France races to reopen Notre-Dame cathedral by December 2024

French President Emmanuel Macron has promised that the restoration of Paris's Notre-Dame Cathedral, badly damaged by fire in 2019, will be completed in time for its planned reopening next December.

"We will meet the deadline," Macron told reporters while he inspected the site on Friday, exactly one year ahead of the scheduled date.

Macron said there would be a competition for the design of six contemporary