♪ brent: this is "dw news," live from berlin. he ruled design at chanel for decades. tonight, fashion icon karl lagerfeld has died. >> i am never satisfied and as long as you are never satisfied, you keep going. as soon as you decide you are content with yourself or could not be any better, it is time to call it a day. brent: lagerfeld demanded excellence in his work until the very end. tonight, remembering the german fashion designer who was arguably the world's most prolific, most present, and most

recognizable. also coming up, the catholic nun campaigning to stop sexual abuse in india. this time, nuns say they are the victims. one claimsms a bishop raped her3 times. plus, dw's annual freedom of speech award goes to anabel hernandez for risking her own life to report and expose the crimes of mexico's drug cartels and the corruption inside the mexican government. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff. to our viewers on pbs in the united states and to our viewers all around the world, welcome. we begin tonight with the death of one of the most creative forces in the world of fashion. karl lagerfeld, the head of fashion house chanel, has died in paris at the age of 85. his obvious no-show at chanel's haute couture show back in january led to rumors about his

health, although the official line from chanel was that lagerfd was simply not feeling well. lagerfeld was born in hamburg. he led a career that spanned a seven decades, making him the most prolific designer in modern fashion. reporter: he was a superstar among fashion designers. the unmistakable karl lagerfeld, complete with iconic sunglasses and long powdered white hair. the german designer spent more than six decades working in fashion. he was an all-around artistic talent who became a legend in his lifetime. >> we are living in a very, very fast-paced age and you have to keep up withth things because if you don't, you get behind. in this profession, you need to be healthy, becacause the pace s tough. but that suits me perfectly. i am made for the fast lane. reporter: karl lagerfeld was

born in hamburg in 1933, the son of a wealthy factory owner. he moved to paris in 1953. a year later, he won an international fashion design competition with a wool coat he designed himself. from then on, he seemed unstoppable. lagerfeld worked for the top parisian fashion brands. he became artistic director in 1963. 20 years later, he reinvigorated the then-flagging brand chanel. >> i am lucky to be able to do what i want without having to worry about money. nor do i have any problems. we don't need to worry about anything. that is a luxury of chanel. we can do what we want. reporter: his extravagant presentations formed the high point of every paris fashion show. the changing sets, all designed by lagerfeld. he was also a publisher, a photographer, and a collector of antiques. variriety was the name of the ge

when it came to his many muses, too. among them, claudia schiffer. >> you have to have many muses in this job. there is a kind of, how shall i put it, a turnover that happens so frequently that you have to stay flexible. reporter: despite being highly media savvy in his public life, he kept his cards close to his chest when it came to his private life. a notorious workaholic, his constant aim was to improve to get better. >> i am never satisfied and as long as you are never satisfied, you keep going. as soon as you decide you are content with yourself or cannot get any better, it is time to call it a day. reporter: karl lagerfeld, an iconic designer who wrote fashion history.

brent: well, he was admired by many inside the world of fashion, but what about the rest of us? we asked people here in berlin what they thought about germany's most famous fashion designer. >> he was with me all of my life and he would often appear with claudia schiffer, and i thought she was great, and that is why i found him quite amazing. i think he surpassed the boundaries of fashion, despite having very simple and elegant designs.s. he did it in a tasteful way. and i have always admired him for that. hehe was no attetention seer.. >> i am really sad. i am even wearing his lipstick today. it's a real shame. he had a huge impact on the fashion world, but everyone passes away sooner or later.

>> of course it is very sad because he was famous and was very influential in the world of fashion. i don't personally wear any of his designs, and i'm not the biggest fan of his clothing, but it is still a shame. brent: here in the studio now to talk about the iconic fashion designer is fashion journalist, blanca de almandoz. blanca, it is good to have you on the show. you were telling me that you actually met karl lagerfeld. blanca: i had the chance to interview him once in 2013. he was launching a perfume. and i got the chance to meet him and to ask him a few questions. and i have to say, he was quite a character. it was very difficult to talk to him at first. brent: why was it difficult? blanca: i had the impression that he was not a very talkative

