44 years. if they'd foreseen the crisis a bit earlier we might have turned towards look tree goods because we had the expertise and if we'd gone into luxury goods we could have charged higher prices i think if we had we could have maybe held our own for much longer i don't know the factory worked out didn't survive but now the tradition is espoused is being revived thanks to a global brand keen to maintain its image for quality and craftsmanship and the highly skilled work comes with a hefty price tag about like this will set you back well over $3000.00 euros business appears to be going well louis for tom is planning to take on another 1500 workers in france over the coming years. and that's a show. called

the is called over. train ranches mistry. to. maximize the.

seumas never see or hear a crossroads come. at a cost come. close. to. the women in the indian state somehow rush trying becoming lawn tennis. or taking a sustainable approach to. 60 minutes on. earth home to millions of species

a home worth saving. here's what goes on those are big changes and most start with small steps global ideas tell stories of creative people and innovative projects around the world like news that protect the climate used green energy solutions and reforestation. they create interactive content teaching the next generation about environmental protection and we're determined to build something here for the next generation goldline to use the multimedia environment series on d.w. . winter weather in germany can be called the temperature often drops below freezing it's time to get out the warm clothes perhaps even a sweater made of merino wool. lisa tights cut only 5 feet and it

isn't it she is up to how tads maybe merino wool is comfortable are the few really know it's cuddly and so her ship. merino wool is popular right now here in berlin fashion week fashion designers rave about its qualities. the same optimism it's very breathable so you stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter it's all money in town. merino wool is also a practical fabric. and much of it when you sweat it dries fast and it doesn't smell and you don't have to wash it often it's natural and renewable what's in the borstal. most of the merino wool used for clothing salt in europe comes from a strain there are about 79. in the ring no sheep there and they're bred to produce as much will as possible. in every animal that

you can to get you straight environment so it requires all these interventions by humans one of these procedures called musing involves removing parasite prone skin phones from lambs critics i'm using is painful for the sheep and completely unnecessary. merino wool is popular with european consumers it's used to make sweaters coats outdoor clothing and even shoes. as fits you can get feels great functional underwear made of merino wool is excellent for 2 hours out of the shop yesterday and what about the sheep what's important for you as you know what it's of that's an up does about when. they

should be raised and sure humanely it's off bush one border fence to ask where does merino wool come from. somewhere in the mountains i think. that i don't know exactly what i will run over his. many wood products don't list this source merino sheep are also raised in germany nearly half a 1000000 of them. we've come to a sheep farm in southern germany to talk to some experts about merinos. so they're hardy animals and easy to raise. but they don't have much in common with their ancestors which were likely imported from north africa to spain in the middle ages . this is. the original arena has had extremely fine wool. but over the centuries they've been bred to develop more skin folds and that produces more. of the. most german

merinos a bridge for meat production their skin has no wrinkles and they wool is course. but once. we get a lot of rain here and there was perfectly suited to those conditions. call the course helps to keep out the moisture out in full. like a rain coat exactly. is used to make carpets insulating materials and even see how has the public transport vehicles the wool that's used in the manufacture of clothing comes from other countries argentina produces about 4 percent of the world total so to south africa and new zealand at 88 percent a strain is by far the largest producer. merino wool is a major a strange an export turnover and 2018 was equivalent to over 2300000000 euros.

a merino even appears on a stray unicorns but the dark side of the story is that the sheep bred to produce excessive amounts of wool and there are serious concerns about the way there were a east. the 4 paws foundation for animal welfare has been investigating those conditions. as consumers want wool clothing that's fluffy soft and cuddly what's the reality behind all production this is that's fairly teed there are real problems with animal welfare and australian sheep foreign relations . dong to. activists are particularly concerned about a process called meals ing which is designed to protect sheep from fly maggots and these hidden camera video you can see how strips of skin are removed from the

buttocks without the use of anesthetics. as one of the ever fashion you can just imagine how much that hurts the name is intense years and it lasts for several days. more than 90 percent of all will comes from a shape that was subjected to this procedure. disaster does you won't find a lot of musing free sweaters in the shops. how can consumers find out whether the sheep have been raised humanely. we went online posed as a buyer and asked german clothing manufacturers in stores with that they offer news in free products. we contacted $34.00 companies and got a variety of responses. to don't buy australian wool

