>> a very warm welcome indeed to the journal. i'm peter craven, and these are our top stories at the top of the hour. italy has a new government due to be sworn in as prime minister on sunday. >> germany's green and social democrats renewed their alliance for the upcoming election, but can they win out chancellor merckel?

>> well, italy has a new government. the prime minister has confirmed he's putting together what he believes will hopes will be a workable coalition. it is a big risk bringing together as it does oleds enemies in the form of the center left party and sivio berlusconi's center rights. the cabinet due to be sworn in on sunday morning. >> to get the latest from rome, joined from the tal jan capital by john hooper. john, this is a coalition that abrings together unlikely bedfellows. can it hold? can it sphere italy into calmer waters? >> in the short-term, i think it

can. its life speck tansy -- expeck tansy will determine whether the two parties can work together. the first is the center-left democratic party. in the short term, they won't have any progress in bringing down one of their number. but in the longer term, there is a problem. this party is very disunited. it has been tearing itself to pieces in recent weeks, particularly over the presidential election. the other party is silvio berlusconi's freedom movement. how long is he prepared to go on supporting this government before creating a new union. >> and how much influence will ber scopey have on this new government? >> i think the two things are very much connected.

if the prime minister tries to keep him out of the decision making too much, he might well pull the plug. i think if he has a situation, too are, in which he has a lot of stake in the legal trials that are going on for which he's defendant, and some of it may depend on how hot the heat gets on him. so potentially more heat in italy. thank you for keeping us up to date. >> in germany, a bid to unseat angela merkel. the battle cry will be social justice, as it is clear with this weekend's green party con

conference. one was quoted as saying, we are robinhood, angela is the sheriff of nottingham. >> green party delegates had to work flu a record number of amendments on day one. a dominant issue was tax policy and how high to raise the top tax bracket. then the only green state volunteer raised caution. many greens want to see a shift in the tax burden. [speaking german] >> nowhere else is there such an unequal distribution. that's that's why i think we should raise the top tax% from 42% to 49%. >> the greens want to raise it to the important 50% mark and voted down one amendment at 52%. they did exceed personal wealth

on one million euros. there was also alliance with the social democrats. >> the next german government will be red-green. life is much too colorful to be dominated by the black and yellow of current coalitions. [applause] >> they became the first leader to address the green conference. she urged both parties to shoes their groups carefully. >> i think we should be more relaxed. our opponents want us to lose our cool and start infighting. >> the two parties have already started to find plenty of common ground, such as the minimum wage. many areas of potential dispute remain. >> our political correspondent. early yes he gave us his assessment of whether or not it

is a wise move for the greens to lock themselves in alliance with the social democrats. >> sunday looked like a logical move, as far as policy goes. in is no doubt that the green's ideas overlap most with those of the social democrats, and it is a natural fit. and of course it is only in coalition with the social government that the green's have been successful. the green's don't quite have the support to now beat the conservatives at the general election. that's the difficulty. the numbers don't quite add up. they have been trailing behind the conservatives for quite a while now. there has been talk about a possible coalition between greens and conservatives. i think many green voters wouldn't mind that. certainly members of the party reject the idea.

so this is the most natural choice. >> the people of iceland have been going to the polls today in what is basically a referendum on the country's potential e.u. partnership. if they return to power, they could pull the handbrake on e.u. membership talks >> the polls are open. a quarter of a million are registered to vote. according to the latest polls, it looks like the majority will be voting for change. the ruling left-wing coalition can take credit for stablizing the economy after the financial crisis. forced to take over iceland's failed banks, their stringent

austerity measures are beginning to bear fruit. opinion polls believe progress has been too slow and has played into the center-right's opposition's hands. it was under their watch that the country almost went bankrupt. now they are promising a return to growth. >> people are slowly but surely seeing that what we absolutely need to do is create more jobs, create more value in iceland, and we have a strong plan to do that. >> first and foremost, benedict songh wants to end -- he says it was the financial crisis, for which iceland is still paying the price. >> in bangladesh, authorities have arrested two people, including two engineers in connection with the deadly building collapse. at least 35 people died in and

after -- at least 352 people died in the collapse of the complex. rescues continue to pull survivors from the rubble. at least 1,000 people are believed to still be missing. the disaster renewed debate over conditions in bangladesh and sparked violent protest. >> that is a very sad story. we're going to change the mood somewhat and go to sports. after the heroics of -- bundisleaguer took center stage. all eyes were on allegations. among them, alterborg took first place. a defeat on friday.

>> looking at other results, bian game back. another team battling the drop, hoffenheim picked up a win, and in saturday's late game, dortman survived a dufledorve -- duseldorf rally. let's check out the standings in this, the 31st round of play this sign. the bundisleager has 48 points, which is a record.

the pressure on duseldorf. after 14 years in charge, time could be running out. after failing to win a single medal at last year's london olympics, germany is in the process of rebuilding its swimming team. the new head coach hopes to stage a major comeback at the world championships in bacelona this summer. so we will are a close eye on any medal hopefuls at this world championship final trials here in berlin. >> when training, hundreds and more intent, we need to make sure it is possible for every group to train more.

he is speaking from many years experience. in his 20 years of competitive swimming, he has seen many athletes succeed on the small stage. two who won championships at the last world stage. >> i qualified in rome, and then i participated in international competitions every year and kept improving. >> his work isn't confined to the pool. he's also drawing up tactics. as well as improving overall fitness, he wants to teach people from each discipline to train together. that's causing waves in the german swim team. >> i know not everyone is on my side. i'm the right man to do this.

