this is d.w. news live from berlin a final day of campaigning in italy ahead of the general election on sunday a divisive debate over migration dominates the vote and could pave the way for the stunning comeback from former prime minister silvio berlusconi. also coming up a shaky daily truce goes into effect for a fourth day in syria eastern ghouta an agonizing wait for those trapped there to see if aid can finally get for. president donald trump announces punitive tariffs on steel and aluminum imports dropped threaten to respond in kind markets plummet

as fears grow woman new trade. plus match day twenty five in the bundesliga kicks off tonight the club fighting for a place in next season's europa league macian gladbach ended a winless streak last weekend and they're hoping to pick up points at home against a resurgent brain we'll have a look at. i'm sumi so let's go on the good to have you with us well today is the final day of campaigning before italy goes to the polls in sunday's general election and the result is anything but a foregone conclusion that there were demonstrations thursday evening and rome s. protesters turned out against the extreme right wing costs of pound party which was holding its final campaign event in the capital now the party wants to abandon the euro and leave the e.u. despite tensions at that rally no. violence broke out of the election pits

a right wing coalition led by former prime minister silvio berlusconi against a center left alliance led by another former prime minister matteo renzi the other main player is the anti establishment five star movement immigration is the biggest issue and driving voters well let's get more from max hoffman he's that g.w. is a bureau chief in brussels he's covering this story for us hi max good to see you now you spent last week i traveling through italy why is immigration such a divisive issue in this election there are facts and perceptions and we unify course it'll is at the forefront of the whole migration crisis and the mediterranean route has gained more importance over the last two years or so after the western balkans route where many people from syria fled through originally had been close so you had about one hundred nineteen thousand migrants making their way over the mediterranean route to italy last year which is a drop but on a high level so that's not the only reason why this is such an important topic of

course the right wing parties are trying to make an important topic of it but you also had a public couple of high profile events terrible events happening in the last months in italy for example a drive by shooting by a right wing extremist of six african migrants and then there was also a gruesome killing of an italian girl where african migrants are being investigated so all this put the feeling the sentiment that was preval and in italy but on the back burner back on the front and of course the island of sicily where a capital palermo is located of course is very important in this whole thing because most migrants that come over the mediterranean from north africa at some point at least pass through sicily and that's why i chose palermo the capital of sicily as the sort of the point of my report. i think 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 being exploited from the left and from the right these people don't understand the value of migrants and migration that can bring into a country then they need to get in and you get to. sicily 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 the former prime minister and billionaire eighty one years old and the centerpiece of many scandals involving among other things an under-age call girl named ruby and tax fraud yet there is a good possibility she will be forging the next governing coalition once again it would be one leaning strongly to the right capitalizing on the current immigration in italy. in spite of his checkered past fellow party members think he's italy's best hope for reforms. you could lose a little time at the bank percent i'm going to miss going 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 the strength of purpose and his passion are the reason why we sicilia and i hope to tell you and since our whole are turning back to him he is incredible man. minutes a week to kino uses jani and you spend on can you tell jani. and she has special ties to palermo it's here that he laid the foundation for his comeback in regional elections last year. that the market. lots of fans especially among men. when they went to school he was in power there were more jobs. i mean he's the perfect person it's even better that he wants an alliance with the far right. but i think schooling is the only one who can save us. it's like the old italian political saying 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 premises going in primarily because of his attitude towards migrants. his allies are very tough and want to get rid of migrants this is a demand that's completely outside of reality. forty. nine presently is reality has never seemed to be a big concern of bella's school and he's especially in campaigns and especially regarding migration. some acts coming back you know we heard you say in that report that berlusconi says that migration is a social time bomb and you also said that he'll likely play a big role in forging the next government are people there in brussels worried. believe it or not berlusconi might be the best hope for brussels and for the

european union as a whole we are in a time period where there are big plans from the e.u. institutions to reform the eurozone and the european union in general so what's most important for those institutions is to have a functioning government in and this might be the only chance or one of the very few chances that there is there are to actually have a functioning government in italy if the bill is going he is able to forge it and on top of that yes he's a populist of course he's an old school populist has been he might have even invented populism in the you could say but at least the european union knows what it's getting from him they know that he's not radically anti european union unlike other parties that are in the mix for example you mention them earlier assume the five star movement what about the five star movement max this is a party that's anti-establishment and in the past has been very anti e.u. what can europe expect from them they're expected to come out as the single largest party here first of all we have to give it to them they have toned down their

rhetoric recently regarding the european union they're not necessarily for leaving the euro as a currency anymore but even if they are the strongest party in italy it looks very unlikely that they would be able to find any allies but of course the stronger they get hardly will be for the remaining parties to forge an alliance and i can't stress this enough the importance for the european union here is to have the government in the lead because as you know sunday is a very important day for the whole of the european union germany might get out of his funk and actually have a governing coalition after sunday but at the very same day another huge country in the european union very important country might get stuck in the same limbo that germany was stuck in for months all right all eyes on italy then max up on for us in brussels thank you very much. now to some other stories making news around the world israeli police have reportedly questioned the prime

