IZIUM, Ukraine — Hopes for victory, a swift end to the war and prayers for their loved ones’ survival or return from Russian captivity are among the wishes scattered throughout letters sent to a volunteer group by Ukrainian children living in front-line areas.

While the volunteers, who are named reindeer after the magical beasts that pull Santa’s sleigh, cannot fulfill many of these dreams, they strive to deliver on the simpler ones, such as requests for power banks to help families endure outages, bicycles, books, and even pets.

Every winter, the volunteers travel to heavily damaged cities to deliver gifts and ensure that, despite the war, Ukrainian children can celebrate the holiday season just like their peers around the world.

This year, the group received 2,310 letters, according to project manager Inna Achkasova from the NGO Ukrainian Frontiers, who launched the St. Nicholas’ Reindeers initiative in 2015.

The children’s wishes are published on the project’s website. Donors affectionately known as magicians then choose a letter and buy the requested gift to make that child’s dreams come true. The reindeer then deliver those gifts.

“Children are those who have no choice whatsoever. No one asks them whether they want to stay or leave,” says project psychologist Kateryna Shutalova. “What happens to them is never their choice. And this makes them the most vulnerable.”

But every child gets only one childhood, even if it’s shaped by war. That’s why, in their letters, the horrors that have impacted their lives coexist with wishes similar to those of children everywhere.

“My father is in captivity, and I live with my mother and brother,” one boy wrote in his letter. He continued: “I love playing football and practice it professionally. I want a leather football.”

Volunteers sift through all the letters, enduring the tragic stories of each child, to sort and deliver the gifts correctly. Among the writers are children who have lost loved ones to shelling, endured Russian occupation, seen their homes destroyed, have parents serving on the front lines, or were forced to flee to escape the war. 

“What struck me wasn’t their wishes but how deeply children feel the need to tell their stories,” Shutalova says.

Wearing reindeer antlers, the volunteers set out on their journey on Dec. 6, when Ukraine celebrates St. Nicholas Day. Their journey is expected to last until mid-January.

On a frosty morning in Kharkiv, covered by the season’s first snow, a team of volunteers departs in two buses filled with gifts, headed for the formerly Russian-occupied city of Izium, around 55 kilometers (35 miles) from the front line.

At first, when the celebration has started, the children observe cautiously, their expressions somber, but that mood doesn’t last. With each activity, they became more cheerful and engaged.

One of them is 9-year-old Alina Soboleva, who remains detached despite the volunteers’ efforts. She watches the festivities unfold with a quiet gaze. Her grandmother, Svitlana Lokotosh, explains that Alina has been withdrawn since witnessing the deaths of her mother and other grandmother in a shelling in the courtyard of their home.

Alina had been watching through the window as her mother spoke on the phone. When the shell struck, a fragment hit her mother in the neck. Her grandmother rushed outside to help and was killed by another shell.

In her letter, Alina asked for two pet mice. She said it was her dream.

“Our only wish is for peace and quiet,” says Lokotosh, who took Alina in after her mother’s death. “So the children don’t have to be afraid.”

Shutalova explains that parents often find it hard to talk to their children about the war. They’re either afraid, lack the emotional resources, or are overwhelmed by their feelings.

“But for children to process what they’ve been through, they need to talk, play, and express those emotions,” she says.

At the celebration, parents stand against the walls, smiling as their children laugh and play despite having endured so much at such a young age.

Among them is Anna Bolharska, a 32-year-old mother of two. Her father-in-law was killed, and her brother-in-law was injured during the occupation. In the spring of 2022, she and her children fled Izium amid relentless shelling, only returning after Ukrainian forces liberated the city in September that year.

“I don’t like to remember those times. We try to move forward because dwelling on it is too hard mentally,” Bolharska says. “We try not to remind the children and to keep them distracted.”

Her 9-year-old daughter, Myroslava Bolharska, dreams of becoming a veterinarian. In her letter, she asked for a guitar.

