>> hello and a very warm up into the "journal" on dw. i am peter craven. these are our top stories. in saudi arabia, women defy a ban on driving and take to the streets. power aftero take the czech republic's snap election? sebastian metal is on the -- ettel is onwe the verge of claiming his fourth successive formula one title.

activists in saudi arabia say that more than 60 women defied the country's ban on female driving on saturday. it was a brave move by those women. the saudi authorities had threatened any woman who defied the ban with unspecified sanctions. saudi arabia is the only country in the world that refuses to issue driving licenses to women. >> it was just a short trip, but this woman's drive could lead her straight to jail. despite the risk, she posted a video of her drive on the internet. activists have declared today to be women's driving day, in protest of the ban on women driving in saudi arabia. >> it has been 23 years since the first campaign of the same sort, and there is no progress on the issue, so we are hoping this time is different.

we are hoping this time, it's going to work and it is going to have the authorities give us our rights to drive. >> women in saudi arabia can study, teach at universities, but they cannot get behind the steering wheel. there is, in fact, no law banning women from driving, but only men are granted licenses. women who do drive face harsh punishment, but that has not protesters.se women have been posting videos on the internet for everyone to see. >> i spoke earlier to someone from the german institute for international and security affairs. i asked him how the saudi authorities are likely to respond to these protests. >> i do not think that these protests will have any affect on the decision-makers, and that is not because of the ruling family itself, which is rather

pragmatic, but they are genuinely afraid of the opposition. they have a lot of opposition among shiites, among liberals in the country. they have problems with iran.\ they do not want extra problems with those who object women driving. is theo, what exactly rationale for not allowing women to drive? >> it is islam. clericservative wahhabi decided long ago that it is not allowed according to the koran to let women drive cars. islami is a kind of state in saudi arabia. this is the law of the country. >> how much support do the female activists in saudi arabia have? >> that is very hard to tell. i have heard that many liberals in the country support this move

. they want more women's right in general. government's decision not to allow them to drive, i think should make us think hard about the conservative part of the population. they are extremely strong, the rulingwhere family has its power base, in central arabia, and they seem to be the stronger part of the population. >> thanks very much for talking to us. ran has executed 13 people who officials described as terrorists in retaliation for the deaths of at least 14 border guards in order night -- in overnight clashes. bandits or rebels of an unnamed armed group ambushed the guards in the southeast of the country and also seized at least three soldiers and took them across the border into pakistan.

u.s. president barack obama has reportedly admitted that america may have eavesdropped on german chancellor angela merkel's phone calls. it has been reported that the president apologized to merkel but insisted he was not personally aware of the monitoring. there are reports that suggest the national security agency must have -- may have been tapping her calls for more than a decade and that her mobile phone was on the list of intelligence targets. the monitoring was allegedly carried out at the u.s. embassy here. where the czech republic the country's social democrats have emerged as the strongest party in parliamentary elections huge commentators are already saying they are unlikely to -- in parliamentary elections. commentators are already saying they are likely to have a tough time.

as pollsters predicted, voters gave social democrats the biggest share of seats in the parliament. it looks as if bohuslav sobotka will lead a coalition of partners to govern. together ato put government in which the social democrats able to follow through -- ther campaign pledges social democrats are able to follow through with our campaign pledges. we will be looking for partners in parliament who support our positions. numberelection surprise two finisher was andres babbitt's -- was andrej babis. he has ruled out joining a centerleft government. who hadight parties formed the previous government were punished by voters in the wake of corruption scandals. wontal of seven parties

seats in parliament. the centerleft will be hoping to win over one other party in a bid to form a majority. statebia has held a funeral for jovanka broz, the widow of jozip broz tito. lastied at the age of 88 sunday after living her final years in isolation. in his eulogy, the serbian prime minister, he ivica dacic, says broz's passing marks the last icon of an era. many came to remember happier times. in italy, silvio berlusconi has relaunched the party that first brought him to power 20 years of and dissolve the freedom people party. the announcement triggered some dissent within his center-right movement.

the ministers stayed away from the meeting. berlusconi is on the verge of losing his senate seat for next -- for fraud. veteran music producer quincy jones is suing the late michael jackson's estate, seeking $20 million in damages. he claims that music he had worked on together with jackson has continued to generate royalties since the singer's death in 2009. among the posthumous productions is the film "this is it." a lawyer for the jackson estate believes that jones has already been adequately compensated. action.st bundesliga wolfsburg. the better of werder bremen. they took the lead in the seventh minute. the secondgoals in half which completed the resounding win for the wolves.