minister benjamin netanyahu for the first time in a corruption case involving communications giant beswick they're alleging the company provided positive coverage of netanyahu in exchange for favors he's facing allegations of corruption in several cases but denies any wrongdoing a fired a drug abuse treatment center in the azerbaijani capital baku has killed at least twenty four people at least four others have reportedly been taken to the hospital officials are working to determine the cause of the blaze afghan officials say a car bomb in eastern kabul has killed at least one person and injured several more it's not yet clear who was behind the blast a couple has been on edge after a recent increase in bombings by both the taliban and the so-called islamic state. in the united states has accused moscow of violating cold war era treaties after russian president vladimir putin unveiled in a ray of new nuclear weapons during his state of the nation speech on thursday these include a hypersonic cruise missile that putin said could hit anywhere in the world like

a meteorite. from. the u.s. has slammed russia for failing to implement a un backed cease fire in syria's eastern ghouta almost a week since the un backed the truce the rebel held area near damascus where maine's under daily assault russia has organized daily posen hostilities meant to allow aid in and residents out but there's a stalemate on the ground and distrust on all sides. in eastern guta kicked up by the bombing blocks out the sun. each day paramedics pick up more dead and injured. there is a sensibly a truce in place here a daily 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 that we've been in the basement of airplanes and barrel bombs and we're sitting in the basement what kind of ceasefire is this what kind of regime is this i hope god will avenge 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. or one man has sought to offer his music as a respite to neighborhoods scarred by syria's civil war musician i am became known for playing his piano among the rubble he fled syria ended up in europe where the pianist has swapped the streets for concert halls he says his heart and soul though are still in syria and he can hardly stand it. how. am i mad as a syrian refugee living in germany the pianist is currently on tour in europe but

he says he feels torn i feel good. and happy. this is not music forty fourth stage should be free. it was here in your mc that he made a name for himself his music a sign of life amid the ruins of war. during the war those who don't choose to chance bombed being you don't care and change lives turns myself i want to give voice in the people and the peoples of all somehow. be this what the music of. your mc is a vast palestinian district on the edge of damascus i am i was born here. is blind father set up a workshop for musical instruments that's how i am came to play the piano. he was

studying music at university when the war started. bloody battles raged between assets troops and i yes fighters it's the palestinians who are the victims i am want you to stay and please piano for himself but most of all for the children islamic state controls your mic the group considers music a sin and i.a.s. fighter discovered his piano dosed it in petrol and set fire to it. i had reached his wits end and fled to europe through the balkans finally ending up in germany and his backpack the music from you and me among his change your possessions. he continues to follow what's going on at home his parents remain in syria where the war is still reaching. some. looks like

it's working for. another group. another group working for. sixteen and they're closing up and it's very very dangerous. what. he says he will return to syria at some point take his piano to the streets and sing with the children again when there's peace. right not to the decision that they're making ripples around the world u.s. president trump announcing new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports kristoff on the move comes despite the president's top economic advisers having fiercely lobbied against it but donald trump says the plans will be made official next week now the plan is to levy a twenty five percent charge on steel and a ten percent charge on aluminum the measure has sent the dow jones and other stock markets plummeting and drew an immediate response from the european union it said

it will react with terrorists of its own. steel made in china. athol an internal trump 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. we have 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 the 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. a strong condemnation of donald trump's move by the european union the commission saying in statement we won't sit idly while an unfair decision puts thousands of jobs at risk let's get more from our brussels correspondent. what could this retaliation look like. it's basically a two fold strategy that the e.u. has already prepared weeks ago we have florent and it looks like this first of all they want to challenge together with other countries they're already baiting this they want to challenge these an announced terrorists in the w t o and then that is something that could take years so the commissioner responsible here announce that there's also more immediate actions and then we're looking at safeguards tariffs what exactly these tariffs on what kind of u.s. exports these terms would be applied they haven't said yet they want to wait for in

the announcement from the u.s. side now despite the use willingness to respond it's unclear if that's even necessary right i mean if you look at the kind of countries that are hit hardest by these imports tariffs there are no e.u. countries among them so we're looking at south korea brazil. but also canada but the concern here on the european side really is the collateral damage the u.s. imports terrace will lead to a diversion of steel and that comes at a time when there is a lot of overcapacity overcapacity being actually the problem and so the u.s. the e.u. also prepares for for this sin scenario and hands and are preparing their own measures to how likely is a that this issue will trigger the trade war that many have been theory.

