back in 2016 when one million refugees had arrived here in one year, many predicted her demise. but while she survived that crisis, it has to a large extent defined this election. there's one figure who towers over this election, and one issue that dominates how people see her. on wednesday, she went to hamburg, one of germany's trading powerhouses, for an election rally at the city's historic fish market. and even among her supporters, we found that issue, the refugee crisis, looms large. no one has ever done something like that before, so of course she made some mistakes. i understand why people are concerned. but yeah, i think you just have to make the most of it. inside, there was a band to rouse the faithful, and why not? angela merkel is heading for a fourth term, and has weathered one crisis after another. no other german leader comes close right now. but that doesn't mean this is easy.

and as last—minute polls show a drop in support for her cdu, the chancellor tells them that one in three voters is still undecided, nothing must be be taken for granted. outside, it's a very different vibe. merkel‘s opponents have turned up at many of her rallies, here telling her to get lost and calling her a liar. the key issue was her decision to allow unrestricted immigration during the refugee crisis. they tell us we can't close our border.

it's a big risk. germany until now is lacking... —— lucky. nothing happened in germany, small things, like berlin or this one here in hamburg. but like london or stockholm or paris, like this. it's only a question of time. where will this anger coalesce politically? with merkel occupying the centre, it opened a space on the right for afd, alternative for germany. this vacuum has to be filled, because people feel that there needs to be a party which is conservative, which is also thinking about germany, which is also thinking about germany first, for instance. and people have the feeling that something is going dramatically wrong. the afd has taken votes from merkel, but at their headquarters in berlin, her people are still preparing a victory party. a year ago, many were predicting

migration crisis would destroy angela merkel, but in fact, opposition to her on that issue has gravitated towards the extremes, leaving her to dominate the centre ground, where the absence of an effective mainstream challenger means once again people are expecting her to win. but she'll still need a coalition, and even possible coalition partners the liberals are using the refugee question against merkel, saying they could repatriate many. tonight the centre—left, spd held a rally in central berlin. its man, martin schulz,

at least mentioned brexit, an issue that's been largely absent from this campaign. but as a former president of the european parliament, he seems less someone to harness german public unease, more a member of the european elite. the spd have never really managed to move the debate away from the migration crisis, and anyway, as part of a grand coalition with the chancellor, they were party to some of that also. and their candidate has been lacklustre also. when the vote comes in on sunday, everyone expects angela merkel to remain in the driving seat. this challenger, like the others she's seen off, we'll have to head to the margins while the chancellor forges her new coalition. to unpack the election and its likely consequences, we've got two great experts with us. the editing chief of bilt and also

the foreign editor of another paper and biographer of angela merkel. the apparent absence of brexit in this election that was the public cheated of a debate that should have been had? brexit is not relevant for german voters in their point of view but i think it is a missed opportunity because the future of europe without britain, the country that was always against public spending and more competition, without that country, germany would be left with some countries such as the mediterranean ones, and that will cause some trouble for the german people after this election. i think it should have played a much bigger role. do you think the chancellor was reluctant to go there because some people might blame her in some way for not making

a more attractive offer to keep britain in the eu? the large majority of germans think it is actually britain's fault for not having a better solution and for actually having voted for brexit in the first place. in terms of today's speech, that will be landing on her desk, as it were, if she comes back into power. how does she process that? is it a game changer or another unsatisfactory british approach to the problem? i think the speech was remarkable because it put the prime minister on a position where it could be negotiated. she brought time and offered money. this is something you can deal with. the problem is that europe might not want a deal. the chancellor cannot deal with it

right away because she first has to win the election and then negotiate a coalition. what theresa may needs is support from the eu and germany. the speech makes it much easier to get there. you feel those people on the brexit side of the argument who have been waiting for her to give a push to michel barnier and the team, they might see something in that? they are right to expect something. there is an official mandate and they have tracks set —— to accept that we have figures on the table and that to be some may say is we haven't this two year period. a lot of things can change in that time. the chancellor's is that brexit will be resolved in an amicable way. britain will be alongside the eu and germany on the norwegian kind of model. your paper had a poll today that put

