Notre Dame fire: spire and roof destroyed but main structure saved – live news

YouTube algorithm links Notre Dame with 9/11

YouTube has linked the Notre Dame fire with the 9/11 terror attacks in its “knowledge panels”, banners meant to provide context and related information.

YouTube users watching the live stream of the burning building in the United States and South Korea were greeted with knowledge panels pushing Encyclopedia Britannica articles about the September 11 attacks. The platform introduced the knowledge panel feature in 2018 to cut down on misinformation, but in this case the tool created false associations between fire reportedly caused by accident and the 2001 US-based terrorist attack.

The platform’s automated tools may have mistaken the visuals of the burning building for 9/11 footage, according to Vagelis Papalexakis, an assistant professor of computer science and engineering at the University of California, Riverside who studies machine learning used in similar systems.

YouTube did not immediately respond to request for comment, but said in a widely circulated statement it has removed the panels on live streams of the fire following criticism.

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Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has tweeted:

“I feel a profound sadness before the tragedy. France is touched in its flesh, in its heart, in its identity, in its history. I would like to share my pain with Catholics and we all French people for whom Notre Dame is a symbol. That everyone is mobilising already and is already helping the reconstruction .”

A striking image of firefighters entering the cathedral in the wake of the fire.

Hello, this is Kate Lyons taking over from Mattha Busby.

Emmanuel Macron has committed to rebuilding the cathedral and says a national subscription will be launched tomorrow to raise money for the efforts.

The English translation is:

“This Notre-Dame cathedral, we will rebuild it. All together. It is a part of our French destiny. I am committed to this: from tomorrow a national subscription will be launched and far beyond our borders.”

Barack Obama, the former US President, has tweeted:

Notre Dame Cathedral echoes the announcement that the main structure has been “saved and preserved”.

This article from the LA Times archive, courtesy of a reader, pours scorn on the idea that flying water tankers are actually useful. You may remember Trump tweeting earlier to suggest deploying them, “quickly”.

Although the sight of air tankers, referred to disparagingly as ‘CNN drops’ by fire officials, “swooping toward a wildfire”can be reassuring, it is sometimes “a needless and expensive exercise to appease politicians”.

Fire commanders say they are often pressured to order planes and helicopters into action on major fires even when the aircraft won’t do any good. Such pressure has resulted in needless and costly air operations, experienced fire managers said in interviews.

The reason for the interference, they say, is that aerial drops of water and retardant make good television. They’re a highly visible way for political leaders to show they’re doing everything possible to quell a wildfire, even if it entails overriding the judgment of incident commanders on the ground.

Firefighters have developed their own vernacular for such spectacles. They call them “CNN drops.”

“A lot of people do a lot of things for publicity and for politics that don’t need to be done,” said Jim Ziobro, fire aviation chief for the Oregon Department of Forestry.

Rector of Notre-Dame, Patrick Jacquin, has reportedly told local media that the Crown of Thorns and the Tunic of St Louis have both been recovered.

However, fears remain for the many priceless artworks and artefacts still housed inside the cathedral.

A French official and the Paris fire chief have told the Associated Press that they think Notre Dame Cathedral’s landmark rectangular towers have been saved from the fire that caused horrific damage.

Paris fire commander Jean-Claude Gallet said that a major accomplishment of the hundreds of firefighters was stopping the flames from spreading to the north tower belfry. “We can consider that the main structure of Notre-Dame has been saved and preserved.”

The structure of the cathedral has been saved, and the fire has been stopped from spreading to the northern belfry, Paris police said.

The junior interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, said the authorities remained “prudent” but were “much more optimistic” than they were earlier tonight.

He defended the fact water-bombing planes were not been used, as suggested by US President Donald Trump, saying that such action would have posed a “major danger” for the structure.

He added that the fire had “decreased in intensity” and “the structure of the building is saved, including the north tower.”

Gallet said two-thirds of Notre Dame’s roofing “has been ravaged.” He said one firefighter was injured, adding that fire crews would keep working overnight to cool down the structure.

Notre Dame Cathedral has been much beloved yet also neglected down the centuries, says a French historian.

Middle Ages specialist Claude Gauvard told AFP there was no overstating the site’s cultural resonance, but she added it had not always been treated with due reverence.

Notre Dame “is a symbol of Paris, a symbol of peace, togetherness and concord... which occupies an exceptional site at the heart of the city.”

It is also kilometre zero - the spot from which all distances to other cities from the French capital are measured.

Guavard says:

For me it is perhaps one of the most harmonious of cathedrals, symbolising at once the work of the craftsmen who built it - though through the ages it has been much loved and yet unloved.

Notre-Dame de Paris is much loved by the millions of French people and foreigners who visit each year - yet they enter and go out again, I am sure, without quite understanding just what this cathedral is.

It was much mutilated during both the Renaissance and the 18th century - for example, they didn’t hesitate to hack away at the main entrance to get through the king’s dais!

It needed all the 19th century labours of Prosper Merimee, Victor Hugo, (Eugene) Viollet-le-Duc and (Jean-Baptiste) Lassus which allowed the Gothic art to be restored to its rightful place.

The ongoing works finally got started - and it was high time, and perhaps even a little late. I went up to the foot of the spire (before the renovations began) and some of the brickwork was disjointed, held in place by a grate to prevent it falling...

Notre Dame’s problem is that it comes under several jurisdictions: the Archbishopric, Paris, historic monuments, etc. That complicates its maintenance. I hope that national, indeed international donations will be forthcoming to finance the restoration as it’s going to be very costly.