>> this is "dw news," live from berlin. austria's coalition government faces a potential funding scandal after the vice chancellor and leader of the far right freedom party is caught on film allegedly offering government contracts in exchange for campaign money. also on the program, president trump announces an end to steel and aluminum tariffs on canada and mexico. that is raising hopes of a new north american trade deal. plus -- >> was for three years a victim

of continual sexual assault. he was stuck with your rapist's baby. >> calls for a legal challenge after alabama passes the nation's most restrictive abortion law. a legal first in asia. taiwanese lawmakers approve same-sex marriage in landmark legislation that passes despite a last-minute attempt by conservatives to defeat the bill. carl: i am carl nasman in berlin. welcome to the program. austria's vice chancellor is at the center of the campaign funding scandal after german media published what they say is evidence of him promising state contracts in exchange for donations. the footage allegedly shows heinz-christian strache, who also leads the far right freedom

party, with a woman claiming to be a potential russian investor. austrian opposition parties are calling for him to resign. reporter: for the austrian vice chancellor, these revelalations, and anan extreremely inconveniet time. the freedom party is in the midst of their campaign for the european elections. this secretly taped footage was sent to several german media outlets.s. experts believe it to be real. only months after austria's legislative election, heinz-christian strache and a fellow party members spent several hours in a house in a visa talking to a woman posing as a russian entrepreneur. she appears to be offering to buy stakes in austria's biggestt tabloid and guarantee positive reporting on thehe freedom part. >> as soon as she takes over the newspaper company to be very frank. we will have to sit together and talk openly. the newspaper will have to go boom boom b boom. three or four people will have to be forced. three oror four peoplele will he

to be kicked to the curb. and then we will bring in five new people to coach. reporter: the recording also contains discussion of how to disguise a donation to the party. strache is hurt offeringng lucrative government contracts in return and punishing industrialist and head of the stronger conglomerate. >> if we bececome part of the government, i promise you one thing -- you won't t get any moe contracts. reporter: the identity of the russian business woman is unclear, but she seems to have served as a decoy. strache has admitted to meeting took place posted in this discussion in relation to all topics, i have always referred to the relevant legal provisions and the need to comply with the austrian legal system. whether these revelations are going to strain the freedom party's relationship with the chancellor and his austrian people's party remains to be seen. the opposition new austria and liberal forum has called for strache to step down.

carl: let's get more on this. let's head to vienna where we have corresponded klaus prömpers standing by. can you walk us ththrough exacty what these allegations made? klaus: if these allegations are really true, and n nobody doubts about the fact that ththis m meg took place from nobody knows up to nowow who made this filmm and covered up this film, now in front of the national elections, the whole thing took place in july 2017. in october 201017, national electitions in austria took plae and heinz-christian strachche tt is the vice chancellor. he offered help in buying the biggest newspaper in austria and offered hehelp getting i into businessss with motorway buildis and he o offered in returnrn donations to his party not on ththe party things, but for entities like political actions committees, foundations which

wouldn't be covered up, even if there could have been big sums in play like 2 million euros. carl: this video just coming out -- what sort of reactions are you seeing? klaus: mostly already announced the chancellor and the coaoation partner and elslse's measurement totomorrow morning. a lot of people are arguguing tt heheinz-christian strache and gd enough need to stetep down. -- and gudenus need to step down. both are known ass friends off russia because in 2015 the party did a kikind of treaty with russia, putin's party, unity, and annexes nexus to russia was always existingg, and if thingns are going in the direction and ththis proves to be right, , ste denies everything, only says

yes, we met this lady and we talked to her, but we didn't do anything which would hamper austrian law. carl: you've touched on it, what what you think the chances are that strache will stay in office if the allegations turn out to be true? klaus: if these allegations are really true, and he cannot stay in office. the e only question is whether e chancellor will go on with the party or i if there wiwill be nw electionss i in a short peroiodf time. everyone is asking the question, why this video comes up now one week before europeanan election, and who prorofits oftften. -- off it. this is the party that cheslerr is belonging to or the social democratats? there was a big scandal in the national elections in 2017 when the social democrats had some helping hahands from specialists who did the dirty campaigigning, and this was discovered.

