Florence's Uffizi Gallery discovers lost frescoes during COVID closures
CBSN
The Uffizi Gallery in Florence used the winter COVID shutdown to push ahead with renovations, discovering lost frescoes that will greet visitors when the leading repository of Italian Renaissance art reopens on May 4.
Uffizi director Eike Schmidt said the six months of closure were put to good use: Renovating 14 new rooms that will open to the public next month, and discovering frescoes that would otherwise have remained hidden. But he hopes that the most recent reopening — the third during the pandemic — will be the last.Noumea — France's president held a flurry of meetings with local representatives in the restive Pacific territory of New Caledonia on Thursday, urging calm after deadly rioting, and vowing thousands of military reinforcements will stay in place to quell what he called an "unprecedented insurrection."
Kathmandu — Nepali climber Phunjo Lama on Thursday reached Mount Everest's summit in 14 hours and 31 minutes, smashing the record for the world's fastest ascent of the mountain by a woman. Climbers usually take days to reach the top of the 29,032-foot mountain, spending nights on its different camps to rest and acclimatize.