person, and we were a lot of journalists, so i think that was one of the reasons. well, i told him an anecdote that i had met him some years before. he was looking at all those old books that they sell by the river. i told him i met him there, but i did not come close or anything. and i think he was surprised and glad that i told him this anecdote and he was more willing to talk to me and more open, or friendlier. brent: it is interesting, we have heard this time and time again that people have met him, they had interviewed him, spent time with him, but they really did not feel like they knew him well. he maybe always kept a veil over his own personality. did you get that impression? blanca: yeah, he was really like this. he also told me in that

interview that i am a brand, i'm a person, but i am also a brand myself. he told me, really like this, you should call me label-feld. brent: ok, interesting. the rumors about his ill health, they had swirled after he did not show up for the chanel show back in january. people knew he was also 85 years old, but his death still came as a shock. blanca: it was really a shock. back in this catwalk in hamburg, we thought back then he was going to retire, but he did not and then it was really a shock when he did not appear for the first time in 45 years to say hi to the audience at the end of the show. and yeah, it was a shock.

we all were suspicious because the brand said he was not feeling well. brent: it is hard to imagine that he would have ever stopped working, especially if he told you to call him label-feld. was that maybe the secret to his longevity and his success? i mean, he never stopped working. blanca: yes, he was really a hard-working person. he was passionate about what he was doing, about his job. and we are talking about the man who ran, organized, and supervised every single detail for 12 shows a year. it is crazy. and yes, i think one part of his longevity was of course this workaholic personality, but also his talent. like, he was really a creative person and he achieved to

impress the audience year after year for three decades. brent: exactly right. blanca de almandoz, fashion journalist. blanca, we appreciate you coming in and sharing your memories with us. thank you. here are some of the other stories now that are making headlines around the world. thousands of demonstrators have rallied in paris and other cities to denounce anti-semitic attacks. earlier today, french authorities said that nearly 100 gravesites were vandalized in a jewish cemetery in eastern france. president emmanuel macron has vowed to crack down on anti-semitic crimes, which have surged in recent months. the speaker of the u.s. house of representatives, nancy pelosi, is on a charm offensive in brussels. pelosi, a democrat, is hoping to convince officials there that washington remains committed to the nato military alliance. president donald trump has regularly lashed out at nato allies. lawmakers in ukraine have passed

a constitutional amendment that commits the country to joining the european union and nato. president petro poroshenko says that ukraine will make a formal bid to join the eu by 2023, although he admits that date is ambitious. the move was welcomed by european council president donald tusk, but it is likely to anger russia. europe and the u.s. are at odds over the fate of european citizens who traveled to syria to join so-called islamic state. washington is putting pressure on countries such as germany, france, and the u.k. to take back captured fighters and their families and to put them on trial. dw met one german woman who is an i.s. wife, but who fled as u.s.-led forces attacked isis's last stronghold in syria. reporter: the refugee camp in syria, home to many of the so-called islamic state wives and their children fleeing the

terror group's last stronghold in the country. among them, 19-year-old d leono. she was one of the last german i.s. wives to leave the city. her german husband, an i.s. fighter, is refusing to give up, but he let her and the children go. >> i would say that it was when i.s. lost control when things got really bad. just before i left islamic state, it was horror. complete horror. i was in baghuz and i nearly starved there. reporter: i.s. fighters in baghuz are now surrounded by soldiers from the syrian democratic forces, an alliance of kurdish and arab militias. fighting is on hold. the two sides are in talks. the few hundred i.s. fighters in baghuz want to be evacuated with their families to the jihadist stronghold of idlib in western syria, but the sdf is refusing. it wants complete surrender.

baghuz is the last i.s. bastion in syria. administratively, it has long been in ruins. i.s. number plates are now history. >> the area they control has shrunk considerably. and it is clear they had hardly any radios. so communication between them is minimal. reporter: the i.s. fighters in baghuz have two options. fight on, or go to prison. that includes the foreign jihadists, among them, many germans. the sdf says their home countries must now take responsibility for them. >> we just do not have the resources to try them for the crimes that they have perpetrated against the syrians and the iriris. and so we wiwill do all we can o send those arrrrested back to their home countries. reporter: meanwhile, i.s. wives like leonora are hoping to come back to germany and start a new

life. leonora says she knows that will not be easy, though. >> because of all the attacks in france, germany is almost certainly terrified of having i.s. returnees back, and i am sure everyone is saying i will not create any problems. there could be one or two who do intend to carry out terrorist attacks. but as far as i and the women i have met in the unicef camp are concerned, we just want to get home and finally live a peaceful life again. reporter: but it is not clear when leonora and other german i.s. members will be able to make their home from syria, and under what conditions. brent: tonight, the catholic church is facing a new storm of sexual abuse allegations. this time involving nuns in the southern indian state of kerala. the cases follow a similar and familiar pattern. allegations of abuse, then cover-ups by top clergyman.