>> in this weekend's commission they have done away with the inflectionible competition times. that helps athletes save their best performance for when it counts, at the world championships in july. >> now in netherlands, the prince is celebrating his birthday for the last time today before he becomes the dutch king. his mother will formally abdicate on the day they normally celebrate as queen's day. many dutch will turn out to honor the popular queen's 30-year reign, and there will be a lot of orange. >> it was a great day for the children in the netherlands. it is part of the countdown to prince willem-alexander, and he

and his wife maxima are starting to feel the heat. >> the children are a bit nervous, and to be honest, we are a bit nervous, too. commemorative likenesses of the come are being bought up. >> they have a tendency to buy anything orange. orange glasses. everything is orange nowadays. >> the city is expecting a million people for beatrice's last queen's day. >> we want the city to look pretty because we are on a world stage. >> known no one knows that better than the future dutch king himself. he said he plans to be a monarch of the people. >> of course as king i want to ensure continuity and stability in my country. i also want to be a king for the 21st century who is not just a

simple but a unified society. >> wille-alexander is ready for the big day, and the country is also on its way. >> you are with d.w. don't go away. >> in the back fields in eastern france a miss mitterand sits with her accordian. this is traditionally a profession dominated by men. women are slowly invading this "man's world."

>> she is a grandmother and has been driving trucks for 35 years. >> i have two lives. i have a life on the road alone with quite more responsibility, and i have my life here. >> suzette relishes her family life. her husband is a truck driver, too, who at 87 still loves to take to the road. >> you were a truck trifere when i met you. you found your ideal job. what do you think about that? i thought the firm was taking a big chance by hiring you. >> the time has arrived. i'm off on a roadtrip. this is our vehicle.

>> my i introduce to you my truck. my dear truck. 520 horsepower. >> the payload, 5 metric tons of silicone. >> i feel safe because they are good brakes, they are big engines. anyway, what i like is inside, because i am a real lady, and i love when it is comfortable. >> she climbs aboard in a manner befitting a real lady. >> where do we go now? >> now we are going to a real nice country, germany. >> we take to the city, heading north to hanover. this will be our world for the next day and a half, in the

passenger seat, observing the life of a female trucker. >> i'm a lady. >> she has been at it since she was 22. back then it took an entire year to find a driving school that accepted females. these days, it is not a problem. >> just a driver. i have respect. it is just anening yifpblet i don't love it. but it is a good living anyway. >> in the afternoon, we made a pitstop in luxumborg. she tells me all the truckers do the same because file prices are

far lower than france or germany. time to fill up the tank. it looks like she didn't get close enough. it appears there is more to filling up a semi truck than a car. >> it is bigger, the size is bigger, but no, it is not different. after a break, time to stretch our legs and visit a little bit with the other truckers. mostly men of course. she said female truck drivers are rarely heard of here. >> there are not so many ladies driving.

usually it is very nice. they nile smile. you know, i represent french elegance. [laughter] ♪ >> oh, my gosh. >> before i met ugett, elegance was the last word i would have used to describe a female truck driver. she truly has retained her femininity. as the kilometers tick by, we discuss politics and joan of arc. we talk about female journalists and women who drive for a living. >> i am quite sure they are not just for men and just for women. they are jobs you have to do. they are jobs for earning money. it doesn't matter if you are a

boy or a girl. you don't need to have hair like this on your arms, why not? we have been on the road an entire day. ugett has been on the phone all day. as boss she should be sitting behind a desk rather than behind the wheel. truth be told, she loves to drive. the same route, once per week i. would think it would get tiring after a while. >> look. i would love to have this. i will never go back home, of course. >> we reached our rest stop for

the first day, this parking lot outside cologne. she says it is an ideal place for a good night's sleep. >> in this case, the sleep is right behind our seat. >> i have my dog. >> it's not dangerous? >> it's a good one. and you know here i sleep like a baby. i feel safe. i park near some other trucks. >> flad here and gunta are parked nearby. i leave and find a room at a

nearby pension. to be honest, i wasn't looking forward to spending the night in this parking lot. the next morning it is my turn. my top speed is 3 miles per kilometer. >> you begin as a trucker right in. you never forget where are the brakes. >> but where are the brakes? >> it worked. you are a good driver. >> thank you! [laughter] >> i let a more experienced hand take over for the rest of the journey. if i cannot for some reason make it as a journalist, i will apply for work at ugett's firm. sl after a day and a half of

driver, we pull over. i am not allowed to be onhand for security reasons, but we will meet up again. i wonder if you can drive a truck in these. it is a reunion of female truck divers. all of them drive long-haul semitrucks. >> ugett asks if her black dress will look good in the photograph. they meet to discuss issues, and of course to party. >> she founded this company 20 years ago. back then female druggers were

few and far between. now she is 67 years old. france's oldest working truck driver. she spent her entire adult life on the road. >> i have done it all, she says. express deliveries, regional deliveries, domestic and international. but i like long hauls the most. i have absolutely nothing against being on the road for a week or even 15 days. >> the association membership compluzz women from ages 25 to 67. each has her own story of how she ended up behind the wheel. isabelle shows off her volvo. she specializes in transporting dangerous materials. her home is in the arsess region. she tells me by age 13 she had a c.b. radio on her desk to listen

in to conversations of truckers on the road. there is a price to pay as well. she is always behind the wheel. there is the pressure of meeting deadlines. it is not the best paying job as well. at age 67, she still has to drive to earn a living. it is a tough job, and women need to be particularly strong willed. >> we were not born driving a truck. we learned. i think the life is different between the others and us is that we think we can. we are sure that we can. we can go anywhere with any truck. >> the next freighting contract is waiting, and the lure of the open road calls as well. ugett says she'll drive for one

more year. her husband wants her to spend more time at home. it will certainly be a difficult it will certainly be a difficult adjustment.