6 intend to use mules in free will in the future 10 trust their suppliers who say they don't use musing. 7 try to convince customers that the animals are well treated 5 didn't answer our question for didn't answer at all and no one talked about supply chain transparency. our test indicates that it's tough for german consumers to get straight answers to these questions some of the companies gave us a general response or tried to change the subject to different topics. blanked out one company said that it had mistakenly sent us a reply in 10. but for a different question. perhaps official quality assurance can help the consumer initiative is an ngo that promotes sustainable

production and consumption with backing from the german government we are asked whether the seals used by the wool industry provide proof that the sheep are being treated humanely. we have the wool mark seal there are 3 main categories but they don't address the issue of animal welfare the 4th. the blue angel is a very well known eco label but it also doesn't deal with animal welfare aspect. shouldn't in textiles label focuses on ecological standards for. the global organic textile standard certification has a very good reputation it indicates that producers have met very high social ecological and animal welfare standards in the production chain so you won't find it on products very often. but how can consumers inform themselves effectively about these products if it's funny and. they can't check these labels which provide

a lot of information but the companies should do more to take into account the concerns that german consumers have about animal welfare of all. if you go in other words most of these labels provide no information about whether the animals are treated humanely so consumers are still largely in the dark. now we're on our way to australia where much of the world's wool is produced we want to find out more about that surgical procedure called meals in. the state of new south wales is home to about 27000000 merino sheep. they've even been immortalized in statues. veterinarians at this farm owned by the university of sydney have been studying the

effects of meals in. was i they're trying to come up with ways to reduce time during the procedure. because she has recall she came here very close to the owner steve over a few relating some features to what we have mistakes and you know. i try and make a baby real soon with this beauty that the fleischer. could fly strike is the killer option and. if there are no folds of skin on the sheep's back side the flies won't be able to lay the eggs there. topical anaesthetic reduces the pain in the affected area for 24 hours and also helps the wounds to heal by storm this research some sheep farmers have now decided to start using anesthetics join the mules in procedure.

animal rights activists demand that mewling be banned outright but the veterinarians here say that's not a viable alternative at this point it was played after one year of your using what we had was for you to live. and let you go for dinner and. expects us to make the without meals in $2000000.00 she would die each year of maggot infestation fun as a trying to get rid of the skin falls through selective breeding. they will have planted a body lest recall especially around the bridge area the bear breech area hopefully and i fully want leads we've moved. how many years do you want to tell you take in the decay you see you already it's still pretty difficult. selective breeding does seem to offer a long term solution to the problem of excessive skin folds. now we're on our way

to talk to a man who's been documenting the abuse of sheep on farms for decades. we're not going to use his full name but peter has worked on several sheep farms and has some her roofing stories to tell. these photographs show sheet that have become injured all seriously ill but have not yet been put out of their misery for economic reasons. the manager is keeping animals. just because they're going to get another facial are going to get another layer and unfortunately on these farms which have the bad welfare that's the mentality. how often does this happen. it's absolutely not everywhere but it's not really a crisis not which there's. a lot more properties and what. the industry like to have your blood. right now and no one's going to admit to that

peter says he's also seen this sort of abuse on farms that have been checked by animal welfare inspectors. the property owners would know they're coming in they'll come in. and everything looks hunky dory everything looks good on the dock and i get sharon like that sharon just where the property owner wouldn't want to show them that they actually don't get free rides and so it's really a case of you know who checks the check or. if regular inspections don't help to promote animal welfare perhaps the answer lies in better cooperation between sheep founds and clothing manufacturers we've traveled to a farm on the australian island a test mania. there are 11000 merinos here she graded david taylor stopped using news in 4 years ago. one of his best customers is here to observe the shearing process. stefan krauss is the product manager for