one of the most striking cases, a bishop accused of raping a nun over 13 times over a period of two years. the nun in that case says she was ordered to remain silent. as church leaders close ranks, one of her fellow sisters is encouraging other victims to speak out. our india correspondent sonia phalnikar has this report. sonia: it is early morning in kerala. the church here has always been a powerful institution. but in recent months, its foundations hahave been shaken y a sesex scandal.l. last september, a nun accused an influential bishop of repeated rape. when officials failed to act, a group of nuns rallied around the victim and held unprecedented public protests. one of those who joined those protests was sister lucy. she traveled from a home here in

this district to support the alleged victim. the nun is wary about being filmed in public. she chooses an empty auditorium to speak. in the 36 years that she has been a nun, she has come across many instances of sexual abuse by the clergy. >> sexual abuse inin the churchy priests to the nuns, it is happening. but, so far it is silelent. a lot of stories. i have already got shared by sisters. i too have two, three experiences like that. prprompting me, tempting me. there are a lot of mistakes inside the church. but they are not reaeady to wath all this fall. instead of that, they are covering up all this. sonia: the catholic church in india has largely stayed silent on the allegations against the bishop, who was arrested last year following the protests, and

then released on bail. even h here, offfficials were unwilling to speak. one priest who did agree sought to downplay the issue. >> my position is my memory over 60 years. [indiscernible] yes, it was brought up in public discussion. that is all i can say about that. sonia: speaking out against the powerful catholic church and drawing attention to sexual abuse is never easy, especially in a conservatative state like kerala. nuns who dared to break this culture of silence face ridicule, isolation, and even disciplinary action from their congregations. apart from joining protests, sister lucy has written articles criticizing the church's silence on sexual abuse. she has received warning letters

from her congregation ordering her to stop speaking out. she has been accused of causing harm to the church, and belittling the catholic leadership. >> there should be a culture like that. anybody can speak freely, frankly, openly to the world if i amam abused. so now that the me too campaign has started, so many are coming to the fight. many are coming openly to that society. otherwise if there is no culture like that, we will always be slaves. in this case also, we can't open arm out. sonia: despite the warnings, the nun has no plans of backing away. >> what i have to do, i have to do, i must do. nothing g can stop me like that. sonia: sister lucy's hope is that the latest scandal will

shine a light on the church's failings, and help make some much-needed reforms. brent: every year, deustche welle gives the freedom of speech award to a person or group of individuals who have championed human rights and free speech in the media, often at great personal risk. this year the award goes to journalist anabel hernandez -- you see her right there -- for her work investigating mexico's ug cartels and exposing corruption in the mexican government. her books on narcotics trafficking have sold hundreds of thousands of copies worldwide. "narco land" is probably her most famous one. and they have brought her international acclaim. her work has shed light on the collusion between corrupt government officials in mexico and drug lords. dozens of mexican journalists like her have lost their lives trying to uncover these stories. hernandez is currently living in exhile because of threats on her own life. reporter: mexico is one of the

deadadliest countries for journalists. last year alone, 10 journalists were killed, apppparently asas reretribution for their work. especially at risk are those who dared to ask questions about mexico's drug cartels. the country's war r on drugs has claimed tens of thousands of civilian lives in the past two decades. journalist anabel hernandez is a survivor. her family has been threatened at gunpoint, and someone once left a box of decapitated animals on her doorstep. her popular 2010 book "narco land" investigates ties between drug cartels and the mexican government. she says her work has put heher life at risk. >> many officials of the mexican government tried to kill me. not the cartel. not el chapo guzman. it was the mexican government that tried to kill me. trying to kill many other journalists in mexico that are

trying to say the truth about this collusion. reporter: hernandez now lives in exile in europe where she continues her research. for her efforts to expose corruption, deutsche welle has awarded her the 2019 freedom of speech award. >> this awarard came in a very sensitive moment in my life. because outside of mexico, i feel very alone. i feel lonely. but this award for m me is kindf much more than an award. it is solidarity. reporter: on a visit to mexico, the didirector g general of f de welllle explaiained the decisioo award the prize to hernandez. >> she stands for a lot of memexican journalists who have a really difficult job here in a country where corruption and narcos criminality is very high, to do their job.

