brent: this is "dw news," live from berlin. five years. the french president sets an ambitious deadline for rebuilding the cathedral of notre dame. just 24 hours after fire devastated france's iconic gothic cathedral, french president macron vows to quickly return the structure to its former glory. they do not expect arson. also tonight, russia moving to tighten state control of the internet. officials say it is s ant to

stop c cer-attacks, but critics fear it is another attempt by the kremlin to crack down on dissent. and indonesia gearing up for what is being called the world's most complex election. with 200 one million voters hours away from casting their ballots, it is being called a test of religious tolerance in the world's third-largest democracy. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff. united states and all around the world, welcome. it has been just 24 hours since a fire devastated notre dame cathedral in paris, but already french president emmanuel macron is pledging to rebuild. in an address to the nation, he said the disaster is an opportunity for the whole country to come together to quickly restore its beloved

church. >> we are a people of builders, and we have so much to rebuild. so yes, we will reconstruct the cathedral of notre dame to be even more beautiful than before, and i want that goal to be reached within five years. we can do it. and once again, we will mobilize to do this. after this challenging time comes a period of reflection and then a time for action. brent: that was the french president macron speaking there. our correspondent lisa louis is in paris covering this story for us. what did you make of what the president had to say? lisa: it was interesting because he started by paying tribute to the firemen who have been working relentlessly last night to save notre dame from the

fire. he was also saying i was there, describing his night, basically saying i am one of you, i am feeling the pain you are feeling. we can do this together, we can get through this together. he also said it was not the time to make any political announcements because it was expected last night he would react to months of demonstrations here in france by the yellow vests. he was expected to announce measures after the big debate that had been going on for several months in france. and he did not. he said this is not the right time. on the other hand there was this underlying clinical message if you let -- underlying political message if you listen carefully. things take time. you could understand this as referring to his own politics. because he has been criticized very much over the past few months for not doing what he had promised to do. he is basically telling the

french, give me more time and i will deliver. brent: speaking of time, he says we need five years to rebuild notre dame. that sounds very ambitious. do we know if it is even possible in five years? lisa: well, there has been a discussion going on about this today with different restorers who say it is probably possible that the result will not be the same because we need time to come up with all these little nice details that actually are so significant and important for a church like this. the source of this can also be seen as a political message in a way. macron wants to show i can do this and i can do this quickly because i am determined to do this. brent: we know it has been an emotional 24 hours for millions in france in where you are and also across the world.

many are still coming to grips with the aftermath of the blaze. reporters in paris witnessed firsthand a nation in mourning. as the flames consumed notre dame. here is their report. reporter: what hapappened here s for many, still impossible to grasp. parisians and visitors from around the world gathered to sing and pray at the berlin caththedral -- burning cathedra. it had already been in flames for three hoururs. the towewers were in dananger of collapapse. many hopoped for a miraclele. among them, christians here. >> there is water on both sides but the fire is burning and they cannot put it out. in a c cntry likee france with all its advancnced technology, they cannot put it out. we are praying to god. if men are incapable of this, maybe god will help us.

> it is not our lady of paris or france, it is ououlady of all humidity. -- humanitity. they all sing with us. reporter: the medieval roof of notre dame cannot be salvaged. no one y yet knowsws the fatee e relilics and paintings. >> foror me, t this is the symbf pariris. i am inn love with p paris and h art. notre e dame is a really powerfl symbol for me. reporter: no one could tell if the firefighters would succeed in extinguishing the blaze. the cathedral h h never burned like thiss bore. the woodd is nearly 1000 years old. >> notre dame is my heart and soul.. i was born in paris. this is the most important building for me. everyoyone wept tonight.