a german outerwear company krauser is satisfied that tale of being raised humanely . but unfortunately a lot of farmers still use mules in without anesthetics it's horrible we simply couldn't imagine having our products associated with such a procedure so we're going to. try to help avoid of course tails sheep still face the threat of maggot infestation untreated the maggots would borrow under the sheets skin which is also painful and deadly but tyler has come up with a process to prevent this he treats the lambs with pesticides it's expensive and time consuming but it works tyler says that the chemicals have no side effects and cannot be detected in the lambs wool also he she is all of the sheep several times a year in the affected area these new concepts have not yet caught on with other farmers in fact they've criticized his innovative approach. think what think you're

an idiot people are going doing this for turned out again and i've been used to doing something you know are generations of doing doing something so it's not for someone to come in and saw you cardo this why it's a bit of a big pill to swallow. taylor she has his sheep just like other farmers do it takes 2 to 3 minutes for each one he says it's important to cause the animals as little stress as possible. now i have a how the safe with the leg the market for the sake of all of the fight help there right away happily. until within. this year is comprised $150.00 sheep day each animal guild's an average of 6 kilos of whom. the material is then sorted by quality and pressed into bales about half the wool is sent to clients in germany the rest is sold at auction.

but meals in free farms like tieless are the exception in australia that's a problem for clothing manufacturers that want to make sure that the wool is produced humanely. we see it in how do things look right now the. company needs a lot more mules in free wool so we're trying to convince other farmers to use the methods that david taylor does. is. some mules in free wool is sold at options. we've come to the astray you know we'll exchange in sydney to find out more. the total of 320000000 kilograms of roll wool produced every year in australia the guild is worth the equivalent of about $2300000000.00 euros. andrew blanch is managing director of a large group production company and says merino wool is a key product for his clients. to

a very big part of the australian economy and continues to last for years has been a fantastic return for the struggle. but not all who is the same and only experts like andrew blanch can spot the differences it all comes down to the crimping or the frequency of the winds in the wool you can even tell whether the sheep that produce this material have a lot of skin wrinkles. the shape that they come from might be a bit small and could have a little bit more wrinkle at the front of the animal and the shape that. comes from could be shaped. much plainer he says that the wall of milk. freesheet it's not as fluffy and seems almost artificial. this one. feels more slippery it feels closer to synthetic i guess but it's

it's how this one you feel just the way that it stands up and looks at you with your push against him to push back at you and so it's almost like is talking to you . the prices for marino will depend mostly on the daily demand on average the buying is paid the equivalent of 15 euros per kilo. in free will costs about one year i pay. for it. to you straight in wool growers association set a target of 2010 for ending the practice of musing but that hasn't happened yet we're here to talk to bowl to merry men who was the association chairman until last year we wanted to find out what he thinks of the increasing demand from using free who are concerned about animal welfare. brame's or what i mean i can go. surely there's a huge part of the industry doesn't want. you mean by the industry that

buy us from germany for example like they don't. have any specific in germany who want to stop us so there isn't any going from say 100. to 2100 change and that's what growers look at and until that time on the pitch they market. for them to look after where the shares you go solution with. that procedure is still an exception among sheep farmers merryman says that mules in free will is available if clients are willing to pay. paper they'll give you some more of that. but it's not. so patient. so the thing about money in the end isn't. the

business. it's not yet clear what the associations policy on meals in will be under its new chairman. we want to interview some government officials about animal welfare problems in the industry but they declined our requests so we talked to a member of the new south wales parliament. and. we have an animal that can't adapt to the australian environment so it requires all these interventions by humans and some of those interventions are highly controversial some of them. very serious invasive treatments or procedures and they often done without pain relief and if we did to a cat or dog in australia you would be prosecuted and possibly put in. proposed legislation to end the practice of me. when i 1st brought

