Notre-Dame cathedral partially destroyed in fire, cause of fire unknown
The iconic 850-year-old Paris cathedral Notre-Dame, one of the most visited monuments in the world, was partially destroyed by fire Monday, reported BBC.
Though the fire workers managed to save the main structure, including the two front towers, a good part of the roof and the spire were destroyed.
While the exact cause of the fire is unknown, it is being reported that the fire might have started on the roof, where restoration work was underway recently.
Built in central Paris, the Notre-Dame cathedral is a major part of the Parisian life. The only rival monument is the Eiffel Tower, which is just over a hundred years old.
French President Emmanuel Macron visited the site Monday and promised to rebuild the cathedral.
“We’ll rebuild this cathedral all together and it’s undoubtedly part of the French destiny and the project we’ll have for the coming years,” he said.
Redacted version of Mueller report to release Thursday
The US Attorney General William Barr announced that a redacted version of the Mueller Report would be released to the Congress and public on Thursday, reported Al Jazeera.
Earlier, on 23 March, a four-page summary of the report had been sent to the Congress. Since then the Democrats have been demanding the release of the full report.
Though the report did not exonerate US President Donald Trump, it cleared him of committing any crimes during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Here’s the full Al Jazeera article outlining the five things to look at in the Mueller report.
Indonesia to conduct world’s most complex single-day election
Indonesia will be conducting the world’s most complicated single-day election Wednesday, reported The Atlantic. The election will involve 193 million voters, spread through the uneven Indonesian landscape and hundreds of islands.
The Indonesian general election commission will be using over eight lakh polling stations and six million election workers to elect a president, parliamentarians, and local legislators.
The election would be fought over 20,000 seats, involving 2,45,000 candidates. The leading fight is between incumbent President Joko Widodo and his main challenger Prabowo Subianto.
In comparison, though the Indian electorate is roughly four times that of Indonesia’s, the Lok Sabha elections are being conducted in seven phases.
In other news:
China’s Holdings of U.S. Treasuries Increase For a Third Month, Bloomberg
TheTrump-Netanyahu Alliance, The New Yorker
Chinese authorities step up crackdown on Twitter users, Financial Times