the far right party on 13%. that is one of the higher poll results i have seen. at the same time you have been doing a bus around the country to try to get to what people are really thinking, because i think you may distrust the polls a bit like we all do. do those results match up? i think it may be higher because some people do not admit to voting far right and voting for a party that has very obvious racist connotations. during our bus trip, what was apparent was that people are very concerned about immigration. they are very concerned about crime rates. they have a certain distrust towards political parties not addressing those subjects and not having addressed them for years, long before the refugee crisis started. what does that mean

in terms of opposition? could they dominate if they constantly press the hot button topics? if you talk to people it is mostly in between two things. they want to show their humanitarian side and the genuine feeling of welcoming culture was there. on the other hand, what happened in cologne nearly two years ago on new year's eve, other horrific crimes do cause concern. i think there are a lot of people who are worried about immigration who are not voting afd that a lot of them will. how does angela merkel stop afd dominating the debate? she will ignore them. her strongest weapon is simply not to engage with them. i guess she would prefer having a discussion with more parties

in the centre and put it as a buffer between them and the afd. they would be the main party in opposition. thank you both very much. back to you in london. that's all we have time for tonight. kirsty will be live from the labour party conference on monday. butjust before we go, we thought we'd set aside the arguments and remember the taxi's glory days. goodnight. in time to watch an aged taxi cab being restored to its original glory. and if anyone tells you that the word taxi originally came from the greek word taxos, meaning distance, you can tell them they're round the etymological bend. it comes from the french. but then, we knew that all the time, didn't we? the reason for the lofty appearance of some of the old cabs, incidentally, is because of the police regulation stating

there must be adequate room for a gentleman wearing a top hat. the rule is still in force, but we don't know whether anyone has stipulated what length the gent must be from topper to bottom. the old taxi comes smoothly... well, fairly smoothly, along. a moving reminder that, to at least one man, the commonplace taxi cab is a thing with a proud history. good even. a mixed day out there. some others have had warm sunshine and some of us more cloud and outbreaks of rain around. if look at the recent rain we can see where we have had drizzle largely petering out, pushing eastwards across central parts of england. as we had through the rest of tonight that is where we will see those outbreaks of rain in the southern and eastern parts of england. further north across the uk you are more likely to

see clear skies and temperatures dropping across rural parts of scotla nd dropping across rural parts of scotland and northern ireland. words in the south it will be a mild start the saturday morning. through saturday we will start was sunshine for northern ireland and scotland as well after that chilly start to get decent morning to come. brightness as well breaking through across northern england to start your day with temperatures rising to around 14 degrees by nine a.m.. heading further south across england and wales were more likely to see a great morning so there will be hill fog, mist and the odd spot of drizzle. there was the weather because it will improve across the southern half of the country and sunshine already for the south—east down towards the channel isles. through the day we will see rain easing away towards the east. a bit more cloud filtering into northern england and scotland. sunshine returning from southern england and south wales and it should remain bright across northern ireland. a little breezy here late in the day but temperatures doing reasonably well for the time of year. between

i7 well for the time of year. between 17 to 19 for most of us, 21 in the channel isles. most of the centre day on a dry note. late sunshine, a little late rains of scotland and overnight this band of rain works in from the west. wet weather for northern ireland and the west of scotla nd northern ireland and the west of scotland and later on just edging into the far west of england and wales. much of england and wales should stay dry thanks to the dominance of high—pressure sitting across the continent. the weather front bumps into that area of high pressure. some outbreaks of rain that could be heavy at times of the hills of scotland, north—west england and, later on, perhaps a few spots of rain for the far west of wales and northern ireland. elsewhere across england and wales we re elsewhere across england and wales were likely to see whether and in the sunshine, 22 or will fill pleasant. a little cooler for that make further north. high—pressure not far away, perhaps a bit of fog and drizzle around a monday but many of us having a dry day on into tuesday. the temperature will do

pretty well for the time of year. more details on the weather for the week ahead on our website. this is bbc world news. i'm kasia madera. our top stories: trying to break the brexit deadlock. britain's teresa may strikes a conciliatory tone as she sets out her plans to move negotiations with the eu forward. it is up to leaders to set the tone and the tone i want to set is one of partnership and friendship. uncovering the horrors of mexico's earthquake. a family of ii were killed when this church collapsed during a christening. the family was congregated here and the town came out to try and dig them out of the rubble, but all they recovered was bodies. puerto rico faces the aftermath of hurricane maria. tens of thousands are urged to evacuate as a major dam bursts. and the online minicab service uber, used by millions around the world, is banned in london.