a motion in court to call on the house to commend the progressive growers and to move away from using and in the meantime provide absolute objection the next morning when the motion comes on for debate or consideration the government's object. 11 percent of a strain is exported to europe. about 75 percent to sent to china for processing some of that ends up in europe to fabric or clothing. we've come to shanghai to visit a wall processing plant that's by a french company. that is here to make sure that the mills in free will that his. company demand is not mixed together with inferior products. so it. feels weak to let you know we want to inspect this facility for ourselves and then there is this equipment is processing 20 tons of world play day once

a tonne and it's essential for us to make sure that the well from our farmers if we stay separate from the rest of the material then obviously the ocean isn't elizabeth the. first bales of or all wool that share common properties including 5 the length crimping and fineness a combined into production units that way several tons each every unit is given a number then the wool is washed and dried several times. production manager chris mckenzie keeps a close eye on the documentation so that the different varieties of wolves stay separate. we see. what you've got here yeah. that i. like to give you. the difference. between males that might think that our rice is but

that principle. is what if. the old it's been washed and dried it is then processed into finished gian the batches number stays the same throughout the system which includes several different production sites and often different companies in various countries. few businesses take the time and expense to keep such a close watch on the production process. that's really a good start to health that adds to the cost of our products and we put a lot of effort into doing these kinds of checks because we hold ourselves to a higher standard. that makes our products more expensive markers for the bills because i'm straight out. we've come to berlin for the fashion week shows that are held here twice a year. we are some of the exhibitors if they know with the will used in their

products comes from. the company's us target or. ours is produced in australia. they pay a lot of attention to sustainability there and they make an effort to see that the sheep are treated humanely taught not bad habits are very pleased about that because our customers are concerned about animal welfare in owns or couldn't promise i'll come. back but i don't know anything about conditions of specific farms in new zealand or australia it's. do your suppliers know whether the sheep have been subjected to meall singh for example wasn't a child suddenly just as a family owned company we need to trust the people we work with is on the. many of the exhibitors rely on their manufactures to tell them where the wool comes from. it can it's possible they might buy another batch of wool somewhere else but if they do they tell me like this comes from patagonia but i wish it our country to

c.n.n.'s needs can't afford to check on all of our distributors i am in canada and since fish fish caught we're constantly in contact with them to make sure that the well comes from sheep that are raised humanely just as i was about to get into. germany's minister for economic cooperation and development good miller is committed to sustainable clothing production miller is opposed to musing but says more research is needed on this problem his ministry has developed a new seal of approval for companies that produce socially and ecologically sustainable textiles. churches and of these standards also apply to animal welfare and can sense the power. it a bit imprudent not for as me though serious as the seal is associated with a large number of basic standards which of course also cover animal welfare as far as all is concerned you know i would as was but this is

a very complex situation. that has said the sea will also deal with animal welfare standards met and because. my staff will explain the details. the spokesperson says that the minister will provide a statement later today. you might think that good miller would welcome the opportunity to discuss a project that's very important to him and. we try to talk to him again later but he declined our request for an interview. so we went back to the consumer initiative office. does this new seal apply to animal welfare not mine i'm based on what i've learned so 5 plays only a small role if any to small just with the certification program needs to address the issue of animal welfare people who are concerned about this need to make their

voices heard and if the minister takes those concerns into account he'll be on the right track and done. but how can consumers make sure that they're buying sustainable products. every purchase makes a statement and people need to pay more attention to the sources of the textile products that they buy that way we can effect change. but how much influence to consumers really have how will they react when they find out more about how merino wool is produced. the young women we met earlier was shocked when we showed them videos that we put together for this report. i didn't know that it was this bad the company's always put a positive spin on it and they tell you that was a wonderful material but when you see something like this you think twice before

you buy well again nicole from. the chemical fortunately i think i'd pay more for it was produced in humane conditions. don't suffer if you shop and get it. out of. the big chain store should do something about this they have the financial clout to make sure that well is produced humanely. but a lot of clothing manufacturers don't pay a lot of attention to animal welfare and many retailers don't ask enough questions about where they will comes from a strain will produce is under. 5 years on whether teams traditional or humane methods consumers who are concerned about the situation will have to put pressure on the textile industry.

