France: With new spire rising, Notre-Dame Cathedral on schedule to reopen 1 year from now

President Emmanuel Macron of France was in the heart of Paris on Friday to check on progress in the restoration of an 860-year-old limestone landmark: Notre-Dame Cathedral, whose familiar silhouette is rising once again on the skyline of the French capital.

On a chilly, humid morning, Mr. Macron donned a hard hat and took a three-minute elevator ride to visit a new spire that is nearing completion atop the famed Gothic edifice that was ravaged by a devastating fire in April 2019.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/world/europe/notre-dame-reopening-paris-france.html

MLK birth home saved after bystanders thwart attempted arson

Bystanders stopped a 26-year-old woman from setting fire to the home where Martin Luther King Jr. was born after she poured gasoline on it, the authorities said.

Two visitors from Utah interrupted the woman as she was pouring gasoline on the porch and on the door of the home, Darin Schierbaum, the Atlanta police chief, told reporters on Thursday.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/us/martin-luther-king-mlk-home-arson.html

Australia: Pilot project to gun down feral horses from aircraft begins in Kosciuszko NP

The New South Wales government has begun trialling aerial shooting to reduce the number of feral horses which are destroying fragile alpine ecosystems in Kosciuszko national park.

In November, 270 feral horses were shot during a two-day trial with no reported adverse animal welfare events, after a Senate committee examining the effect of feral horses in alpine regions called for aerial culling to be allowed in NSW. Two helicopters were used and independent veterinarians observed the trial.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/dec/07/aerial-shooting-of-feral-horses-in-kosciuszko-national-park-begins