really. don't look at the super. live to get a good. deal. discover the. eleven. subscribe. documentary on the tube. the heart of paris went up in flames today as the entire world watched just after seven pm local time the world famous notre dame cathedral disappeared in huge plumes of smoke as flames ravaged the medieval catholic church there is massive damage the spire year has completely collapsed firefighters will stay until the

morning at least tonight this symbol to the world of the city of lights it shines no more. berlin this is the day. that. is.

also coming up tonight the unseen palestinians that's how would may have seemed in the israeli election last week tonight eyes wide open a d.-w. news report on the plight of palestinian refugees would it be about and i'm a grown up a five and i can handle this one but i was worried for my children and all night it would carry them from one room to the other so that the rain would not fall on their heads. i had to put buckets all over the house i had no other solution. to our viewers on p.b.s. in the united states and all around the world welcome we begin the day with what paris and the whole world lost today a massive fire gutted notre dame cathedral this evening

a catholic church this medieval monument to french gothic architecture has been a fundamental part of paris's identity of the parisian soul for almost a millennium it took flames about an hour to turn its wooden frame and its torrent spire recognize the world over into smoldering embers and ashes. one eyewitness who saw the blaze consume notre dame was journalist not he upon tell she's a correspondent with the german daily site and i spoke to her earlier and i asked her what she could see. i am now spending in front of a. church there it is. and they did walk some knuckle down the way where people are kneeling in front of the church and pray. to commemorate what is going on just ten minutes away from here and i was spending on all semi shen which is

just off of itself not the church one it was burning. one of the flames were actually still so big that you could just see them. and the back for most beautiful blue sky because it's a beautiful spring evening here can you can you still see for flames now no no no i can't. that doesn't mean that it's not burning anymore but the flames i think for like fifteen minutes really. required huge so that it in a way was like a dystopian firework where there was this mass of people the constant me reacted with my woes and oh my god. to what they were seeing and that for me the smoke was changing all kinds of colors it was dark yellow dots last like a search feature honest my parents were were you standing near the cathedral not a year when people began realizing that the church was on fire they

had already realized when i was there. but were pointing doing that where they just were they standing there with a congregating or were they trying to get away from the cathedral well no i think it was more they everybody was in shock and love reading i think all of us should have moved away from the cathedral because they were. burning pieces falling down tiny ones but still because the wind was coming our way but people were not moving because i think everyone was in shock and fear could also see i mean that when you become phenomenon of of our days when you can you could see the flames like ten times because they were in all the screens around you everybody was filming what was going on but you also had. quite a few people crying that to me i think it was partly tourists who were in shock and worried about their children but also. sprach people who were just

really hurt by what they were seeing ok not yet pantelis a correspondent in france with the german newspaper the zoo deutsch a side to not and we appreciate you sharing your insights and what you're seeing right now it's very important thank you thank you. when john lawrence that is a journalist in paris who has been following events in the french capital i spoke to him earlier and he gave us this update on the blaze the. oath this cathedral has collapsed the spirit in the center of the. roof has collapsed there. this cathedral that took two hundred years to build is going up in flames this evening this is this cathedral which is built in eleven sixty three essentially says it was the highest building in paris towered over the

other constructions of the city it was the only building the in c. as you approach paris so not as people approach paris and there are no sways in the trains in the buses in their cars what they will see flames and this great towering . columns of white and yellow smoke rising over and from one of the coming very fast the ruins of this great defeat of have you been able to confirm john if there were people inside of there been any injuries. there had been injuries on the the head of police mr nunez a presenter they had no injuries and this i think i always wanted to look at when silence of the exchange watches where he personally. and. the fine is supposed to have broken out ten to seven this evening is exactly