so it's well a deserved award for her r and for all mexican journalists. reporter: hernandez hopes to return to mexico one day to be closer to her family. she was glad to see mexico's new administration take a stance against government corruption, but she believes it will take courageous deeds, not just words, to pull her couountry bak from the brink. brent: honda is leaving the u.k. the japanese carmaker has announced it will close its only production facility in england in two years' time. it is a blow to the british economy as the country prepares to leave the european union next month. reporter: the announcement from tokyo was expected, but when it came, the e ockwave could be felt most t acutely in southern england. >> we have started talks with the union aiming to end the production of completed vehicles at honda u.k. manufafacturing in 2021. reporter: honda has insisted its decision is not due to brexit.

the swindon plant had tough times long before the u.k. voted to leave the eu. they say other factors are causing it to reduce the -- produce the honda civic in north america or elsewewhere. >> as you are aware, the four wheel vehicle industry is facing a turning point. under these circumstances in ororder for honda to survive, we need to provide our products in the speedydy manner to meet our customer''s needs anand keep o n creating new valueue towards the futurere. reporter: that will provide no comfort at all to the 3500 employees at the swindon plant, and to the town where they live, work, and spend. >> i still think we are an attractive place to come. honda was increasingly exporting its cars to the u.s. and other parts of the world from swindon. obviously we need to look carefully at the decision that has been made and understand the reasons why, but i cannot

disguise the fact that it is a bitter blow to swindon and the committed i represent. reporter: it is also a blow to the u.k.'s wider manufacturing sector after nissan pulled plans to build one of its new models there. u.k. government has described the decision as devastating. brent: should an athlete born with natural advantages over other athletes be forced to dilute those advantages to give the others a chance? that is the dilemma that is being debated at the court of arbitration for sport this week. in a landmark case, the south african track and field athlete caster semenya is fighting a ruling by the international association of athletics federations that would oblige her to take medication to lower her testosterone levels. reporter: caster semenya's name and athletic skill have polarized the world of sports in the last decade. she is hyper androgenic. that means her body naturally produces high levels of testosterone.

but the iaaf wants athletes like her to take drugs to lower their testosterone levels in order to compete in middle distance track events. testosterone, they argue, gives semenya an unfair advantage. >> the core value for ththiaaf is t the empowmement of girlrlsd women through athletics. the regulations s that we are intrtroducing, they are to prott the sanctity of fair and open competition, and that is really what we're here to defend. reporter: semenya first gained global prominence in 2009 at the world championships in berlin. she won gold in the 800 meters. semenya's legal team says the signs the iaaf have put forward to support its rule changes are flawed and discriminatory, that higher testosterone levels do not necessarily prove a competitive advantage. some academics have also criticized the research, and they question why it only applies to middle distance track events. back home in south africa,

semenya is known as the golden girl. media reports say that the government is investing around $2 million into her court case. semenya supporters say there's more at stake than just the right to p participate in a spo. >> women's bodies, their well-being, their very identnti, their privacy, their sense of safety and belonging in the world are being questioned. reporter: her legal team says unless reasonable scientific evidence is prested, the rule will be nothing more than an arbitrary decision. the iaaf claims it is simply pushing for a level playing field. brent: you're watching "dw news." after a short break i will be back to take you through "the day." tonight, taking the u.s. president to court. but first, images and memories of the fashion designer karl lagerfeld, who died today at the

age of 85. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

you know them and then you get the there's nothing in this back in the late. also falls and gets. yeah but its use welcome to live from paris will use and analysis from from my cat i marco in these are the main world news headlines. tens of thousands turned out to protest against antisemitism here in france this on the same day that eighteen jewish graves. desecrated in the east of the country. karl lagerfeld has died known as the kaiser of the fashion world log but was. creative director at the french brown chanel and one of the leaders of the fashion industry. for the last thirty forty some say fifty years. but the sun is the class c. seeking the democrcratic nomination. for the twenty twenty us presidentiaial campain