maybe this was behind it. we d don't k know up to nonow. most likely gudenus will be gone by the footage of of the weekend. carl: another political scandal in austria. klaus prömpers, thank you very much. let's get you caught up another stories making news around the world. antigovernment demonstrators have taken the streets of the algerian capital for the 13 consecutive friday, demanding that the interim leader step down and that the presidential election planned for july 4 is scrapped. the long-term former president resigned in april. he was pressured by the protests and his army chief. humanitarian organization see watch says its should be stranded at sea because authorities have not allowed it to dock anywhere. the vessel rescued 65 migrants from a rubber dinghy of libya yesterday. ththe charity y says libya's wet coast is a main departure point for people hoping to reach europe.

iran's foreign minister has called on the fiveve remaining signatories to the 20 15th nunuclear deal to take concrete action to save it. iran loosely warned that it would scale back some of its commitments under the deal a year after the u.s. left of the pact and reimpose sanctions. u.s. president donald trump has announced an end to steel and aluminum tariffs on canada and mexico. that improves the likelihood that american lawmakers will approve a ne dealw between the countries. trump imposed the tariffs on steel and aluminum last year, citing national security. but members of congress signaled the tariffs were stalling their approval of the new trade deal with both nations. let's get more on this now. i'm joined by steven beardsley. walk us through the significance of this decision.

this is about more than just steel prices. stephen: it goes to what you just spoke of, that there is a trade-off between these three nations which needs to go through at this point. this is the new nafta. mr. trump cause of the u -- calls it the ucsmca and everyone else calls it the new nafta. it is at the point where he needs to be ratified by the three countries, and the u.s. congress will get it -- got it a few days ago. an influential senator, charles grassley, said he would not approve the deal going through if the tariffs were still in place. trump used these tariffs as a way to have leverage over these countries. now that the deal was sealed, he is facing more pressure to lift of them. canada and mexico were pressing through the whole process for the lifting of these tariffs, and it is more of a practical measure for trump than anything about prices and the national severity, which is at the heart of this, too. carl: you're talking about this

new nafta, the trade deal in place between the countries. this is something that trump campaign on redoing, saying this was a bad deal for the u.s. what about the new nafta? steven: the new nafta for trump, it updates some things. it updates labor standards, requiring more minimum wage manufacturing in these countries. it requires more local components for cars. they will reach the zero-tariffs eligibility, for example. but ultimately, it does not make many major changes to nafta. it is more of a political act quite a president, has been seen as that rather than a policy one. for canada and mexico, it is a way for them to get the tariffs on their backs more than noteworthy radical change. political win for trump to have a deal. that is why he wants this to go through and is lifting these tariffs. carl: also, trump postponing a

decision on tariffs for overseas cars. maybe he is reconsidering those as well. steven: yeah, probably not. it is seen as a sign that he has a lot going on with china. these talks have broken down. what he has that is create a timeline for himself. six months from now we will revisit this. the pressure is on to get a deal with the eu and japan. that paints him in a difficult corner because those negotiations are not going to be easy. if you that these issues were big with these tariffs on steel and aluminum, just wait until tariffs are put on u.s. foreign cars coming into the u.s. that would be even better politically. carl: interesting. steven beardsley, thank you very much. steven: thanks, carl. carl: the german government is to pay out to victims of the former german sect in chile. it was founded in 1961. the call's --ult's s leaders

collaboratated with the chili id military dictatorship and for years they forced labor and child abuse into commonplace practice. it was not until 2016 the germany admitted to failing to protect the victims. reporter: many of those who lived ithere are now old. age and trauma have taken their toll. for their efforts have played a key role in germany's decision to pay reparations to the colony's victims. it was not an easy task in the bundestag. the stakes were high. each affected person will receive up to 10,000 euros. >> data scandal is thatt we are still talking about this in 2019 -- it is scandalous that we are talking about this in 2019, because so many are still traumatized and have no means to live. the guilt lies with the military dictatorship and the pedophile's it is, but he was wanted here for all the station and rate and the german state chose to look

the other way. reporter: after he fled germany, he founded the colony in verbal chile-- rural chile. he claimed to b be hounding a a god-fearing community, but it was a dictatorial regime. the isolated members from the outside world and use them as forced labor. torturure and child abuse were common. it had different children brought to him every evening. the colony was also used as a torture center by the military dictatorship's secret service. >> i don't expect victims to have the feeling that everything is now all right. that can never happen after the terrible lies they have let, the torture. they were cheated out of their lives. the german government, or at least certain ministries didn't just look away. sometimes they even helped. reporter: the victims don't just want compensation, they are demanding legal justice. allegedly the colony's second-in-command, trained a asa

