this is the news live from berlin is the last day of campaigning before italy's national election this sunday will the results bring stability or more uncertainty . heads to sicily an island on the front lines of italy's migration debate voters could have a stunning comeback for former prime minister silvio berlusconi and tilt the country to the right also coming up. no end in sight for the suffering in syria's

mr newdow where a shaky daily cruise isn't enough to get a sense of the people who need it most. and a final vote on a hard fought coalition the old us weekend will decide whether i can finally start a fourth term german chancellor but a new poll indicates that most germans are dissatisfied with the prospect of another grand coalition. i'm brian thomas a very warm welcome to the show today is a final day of campaigning before italy goes to the polls this weekend and the result of sunday's general election is anything but a foregone conclusion there are demonstrations thursday night in rome as protesters turned out against the extreme right wing. because

a pound party was held its final campaign rally in the capital that party wants to abandon the euro and leave the e.u. now despite tensions at that rally no violence broke out. now this election pits a right wing coalition led by the former prime minister silvio berlusconi against the center left alliance led by another former prime minister the tail renzi the other main player the anti establishment five star movement as our correspondent max hoffman reports from palermo the issue that could determine this election is migration. father and knows this neighborhood like no one else. has taken me to the markets and institution in old town palermo i'm trying to get a feel for what matters to people in this election migration seems to be at the top

of the list. the tone of the current campaign is very harsh i'm afraid that the topic of migration is beyond exploited from the left and from the right these people don't understand the value of migrants and migration that it can bring into a country then they need get out and get it on you get a. this is a lee has always been an island between two continents many africans that make it to europe spend a lot of time here some learn italian in charity sponsored classes like this one right next to the market hoping to be granted asylum others move on. there are approximately five hundred thousand undocumented migrants in italy and one man italians are very familiar with this calling the situation a social time bomb. that man is signal bell is calling the former prime

minister and billionaire eighty one years old and the centerpiece of many scandals involving among other things an underage call girl named ruby and tax fraud yet there is a good possibility she will be forging the next governing coalition once again that would be one leaning strongly to the right capitalizing on the current anti immigration in italy. in spite of his checkered past fellow party members think he's italy's best hope for reforms. and you can see in the what i'm. going to do school he has extensively proven his dedication in the past he's a good businessman and he's achieved a lot for himself and his partners his strength of purpose and his passion are the reason why we cecilia and i hope our talents as a whole are turning back to him he is incredible man. we think you know you should

jani and you spare i can you tell jani. and he has special ties to palermo it's here that he laid the foundation for his comeback in regional elections last year. at the market by lots of fans especially among men. when they were going to school he was in power there were more jobs. in the perfect person and it's even better that he wants an alliance with the far right. wing to get c. but i think he's the only one who can save us. it's like the old italian political thing if you stick around long enough you can become a saint. but father vote put deals in real estate and has a different view of the premise going in primarily because of his attitude towards migrants and. his allies are very

tough and want to get rid of migrants this is a demand that's completely outside of reality. that my impression is reality has never seemed to be a big concern of berlusconi's especially in campaigns and especially regarding migration. ok let's talk more now about the italian elections we're joined from brussels by monica for sunny italian politician co-chair of the european green party thanks so much for being with us this morning and your party is a among those accusing italy's right wing parties of using migration to win votes but aren't their concerns legitimate i mean even the greens say italy is shouldering too large a bird burden when it comes to migrants. certainly they are absolutely legitimate but the problem is that the solution brought to this issue are not not only sun

stable but they are also inhumane and i believe that the connection between these two questions is to issue the fact that this is the solution bro throw them all away and certainly not sustainable and on top of it the underlying mentality and approach is very cruel and i think that the underestimation of how inhumane and affective these recipes are is really the responsibility not only of the far right parties but also the mainstream ones and also of media so i think that to lead the people to believe that the main issue for each any is migration is really the main trap in which this electoral campaign felt ok but your party has failed to get people to avoid that trap by select by establishing for them or offering them what you call sustainable of alternatives or sustainable protest to migration what my heroes might like briefly if yeah i