shockley's after the cathedral door was closed the last mass took place in half past six i think sorry six o'clock and i think the the faithful will be out of the jewels just shortly before closing time the last tour is really nice and it was close shortly closing time so i don't you know leave anyone there when the fire broke out you know that is definitely good news in in this tragedy what about any speculation that you've heard about what could have caused this fire we know that extensive renovation work had begun. that's right the extraordinary things about. this this tragedy as you rightly cruel it is there are some sixty three metre high cost statues were

helicoptered off of this roof collapse a night just to three days ago when stations who don't join regional versus out west front for restoration they were never just take take away like that so they really they've been saved from there for the reason are quite miraculous fashion in fact. john if you could stay a gut my colleague david lovett's here from our culture desk. you know what is going through your mind i mean this is a huge loss this is a nightmare brant this is one of those events happens a few times in your life where you just wish this was not true anyone who has ever been to paris will be watching this in total shock this is the most visited site in paris paris being one of the most visited cities in the world and no structure really says paris or france or even europe in the quite the same way that no it's

good on cathedral does anyone who has been to paris will remember the first time that they saw this building you know paris is it's a very it's a pretty small city it's got a pretty low profile and you get to the san river and suddenly you are greeted by notre dame cathedral and this is a building that until now has taken people's breath away for seven and a half centuries. re understand that. he is at the scene right now hope german chancellor angela merkel she has called new today a symbol of european culture i mean let's talk about its significance i mean i did it yes well its significance is in estimable in the estimable any last year and it looks like we're looking at significant loss is going to be a huge blow to european culture the history of not saddam is totally intertwined

with french history it is on this tiny island at the heart of the city this is the heart of the city that used to say the island known as the isle of the city this is the birthplace of the french civilization it's the birthplace of french language this tiny island and it's not a coincidence that that is where the monarchy wanted to build not for them in the twelfth century when they started building it to position paris as the unquestionable capital of france and that is exactly what this building did so it's not just a building it has huge cultural significance now from an architectural standpoint this is one of the most distinctive and finest works of architecture in the world particularly gothic architecture and it has been for seven and a half centuries the central spire that's collapsed by the way it was part of the nineteenth century renovation of the cathedral but france has been investing in recent years into sites like notes to attract more tourists they know this is

actually what attracts the tourists. not least of which because this building was the place that victor hugo wrote his novel the hunchback of notre dame about i mean it's known to children who have seen the disney movie one of the most famous sites in the world. you know esko has said it is at is so i dissaving re store notre dame but. i mean what we're seeing right now it looks devastated and we have reported before that the cathedral needed the mits renovations and it had not taken place the renovations have been you know going on for centuries actually if you like. you know this this statement of unesco's that they are standing by france this is obviously if there's any hope to be had at this time it's that unesco and the french government are already thinking i have there

already thinking how are they going to rebuild now it's good when this is over and like i said if there is any source of hope here it is that this building has seen a lot of damage before that huguenots ransacked it centuries ago it was desecrated in the french revolution and there's always been this will to rebuild. so as christians particularly catholics you have just celebrated palm sunday they're coming up on easter the celebration of redemption of rebirth perhaps there will be a glimmer of hope right now obviously we're looking at absolute devastation you know. so that was david love from the culture desk speaking with me earlier. we're here in germany volkswagens diesel gate scandal it is a criminal investigation that has reached the very top of the karmic today german

prosecutors charge former c.e.o. martin venter accord with fraud he is one of five people suspected of approving software which was programmed to lie about emissions the software was deployed in eleven million vehicles which rick warren has denied early know which of the cheat . prosecutors are convinced the former c.e.o. knew about the exhaust emissions cheating and hid it from the public. the former chairman of the board docked of intercourse is in fact accused of a particularly serious case of fraud a violation of the law against unfair competition and breach of trust. if the charges of proven winterkorn could easily land in jail and he's the very man credited with turning fox wagner into the world's top car maker but the news the company had been employing devices to give low pollution readings during exhaust testing instantly hammered the company's share price and its reputation.