to do a female role of. the women in the indian state of my rush tribe are becoming montana's in marjah. they're taking a sustainable approach to land. for the environment and their families. in 30 minutes on t.w. . your own daughter would prefer to join terrorists rather than stay with you and she thinks it's cool. maybe i just wanted to rebel because of my agent and islamic was kind of trendy i guess in the flight. deck things down as you can

how a father lost his daughter to islamic state better just helpless before. 75 minutes on w. . last in putting yourself up i don't know it's not easy to go to another country you know nothing about why i am do this because we can't stay on venezuela i support that. closely global news that matters d. w. made for mines. this is g.w. news these are our top stories british lawmakers have rejected prime minister boris johnson's call for a snap general election it was their last vote before parliament begins

a 5 week suspension speaker john bercow has announced he'll be stepping down in weeks. italian prime minister as you said vicomte's government has survived the 1st of 2 confidence votes his 4 day old coalition won by by a comfortable margin in a raucous session of parliament italy's senate is due to hold a similar vote on tuesday. former for widow one champion because schumacher is to undergo treatment using stem cells at a paris hospital according to a french newspaper she suffered a severe head injuries in a skiing accident 5 years ago and has not been seen in public since. british airways has canceled almost all of its u.k. flights as pilots continue a 2 day strike that has left tens of thousands of passengers stranded industrial action follows months of failed salary negotiations. this is deja news from berlin

you can always get the latest on our web site d w dot com or follow us on twitter at a news. a law took effect today in the u.k. that prevents the country from crashing out of the european union next month a no 2 and no deal breaks in its parliament's way of putting the brakes on prime minister boris johnson's breaks it plans and it's not only westminster today the irish prime minister told johnson that leaving the european union with no deal is a nonstarter johnson appeared to hear the message we don't know tonight if he was really listening i'm burned off in berlin this is the day. i am ready to listen to any constructive ways in which we can achieve our breed goals time resolve the current and past i think that was everybody in the whole of

the e.u. including in dublin can see is that it's pretty good negotiations discussions have been going on plus you loan the locks the kind of to live up to and i know you understand this is a great place of the legal guarantee with the promise that we need to find a way of ensuring that the u.k. is don't get looked into in the backstroke arrangements or there is a way out for the time for the u.k. in the absence of the greek alternative arrangements and no backstop is no deal for us. also coming up is he too old for the job democrats are questioning the men told by taliban have joe biden after a string of gaffes and yet he remains without question the front runner to take on donald trump in 2020. you know knowing your bar of this election is different than any you've ever faced this president has the deepest darkest forces in this

nation. well to our viewers on p.b.s. in the united states and all around the world welcome we begin the day with the scheldt before the silence from inside the parliament of brags that britain today at legislation became wall designed to prevent the u.k. from crashing out of the european union at the end of next month and it's also designed to rein in the prime minister boris johnson the no no deal breaks that law is one of the last parliamentary checks on the prime minister's power before the prime minister wields his own power over parliament beginning tonight boris johnson is suspending westminster a forced a leave of parliament known as prorogue for 5 weeks it's legal but many in parliament say it's dirty the u.k. is scheduled to leave the e.u. on october 31st one of its most important geo political acts ever now you would

think that this is the time for parliament to be working overtime but not boris johnson he'll now have 5 weeks free of parliamentary pressure time he says that he needs to keep his promise of leaving the e.u. on october 31st deal or no deal if he breaks the wall that took effect today the prime minister could end up in prison in the eyes of the opposition silencing parliament tonight is crime enough i think is disgraceful parliament should be sitting in palm beach we hold in government to account when the prime minister appears to be wanting to run away from questions now in extraordinary times when you have a prime minister saying he doesn't want to abide by what is a clear decision of a democratically elected parliament and that he's prepared to countenance plunging many people's lives into complete chaos and we will do everything we can to prevent the crushing out of on the say 1st of october and we'll support from the election