believe that there are there are two things first is the attitude of europe i think that we should not underestimate the fact that the connection between the austerity policies which have been led by the european union and the lack of solidarity that was shown by the rest of the year of the european union are two among the main reasons of a decisive change of attitude if you see the situation four or five years ago italians were very supportive of the operation might in austria were not at all and welcoming but the the fact that of course economic crisis was going on and that is certainly not old fault of the european union on the contrary but also they saw how the european authorities and some member states were dealing with it brought the idea that of course we cannot support this of course we are the only victims of this european la cosa. directly which is of course a fake news it is absolutely not true and in our campaign what we push together

with our allies is the idea that it is possible to govern this flux of migrants that we do need controlled migration and that the european union should go back to its idea of relocation of migrants and take into account that qantas for example like germany or sweden are much more welcoming than italy and so the problem of governing this issue but also a european one those issues will be for discussion certainly across much of europe in the months to come now in italy the anti establishment five star movement has also been striking and had the migration tone it's not just the far right survey suggests that they will be the biggest single party on sunday what's your take on why this party has become so popular. well first of all they take a migration of that is very ambiguous and i think that they understood very well that being i'm big on this and saying one thing and then the net the contrary is very is very profitable i believe that the shift to the five star movement comes

shift is not a shift it has been there for a rainy at least one and a half years don't forget that in two thousand and thirteen five thousand movement or the first party so it is really not something new the question the issue is that the unhappiness of people has been somehow pushed even too much and the luck of credibility of the recipes that say of the government together with a very heavy you should not underestimate the very heavy media orientation that has been given everything goes bad we are poor victims etc had a very strong very strong impact i'm saying this because we should not underestimate once again the fact that the media in italy are still controlled from one side by bill to scorn and from the other side by on to system women's monitor for sony italian politician co-chair of european greens thank you so very much for your insights this morning and thanks for being with us from brussels thank you bye

bye. ok we're staying in italy and the economy kristoff is also a key issue in this election and an important issue in fact brian do people have work can they afford a living and can they get ahead in life all of this is linked to the economy italy's economy one of the tens ten largest in the world but still suffering from many structural problems in this economy was it particularly hard by the recent global recession but it has seen a steady recovery in recent years it grew by one and a half percent last year now one of the biggest concerns is the national debt firmly entrenched at a hundred and thirty percent of annual g.d.p. only struggling greece owes more so it is quite a mixed bag of economic indicators before sunday's election what do italians make of it take a look on this but though i expect a change of pace on many important aspects security equality and citizens' welfare

. even a sort of egypt that you know. yes but i don't expect much i hope whoever wins will do more. peaceful because i think something could change but it depends on which coalition wins i'm not sure if they'll be a clear winner most likely they'll have to compromise and reach a broader agreement. will it be a clear winner could it take months for a new government to come together to tally and so watching this smartphones the election is mostly being fought online all parties are promising more money some even proposing a universal basic income. but even the unions balk at that. frank i mean i honestly find the idea to introduce a universal basic income exaggerated this would allow any italian citizen to have an income but it would be too expensive. italy is still feeling some of the effects of the global recession banks are still struggling with mountains of bad debt and

whilst luxury apartments of the rich tower ostentation over milan eight million italians live in poverty some one and a half million mainly young and highly qualified people have left the country since the recession yet a ten percent unemployment here is still above the e.u. average so what's to be done. it's also very important to give a boost to work productivity so we expect important labor market reforms and women welfare under specially a decisive reducing of the tax wage one of italy's most important problems. but some observers warn that a far greater problem is lurking in the background poll say that eighty percent of the electorate simply don't trust the state. to the united states where president has announced new terrorists against steel and aluminum aluminum imports which he says will be made official next week the plan is to levy

a twenty five percent start on steel and ten percent charge on the protectionist measure it has sent the dow jones and other stock markets plummeting and drew an immediate response from the european union it said it will respond with terrorist. still made in china a thorn in donald trump's side for months he's threatened to increase tariffs against chinese imports against european ones too but now the time for talk is over at the end of a meeting with steel and aluminum producers he announced the planned levies. we have with us the biggest steel companies in the united states that used to be like bigger but they got to be a lot bigger again and we have the big companies in the united states and they've been very unfairly treated by bad policy by bad trade deals by other countries they've been horribly treated by other countries trumps primary target is china due