“During the war it seems everyone’s dreams have changed — to wish for the war to end,” she wrote.

The reindeers’ winter journey will take them to over 40 towns in the coming weeks. They hope to realize many dreams and bring joy to the kids, even though some of their wishes are impossible to fulfill.

“Some children wrote in their letters that they want their childhood back,” project co-founder Inna Achkasova says, adding that the reindeer volunteers aim to ensure that every child feels seen, heard and loved.
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Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Ozgur Ozel said his party supports the territorial integrity, democracy, peace, and stability in Syria following the departure of President Bashir al-Assad. Meanwhile, Turkey’s pro-Kurdish DEM Party called for the Syrian people to work together to create a democratic constitution to end the civil war in Syria and achieve lasting peace.

See the full story here. 
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LONDON — London’s Royal Albert Hall, the gilded concert venue known for an annual Rule Britannia singalong, is preparing to host a different kind of spectacle: Sumo wrestling.

Camera shutters clicked furiously and reporters “Ahhhed” in delight Wednesday as wrestlers Daisuke Kitanowaka and Akira Fukutsuumi demonstrated a sideways stamp and put on an exhibition of heavyweight grappling to promote a tournament scheduled for next October.

It marks only the second time an elite five-day tournament will be held outside Japan. The first was in 1991 at the same venue.

Organizers are hoping to whip up the kind of excitement that was generated three decades ago, when the deeply ritualistic sport attracted sell-out crowds and a national television audience.

“It wasn’t just an event here at the hall,” said James Ainscough, chief executive of the Royal Albert Hall. “It became a national moment. People talked about it in the workplace. You could see kids acting it out each day in playgrounds the length and breadth of the country. So it’s a huge honor and a huge matter of excitement to welcome it back in 2025.”

A variety of factors, including a series of sumo wrestling scandals, the financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, delayed the sport’s return to London. But organizers believe the time is right because sumo is having a bit of a moment.

Two Netflix series have introduced audiences to the intricacies of the sport, which has roots stretching back 1,500 years. Earlier this year, Hanshin Contents Link opened a sumo hall in Osaka, Japan’s third-largest city, that entertains foreign tourists with explanatory exhibitions and actual bouts.

Organizers of the London event say they hope to show Japan’s rich culture as well as its traditional sport that pits two huge men clad in very little against each other in a test of strength and technique.

On hand Wednesday was the winner of the previous U.K. tournament, Nobuyoshi Hakkaku, nicknamed “bulldog” by British fans in 1991. Now the chairman of the Japan Sumo Association, he reminisced about how the only thing that made him really nervous was preparing for a victory speech in English.

Japan’s ambassador to the U.K., Hiroshi Suzuki, also made an appearance, a reflection of the event’s importance to the nation. Organizers promised that spectators also would see exhibitions of Kabuki theater and other Japanese traditions.

But the main attraction were the wrestlers.

Kitanowaka and Fukutsuumi gamely tried to show off their sport. Clad in their mawashi, or ceremonial aprons, they faced off on a mat in front of several dozen journalists. The big men slammed into each other with an “oomph” as flesh slapped flesh. A grunt or two broke the silence.

No sweat was evident. It was over in a flash.

Then they went outside, dropping their robes and exposing their flesh to the frosty November air as they entered and exited a classic London black cab for photographers.

Nothing seemed to bother them. Not the cold. Not the demands to stand this way or that. As the concert hall loomed behind them, they did their best to be sumo diplomats.

“Sumo has a wonderfully intriguing collection of culture and ritual and sport and excitement,” Ainscough said. “And to bring sumo back to the Royal Albert Hall again doesn’t just create a sporting moment, it creates a moment where we can learn and be inspired by another culture and another set of principles to live by. It’s a moment where we can all grow closer together.'”
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KYIV — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, shortly after a meeting in Paris with French and Ukrainian leaders, claiming Kyiv “would like to make a deal” to end the more than 1,000-day war. 