we are all together. jews, m muslims, people o of co. everyone is united.d. reporter: somome spent the whole night here in a kind of vigil. the all clear signal came in the morning. the cathedral was still standing but the damage is colossal. even though the most important art treasures had been brought to safety. a longtime member of the paris diocese is relieved and moved by the way the trtragedy broughght people of many faiths together. >> last night the chief rabbi of francece quoted the e old testa. my house should be calllled a house of prayer for all peoplpl, and that i is exactly what notre dadame is for christians and jes alike, muslims, even nonbelievers. rereporter: he s sees a miracle. >> i believe in resurrection. notre dame will rise again becacause of the enormous

solidarity of everyone who wawas to help rebuild it. >> we can rebuild it. it might be different than before but it has to be done. whatever the cost. it just has to b be done. reporter: notre dame and all of paris is experiencing a wave of solidarity. brent: solidarity, solace. lisa, it has been 24 hours since that blaze raged behind you in notre dame. what is the feeling and what is the situation tonight around the cathedral? lisa: the cathedral is still actually blocked off largely. you cannot access it here from the other side. many people have an gathering on either side. just looking at it, holding vigils. they are down there, a group of

people who have lit some candles. just a moment ago they were singing the national him. -- hymn. they feel the pain that was caused by the fire and obviously they want to show their solidarity with what happened. the firefighters as well. and also show that we are happy that a large part of the cathedral has still survived. brent: that is a good point to make. also an important point is that no one died in the blaze. we have had this outpouring of emotion, also an inpouring of financial generosity. more than half a billion euros have been pledged to fund the restoration of the cathedral. do we know how much this will cost? lisa: it is very difficult to estimate at this very moment. we know that there are more than 700 million already coming from different donors, rich and

wealthy people or big companies. also private funds of people who have set up websites to collect funds and tens of thousands of euros coming from there. there will be a discussion of who will have to foot the bill. on the other hand, obviously the companies that have been doing the work and were engaged to do the restoration, they have insurance. the investigation that is going on, if the outcome of that is that it was their fault, these insurers will have to foot at least part of the bill. obviously the government would chip in to get this reconstruction going, because as you said earlier, emmanuel macron wants notre dame to be rebuilt within five years. brent: a drop in the bucket for a cathedral that has been standing for 850 years.

lisa louis from paris. thank you. tonight, a goal of rebuilding notre dame as we reported within five years, but the question remains how authentic will the result be? earlier i spoke with meredith cohen. she's is an associate professor at the university of california in los angeles. i asked her to explain. meredith: there are two major periods of architecture which have been lost. one is a 19th century restoration. the spire was rebuilt. they built it in a gothic revival style, similarar to the earlier gothic form, but still a marker of 19th century work. and then they lost the roof, which was a timber roof. we have really very few examples

of timber roofs. people might not be so excited about that but part of the roof was 13th century and made entirely with timber nails, timber pegs. and it is a know-how. and there were maybe a handful in france left from the 13th century. they do catch on fire. so, to you have one that is left now from the 13th century is very rare,e, and now we have lot ththis one. brent: and what does that mean when we are talking about now restoring, trying to salvage what was inside? are there enough carpenters, for example, who know how to rebuild that wooden roof with its beams? i think there were so many beams, the roof was known as the forest. do we still have the expertise today? meredith: yeah, i do not think

they will rebuild it in the medieval way. it does not make a lot of sense. it is probably rather heavy and kind of a cumbersome and the least efficient way to do it now. so i would hope that they do it in a way that is modern, that is lighter and yet still strong, and then impervious to fire would be ideal. but we do have some knowledge of timber production throughout the middle ages. so, they could reproduce it. the question is i do not know why they would reproduce it in the same exact way. we can't copy history, we cannot remake history. brent: that is the tragic commentary about this fire, isn't it, professor? that even though we know what was lost, despite everything we can do in the 21st century will be able to replace it, right?

