, causing its main spire to collapse and raising fears for the future of the 850-year-old building and its precious artworks
Continue reading...The Guardian view on the Notre Dame fire: we share France’s terrible loss
One of the great symbols of France has suffered terrible fire damage. The whole of Europe is scarred too
It feels as though the very heart of France and the soul of Europe have been suddenly and viciously ripped out. The fire that coursed through large sections of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on Monday evening was an act of blind and terrible destruction that causes a great stab of emotional pain to us all.
In a frighteningly short time, it gutted and humbled one of the great buildings of Paris, in an act of annihilation of one of the emblematic places of Europe that had survived the brutality of the French revolution and the world wars of the 20th century.
Continue reading...Video: Notre Dame’s spire collapses in huge fire
A major operation is under way by Paris firefighters after a blaze broke out at the historic Notre Dame Cathedral. Police said the fire began accidentally and was linked to building work at the site
Continue reading...Academics launch petition against ‘racist’ mural in French parliament
Mural was created in 1991 to commemorate France’s abolition of slavery in 1794
Two French academics have launched a petition to remove a parliament mural commemorating the abolition of slavery, which they said was a racist, humiliating and dehumanising depiction of black people.
Mame-Fatou Niang, associate professor of French at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and Julien Suaudeau, who lectures in Pennsylvania, said the vast mural which has hung in a corridor of a building at France’s National Assembly for 28 years should be taken down. It was created in 1991 by French artist Hervé di Rosa to commemorate France’s first abolition of slavery in 1794.
Continue reading...Macron’s tough-guy stance on Brexit is part of his political project
French president compared to De Gaulle as he seeks to get on with mission to change EU
Emmanuel Macron’s tough-guy stance at the EU summit – refusing the UK a much longer Brexit extension – was partly down to the French president’s personality, but his reasoning was political.
The 41-year-old, who stood for president without ever having run an election campaign then promised a grand plan to reform the European Union, is known for his impatience. He wants action. He likes to be centre stage.
Continue reading...Europe split over how to respond to Haftar assault on Tripoli
France blocked draft EU resolution condemning warlord and calling for his retreat from Libyan capital
European divisions over how to respond to General Khalifa Haftar’s violent assault on the Libyan capital, Tripoli, have been exposed after France blocked a draft EU resolution that would have condemned him and called for him to retreat.
France, a supporter of the warlord over the past two years, blocked the draft despite new UN figures showing 56 reported dead, hundreds injured and more than 6,000 displaced by the fighting.
Continue reading...Brexit: France and Germany split as EU leaders debate length of further article 50 extension – live news
Follow all the latest as the prime minister awaits the EU’s decision on a delay to Brexit
This is from the Telegraph’s James Crisp.
Theresa May has left the summit building for dinner. She is expected to return later.
France and Germany are understood to be at loggerheads over both the length of the extension and the conditions that the EU should put on a delay to Brexit.
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, is arguing that a short extension to 30 June is unlikely to provide enough time for the impasse in Westminster to be broken, and Berlin is seeking an extension until 31 December.
Continue reading...What does the battle for Tripoli mean for Libya and the region?
Khalifa Haftar is leading an advance on the capital, with far-ranging consequences
Libya is on the brink of an all-out civil war that will upend years of diplomatic efforts to reconcile two rival armed political factions. An advance led by Khalifa Haftar, the warlord from the east of the country, has diplomats scrambling and the UN appealing in vain for a truce. The French government, the European power closest to Haftar, insists it had no prior warning of his assault, which is now less than 20km from the capital, Tripoli. The outcome could shape not just the politics of Libya, but also the security of the Mediterranean, and the relevance of democracy across the Middle East and north Africa.
Continue reading...How the French rose up against a huge Amazon logistics centre
‘We won’t back down’: protesters express concern over pollution and protected species
For Gilles Renevier, a vet from a village south-east of Lyon, fighting Amazon’s plans to build a vast logistics centre in his area was “common sense”.
The US firm was due to begin construction of a huge centre for packing and delivery beside Lyon airport in south-east France this year, but two local associations have lodged legal files to halt the build.
Continue reading...France, Spain and Belgium ‘ready for no-deal Brexit next week’
Chance of May getting 30 June extension appear slim after notes of EU meeting emerge
France has won the support of Spain and Belgium after signalling its readiness for a no-deal Brexit on 12 April if there are no significant new British proposals, according to a note of an EU27 meeting seen by the Guardian.
The diplomatic cable reveals that the French ambassador secured the support of Spanish and Belgian colleagues in arguing that there should only be, at most, a short article 50 extension to avoid an instant financial crisis, saying: “We could probably extend for a couple of weeks to prepare ourselves in the markets.”
Continue reading...As the credits roll on Algeria’s dictator, a timely reminder of why history must not be repeated
The screening of a 1966 film about their country’s bitter colonial conflict has seen Algerians unite in peaceful protest
More than half a century since it was released – and promptly banned by French authorities – The Battle of Algiers, depicting the bloody struggle for Algeria’s independence from France in 1962, still has the power to shock.
On Friday night, the black-and-white, 1966 film relating Algerian anti-colonial guerrilla warfare and its brutal repression by the French military was screened in Paris. London-based musical activists Asian Dub Foundation (ADF) performed a live soundtrack.
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