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It wasn't just Notre-Dame Cathedral that burned, it was the very heart of France, they say.Parisians wept as they watched the catastrophe unfold, fearing for the lives of worshippers - and the survival of one of the most holy relics in the world. Firefighters worked tirelessly to contain the blaze and save as much of the iconic building as they could, even as they contended with molten lead and billowing smoke.Miraculously, no one died in the fire and the Crown of Thorns relic - whose exact location inside Notre-Dame was a secret known only to a few - was found and carried to safety. Image: Smoke billows as fire engulfs the spire. Pic: Reuters On the evening of 15 April 2019, a pinnacle of human achievement went...

South Korea's president has said he is "very sorry" days after declaring martial law and surrounding parliament with soldiers.Yoon Suk Yeol plunged his country into turmoil on Tuesday when he put the military in charge, claiming it was necessary to defend the constitutional order and "eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces". However, his shock move sparked fury from the public and politicians who immediately opposed him and he quickly backed down.Who is South Korean president who declared martial law? Image: Anti-government protesters wear masks of officials including President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul. Pic: Reuters Image: South Korean protesters demonstrat...

It should have been a feel-good story: six young men, plucked from obscurity to become music stars. That's how Neta Rozenblat, a member of boyband as1one, puts it.Pop hopefuls do not usually find themselves having to navigate fear, grief and complex political issues before the world even knows their names - but theirs is not a typical story. As1one are billed as the first-ever Israeli Jewish and Palestinian Arab boyband, put together following a two-year search by US hitmakers behind acts such as Maroon 5 and Kings Of Leon.While the band has found considerable support, including from big names - they recorded their first single with Nile Rodgers at London's Abbey Road - as Israel's military campaign in Gaza continues, they have also faced criticism and some outrage. "Wrong Direction", read...

Donald Trump arrives in France today where he will meet numerous global heads of state for the first time since his re-election.It's understood the meetings will include time with Prince William. The heads of state or other representatives of more than 50 countries are in Paris to attend the reopening of the Notre-Dame Cathedral which was badly damaged by fire in April 2019.Read more:Inside Notre-Dame cathedral - five years after devastating firePrince William to attend Notre-Dame Cathedral reopeningThe US president-elect was invited to attend by French President Emmanuel Macron and it will be his first foreign trip since he won the US election in November and the first he has made out of America since 2023. Reports suggest that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will also be present ...

Next week's inflation data could derail a market that appears to be priced for perfection, ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting later this month. The November consumer price index set to release Wednesday is expected to show an increase of 0.2% and 2.6% month on month and year over year, respectively, according to FactSet. If that's the case, it would mean no change from the prior month , but also show stubborn inflation. A surprisingly hot report could curtail hopes for a December rate cut from the Fed. The CME Group's FedWatch tool shows an 87% probability of lower rates this month after the release of new U.S. jobs data on Friday. Strong inflation data would also throw a wrench in the recent stock advance. The rally shows no signs of slowing down, but it's also expensive, spurring inv...

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms Inc., arrives for the Meta Connect event in Menlo Park, California, on Sept. 25, 2024.David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesMeta shares continued their extended rally on Friday, rising 2.4% and closing at a record after a federal appeals court upheld a law requiring China's ByteDance to sell TikTok or face an effective U.S. ban.The Facebook parent has climbed 77% this year after almost tripling in 2023, pushing Meta's market cap close to $1.6 trillion.Alongside Meta, Amazon also closed at an all-time high on Friday and is up 49% this year. Apple slid slightly from its high on Thursday. The hefty gains this year among tech's megacaps helped lift the Nasdaq to a record. The index rose 0.8% on Friday and has gained 32% in 2024.Meta CEO Mark Zuckerb...

A close-up of the Workday logo on its headquarters in Pleasanton, California.Smith Collection | Archive Photos | Getty ImagesWorkday shares jumped almost 10% in extended trading on Friday after S&P Dow Jones Indices said the cloud software vendor will be added to the S&P 500.It will replace Amentum Holdings on the index effective Dec. 23, according to a statement. The index has picked up a handful of other prominent technology stocks this year, including Dell and Palantir.Workday, founded in 2005 and based in Pleasanton, California, went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2012. In 2017 Workday switched its listing to the technology-centric Nasdaq. In November, Workday said it delivered $193 million in net income on $2.16 billion in quarterly revenue, which was up 16% year ov...

Closed circuit screenshots of a person of interest in the UnitedHealthcare CEO killing.Source: NYPDUnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot Wednesday doing something countless other American executives routinely do: Walking unaccompanied to an investor event held by his company.But Thompson's death this week in the heart of corporate America's capital has sent shockwaves throughout the business world, forcing companies to rethink the risks in even the most routine executive responsibilities."Everyone's scrambling to say, 'Are we safe?'" said Chuck Randolph, chief security officer for Ontic, an Austin, Texas-based provider of threat management software. "This is an inflection point where the idea of executive protection is now raised to the board level. Everyone I know in the in...

Traders react after the closing bell on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., December 13, 2023. Brendan Mcdermid | ReutersHowever you feel about the world these days, you're likely happy with the stock market.The S&P 500 is up nearly 30% this year so far.But it's important for investors to temper their expectations and to remember that years like this one are rare, said Cathy Curtis, a certified financial planner and the founder and CEO of Curtis Financial Planning in Oakland, California."Investors should know that the stock market has an average annualized return of over 10% for decades," said Curtis, a member of CNBC's Advisor Council."The past year has seen growth way over this amount and it would be highly unusual for that to continue for a multi-...

 Igor Golovnov | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesThe killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson led Centene, another big health insurer, to switch to a virtual investor day instead of a planned in-person event in New York.Thompson's slaying also has spurred some major health companies, including UnitedHealthcare's parent company, to remove photos of executives and board members from their websites.And the health insurer Medica, which like UnitedHealthcare is based in Minnesota, closed its main campus in Minnetonka because of safety concerns for its employees."The safety of Medica employees is our top priority and we have increased security for all of our employees," a Medica spokesperson told NBC News."Although we have received no specific threats related to our campuses, our o...