The president promised the cathedral would be rebuilt by 2024, yet officials acknowledge the work won’t be fully completed by then.

Previous nationwide lockdowns in March and October of 2020 were announced by Macron in televised speeches.

Macron attended an EU summit with other European leaders last week, and on Wednesday met with Portugal's prime minister and attended a Cabinet meeting.

Backed by military aircraft, Brazilian troops on Saturday prepared to deploy in the Amazon to fight fires that have swept the region and prompted anti-government protests as well as an international outcry.

With the silence of remembrance and respect, nations honored the memory of the fallen and the singular bravery of all Allied troops who sloshed through bloodied water to the landing beaches of Normandy, a tribute of thanks 75 years after the D-Day assault that doomed the Nazi occupation of France and portended the fall of Hitler's Third Reich.

Paris police investigators think an electrical short-circuit most likely caused the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral, a police official said Thursday as France paid a daylong tribute to the firefighters who saved the world-renowned landmark.

The inferno that raged through Notre Dame Cathedral for more than 12 hours destroyed its spire and its roof but spared its twin medieval bell towers, and a frantic rescue effort saved the monument's "most precious treasures," including the Crown of Thorns purportedly worn by Jesus, officials said Tuesday.

A massive fire engulfed the roof of Notre Dame Cathedral in the heart of the French capital Monday, toppling its spire and sending thick plumes of smoke high into the blue sky as tourists and Parisians looked on aghast from the streets below.

French President Emmanuel Macron is denouncing violent protesters who attacked police and vandalized a Paris monument, promising they will be "held responsible for their acts."