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Minister: 'Consensus' Notre-Dame Spire Should be Rebuilt as it Was

Smoke billows as fire engulfs the spire of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France April 15, 2019. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
Smoke billows as fire engulfs the spire of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France April 15, 2019. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
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Minister: 'Consensus' Notre-Dame Spire Should be Rebuilt as it Was

Smoke billows as fire engulfs the spire of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France April 15, 2019. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
Smoke billows as fire engulfs the spire of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France April 15, 2019. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

There is a "large consensus" that the spire of the fire-damaged Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris should be rebuilt as it was, France's new culture minister said Thursday.

Roselyne Bachelot told French radio that "there was a large consensus in public opinion and among those deciding" the issue for the spire to be rebuilt exactly as it was.

Her comments came hours before a commission that is set to rule on the thorny question was due to meet.

But Bachelot said the final decision was in the hands of French President Emmanuel Macron, who up until now has supported a modern architectural "gesture" on the 13th-century monument, which was partially destroyed by fire in April last year.

The massive 19th-century spire collapsed into the nave of the church bringing a large section of the roof with it as the blaze tore through the rafters of the cathedral.

Macron wants Notre-Dame restored to its former glory by 2024, in time for the Paris Olympics.

But reconstruction work has been plagued by delays due to the weather, sanitary concerns over lead pollution and most recently the coronavirus pandemic.

Sharp disagreements about what to do with the spire also emerged after Macron said that "a contemporary architectural gesture might be envisaged" to replace the 96-meter spire "since it wasn't part of the original cathedral".

The spire was added in mid-1800s, replacing a medieval one that was removed in 1786.

The French National Heritage and Architecture Commission (CNPA) is due to give its verdict on how the iconic cathedral should be rebuilt later Thursday.

Last week the general put in charge of the reconstruction effort, Jean-Louis Georgelin, said the delicate task of removing the twisted and molten scaffolding around the cathedral should be finished by the end of September.

The wooden roof of the cathedral caught fire during restoration works, sparking a vast outpouring of emotion -- and donations for the rebuilding -- from across the world.

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Varieties

Lancet Study: Climate Change Must Be Declared 'Global Health Emergency'

(FILES) Emissions spew from a large stack at the coal fired Brandon Shores Power Plant, on March 9, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by MARK WILSON / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
(FILES) Emissions spew from a large stack at the coal fired Brandon Shores Power Plant, on March 9, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by MARK WILSON / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
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Lancet Study: Climate Change Must Be Declared 'Global Health Emergency'

(FILES) Emissions spew from a large stack at the coal fired Brandon Shores Power Plant, on March 9, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by MARK WILSON / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
(FILES) Emissions spew from a large stack at the coal fired Brandon Shores Power Plant, on March 9, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by MARK WILSON / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

Climate change must be declared a "global health emergency" to shape governments' policies after heat caused three million deaths between 2016 and 2023, a report in The Lancet said Wednesday.

Published by the British medical journal ahead of the COP 31 climate summit in November, the 10th edition of the report brought together 146 researchers from 30 countries to assess the impact of climate change on the health of the world's population.

It said there were a record 710,000 heat-related deaths in 2023 with more than 70 percent of that toll linked to human-caused climate change.

Marina Romanello, the executive director of the health and climate research project Lancet Countdown, said there were "three million heat-related deaths globally in an eight-year span since the Paris Agreement" of 2015.

"That's roughly equivalent to the entire population of Wales being wiped out in the space of eight years due to heat," she told a news conference, according to AFP.

And "68 percent of those deaths are directly attributable to climate change."

The legally binding international climate treaty adopted in the French capital aimed to limit global warming to well below 2C and pursue efforts to keep it to 1.5C compared to pre-industrial levels.

Romanello said the global health emergency due to climate change should have "an integrated approach so that we're not responding to emergency after emergency.”

Instead she called for "a cohesive long-term response that builds resilience, builds capacities, and builds the possibilities of countries to avoid further emergencies moving forward.”

To determine the share of deaths attributable to warming caused by human activity, the researchers compiled the number of heat-related deaths recorded by states, then subtracted those that would have occurred in the absence of climate change, said Professor Ollie Jay of the University of Sydney.

Jay said the intensity and frequency of periods of intense heat were amplified by climate change, pointing out that last year an extreme drought affected more than half of the world's land surface for at least one month.

By reducing worker productivity, warming has cost the global economy more than one trillion dollars per year over the past three years, the researchers said.

Southeast Asia and Africa, the hardest-hit regions, are estimated to have lost the equivalent of 3.9 percent and 3.2 percent of their GDP, compared with 0.2 percent for Europe and 1.5 percent for the Americas.

However, there has been concrete progress in some areas.

Since 2016, 56 of the WHO's 194 member states have adapted their health and early-warning systems to anticipate extreme events.

Investment in clean energy reached $2.1 trillion in 2025 -- double that of the amount invested in fossil fuels, which cause climate change.