when that is clear that we're not doing that crushing out we all want an election we all want to avoid a question out. or there was labor leader german corben there will today during that final session of parliament the man who presides over it all the man whose guttural calls to order have made him a global star or that man he called it quits john bercow speaker of the house of commons said that he will step down by october 31st and he offered a strong defense of parliament's place and power in a democracy. throughout my time. as speaker. i have sought to increase the relative all over it see all of this the legislature. for which i won't make absolutely no apology anyone. anywhere

at any time. to deplore i. am perhaps dangerous for a raise. i have only. sought to be. the back then sure is backstop. we degrade this power of the monks. not our peril. all right i'm joined tonight here at the big table by germany's former ambassador to the u.k. a man who knows a thing or 2 about what's going on inside westminster mr thomas on tuesday he is currently a senior advisor at the consultancy flint in london ambassador it's good to have you on the day you know there are concerns in the u.k. and here in germany as well that the prime minister will defy parliament's will that he will break the wall to make bricks that happen on october 31st are you

worried. well you know i think it was mark twain who said for dictions always difficult especially when the future is france and i would especially when boris johnson is concerned. mostly don't know i don't think i don't think he'll go as far as openly break the law but as you said he's pretty much fenced in i think he has 2 other options one option would be to go to brussels to the european summit and come up with some sort of changes in the political declaration and try to sell it back home as a major as a major result change to the deal. well the deal is that to pop the nights not the legal pot but the british ration i don't think that's going to happen because he is he has chosen a cabinet a pretty tough complex it is and the last option would be to get in touch let's say

with some friendly heads of government of the 27 to persuade them to put in a veto so that he could come back ok a extension was not possible which friendly heads of state are you talking about well i don't want to black mouth anyone but he feels that he is pretty close let's for instance of the polish government but don't forget the french already made some great difficulties the last time around the french foreign minister yes that is that we are really we really. are out of oil we have fed up so but i think on the macro the voice of reason will be able to swing the market do you really do you think there's a possibility that the poles would would say no we're we're going to blackmail this . and that's it doesn't that would be a big that was a very big says i want to sleep outage i think i think the he practically has no other option than to eat humble pie had to os the heads of state and government

for an extension and then of course immediately calling the election in the hope to keep his fingers crossed that you might win the election and then of course you can repeal all the laws and the the fact that it's even suggested that a british prime minister would break the law that something in itself last week johnson said that he would rather be dead in a ditch then to ask for a break to delay. the law that took effect today he has called a surrender document i mean these are war terms terms as were language do you see boris johnson trying to turn the european union into an enemy charlie u.k. oh it has started quite some time ago knocked up with blood drawn some up at the munich rop another us to portray the e.u. as a sort of prison where the make a very very tough for you to get out so the blame game has already started now and

i think this is what this british government abortions but to close aiming at at the moment so i think the other 27 of very well advised not to walk into that trap but to keep the tone low to refrain from full makes and not to stop this escalating war of words because in the end. it will make the situation much worse for both sides you mentioned the voice of reason being the german chancellor angela merkel we know the board's johnson he visited her right here in berlin last month and since then he has repeatedly mentioned the name until americal as proof that breaks it you know that breaks that deal can be struck before october 31st he even mentioned heard today in ireland take a listen what he said. i think we have really the ideal amount of time in which to get this kind of thing done and get a muckle set to i think she said it should be a 30 is 30 days would be enough that he is was that he would go on but that is we

didn't contribute much 30 days to be enough she said and i think she's taking it right if we really focus i think that we can make a huge amount of progress of a 40 and slip there with the 30 years into the early days of the but what do you say ambassador i mean is is johnson is he reading on the american correctly no he's not being and he knows that he's not reading or correct it what i'm going to try to do is she try to be polite and say look it's not about the timeframe we've been doing this for 2 years it's about the substance and she just picked the figure out of as at 30 days but that of course was used by him the next day and by the way also by a lot of british media and whatever say she now set 30 days the.