doctor, he is accused of sexual abuse and administering psycho tropic drugs. he fled chile while awaiting trial. last week german authorities ended their pro-, citing a lack of evidence. carl: to london, where talks between the u.k. government and the opposition labor party intended to find a brexit compromise have collapsed. labor leader jeremy corbyn ended the negotiations can mistake instability within prime minister theresa may's government had s sown doubtbt tt any deal between t the two sides would be kept. talks have been underway for six weeks in an effort to break the deadlock on the terms of the u.k.'s departure from the european union. here is what those two leaders had to say after the talks ended. prime min. may: as jeremy corbyn says, the talks have been constructive and we have made progress. it has been areas where we have been able to find common ground,

but other issues have proved to be more diffificult, and in particular we have not been able to overcome the fact that it is the common position in labour about whether they want to deliver brexit or hold the second referendum which could reverse it. mr. corbyn: the government has not momoved its position fundamentally. there a fundndamental disasagreements. we won a customs arrangement with the european union that protects jobs and trade. we have put those v vws very strorongly to the governnt.. we would not rule ouout a second referendum, whahat he would note on 2016 terms. carl: turning now to sri lanka. saturday will mark 10 years since the end of the country's long-running civil war. it is still struggling with the scars that conflict left behind. war broke out in 1983, pitting the single is military against the tamil liberation tigers. they were fighting for anything state -- an independent state

for the ethnic minority. the military defeated the tamil separatists but at a large human cost. it is thought that 100,000 civilians were killed, many of them tamils. today, 20,000 people are still missing. their fates are unknown. dw went to northern sri lanka, where survivors arere taking the sesearch into their own hands. reporter: 10 years of demanding an answer. she still doesn't know what happened to her misissing daughter. the war was winding down went masked man tore the 16-year-old from her arms and fled. >> i let go of her hand. i was lying on the ground and and and and stomped on my back with his group. i screamed, and when i looked up , large vehicle carrying my daughter was a plume of dust in the distance. that is how fast they took off. reporter: many people have not

heard from the loved ones for even longer. in some cases, several decades. their stories might be different, but the families shared the same sense of suffering. without proof their children are dead, they hold onto hope. >> whehe i hear otother children calling for their mothers, i hear my daughter calling for me. i hear her voice. i needed a look, thinking she has, back to me. reporter: the task of finding out what happened to people like herbal than here on the office on missing persons.. it is a new commission being set up by the current administration to independently investigate the disappeared. the c chair man understands s se people are skeptical. >> it is extremely challenging because there have been many commissions established in the past to address the issue of the missing the families feel that they have had no answersrs. do not wawant to give people. mrs. or false hopeses, and we he made it -- false promises or false hopes, and we have made a

good that we will esestablish ts office and try to help them find answers, for the reality is that that is going to take time. reporter: building trust between state institutions and the people, especially in the northeast, has been no easy task. a human rights lawyer says that the omp c could gain thee publ's confidence once they set up local offices, but she also says some, is are afraid. >> people may give testimony today, but they have fear that it will fall into the wrong hands. some families say they may have more faith in the process if a foreign government or international body worked with the omp. reporter: some others say that they will only accept an independent and foreign-led investigation. >> the omp will comment start from the very beginning. it has been 10 years, and more time will go by. reporter: the civil war may have ended a decade ag but the

families searching for their loved ones are still waiting for closure. carl: i want's-- taiwan's parliament has legalized same-sex marriage. it is the first in asia to landmark legislation. the bill overcame several hurdles, including attempts by conservatives to remove any reference to marriage. despite the outcome of the vote, the issue of same-sex marriage continues to define the country -- divide the country. reporter: an emotional day for lgbt rights campaigners as they celebrated their victory outside parliament in taipei. the legislation survived a last-minute attempt by conservatives to pass a watered-down version. >> today is a very significant day to us, because we can finally passed a law that will protect my family. we have been fighting for this change since -- 45 years.-- for five years. me personally, before i even had

children. now that i do, it means even more. >> it is a happy day for me that taiwan can pass such a law. although there were divisions, it is a happy occasion and i'm quite emotional. reporter: three different bills were tabled for friday's outcome of that only one used the word marriage, satisfactory for rights campaigners. the other version backed by conservative lawmakers left out the term "marriage" altogether. opponents say lawmakers are ignoring the will of the people. in a series of referendums last year, two thirds of voters said that marriage should only be defined as a union between a man and woman. but that is far from the minds of these rights activists celebrating what is a landmark day. carl: joining me now is an lgbt writes researcher for human rights watch in new york. this has to be seen as a great success for taiwan reporter-- fn