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump claimed that Moscow and Kyiv have both lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers in a war that “should never have started.” 

“There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin. Too many lives are being needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed,” he said, as he called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to act to bring the fighting to an end. 

Trump’s remarks came after a meeting Saturday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, that Zelenskyy later described as “constructive”. 

Speaking to reporters later that day, Zelenskyy insisted that any peace deal “should be just” for Ukrainians, “so that Russia and Putin or any other aggressors will not have the opportunity to return.” 

In a separate social media update Sunday, Zelenskyy asserted that Kyiv has so far lost 43,000 soldiers since Moscow’s all-out invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, while a further 370,000 have been wounded. 

Both Russia and Ukraine have been reluctant to publish official casualty figures, but Western officials have said that the past few months of grinding positional warfare in eastern Ukraine have meant record losses for both sides, with tens of thousands killed and wounded each month. 
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U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and first lady Jill Biden join dozens of heads of state attending Notre Dame reopening celebrations this weekend, five years after the iconic Paris cathedral narrowly escaped being destroyed in a fire. The events, including two Masses on Sunday, offer a bright spot for France amid political turmoil. Lisa Bryant has more from the French capital.
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TBILISI, GEORGIA — Georgia’s President Salome Zourabichvili said she talked with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron about the parliamentary election last month in her country that she and the opposition say was rigged.

“In depth discussion with Presidents Trump & Macron,” Zourabichvili, who was in Paris for the reopening of the Notre-Dame cathedral, said on X late on Saturday, underneath a photo showing her, Trump and Macron talking.

“Exposed the stolen election and extremely alarming repression against the people of Georgia.”

Zourabichvili became the voice of the now weeks-long protest movement following the October vote that gave the ruling Georgian Dream party a win and its subsequent announcement that it was suspending efforts to join the European Union.

The leader of Georgia’s main opposition party and several other members have been detained during the protests and on Saturday the opposition said one of its politicians was beaten during a police raid on its offices.

Georgian media also reported that a camera crew from pro-opposition Pirveli TV was attacked by masked men while broadcasting from near the protest site.

“The Russian regime is back at work tonight in Tbilisi — chasing civilians through the streets as they flee terror, targeting politicians, media, artists,” Zourabichvili said in a separate post on X on Saturday, posting a video showing a group of hooded men with batons beating up several men in a building.

Zourabichvili, who has a largely ceremonial role as president, and the opposition have been accusing Georgian Dream of pursuing increasingly authoritarian, anti-Western and pro-Russian policies in the nation of 3.7 million people.

The Kremlin has denied that Russia is interfering in the situation in Georgia, which Moscow compared to the 2014 “Maidan” revolution in Ukraine that overthrew a pro-Russian president. 
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SKOPJE, North Macedonia — A political party in North Macedonia on Saturday demanded authorities ban social networks whose content incites violence and self-destructive behavior after several young people were seriously injured in connection with the popular “Superman challenge” on TikTok. 

Health authorities said at least 17 students, ages 10 to 17, were brought to hospitals in the capital Skopje and other towns over the past week with broken bones, contusions and bruises. The children were injured after being thrown into the air by their friends to fly like superheroes and get applause on the internet. 

The Liberal-Democratic Party, which was part of the left-led coalition that ruled the country from 2016 to earlier in 2024, issued a press statement Saturday strongly condemning “the irresponsible spread of dangerous content on social media, such as the latest TikTok ‘challenge’ known as ‘Superman,’ which has injured six children across (the country) in the past 24 hours.” 

“The lack of adequate control over the content of social media allows such ‘games’ to reach the most vulnerable users,” the party statement said. It demanded the “immediate introduction of measures to ban content that incites violence and self-destructive behavior, increase surveillance, and sanction platforms that enable dangerous trends.” 

North Macedonia’s education minister Vesna Janevska said students should focus on education, not TikTok challenges. 

“The ban on mobile phones in schools will not have an effect. Phones will be available to children in their homes, neighborhoods and other environments,” she said. 