well slapping on sanctions tariffs on steel imports is nothing new george w. bush has done it in fact the european union has done it everybody knows that china has overcapacity and dumping of steel is a huge problem so that is in itself nothing new the real issue is the way donald trump is doing that he's basically ended a cease fire and using a loophole in international trade rules which is a paragraph where you can impose tariffs in case of a national threat in case of a war if you want and that is not going down the the a multilateral track of the w t o but this is more single handed diplomacy something that he has announced and that now follows through but it does not only in danger transatlantic ties from the e.u. to the u.s. both countries are have big concerns about china's dumping of steel but it also undermines the dog cio in the way this entire trade system functions and so yes it

could be a step towards a trade war t w correspondent reporting from brussels care thank you the stock market reaction to the news from washington has been overwhelmingly negative the dow dropped one point seven percent yesterday japan's nikkei down more than two percent this morning let's cross over to our correspondent in frankfurt daniel cole put daniel the picture or the mood rather on european trading floors is also rather sour. yeah very bad mood here at the trading floor even though at this point it's not even clear how for example european companies could f.t. and stuff for their reaction here at the frankfurt stock exchange is even worse than expected the blue chip index dax for the first time since august fell under the magical power mark off twelve thousand points losing more than two hundred and fifty point this is a big issue we have to remember that in january investors celebrated here

a new record high with more than thirteen thousand five hundred points also asian markets especially the shares of steel companies have been very under german steel giant tristen with losses of about two percent and illicit in the m.d.x. is also down with more than four percent now daniel products and prices of german steel makers have been under scrutiny in the united states what have been the reactions from german steel companies. yes we are getting statements a spokesperson of the german good ideas say that at this moment they're waiting for more details to be released there are still of course lots of question marks as i mentioned to some cops say that they don't even think they will be suffering that much as they have been lately not anymore been so active on the u.s. market but when you look at the european level the concern there is much bigger kerrick of the head of the german steel industry said that the consequences could be massive some are saying that steel products exports to the u.s.

could go even down by fifty or even more percent also. the german foreign minister said that he is monitoring all of this very closely and with great concerns and the german exports and jobs could be at risk in the corporate boardings and the frankfurt stock exchange thank you. i meant soccer now and i'm going to take us back tonight massed a twenty five kicking off with mention gladbach against bremen the two teams ended their respective winless streak slask match today and they're looking to heat up their season despite the weather it's been bitterly cold across germany in the run up to match states twenty five but the permafrost hasn't put a damper spirits. they head into their class with braman on a high after grabbing a one know when and how over last time out there by ending their four game losing and a goal

a streak and emphatic fashion by. the poor run is over now we have to keep it going it won't be easy against bremen kind of like the old. braman on society to be underestimated slowly and cool feldstein have been very effective in recent weeks winning three of the last four games best slowly clawing their way out of the danger zone even if some of their performances haven't had the braman faithfuls hearts racing. but i'd much rather win a game that isn't great to watch then supply well and go home empty handed like we did in munich some. attractive football or not both coaches will be gunning for a result and hoping this plenty to cheer about five even if it's for the sole purpose of keeping warm. from the one wrapped up its first pre-season test on thursday after snowy weather in barcelona are clear to give drivers

valuable time on the track the weather interrupted preparations earlier in the wake as the teams care up for the season start in australia later this month. snowy scenes which had written off the previous day's action had thankfully disappeared for thursday's final test day in barcelona but missed and fog still blanketed the track meaning what conditions prevailed. the sadie's valtteri bottas made the most of the track triumph posting the fastest lap of the day. but the normally adventurous max the shop and was more than three seconds behind in his red bull a slippery conditions continue to cause problems. south as marcus erikson spun out on turn two and got based on the gravel causing a short delay a. bit too eager on the throttle foe and ahead of it was found nothing to dramatic just got stuck in the gravel and the guys had to clean it up a bit and then we were out driving and sebastian vettel also ran into trouble

losing his grip and sliding off track when asked about his hopes the next week's testing the ferrari tried the one particular request on his mind to get rid of the window to. have more running clearly i think for everyone to you know get a bit more in the groove is the only test that we have four straight years so ideally a lot of good feeling with the season starting in australia on march twenty fifth formula one teams will be praying for better conditions next week. well as you probably gathered from those pictures an extreme cold snap still has europe in its clutches snow in frigid temperatures have forced multiple airport and road closures britain has even called out its army to battle the chaos after some of the worst weather it's seen in decades. the u.k. is digging out and bracing for more the extreme cold gripping europe has brought more than three days of unusually heavy snow to the british isles up to fifty

centimeters of snow are expected in some parts airports and public transit are suffering from major delays and closures roads are shut people are stranded hundreds of vehicles have gotten stuck on roadways even all wheel drive ones have been no match for the treacherous conditions as one four by four driver found out it's quite hard to describe really. sixty. emergency services. i mean there are hundreds of trucks because this is everywhere. the cost of burning caused. emergency services and even the british army are carrying out rescue operations though a gas shortage warning has been lifted residents have been stocking up on other essentials the wintery weather has taken many in the u.k. by surprise but for some it's just a matter of preparation so nothing hearted nothing's on your doorstep nothing so it just takes organization extreme winter conditions may continue through at least

next week lacking sufficient funding and equipment for snow removal many local authorities can only hope that springtime weather is on its way. our top story at this hour campaigning for italy's general election has entered its final day after thousands turned out her test the extreme right wing pound card as it wrapped up its campaign with a rally in the capital. thank you for watching we're back in about thirty minutes. from.

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