meredith: yeah, exactly. even though we have many detailed drawings, examples, laser reproductions of the spire and perhaps of the roof, what is gone is gone. and anything we make now is going to have the date 2019 on it. brent: yeah, that's s an importt point to make that maybe i think a lot of people have not realized, as they are still in shock of what was lost inside notrtre dame.. mereredith cohohen, associate professor for medieval art and architecture joining us tonighgt fromom los angeleles. professosor, we apappreciate yor insights. thank you. the cathedral of notre dame is known and loved around the world. all reporters have been us -- asking people in moscow, istanbul, berlin and london to

their reactions. >> it is just awful. when i saw it it would hard to believe. notre dame is an international achievement. it is ancient architecture. for us russians, it is a tragedy. it is a tragedy for everyone. >> everyone in russia seems to be very upset. i did not find out about the fire from the news but from my friends. everyone was sharing the information and saying that it was such a shame. >> it'ss a great loss. notre dame does not only belolog to the christian world, christianity is a religious belief, and we need to respect alall religiouss beliefsfs. >> a all religions are holy. it'ss a historical structure. think about the memories. >> well, one would hope that if similar work was done here in germany that care would be taken with historic monuments, and

that something like this does not happen here. it's terrible. >> so sad. it's awful. i work by st. paul's, i look at it from my office window, and i would be devastated. when you see paris, notre dame is iconic. >> beautiful buildings attach us to something important. it is not just historical, it is the sacred nature of the building. i think that is very important to keep. it must be devastating. i feel very sad for the french people. brent: thoughts around the world about notre dame. here are some of the other stories now that are making headlines around the world. the ak party of turkish president recep tayyip erdogan has formally asked for an annulment and a rerun of istanbul's municipal elections citing alert regularities that -- citing irregularities.

results show the main opposition won the city by a narrow margin. that would end akp control. they already lost control of the capital ankara. egypt's parliament -- could keep the president in power until 203030. the parliament, dominated by his supporters, also back to changes to give the military greater influence. the changes still need to be approved in a referendum. a court in russiaia has convictd a norwegian man of spying with intent to gather information about nuclear submarines. a retired border guard will go to prison for 14 years. he was arrested in moscow in 2017 and has admitted to acting for a courier for in a region intelligence but he has denied knowledge of the operation. indonesia is one day away from

electing its next president. the largest muslim majority nation in the world will decide between the incumbent and a challenger who is no stranger to politics. both candidates faced off against each other five years ago but this time, it is not the issues, but rather conservative islamic values that they are pushing to win over voters. here is more with clare richardson in jakarta. clare: more muslims call indodonesia home t than any couy on earth.. now the young democracy is at a crossroads as its tradition of religious tolelerance is p put o the tetest by this year's elections. despite the tensions, indonesians arare excited to goo the polls. >> for me the most important thing is security without chaos to choose a president who carries out the people's will. >> no one should refuse to vote. >> i hope all people carry out

their duties and go to the polls. i appeal to the people of indonesia to go to their local polling station. nobodydy should not vote. clarare: this coming election is important because one vote can determine the fate of the nation. this year, islamic identity has been at the center of how candidates compete, especially in the conversation to replace behind the scenes. president joko widodo and his competitor prabowo subianto ran against each other five years ago. but this election is much more than just a rematch. in the last few years, islamist groups w which used toto be considered fringe have come into the mainstrtream, and this election will be a test on how much religion-based politics has come to shape indonesia. election watchers say religion has played a central role in the campaign. the president has been attackekd by conservative opponents for not being muslim enough. >> is jokowi muslim or not?

is jokowi genuine, or can he be the leader or not? islamic issues are being -- clare: some activists are unhappy w with both of their options for president. they say the entire system is corrupt. that has given rise to a small but vocal protest movement called "i am not voting" that is refusing to go to the polls. >> we are so divided. wewe have different political options and we refuse. we simply do not trust of those who have a different polititical choice. clare: for those who do vote, their choice m may well determie whether the country's traditional religious freedom

will be overpowered by the rise of islamist groups and leave -- lead indonesia down the road of religious intolerance. brent: to afghanistan where there are renewed hostilities between the taliban and the country's government, and it comes in the midst of an ongoing push for peace with the u.s. the fresh fighting is a further blow to a country that is already struggling to recover from decades of war, and we are victims of past conflicts are still paying the price. reporter: it's early morning in kabul, and she has two kilometers to go on crutches. she cannot afford a taxi. she lost a leg when she stepped on a mine. no weapons allowed here at this rehabilitation center for victims of violence in afghanistan. >> in the winter there is snow and mud to deal with. i already felt twice this morning. but i need to come for the treatment. things worse and when i do not. reporter: the orthopedic center