earlier out of berlin -- earlier, berlin came close to spoiling buyer in munich -- spoiling bayern munich's weekend. fromn's three goals game headers. bayern survived a scare. dortmund some -- thumped schalke. hanover -- hannover collapsed. mainz defeated braunschweig. in friday's match, stewed guard hosted nuremberg -- suttgart hosted nuremberg -- stuttgart hosted nuremberg. stuttgart had not lost until this match since the end

of august. >> just three minutes in, nuremberg offered up a gift. he converted the penalty. 1-0 four the home side. nuremberg shook off the penalty. a few things -- minutes later, things were even again. that was the final score. nurembergond half, threatened again. win, but he gets a point in his debut as number coach. -- as nürnberg coach -- nuremberg coach. are hanging on in the final champions league place. 'sllis berg -- wolfsburg

impressive season has them level on points. freiburg are not in much better shape. in second division action, cologne increased their lead in the standings here it it was not an easy win -- in the standings. it was not an easy win. cologne's goalkeeper had to work hard throughout the first half. the lone goal of the game came in the 80th minute. 0, final result. cologne are still undefeated in the season. this was their fourth away victory. germany's sebastian vettel is on the brink of a fourth consecutive world title. he dazzled in qualifying at the indian grand prix and begins sunday's race from pole position. his only remaining rival is

fernando alonso, starting in eighth. >> sebastian vettel surprised even himself with a stunning performance in qualifying. it was a statement of intent from the champion in waiting. >> yeah. car was amazing. it is a great circuit. i really like the flow of the track. the seventhled for time this season. he delivered the fastest lap in three years at the indian grand prix. the competition simply cannot keep up with the red bull driver. >> your car behaves the way you want to through that. for sure, you are going to enjoy that a lot. >> nico rosberg lagged 7/10 of 1 second. fernando alonso, his only challenger for the championship, could do no better than eighth. even if alonso wins sunday, el could win the

title by finishing fifth or better. >> the alpine ski season got underway with a bit of a surprise on saturday. skiers taking top charge, it was a relative unknown. she dominated. >> she beat out all the favorites in saturday's race, taking her first ever world cup giant slalom win. she aced both of her runs. >> i have never been in this place before. finished second. germany had third. her compact three at -- her was a laminated from the race after a mistake just 20 seconds in -- was eliminated

from the race after a mistake just 20 seconds in. federer iss, roger on his way to qualifying for the atp world tour finals after he advanced to the semis of the swiss indoors in basel. the world number six beat record in the trough -- beaty grigor dimitrov. federal took it 7-6 in the third set. his next opponent is canada's vasek pospisil. tied at theieve is shanghai masters, one of the four final -- the lead is tied at the shanghai masters, one of the four final tournaments. leads withera-bello luke guthrie, who earlier had

the sole lead in the competition. that was a nice way to finish the show. we have more sports and more news at the top of the hour. >> a classic convertible is one of the best ways to see the sights of havana. out what's new in cuba, on island that is famed for not having changed much in 50 years -- an island that is famed for not having changed much in 50 years. these people are selling houses. the reforms made by the president have made it possible. sailing is now easy, this man says -- selling is now easy, this woman says.

>> if one of you germans wants to buy my house, you should come, this woman says. ♪ 8:00 a.m., when it is only 30 degrees celsius, is the best time to work out on the caribbean island. she trains three times a week in this havana suburb. she and her friend share a passion for sports and have a shared dream. >> i'm hoping to get a visa to the u.s. so i can finally travel. i have family there, and i'd like to remain -- i would really like to know the country. >> i'm interested in foreign countries and cultures. all cubans want to travel. at least i do. us to drive to one

of the foreign embassies if we want to see the long lines of people who want to travel. cuba finally ago, started to allow its citizens to travel abroad, but cubans need a visa for most countries and not everyone gets one. >> i wanted to go to spain. i first came to the spanish embassy two months ago. they wanted a lot of documents from me but they rejected my application. now i'm trying again. hello. i've heard it's not that easy to travel, despite the restrictions being lifted. >> that's right, now that cuba has made traveling easier, the other countries are making it difficult for us. they want to make sure that we're just visiting and don't want to immigrate. rail castro'snce reforms, a lot of cubans living abroad have begun -- since raul reforms, a lot of cubans living abroad have begun to return. a new privately run dance review that would not

have been possible a couple years ago. this man is swiss. when he fell in love with a dancer in cuba, he gave up his career and invested his money in 50 dancers who now perform one of the best shows on the island. >> it has just sort of developed from nowhere. i'm the kind of person who is willing to take the risk, but i also see chances, big chances. and i said, ok, that's what i'm going to do, and it's a lot of fun. >> not everyone is quite so relaxed. but tomorrow is the premiere. they have invited tour operators in the hopes that they will bring large tourist groups. surprised many people with his reform proposals. he called on the press to be more critical, even of the island's politicians. until now, art was one of the safer avenues to express criticism.