Psychologists have warned that the desire to be “in” with the trends on social networks, combined with excessive use of mobile phones, is the main reason for the rise in risky behaviors among children. They urged parents and schools to talk with students. 
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PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Donald Trump to Paris on Saturday with a full a dose of presidential pomp, and they held an impromptu meeting with Ukraine’s Volodymr Zelenskyy on a day that mixed pageantry with attention to pressing global problems.

U.S. President-elect Trump said when he arrived at the Elysee Palace for a face-to-face meeting with Macron — which soon expanded to include Zelenskyy — that the two would be discussing a world that’s gone “a little crazy.”

Trump’s visit to France, part of a global celebration of the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral five years after a devastating fire, came as Macron and other European leaders are trying to win Trump’s favor and persuade him to maintain support for Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion. Macron’s office said that would be discussed as well as the wars in the Middle East.

As Trump arrived at the official residence of the French president, Macron went out of his way to project an image of close ties, posing for multiple handshakes interspersed with plenty of back-patting. Trump said it was “a great honor” and talked about the “great relationship” they have had. A grand red carpet was rolled in the same way the French welcome sitting American presidents.

Before they went inside, Trump said, “It certainly seems like the world is going a little crazy right now. And we’ll be talking about that.”

Zelenskyy arrived at the palace about 45 minutes after Trump.

Macron had planned to meet with Zelenskyy, and the French president’s office said the three-way meeting was proposed by Macron and arranged shortly before Trump’s arrival. Trump has pledged to end the war in Ukraine swiftly but has not specified how, raising concerns in Kyiv about what terms may be laid out for any future negotiations.

Macron, who has had an up-and-down relationship with Trump, has made a point of cultivating a relationship since the Republican defeated Democrat Kamala Harris last month. But Macron’s office nonetheless played down the significance of the invitation, saying other politicians not now in office had been invited as well.

Trump was invited as president-elect of a “friendly nation,” Macron’s office said, adding, “This is in no way exceptional, we’ve done it before.”

The red-carpet treatment, however, was a sign of how eager Macron and other European leaders are to win Trump’s favor even before he takes office.

During one of Trump’s first trips as president during his first term was to Paris, where Macron made him the guest of honor at Bastille Day events. Trump later said he wanted to replicate the grand military parade back in the United States.

President Joe Biden also was invited but will not attend. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre cited a scheduling conflict and said first lady Jill Biden will represent the United States.

The meeting with the French president is taking place before the Notre Dame event, as will the get-together with Prince William, who’s also scheduled to meet with Jill Biden, according to the British royal palace.

To build trust with the incoming U.S. administration, Zelenskyy’s top aide, Andriy Yermak, met key members of Trump’s team on a two-day trip earlier this week. A senior Ukrainian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak publicly, described the meetings as productive but declined to disclose details.

Relations between France and the United States during Trump’s first term began warmly enough but grew increasingly strained over time.

Macron was the guest of honor at Trump’s first state dinner, and Trump traveled to France several times. But the relationship suffered after Macron criticized Trump for questioning the need for NATO and raising doubts about America’s commitment to the mutual defense pact.

During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump often mocked Macron, imitating his accent and threatening to impose steep tariffs on wine and champagne bottles shipped to the U.S. if France tried to tax American companies.

But Macron was one of the first global leaders to congratulate Trump last month after the election.

When he accepted the invitation to travel to Paris, Trump said Macron had done “a wonderful job ensuring that Notre Dame has been restored to its full level of glory, and even more so. It will be a very special day for all!”

A fire in 2019 nearly destroyed the 861-year-old landmark.

More than 20 French government security agents were helping ensure Trump’s safety alongside the Secret Service, according to French national police. A special French police van provided anti-drone protection for Trump’s convoy.

Security was tighter than usual outside the U.S. Embassy and other sites around Paris for the Notre Dame reopening, where dozens of international VIPs were expected.

