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Notre Dame’s new spire revealed in Paris, marking a milestone in cathedral’s reconstruction after fire
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Scaffolding that covered the top of Notre Dame cathedral following a devastating fire in April 2019 is being removed, marking a milestone in its reconstruction.
As the shell at the summit has been taken down in recent days, it has revealed the cathedral’s new spire for the first time, adorned with a golden rooster and cross, offering a glimpse of the building’s expected appearance upon completion.
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People around the world have pledged more than $1 billion to rebuild Notre Dame.
A resident near the cathedral, Frederico Benani, who witnessed the 2019 blaze, felt emotional Tuesday at seeing the spire once more.
“I can open the window in the morning. I see Notre Dame. I see the spire —it’s for me, beautiful and it’s much better (than) before,” Benani said. “It gives us hope.”
Investigators have said they think an electrical short-circuit most likely caused the devastating fire.
Anticipation has been building among Paris residents ahead of the cathedral’s reopening, announced for Dec. 8. After the fire, French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to rebuild Notre Dame within five years. An army of carpenters, stone masons, iron workers and artisans from about 20 other different specialties have been working on restoring the medieval structure.
Nathan Laine/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The cathedral will not be open to the public during the Paris Olympics in July and August, when the city will host millions for the Summer Games.
Much of the cathedral remains surrounded by scaffolding, which could take weeks if not months to remove. The spire alone, cathedral officials said, was protected by some 70,000 pieces of scaffolding, totaling a dizzying 600 tons.
In a symbol of resilience and renewal, a new golden rooster, reimagined as a phoenix with flaming feathers, was installed atop the spire in December, marking the cathedral’s rise from the ashes.
Other restoration efforts include the implementation of an anti-fire misting system beneath the cathedral’s roof and the recreation of the original cross.
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Russian playwright, theater director sentenced to prison on terrorism charges
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A Russian court on Monday convicted a theater director and a playwright of terrorism charges and sentenced them to six years each in prison, the latest in an unrelenting crackdown on dissent across the country that has reached new heights since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine.
Zhenya Berkovich, a prominent independent theater director, and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk have already been in jail for over a year awaiting trial.
Authorities claimed their play “Finist, the Brave Falcon” justifies terrorism, which is a criminal offense in Russia punishable by up to seven years in prison. Berkovich and Petriychuk have both repeatedly rejected the accusations against them.
In one hearing, Berkovich told the court that she staged the play in order to prevent terrorism, and Petriychuk echoed her sentiment, saying that she wrote it in order to prevent events like those depicted in the play.
The women’s lawyers pointed out at court hearings before the trial that the play was supported by the Russian Culture Ministry and won the Golden Mask award, Russia’s most prestigious national theater award. In 2019, the play was read to inmates of a women’s prison in Siberia, and Russia’s state penitentiary service praised it on its website, Petriychuk’s lawyer said.
Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP
The case against Berkovich and Petriychuk elicited outrage in Russia. An open letter in support of the two artists, started by the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper, was signed by more than 16,000 people since their arrest.
The play, the letter argued, “carries an absolutely clear anti-terrorist sentiment.”
Dozens of Russian actors, directors and journalists also signed affidavits urging the court to release the two from custody pending investigation and trial.
Immediately after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin unleashed a sweeping campaign of repression, unparalleled since the Soviet era. It has effectively criminalized any criticism of the war, with the authorities targeting not only prominent opposition figures who eventually received draconian prison terms, but anyone who spoke out against it, publicly or otherwise.
Pressure mounted on critical artists in Russia, too. Actors and directors were fired from state-run theaters, and musicians were blacklisted from performing in the country. Some were slapped with the label “foreign agent,” which carries additional government scrutiny and strong negative connotations. Many have left Russia.
Berkovich, who is raising two adopted daughters, refused to leave Russia and continued working with her independent theater production in Moscow, called Soso’s Daughters. Shortly after the start of the war in Ukraine, she staged an anti-war picket and was jailed for 11 days.
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