is the only one in afghanistan. it offers long-term care to mine victims, wounded shoulders -- soldldiers, and those injured in attacks. there are more mines still buried in afghanistan than any other country. children are most often injured by them. her remaining leg is overburdened and giving her trouble. her parents were reluctant to let their daughter be filmed like this for a long time. the disabled d woman n in afghanistan is a major statement. -- stigma. >> the memory of the moment whwn the mine exploded and i lost my leg, i just cannot forget it. when it happened, i thought it is all over. my mother recently became seriously ill, and i feel ashamed that i can no longer help her out. reporter: prostheses are

manufactured here. patients come for them from far and wide. the afghan state can barely help the disabled make a new start in life. but at least everyone is given a new leg to stand on. she plays basketball and she is good at it. her team has already twice taken part in the paragames. >> my y nfidence h has returned through sports. i think i'm a pretty good athlete. of course i know that is not true, but it feels good. reporter: she goes to the clinic twice a week. she knows that despite all the hardships, she is lucky to live in kabul, where the clinic is located. and shehe has rececently deciden her future career. she would like to become a physiotherapist. brent: russia's parliament is

giving final approval to a controversial law decide -- to better monitor internet usage. it is meant to deter cyber threats. but skeptics fear increased government control over cyberspace could be used by the kremlin to s silence critics. rererter: this could soon be happening a lot more often in russia. the results of a web search, blocked. internet users here cannot reach the u.s. career networking site linkedin because it does not store user data on russian servers. now with the new law, they are takiking things a step further. lawmakers want all russian internet traffic routed through russian servers. >> this law w will help us defed our internet traffic from aggressive action from abroad. reporter: the author of the bill believes it is a very real danger the u.s. could cutut

pressure off from the net. critics fear that the government simply wants to control all internet traffic in russia. in march, thousands of people demonstrated against the proposed law change. many think the official reasoning is implausible. >> it is technically impossible to cut pressure e off from the internet. there is no official button to turn off the internet, in the u.s. or in germany. reporter: with the law change, the governmement regulator willl gain more power and be able to put m more pressure on foforeign internet companieses. itit h has already demanded fack and twitter m move r russian usr data onto o servers in russia, d threatened to block access to the site if they refused. brent: mens tennis now, at the monte carlo masters. marine show which was dumped out of competition by argentina's player.

rule number one novak djokovic had his own struggles against philip cole schreiber in their second head-to-head of this year. reporter: thehe red-clad nonovak djokovic claimed the first set. among the highlights, a delicately sliced backhand, too delicate for his opponent to reach. but he hit back k in the seconod set. one thrilling rally ended with both players at the net as he hit his opponent with the ball. he had only beaten him twice in 10 attempts his most recent victory came in march of this year. the german continue to break serve, eventually claiming the second set. much of the frustration of djokovic, whose e racket took a beating. with the anger taking -- taken care of, the third set was won by djokovic, securing him into the last 16. brent: here's a reminder of that

top story.. french president emmanuel macron has vowed to rebuild notre dame cathedral within five years. a day after a devastating fire, he urged france to come together to rebuild the church evenen moe beautifully than before. an investigation is underway into the cause of the blaze, but arson is not suspected. you're watching "dw news." after a short break i'll be back to take you through "the day." stick around for that. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

. what about you watching live from paris on front twenty four on your salary the headlines this hour? president not problems the notion done prorocedural restord and renovated within five years he addressed the nation a short while ago following last night's devastating fire. as the investigation continues prosecutors say there is nothing to indicate it was a deliberate act. francis three richest tie cadence of page five hundred million euros to restore not too a total of seven hundred million euros has now beenn promised to rebuild the cathedral before the fire. the renovation was