to its massive overproduction of steel and aluminum which drives down global prices flooding markets with cheap products this would affect german metals exporters their industry association calling for the e.u. to strike back with counter measures. as trying to strong condemnation of donald trump's move by the european union that you commissioned staying in the statement we won't sit idly while an unfair decision puts thousands of jobs at risk bring in our brussels bureau chief often here what could this retaliation look like. retaliation or the measures at least will probably be twofold first of all slapping tariffs on american made products and there were rumors in the past that these might be products from states that are prole trump trump friendly for example in the south like tennessee so the rumors were that terrorists might be slapped on products like motorcycles from harley davidson or whiskey but we never got those

rumors confirmed because if they were true they would signify at least coming close to meddling with domestic u.s. policies something that the e.u. commission probably would not need to doing overtly and the other part of course is going to the w t o the world trade organization and looking what they call for a dispute settlement mechanism because they also say in that statement that you just quoted the root cause of problems in these two sectors so steel that is global overcapacity caused by non market based production so they do admit that there is a problem they just want a different way of settling it than stopping terrorists bilaterally or unilateral ulead like trump is doing at the moment is the emissions so does this all of this now leads to the trade war that many have been fearing. listen there have been squabbles in the past for example when george w. bush was president agriculture was always a very difficult sector between the u.s. and the european union the difference this time is that you have

a president in the us who seems to dismiss the whole multilateral system that was built over decades that is different that puts them in a very distinct corner that finds the e.u. by the way being in the same boat with unlikely allies for example china so. trump has scrapped for example transit the pacific partnership east scripted to the free trade agreement that was planned between the european union and the us and he said repeatedly that he prefers bilateral relationships so that is the danger here and that's why we might not have a trade war at our heads right now already but trump definitely teed up for a trade war it's become more likely myself monday w. correspondent brussels thank you. and it's back to brian now about a u.s. response to russia's actions in the continuing tragedy in syria strike first off the united states has slammed russia for failing to implement

a un backed cease fire in syria's eastern ghouta now almost a week since the un backed the truce the rebel held area near damascus the syrian capital remains under daily assault russia has organized the daily polls and hostilities meant to allow aid in and residents out but there's a military stalemate on the ground and distrust on all sides in the student debt kicked up by the bombing blocks out the sun. each day paramedics pick up more dead an engine. there is a sensibly a truce in place here and eighty five hour pause in the fighting organized by russia but empty streets give voice to the nervousness here many residents say they've seen no sign of a cease fire. this is the ceasefire look at the destruction ten days of continuous shelling it's been ten days to repeat in the basement airplanes and baba bones and

we're sitting in the basement what kind of ceasefire is this what kind of regime is this i hope god will have a mission. there is incredulous he too from the u.s. . of blocking peace efforts. plays both fire this cease fire is clearly not working russia has called for these joke like humanitarian corridors russia needs to just do what the united nations had agreed to and voted on and that is a countrywide cease fire these government organized ambulances stand ready for residents evacuating eastern ghouta but they remain unused a mark of the distrust felt by civilians here the humanitarian corridor out of the rebel held area untrodden. ok for more let's bring in hades is the regional spokesman for the red cross for the near middle east joins us from beirut good morning to you thanks for being with us how is the red cross been able to get any

of its aid into eastern good. good morning no unfortunately the situation has not changed since the past days and therefore we are unable to bring any help to the people inside the sun as of this hour we are still trying to negotiate with all the parties involved and try to push them to come to an agreement and we repeated our calls through the media and. by a lot of negotiations but unfortunately the situation stalls and no aid is reaching people who badly needed inside of istanbul to relf el hage regional spokesman for the red cross joining us from beirut this morning thanks very much now for some of the other stories making the news this hour afghan officials say a car bomb in eastern kabul has killed at least one person and injured

