Monday, 23 March 2026

Author: AFP

Macron vows to rebuild Notre-Dame Cathedral

PARIS: A raging fire that tore through Notre-Dame Cathedral in central Paris was under control early Tuesday after the blaze brought its towering spire and roof crashing to the ground, wiping out centuries of priceless heritage central to French culture and history. French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to rebuild the

‘Hunchback of Notre-Dame’ tops bestseller lists after fire

PARIS: Victor Hugo’s “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame” shot to the top of the Amazon bestseller list Tuesday as firefighters damped down the embers of the blaze which ravaged the ancient cathedral. The original French version of the gothic novel, “Notre-Dame de Paris”, became the fastest selling book in France and

YouTube accidentally links fire to 9/11 attacks

SINGAPORE: A YouTube fact-check feature which is meant to tackle misinformation accidentally tagged live broadcasts of a fire engulfing Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris with details about the 9/11 terror attacks. The blaze erupted in the Unesco world heritage landmark in the French capital Monday, sending its spire and roof crashing

Inside the dark world of intelligence services

MEXICO CITY: Lee Harvey Oswald was here just before he shot John F. Kennedy. Fidel Castro and Che Guevara were, too, not long before the Cuban Revolution. Mexico’s intelligence services gathered material on all of them, and millions more. Now, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is throwing open the spy

Planes, rebels and elephants : Indonesia gears up for jumbo polls

JAYAPURA: From sending ballot boxes by elephant in Sumatra to keeping voters safe in Papua’s rebel territory, Indonesia is pulling out all the stops for one of the world’s biggest one-day polls across a vast archipelago of 260 million. On Wednesday, over 190 million registered voters in the Muslim-majority country

Canadian tourist dies in Thai zipline accident

BANGKOK: A Canadian fell to his death from about 12 metres (39 feet) while ziplining at a popular tourist attraction in northern Thailand, police said Tuesday. Home to famed Buddhist temples, lush jungles and picturesque waterfalls, Chiang Mai is a well-known destination in the north for visitors seeking an alternative

More than 100 arrested at London climate protests

LONDON: More than 100 people have been arrested in ongoing climate change protests in London that brought parts of the British capital to a standstill, police said Tuesday. Demonstrators started blocking off a bridge and major central road junctions on Monday at the start of a civil disobedience campaign that

More than 60,000 people flee Nicaragua crisis

GENEVA: More than 60,000 people have fled the crisis in Nicaragua over the past year, the UN said Tuesday, with neighbouring Costa Rica bearing the brunt of the refugee flow. The central American country has been gripped by a year of political unrest since months of street protests erupted last

French officials find 21 migrants hiding in refrigerated truck

STRASBOURG: Officials in France have found 21 migrants from Iran and Iraq hiding in a refrigerated truck driving in the east of the country, regional authorities said Tuesday. The 10 men, six women and five children were taken in for treatment by medical services, the authorities in the Meuse region

F1 in talks over second China Grand Prix, road race on the cards

SHANGHAI: Formula One is in talks with six local governments in China this week about holding a second grand prix in the country, a senior F1 official told AFP, with a Beijing road race said to have been floated. A second grand prix — most likely on the streets —