Images of Notre Dame being apocalyptically consumed by flames must have induced queasiness in the members of the fire safety teams who patrol Westminster’s labyrinthine corridors every hour of every day, ready to stave off incipient catastrophe.
Replica clock find sparks hope
The ruined clock in Notre-Dame crashed down in the blaze that stunned France in April. With original drawings lost and no digital records, photographs of the historic clock were the only clue experts had about how they might rebuild it. But now there is a find.
https://www.france24.com/en/20190625-replica-clock-find-sparks-hope-notre-dame-restoration
Climate change? French record
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As I’m in France I know about this first-hand. It’s hot, very hot.
But at least something from Notre Dame may survive humanity.
Now Notre Dame has building noise instead of music
Something is missing now at the moment.
https://aleteia.org/2019/06/28/lamenting-the-loss-of-notre-dames-acoustics/
Cigarette or electrical malfunction may have been to blame for the fire
A preliminary investigation found no evidence to suggest that the April fire that gutted large parts of Notre Dame Cathedral was criminal, the prosecutor’s office has said.
Social media posts may be invaluable
A painful by-product of the livestream age can sometimes be the drastic expansion of often helpless witnesses.
https://hyperallergic.com/503531/tragedy-selfies-notre-dame-social-media/
The reconstruction of Notre Dame still needs a lot of planning
Reconstruction details remain unclear. The French National Assembly has the issue on its agenda again.
https://www.dw.com/en/future-of-notre-dame-cathedral-wide-open/a-49332888
Notre Dame appeal benefits from Americans
The appeal for restoring Notre Dame in Paris has benefited in large part from private U.S. donations so far.
Boris Johnson’s silence
The police were called to the flat where Boris Johnson is now living with his current girlfriend of just over a year, Carrie Symonds, after concern from their neighbours about a ‘heated dispute’ on Friday.
In a public hustings for the UK Prime Minister position on Saturday, Johnson had nothing to say. He also had nothing to say about his relationship with right-winger Steve Bannon, although to be fair he wasn’t asked about that.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/22/video-reveals-steve-bannon-links-to-boris-johnson
Claims that his argument with Carrie Symonds started about his affection for zip wire in the bedroom is unverified.
Also his supposed backing for Trump’s possible purchase of Notre Dame in Paris as a hotel is still unverified.
Trump avoids war…
just.
For now.
Donald Trump has stopped short of escalating the worsening stand-off with Iran in the Persian Gulf, suggesting that the shooting down of a US drone could have been carried out by a “loose and stupid” Iranian officer without authorisation from Tehran. He was apparently ‘worried’ that up to 150 Iranians could be killed in the planned retaliation.
Claims that he was heard to say “can’t we get more of them?” in the briefing room are unverified.
In other news, Trump is still in the market to turn Notre Dame into a hotel. His most recent comment appears to be “I really like the roof as a swimming pool.”
Oh and Donald Trump is facing a fresh allegation that he sexually assaulted a woman in his days as a real estate developer in the mid 1990s