However fossil fuels still account for 80 percent of global energy, causing air pollution that results in 2.73 million deaths per year, the study said.

Meanwhile, roughly 323,000 deaths have been avoided in "at least" 77 countries where air pollution from fossil fuels has fallen since 2016, according to the report.

Although funding for climate-related medical research has increased sevenfold to reach $316 million in 2024, 84 percent of these funds go to researchers in wealthy countries, even though the least developed nations are the most affected by the growing climate-related health threats.

Romanello said this year for the first time the researchers' work was complicated by the disappearance of certain data sources, particularly from the United States, such as fossil fuel subsidies, which have not been made public by the US authorities.

And for the past two years, global geopolitical instability has pushed global warming and its health impact into the background, she said, stressing that inaction was exacerbating the situation.

Varieties

Australia's ABC Tells Far-Right Party to Stop Using ‘Bluey’ Character

Bluey balloon flies during the 97th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan, New York City, US, November 23, 2023. (Reuters)
Bluey balloon flies during the 97th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan, New York City, US, November 23, 2023. (Reuters)
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Australia's ABC Tells Far-Right Party to Stop Using ‘Bluey’ Character

Bluey balloon flies during the 97th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan, New York City, US, November 23, 2023. (Reuters)
Bluey balloon flies during the 97th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan, New York City, US, November 23, 2023. (Reuters)

Australia's national broadcaster ABC called on the far-right One Nation party on Wednesday to stop using children's TV character "Bluey" in its political cartoons.

"Bluey" is the popular star of an Australian cartoon series featuring canines navigating childhood and parenting in the suburbs.

Pauline Hanson's One Nation party has come under fire for a 2024 political cartoon depicting "Bluey" driving a car over an Australian politician.

That cartoon in particular has come into the spotlight since a man allegedly drove deliberately into Australian independent lawmaker Helen Haines on October 19.

Surgeons had to amputate both of her legs and she remains in hospital.

The ABC said it did not own the intellectual property for "Bluey", which it shows under license, but was concerned by its unauthorized use for One Nation.

"The ABC is considering available options," a spokesperson for the broadcaster said in a statement provided to AFP.

"In the meantime, the ABC considers the relevant cartoons should be immediately removed from One Nation's platforms and no further use should occur."

ABC managing director Hugh Marks told a Senate committee on Tuesday that he had only recently become aware of the One Nation cartoon.

"It is an infringement of the intellectual property, number one, but it's also a shocking use of Australia's most loved character," he said.

One Nation hit back at the ABC director in a social media post, saying it was not the first time he had taken aim at the party: "This time, over Bluey!"

"He cannot hide his contempt for One Nation and its voters. He exists in a parallel universe from most everyday Australians."

A 43-year-old man, Brendan Nugent, was charged last week over the alleged attack on Haines.

He is accused of dangerous driving causing serious injury and intentionally causing serious injury, as well as the federal crime of harming a public official.

Varieties

Dutch Zookeeper Dies after Leopard Attacked her in the Animal's Enclosure

This photograph shows the exterior of the Safaripark Beekse Bergen in Hilvarenbeek, on October 27, 2026. (Photo by ROB ENGELAAR / ANP / AFP)
This photograph shows the exterior of the Safaripark Beekse Bergen in Hilvarenbeek, on October 27, 2026. (Photo by ROB ENGELAAR / ANP / AFP)
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Dutch Zookeeper Dies after Leopard Attacked her in the Animal's Enclosure

This photograph shows the exterior of the Safaripark Beekse Bergen in Hilvarenbeek, on October 27, 2026. (Photo by ROB ENGELAAR / ANP / AFP)
This photograph shows the exterior of the Safaripark Beekse Bergen in Hilvarenbeek, on October 27, 2026. (Photo by ROB ENGELAAR / ANP / AFP)

A longtime zookeeper at a safari park in the Netherlands died Tuesday from injuries she suffered when she was attacked by a leopard in its enclosure over the weekend.

The Beekse Bergen Safari Park said in a statement that the woman, whose name has been withheld in accordance with Dutch privacy law, had passed away after she suffered serious wounds to her head and neck on Saturday while working in an enclosure with two male Persian leopards.

“Her passing deeply affects us all, and we sympathize intensely with her family, friends, and loved ones,” the zoo in the southern town of Hilvarenbeek said in a statement, which was made together with her family.

The woman began working at the zoo when she was 17 and spent nearly all of her 40-year career there.

An investigation is underway to determine why the woman was in the enclosure with the leopards. Zoo staff are typically not permitted to be in the same space as predatory animals, The Associated Press reported.

According to the zoo, the woman was able to alert colleagues via a walkie-talkie that she had been hurt. An ambulance and a trauma helicopter were dispatched to the park at around 11 a.m. local time on Saturday.

The woman underwent emergency surgery, but her condition worsened Sunday evening and the zoo said they did not expect her to survive. The safari park said an area in the park will be set up where condolences can be left.