's lgbt community.. what was your reaction when you heard the news?s? >> it is incredibly gratifying to see that the many years of advocacy on the ground in taiwan have paid off. over and above the victory and the outcome of same-sex marriage recognition before the law is that this is an example of a government spending up against popular sentimentnt in some cas. this is an example of a government say we protect our minorities and respect them and recognize them as equal before the law, even when that might be unpopular. i think that is one of the takeaway messages of this whole thing regardless of w whether same-sex marriage is on n the agenda in any particular country. taiwan statands as a strong example ofof a government standg between an opprpressed and marginalizized minority and some people in pupublic who would rather slur them than support them. carl: as you mentioned, not

everyone in taiwan is celebrating this is how divided is the country on this issue? kylele: as you know, there was a referendum last t fall on the issue. it w was a confusing referendum come with multiple questions and delicate phrasing g on what peoe were tryining to answer. ultimately when the votes were counted, more than two thirds of voters in taiwan said they opposed same-sex marriage -- same-sex relationship recognition r rights, or same-sx marriage. that was important. the outcomes of a referendum m e always important in a a democra. bubut they don''t overwrwrite te constitutional court's judgment from last year, where they instructed the government to chart a path towards same-sex marriage recognition and to protect this minority on equal footing with everyone else. i think this just sense an incredible -- sends an

incredible message that the taiwanese government stands up for diversity and pluralism and equality even in the face of strong opposition. carl: does this bill send a message to the region as a whole? could we see some sort of domino effect for lgbt rigight? kyle:: it would be great to seea domino effect. there aree incredible glints of progre a across ththe region. look at nepal. the supreme court of nepal port ofof the government to do something similar and study sameme-sex marriage provisioionl the way y back in 2007, and the government has been kind of sitting onon its hands since thn and even their official study commission told them to chart their own path towards recognition. look at japan. many international chambers of commererce have called on the japanese government to legalize same-sex marriage. many local governments in japan have started recognizing same-sex relationships can e en help municicipalities and prefececture-levevel governments

cannot issue marriage cecertificates.. the totokyo metropolitan governmement in the lelead up te 2020 lititigants this olympic games has passed and nondiscriminatioion law. it wouldld be the logicacal next stepep for japan to o be the net country,y, but there are other contenders as wewell. whwhat the taiwanese government has donene is shown ththat the movement towardsds lg between equality-- lgbt equality is a global movement. carl: kyle knight with human rights watch in new york, thank you so much. kyle: thank you. carl: the renowned chinese-american architect i.m. pei has passed away at age 102. he began his career in 1948 working for a new york real-estate developer and want to design many iconic buildings, like this glass pyramid outside the louvre in paris hilton's designs showed -- in paris. his designs showed a balance between the cutting edge and conservative. reporter: people who knew him

said he was charming, but he also had a strong will. it was the french revolution that turned of this palace into a museum, but pei's additions to the louvre was a revolution in itself is a the chinese-born american architect left his mark from paris to hong kong and picked up architecture's biggest prices. in the mid-1990's, pei came to berlin to add a new wing to the baroque historical is in. the vice president work with him on it for close to a decade at a time when glass and steel started taking over the city. what is different about this building? >> it is not just a building of stone, glass, and stainless steel. this is a sculpture. what i thought was lovely about working with him is that he cared about where he was building, the country, the

mentality. he asked a lot about the history of germany and berlin. reporter: pei said he wanted his architecture to seduce the visitor, always leading the visitor to news sites-- new sights. here you can feel an almost pulling you up the stairs. the top staircase is where the seduction really kicks in. not only is it different, snail-shaped, but the stairs themselves are shorter in dimension. these are baroque dimensions. i.m. pei use them to force the visitor to really take their time and take in all the views. at 102, i.m. pei certainly reached a ripe age. and what a gift. he showed us how old andnd new could stand side-by-side in harmony. after i.m. pei, architecture

will never be the same. carl: coming up next, stay tuned. i will be back with "the day." we will be going down under. team coverage of the elections in australia. i am carl nasman in berlin. stay tuned. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

this is the i just congress to approve street day shouldn't trade agreements for not coming up for you in all right business segments all that and plenty more. you're watching from. twenty four we thank you for us the u. k. where britain's that divorce with the e. u. is that once again in disarray this friday office at six weeks of talks between the conservatives on thehe opposition labor party ended. with no agreement when at a later liza jeremy corbyn ready to pririme minister to resume a informing her that the b bxit talkss ass far as h he couould d gogone. as far as they can maintain responding that the inability to find common ground essentially complicated those discussions