this artist speaks his mind. he does not attack his country. he prefers to help. worker anda social member of the national assembly. that gives him a degree of protection. a major theme of his art is migration. boat ownership on the island was strictly rated -- regulated. he loves his country but it knowledge is its flaws -- but acknowledges its flaws. boats.here made of it is all speech bubbles. he sees this pn o made out of a raft built by a cuban to sail madeorida -- this piano out of a raft built by a cuban to sail to florida as a criticism of the united states. recognizing criticism of cuba in his work is up to the viewer. the artist does not voice it, but he does not deny it either.

two brand-new passports for herself and her boyfriend. she has not found any work yet. castro granted the right to travel a year ago, she started to dream. now she is manicure in her last customer before her first four and a day of her life. relatives in -- her first foreign holiday of her life. relatives in the bahamas have given her a ticket. >> i will learn a lot that i can use for my career. guests iny deal with different countries? how do you react properly to their preferences and his likes -- and dislikes? an invitation from abroad, but she is still here. she would really like to fly to the united states with her daughter and granddaughter. her son is married to an american who lives there, but

they don't have a visa. despite the new travel freedoms, not every cuban is allowed to leave. they first have to submit to questions about their lives, jobs, and the reason for their journey. >> i am 54 years old and i've never been abroad. i only know cuba. in november, i've got my next interview. if they turned me down again, i will probably never get to see the usa -- if they turn me down again, i will probably never get to see the usa. >> this is the closest point on the island to florida. it may look like another luxury hotel, but it is more than that. it is the largest yacht harbor in all of latin america. are in only 10 berths use. cubans still aren't allowed on boats.

the harbor director is open about the fact that cuba is reckoning with the u.s. tourists who are currently not allowed to come here. he says the 53-year-old embargo makes it hard to come here. >> of course, we are hoping to get boats from the whole caribbean region. we are open to guests from every country, including from the united states. if they take the necessary steps, they are welcome. >> cuba seems to be waking from a long slumber and preparing for a time after the hated trade embargo. at the same time, the number of bookings from foreign holidaymakers is stagnating. castro is betting on americans being able -- allowed to come soon and filling up the new hotels. we want to talk to a politician from the cuban government about the relationship between cuba and the united states. our interview partner is a friend of fidel castro's. -- is 87 yearsld

old. >> our president, raul, doesn't miss any opportunity to talk to the u.s. about all sorts of things, as an equal. but the u.s. still accuses us of human rights violations. but they have even bigger problems with human rights. rights,'t respect human not in their own country and not abroad. >> our next stop is a restaurant located at the end of a picturesque alley, owned by a man who used to be fidel castro's personal chef. he cooks for groups of tourists from around the world. he spent 52 years catering to world leaders who were castro's guests. he says fidel was like a father to him, but he is still much happier with his life now. >> our state is good to us. sometimes it gives us even more

than is good for us, and that's why people have gotten lazy and not working enough. they should be working a lot for cuba. and you? do you have to work harder, too, and think about your own business? of course. i have to think a lot. but afterwards, i can count my pesos. it was good with fidel. he is a lovely person. you have to like him. if you do your work well, you don't have any problems with him. but if not, he also has another side to him. cuba, if you've done well, you are expected to share board fortune -- to share your good fortune. he often invites the whole street to dinner.

he calls it socialism with a small s and he quotes the u.s. president, of all people. >> kennedy said don't ask what ur country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. as an individual, i can help others. i am a politician, artist, and human being. i can achieve the most as a human while enjoying my work at the same time. >> his neighbors are also enjoying it. he really seems to have found a balance between art and politics in cuba. can never be sure who i'm talking to -- the artist, the politician, or the neighbor. it is make or break it time for the havana queens dancers. of preparationrs

and training, it is time to show the tour operators what they've got. if their routines go well, buses full of tourists will soon be arriving and the business gamble will be rewarded. >> the idea to do it ourselves came to me quickly. now thanks to the new openness in many areas, it became possible. we were able to register this dance group, this country, a 100% cuban company. everything is in my wife's name. it has all worked out really well, hasn't it? welle premiere has gone and the future for the havana queens looks to be secured. new company director, it is double really. -- relief. >> it is one thing when you are dancing. i used to do it with all my heart in my former dance companies. but when it is your own show, everything is possible.

then it's your baby, and it's bigger and better than anything else. becubans may not yet completely free, but suddenly a lot of things that were once impossible have become possible.