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Notre-Dame 'to be more beautiful'

How long will it take? French President Emmanuel Macron is promising that Paris's Notre-Dame cathedral will be rebuilt "even more beautifully" within five years following the fire that broke out on Monday. But an expert on such restorations claims it could take "decades".

Whatever the timescale, the money's coming in. So far companies and business tycoons have pledged €800m (£692m). We look at how Notre-Dame can be restored.

The BBC also tells the story of the fire - which destroyed the roof and the spire - in graphics and images. And, with hundreds of firefighters involved in rescuing the cathedral, here's why the blaze was so hard to tackle.

'Gagging orders' row hits universities

UK universities have spent about £87m on non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) - better known as "gagging orders" - since 2017, the BBC has learned. Some of these have been used to stop bullying, discrimination and sexual misconduct allegations becoming public, it's claimed. The BBC explains what NDAs are and how they work - and why they're so controversial.

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Climate change protests continue in London

Extinction Rebellion climate change activists have held, or are holding, protests in 80 cities worldwide. In London, motorists face gridlock on certain routes, as some roads are blocked. Mayor Sadiq Khan said he "shared the passion" of the activists, but he was "extremely concerned" about plans some had to disrupt the Tube on Wednesday. Nearly 300 people have been arrested so far.

What do drones and GPS owe to an 18th-Century shipwreck?

By Tim Harford

On 5 October 1744, a storm was brewing in the English Channel. With sails set for home after chasing a French fleet off the coast of Portugal, a squadron of English warships was in trouble. The lead ship HMS Victory sank 100m to the seabed 50 miles (80km) south of Plymouth, taking with it 1,100 men and - so rumour had it - lots of Portuguese gold.

The wreckage lay undisturbed until it was located in 2009. Beyond the rumoured gold, there was something on board which was arguably much more economically significant. Also lost that day was the first known attempt to develop an idea that is now used to guide everything from submarines to satellites, from rovers on Mars to the phone in your pocket.

Read the full story

What the papers say

Messages of hope abound following the fire that destroyed much of Notre-Dame cathedral. Metro pays tribute to the "hero" firefighters who saved the main structure, while the Times leads on a report saying how close the building came to collapse. The Guardian describes the scene inside as "eerily silent and deserted". Elsewhere, the Daily Mail says official statistics show a record number of women over 50 working. And the Financial Times reports that Boeing is facing criticism from investors after two fatal crashes involving its aircraft.

Daily digest

Julian Assange Wikileaks founder smeared faeces in London embassy, says Ecuador's president

Bowel cancer A rasher of bacon a day can raise the risk, experts warn

Deposits Holiday firms told not to mistreat customers

Orchardton Castle Owner's cash giveaway after low raffle ticket sales was unfair, advertising watchdog rules

If you see one thing today

How zero has shaped the modern world

If you listen to one thing today

The beauty of flies

If you read one thing today

Image copyright AFP

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Lookahead

09:30 The Office for National Statistics publishes UK inflation figures for March.

11:00 England announce their 15-man preliminary squad for the men's Cricket World Cup.

20:00 Manchester City host Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool are away against Porto in the second legs of their Champions League quarter-finals.

On this day

1984 Police officer Yvonne Fletcher is killed and 10 people are injured as shots are fired from the Libyan People's Bureau in central London.

From elsewhere

Can London's knife-crime crisis be stopped? (New Yorker)

See Notre-Dame in 16 vintage photos (National Geographic)

How an intimacy coordinator works with actors on sex scenes (Guardian)

An illustrated guide to all 2,339 deaths in Game of Thrones (Washington Post)