would like to make a formal apology to our customers the authorities and to the general public for this misconduct please believe me we will do everything necessary to reverse the damage and we will do everything necessary to win back your trust step by step. for . printer cohen had to step down despite claiming he knew nothing about the scandal but prosecutors say he already knew about it in main twenty fourteen and did nothing to stop it also failing to report it to the authorities and customers when to cons of thora he was feared by staff who were under pressure to make the car makers a global leader managers and technicians were afraid to challenge him and all the while folks who are going to continue to claim that it's diesel technology was especially clean and environmentally friendly. with. christoph coburn is here for business so what's going to happen to mr cool he could end up behind bars

for a long time that if the court and germans you're wrong for should go ahead with a case against him and the other four executives that are being charged the outcome of such a case could be severe prosecutors cite a particularly serious case of fraud here and that could lead up to a maximum penalty of ten years in prison it could lead up to the fact that bonuses that have been handed out to these exact executives are going to be taken away from them that would be eleven million euros for mr winterkorn plus should he get convicted fox wagon could sue for damages he's going need some good attorneys because this isn't the only legal trouble that he is facing that's right he's already under indictment in the united states on charges of fraud and conspiracy to violate the clean air act he could face up to twenty years in prison there however it's unlikely that he'll get convicted because germany doesn't extradite its citizens but these this legal pressure from the united states is important today

and that it's possibly one of the reasons why german prosecutors are not acting tougher on mr into one for example putting him into custody because they say the pressure from outside the country is already so big he's not going to get about twenty so his folks working saying anything about today's so they say this is an individual's matter they're not commenting on this any further they say we paid one billion euros to leave this case in germany to rest that's all right because as always thank you. the middle east now and the dire conditions facing palestinian refugees following a policy change in the trump white house the u.s. cut off funding the united nations relief agency that provides services for about two million palestinian refugees those refugees live in sprawling camps in jordan

among those camps and. as. he. reports the budget cuts. on the refugees law. the twenty seven year old in the refugee camp or he was born and raised it was once his job to clean the streets here but now the garbage is left uncollected she was one of around forty seven employed by the united nations relief and works agency for palestine refugees for short to keep the camp in jordan clean. in twenty eighteen the trump administration announced it would seize all funding to the agency so it has had to let employees go including sanitation laborers. the u.n. agency was able to raise new funds from some forty other countries but still needed to reduce its hold budget by ninety two million u.s. dollars last year. my financial situation is difficult when my elderly

father notes of deals were i can't give it to him anymore. my dream is to go back to working for a new one i was self-sufficient. in the campus extremely dirty and in the coming summer months it'll only get worse. i have asked us not to reveal his identity his refugee status doesn't allow him to work outside the camp this job was his only source of income to support his family of six. there are now only ten workers left to clean a camp with a population of thirty thousand as a result of the camp is experiencing a garbage crisis. of jordan's ten refugee camps for palestinians this one josh is absolute poorest an estimated fifty two percent of the residents here live under the national poverty line with the recent cuts to an era residents say conditions have reached an all time new low and no claim the camp is lacking in everything.

the santa teresa jew ations very bad shit every day i have to clean the street myself. we moved to a different camp because it is the largest refugee camp for palestinians in jordan with a population of over one hundred thousand many families have been in the camp for generations here sanitation is not the only problem residents of houses with makeshift roofs like this one are especially vulnerable in the winter months. a father of two says he hoped would help with building expenses but they always cited a lack of funding he was forced to go into debt to pay for this metal cover. about how i'm a grown up at five and i can handle this. but i was worried for my children all night about carrying them from one room to the other so that the rain would not fall on their heads i had to put buckets all over the house i had no other solution