Trump was president in 2019 when the fire engulfed Notre Dame, collapsing its spire and threatening to destroy one of the world’s greatest architectural treasures, known for its mesmerizing stained glass.

“So horrible to watch the massive fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris,” he wrote at the time on what was then Twitter.

Last weekend, Trump announced that he intends to nominate real estate developer Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to serve as ambassador to France. Predecessors in that prestigious role include Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.
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VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis was seen with a significant bruise on his chin Saturday, but he presided over a ceremony to install new cardinals without apparent problems.

A Vatican spokesperson said later Saturday that the bruise was caused by a contusion on Friday morning when Francis hit a nightstand with his chin.

The pontiff, who turns 88 later this month, appeared slightly fatigued but carried on as normal with the scheduled ceremony to create 21 new cardinals in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Francis has suffered several health problems in recent years and now uses a wheelchair due to knee and back pain.

In 2017, while on a trip to Colombia, Francis sported a black eye after he hit his head on a support bar when his popemobile stopped short.
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TALLINN, Estonia — In the year since Russia’s Supreme Court effectively outlawed any promotion of LGBTQ+ rights, activists say they are experiencing a climate of fear and intimidation in the country.

LGBTQ+ rights have been under legal and public pressure for over a decade under President Vladimir Putin, but especially since the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Putin has argued the war is a proxy battle with the West, which he says aims to destroy Russia and its “traditional family values.”

Putin insists Russia doesn’t discriminate against LGBTQ+ people, but he also decries “perversions that lead to degradation and extinction.” Parliament speaker Vyacheslav Volodin last year called gender transitioning “pure satanism” that should stay in the U.S.

Any public representation of gay and transgender people is banned. Gender-affirming medical care and changing one’s gender in official documents is prohibited. With the Supreme Court’s ruling in November 2023 that found “the international LGBT movement” to be extremist, members of the LGBTQ+ community can be prosecuted and imprisoned for up to six years.

As a result, many people like Gela Gogishvili and Haoyang Xu have fled Russia. They lived a happy life in the republic of Tatarstan, where Gogishvili was a pharmacist and Xu was a student from China.

They were detained after the Kremlin in December 2022 expanded its ban of “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” from minors to adults, effectively outlawing any public endorsement of LGBTQ+ activities.

Authorities accused them of spreading “LGBT propaganda” among minors. Gogishvili was fined, while Xu was put in a detention center for migrants pending deportation. They eventually fled abroad separately and are seeking asylum in France.

“I’m scared for the queer community in Russia that remains in the country,” Gogishvili said.

Targeting nightclubs, rainbow flags and gay tourism

Those who remain find themselves pushed into the shadows, marginalized even further and dogged by fear of repression and prison.

“Six years, it’s not a joke,” said Olga Baranova, head of the Moscow Community Center for LGBT+ Initiatives. She says activists must decide if what they’re doing is worth that kind of a prison sentence.

Just days after the Supreme Court ruling in 2023, the LGBTQ+ community was rattled by news of police raiding gay bars, nightclubs and venues that hosted drag shows in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities.

Last spring, the first criminal case on charges of involvement with the “LGBT movement” extremist group was lodged against the owner and staff of a bar in the city of Orenburg that held drag performances.

Charges have been filed for displaying symbols such as a rainbow flag — even though many of those accused had nothing to do with the LGBTQ+ community, said human rights lawyer Max Olenichev.

More raids of bars and nightclubs were reported in Moscow last month, almost exactly a year since the Supreme Court ruling.

One man arrested for allegedly running a travel agency for gay customers faces charges of organizing activities of an extremist organization. Independent news outlet Mediazona reported that Andrei Kotov, 48, rejected the charges and said police beat him and administered electric shocks during his arrest, even though he didn’t resist.

Fear, intimidation and terror

This “speaks more about the desire of the authorities to create some kind of atmosphere of fear. It’s not repressions, it’s terror,” said Vladimir, an LGBTQ+ rights advocate in Russia who like many interviewed by AP insisted on being identified only by a first name out of security concerns.

