EXCLUSIVE: Julien Le Bras (pictured), whose firm was renovating Notre Dame's spire in Paris, declared last year that 'our first thought is to protect the values of historical buildings'.

Two days after the inferno at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris a billion euros has been donated to repair the church after French President Emmanuel Macron said renovating it was the French 'destiny.'

Franck Riester, France’s culture minister, said on Tuesday that the cathedral’s organ “seems to be quite affected” by the blaze while the fate of several other artefacts are unknown.

Laurent Nuñez, the French junior interior minister, said a group of around 20 firefighters managed to stop the blaze from spreading to the church's belfries.

President Donald Trump spoke with Pope Francis on Wednesday to offer condolences for the partially destroyed Notre Dame Cathedral and to wish him a Happy Easter.

Salma Hayek's husband, Francois-Henri Pinault, pledged the enormous sum less than 24 hours after the fire devastated the Notre Dame.

Brooke Windsor, the tourist who took the photo, said the man and his family had contacted her on Twitter to thank her for taking the picture and promised to find a 'special place' for it.

The fashion designer, 45, looked simply incredible in the ensemble which featured a racy split yet she gave a nod to the cardinal legs-or-cleavage

The tragic youngster was a stowaway on an Air France plane from Abidjan in the Ivory Coast to France, it has been reported. Air France says an investigation into the death is ongoing.

The zebra, joined by two horses, had escaped from a zoo in Ormesson-sur-Marne after the gate to its enclosure was left open on Friday evening. The animal ran on the road alongside moving traffic.

Tear gas and baton charges were fired by police in the Parisian suburb of Villeneuve-la-Garenne early this morning.

With over a third of Team GB's medals brought home by women, this summer really was the season of girl power. And although the Olympics are over, the great girls of the Olympics are still enjoying every second.

The star athlete, 21, revealed that Wiggins inspired her cycling career in an interview to promote a new initiative aimed at getting children to achieve.

RICHARD MOORE: How quickly they forget. Four years ago Laura Trott, at 18, performed well if not spectacularly at the Delhi Games. Two years later she was double Olympic champion.

Sir Chris Hoy has advised Jason Kenny and Laura Trott to experience competing at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow first before passing judgment on its relevance.

London 2012 double Olympic champion Laura Trott set aside her anxiety to win the first of six disciplines in the women's omnium on day two of the Track Cycling World Cup in London.

MATT LAWTON IN RIO: Little more than an hour after Trott, re-established herself as Great Britain’s most successful female Olympian, Kenny stood shoulder to shoulder with Sir Chris Hoy.

Public documents reveal that, in November, with two gold medals already under her belt and nine months before the Olympics, Laura Trott trademarked her own name.

In their own frank, entertaining and self-effacing words, JASON KENNY and LAURA TROTT describe how love blossomed, and the haphazard planning leading up to their big day.

Laura Kenny helped Great Britain qualify second fastest in the women's team pursuit at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in her first outing since giving birth six months ago.

DAVID COVERDALE IN BERLIN: Kenny was left with a bloodied face after crashing in the omnium scratch race at the Track Cycling World Championships on Friday.

The unnamed officer described the horrific sight of 'bodies piled on top of each other' in the Paris concert hall, where 90 rock fans were slaughtered.

Bullring in Birmingham is one of the busiest shopping centres in the UK. Pictures of the site were found on Abdelhamid Abaaoud's phone by police. It was one of several 'targets' on the device.

Hero David Nolan, 32, from Cork, used his body to shield his girlfriend Katie Healy from the bullets when gunmen opened fire on the Bataclan concert hall in Paris last month.

The French national of Arab descent was stopped by customs officials when he arrived at Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport two days after Islamic State terrorists targeted Paris, killing 130 people.

Laura Croix, 31, was shot several times in the upper chest and abdomen, with one bullet just about missing her heart, while watching Eagles of Death Metal at the Bataclan on November 13.

The U.S. presidential candidate has more than once suggested the laws be changed in France and elsewhere so that victims of such attacks are able to defend themselves.

They've been nominated for the International Group BRIT Award and Eagles Of Death Metal singer Jesse Hughes looked thrilled to be at the event at London's 02 arena on Wednesday night.

Worried parents (pictured) led their children away from an evacuated primary school in the Forest district of Brussels, where police were hunting a jihadi cell linked the Paris terror attacks.

Europe’s security services feared a terrorist attack since the arrest of Paris failed suicide bomber Salah Abdeslam in the city four days ago as his colleagues feared the net was closing on them.

Belgian authorities have had the names and addresses of nearly 100 suspected Islamic militants weeks before the Paris atrocities. Here we reveal the links of the Molenbeek cell police missed.

France take on Russia in their first game back at the Stade de France since November's terrorist attacks in Paris. Les Bleus were photographed meeting fans in the city on Tuesday morning.

The Sheffield bar, called Paris, advertised the drink on their Instagram account (pictured). The bar refused to back down despite a backlash from students speaking out in protest against the name.

A government committee has heard that policemen on the scene of the attacks last November vomited after witnessing victims of horrendous torture lying dead on the second floor of the Paris nightclub.

Josh Homme and Mark Ronson are perhaps not the most obvious musical pairing, but a 'living spree' that Homme has been on since avoiding the Paris terror attacks perhaps inspire the union.

Callum Long Collins (pictured) of Fareham, Hampshire, who runs the English Shooting YouTube channel, confirmed police are not going to reinstate his licences after they were revoked in 2016.

Tempy Pattinson, 5, from Darlington, County Durham, and Simon Brown, 38, from Leeds, were introduced by Help for Heroes after she began fundraising to 'give back' to soldiers.

Thousands of 'snowflake' students are to be issued with brightly coloured wristbands printed with their address and emergency contact details this Freshers Week.

He began his career as a professional bodybuilder before embarking on acting and political pursuits. But Arnold, 70, proved he was still a fitness fanatic as he squeezed in a workout at a Yorkshire gym.

Mia Wilson, 23, was on a First Bus in Leeds when she says a row broke out between a mother and the bus driver about a pram occupied by a cat (circled) taking up the remaining pushchair space.

The father of four-year-old Clara shared an image of his daughter watching an assistant female referee on the pitch at a local football match in Leeds. Nathan told his followers she wanted to be a ref.

The changes are the latest in a flurry of rate rises across easy access and fixed rate cash Isas as banks and building societies jostle to secure people's savings.

Shania Greenhall, from Leeds, was beaten with a ratchet as children fired fireworks at her and three friends on a grassy area near a school on Wednesday.

EXCLUSIVE: David Haigh, former Managing Director of Leeds United, spent 22 months in jail in Dubai after being accused of falsifying invoices and channelling funds to a secret bank account.

Ann Maguire, 61, was fatally knifed by then 15-year-old Will Cornick on April 28, 2014 after he thrust a 34cm blade into her seven times - one blow slicing her jugular vein.

Sophie (pictured), three, is a member of Leeds Taekwondo - and when she practices the Korean martial art - she isn't messing around.

Police have said five people who died in the Leeds crash were inside the stolen Renault Clio that hit a tree. Two people have been arrested, with one released under investigation.

Figures released by police show complaints of rape almost trebled in the first year and have remained significantly higher than before after fear of arrest in Holbeck, Leeds, was removed.

Kieran Creaven, 54, a sports producer with RTE, pleaded guilty to grooming the girl at Leeds magistrates' court today.

Megan Robertson (pictured) was found slumped in her bedroom by her sister, after complaining about the side-effects of anti-seizure tablets, Wakefield Coroners Court has heard.