to. get the solution he found is by no means sustainable water still gets through the house poses many health hazards and the children are at risk of electrocution from uncovered wires. says that when the summer months hit the roof will make temperatures inside the house unbearable he says he feels abandoned with no other option but to hope for a better future. for more on this i'm joined now by our uber he filed that report from jordan good to see you so you spoke with say that station workers who felt the impact of funding cuts the you with relief camps there in jordan and what were the conditions of the key of g. visit so we visited two camps at us camp and because. as you mention in the report the poorest camp of all of all ten palestinian refugee camps in jordan this is the one that's absolutely poorest with more than half of the of the refugees they're

living under the national poverty line of jordan and also. houses a particularly vulnerable group of palestinian refugees namely ones that come from the gaza strip and these unlike other palestinian refugees in jordan don't have a id and id number provided by the jordanian government and thus are subject to much harsher conditions so losing this job for as we saw with id for example we saw in the report it's not just about losing an income it's also takes away their sense of empowerment their sense of agency that they're giving something to to to to their community so these are the conditions and you see the they don't have the numbers that are usually given by jordan is this is a jordan specific problem. with regards to our own i mean under what is a large organization when they were launched back in one nine hundred forty nine they were set up as an emergency agency to accommodate the fleeing arab populations

from as a result of the arab israeli war and back then there were about seven hundred fifty thousand refugees roughly that they have to. look after fast for twenty one thousand there are about five million and these are divided across the middle east jordan lebanon the west bank. syria and the gaza strip and the cuts have been felt across the camps in jordan as we saw but i'm told that the conditions of the gaza strip. it's been under a blockade are much much worse where. the people that are employed by when or where they're really have no other option or resort they've had to cut a thousand contract employees in the gaza strip and this included this had to include the termination of mental health mental health programs for example for people that live under a blockade you know which they just really need so what are people doing there are they trying to leave work and they go i mean like i saw with his just sitting at a cafe doing nothing and leaving is i think something that

a lot of refugees there would maybe like but. it's the prospects are very dim when it comes to leaving and also when they come to countries like germany for example the the chances of a palestinian refugee having their asylum application accepted are are lower because they're not immediately from from from from a conflict zone so a lot of despair there unfortunately you know last week we talked a lot about the election is is real in yahoo. being reelected but just the issue of the palestinians even as a people or the occupied territories the settlements it just seemed like none of that was an issue in the queue. what does his reelection and the results of this election what do they mean for these people anything it's hard it's actually. so benjamin that's anyhow actually this move when the united states decided to cut

to cut funding funding and why because he sees it as an essentially failed institution that failed to reintegrate. palestinian refugee populations and having them sort of continue existing in the camps as they were over generations and. that is partially true it is fact that these camps are populated by generations and generations and generations of refugees that is that is a fact but that's also because the people there they have a different perspective they believe that one day they can they can they can return home this is their opinion and this is what they believe but going back to a question about people people leaving i think something that people perhaps missing does this cause in this question is the sustainability of or know what actually is a. pull factor for refugees not to migrate and not to come to europe where they might have less perspective because they provide them with jobs they provide them with. stability exactly they provide them with education garrett jobs projects so there is also an argument that they are giving them hope where in

the camps where they are at the moment. well you were he was always very appreciate your reporting thank you. so. well that he is almost on the conversation continues online you'll find us on twitter either at w news or you can follow me board got to be that we're going to use the hash tag the day now more images of that fire at notre dame cathedral in paris and remember whatever happens between now and tomorrow is another day we'll see you then.

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a day my name is outing to and i work at it up you. know and gemini with w. at any time i'd seen any place the news media and the bellows yeah i don't like the beatles quite so nice to sing along to you if you can still come from soup. to for. interactive exercises. everything is online most bio and interactive learn german just for lifting w. d to know that seventy seven percent of optic are younger than sixty ah. that's me and me. and you know what it's time old boy says block part. of the seventy seven percent to talk about the issue. this is where it comes.

seventy seven percent this weekend on d w. this. is a nation in shock fire has engulfed the cathedral notre dame authorities say. the blaze the flames have consumed the churches have spread to the building's iconic. president is at the scene.