Ikar, a fellow activist and transgender man, described the actions by authorities as “an attempt to intimidate … to make people lose their social connections, stay silent, stay home.”

Vladimir and Ikar belong to an underground LGBTQ+ rights group offering legal aid. Activists thoroughly verify identities of anyone seeking its help.

The group sees a growing number of cases related to violence against LGBTQ+ people, Vladimir said.

Some regional organizations have closed and others have changed their operations. The Moscow Community Center for LGBT+ Initiatives moved much of its work to online chats and meetings so people can still “support each other,” according to Baranova.

Help for hard-hit transgender community

The ban and other repressive laws and rulings have delivered a harsh blow to the already-vulnerable trans community, says Yan Dvorkin, head of the Center T trans rights group.

Finding a job is more difficult, both for those who haven’t changed their gender marker in documents and those who have. Access to gender-affirming medical care is a major issue. Violence has spiked, Dvorkin said, as has harassment and discrimination, including blackmail attempts, by threatening to report them to authorities.

Anna, a 25-year-old transgender Muscovite, said being part of the community provided the courage to transition last year, after the ban on gender-affirming care was enacted.

Anna considers herself lucky to have a good paying job to afford a doctor advising her from abroad on hormonal therapy, and is able to get the medicine in Moscow.

But she said she hasn’t come out to her colleagues for fear of losing her job, and she is sometimes harassed on the street because of her appearance.

She says she has a support network of friends and doesn’t want to leave Russia, even though she’ knows the risks.

Uncertainty for those staying in Russia

Yulia, another transgender woman, also says she wants to stay, describing it as a kind of mission to show that “people like me are not necessarily weak.” In her mid-40s, she has a family and children, a successful career, and the respect and acceptance from colleagues and friends.

For her, “it’s about normalizing” being trans, she said.

But much “normalizing” is possible now and in the future is uncertain.

The ban on “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” forces print, TV and movie censorship of LGBTQ+ relations. In a recent example, two Russian streaming services cut a trans character from the 1990 drama series Twin Peaks.

At the same time, there is abundant official rhetoric condemning LGBTQ+ people.

Gela Gogishvili, the gay man who fled Russia last year, worries about the next generation of LGBTQ+ people who are currently growing up and “will be taught that (being queer) is bad.”
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KYIV, UKRAINE — Denmark has delivered a second batch of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday as he traveled to Paris to meet with top politicians and dignitaries.

In a message on Telegram, Zelenskyy praised Denmark and lamented a lack of dedication from other allies.

“The first batch of planes provided by the Danes are already shooting down Russian missiles: rescuing our people and our infrastructure. Now our air shield is reinforced even further,” he said. “If all partners were so determined, we would have been able to make Russian terror impossible.”

The announcement comes as Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region marks a day of mourning for 10 people killed in a Russian attack on Friday. A further 24 people, including two children, were injured when a missile struck a local service station, said regional Governor Ivan Fedorov.

Three more people were killed in a strike on the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on Friday, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said.

Addressing the attacks, Zelenskyy said that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not seek “real peace.”

Putin “only seeks the ability to treat any country this way, with bombs, missiles, and all other forms of violence,” Zelenskyy said. “Only through strength can we resist this. And only through strength can real peace be established.”

Zelenskyy is due to meet other world leaders Saturday, including French President Emmanuel Macron, at an event in Paris celebrating the renovation of Notre Dame Cathedral after a devastating fire in 2019.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is among those expected to be in attendance, with European leaders keen to cultivate the incoming leader’s favor to persuade him to maintain support for Ukraine against Russia’s three-year invasion. It’s not clear whether Trump will meet with Zelenskyy.
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The iconic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is reopening Saturday evening, more than five years after a fire destroyed its roof and spire. An invitation-only ceremony will include heads of state and government, with French President Emmanuel Macron delivering a speech before Archbishop Laurent Ulrich formally reopens its doors.
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