a number of others it's not yet clear who was behind the bus to kabul has been on edge after a recent increase in bombings by both the taliban and so-called islamic state. catalonia is ousted leader carlos bustamante has dropped his bed to again be appointed regional president speaking from self-imposed exile brussels he said the move was needed to break a political deadlock between the separatist parties in catalonia pushed him on to want to do spain for his role in catalonia has failed succession of it. is to the u.s. now on colombine sandy hook and just about two weeks ago high school in florida school shootings like these evoke fear among many american students and parents that a gunman could go on a killing spree at any time anywhere it's a worry that's echoed here in germany but there's a public divide over whether to tackle the subject head on we look at one school that's decided to get its students prepared for the worst. these kids may be play

acting but what they're simulating is highly sinister a school shooting. what should they do for gunman storms their classroom and they aren't able to run away fight back c.d.c. teachers that's what this great seven classes practicing they've been taught that together they can overrun an attacker. based on curtis could actually happen and if it does i don't think it will be as easy as in the simulation i'm scared that in a real emergency things could happen very differently from. this and so kept. learning how to barricade themselves into a classroom is also an important part of the exercise students know when they hear a fire alarm they have to run outside in the event of an attack it's the exact opposite that's what trainer hines cost is trying to make clear he and other teachers at this high school in western germany began these training sessions

a few years ago but classes like this are extremely rare most schools in germany are wary of tackling this topic so head on. i don't think schools here are prepared attacks or to do subject there are training sessions for teachers but generally if there is a reluctance to train and educate the students mainly i think because schools don't want to unsettle them or those who followed. the likelihood of a school shooting in germany is relatively low but that doesn't stop it from being on these students' minds especially after the latest tragedy at a high school in florida. could you picture something like this happening in our school asks this teacher many here say they could although they don't feel less threatened as students in the u.s. . and china is pretty crazy what's happening in the u.s.

. with the guns and everything is definitely very different to here in germany i'm a few and since i think it's good that it's not so easy to get a gun here in germany and poland. does indeed i think would probably feel very different hit because gun laws a much stricter people can just get hold of the weapon. critics of these training sessions say they cause unnecessary panic but they're going down well with these students. if you vice new it's very unlikely that anything will happen here but should something happen will know what to do and that's the best thing the students can gain a sense of confidence everybody here hopes they'll never have to put what they've learned into practice but knowing they're prepared is enough to put many of these students minds at ease. it has been a very long wait more than four months after germany's national elections yasser mackerels hard fought coalition deal between her conservatives and the center left

social democrats is up for its final hurdle final approval this weekend the so-called grand coalition as part of our monthly look at what germans think about politics and their politicians our next report most of the latest results from a key national poll. this weekend will be a nail biter germans won't know if they'll have a new government until sunday that's when the result of the s.p.d. member vote on joining chancellor angela merkel's conservatives in a grand coalition will be revealed if it's know it could mean a grand crisis instead one thing is clear the vote could be tight the most recent poll suggests that fewer than half of those surveyed are keen on another grand coalition government between the conservatives and center left s.p.d. just over half say they're firmly opposed to it by comparison chancellor merkel who emerged weakened from germany's election still enjoys support. just over

half of those polled said they would welcome another term in office. while just under half are opposed. the chancellor's conservative alliance notched up a bit of support if new elections were held on sunday they would get over a third of the vote puts them well ahead of the s.p.d. who are showing below twenty percent while the right wing a.f.d.c. comes in at fifteen percent the greens are holding at eleven percent followed by the business friendly f.t.p. and the left party at nine percent each. if those results were confirmed new elections would spell disaster for the social democrats how that has affected the s.p.d. party member vote on the grand coalition won't become clear until sunday. and we'll have more coverage of that of course on the weekend reminder now of our top story.

this hour for thousands turned out. for the rally in rome. stream cold gripping europe has caused chaos of course but it's also having something cool a fact ice climbing. are taking advantage of the unusual and prolonged freezing or prague. twenty meter high ice wall to climb meanwhile the famous gratian waterfall. dropped to minus fifty degrees celsius in parts of the country locals say the first time. that this waterfall is frozen extreme pointer conditions coming from siberia are expected to be continued into the weekend. this is the news live from berlin brian thomas for the fire for the entire news team thanks for joining.

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