this is bbc news. the headlines... the eu's chief negotiator says despite crunch talks with the brexit secretary today there are still key unresolved issues. the pace of the negotiations pick up ahead of wednesday's summit of eu leaders. the ambassadors from the other 27 member countries hold a separate meeting. after the storm, the clean up — roads and railway continue to struggle after a battering from storm callum. france, germany and the uk issue a joint statement demanding a ‘credible investigation‘ in to the disappearance of the journalist, jamal khashoggi — who vanished after visiting saudi arabia's consulate in turkey. also in the news this evening: angela merkel‘s regional allies in bavaria look to have experienced their worst election result since 1950. exit polls suggest the csu, mrs merkel‘s bavarian sister party, has lost its absolute majority.

the greens and the far right alternative for deutschland made the biggest gains. virgin trains and stagecoach shared more than £51 million worth of dividends from the west coast main line shortly before its other rail franchise, on the east coast mainline, collapsed. the brexit secretary, dominic raab, has been holding face to face talks with his eu counterpart in brussels, as the government says it's working to resolve several outstanding issues for britain's withdrawal from the eu ahead of a summit this week. in the last few minutes the eu chief negotiator michel barnier, has tweeted, saying that ‘despite intense efforts, some key issues are still open‘, including measures to avoid a hard border between ireland and northern ireland. at home the prime minister is coming under intense pressure from leading brexiteers, with the — former — brexit secretary david davis enouraging a cabinet rebellion against the idea of a temporary arrangement which would see the whole of the uk remaining

in the customs union until the irish border issue is resolved. our political correspondent vicki young reports. it's it‘s crunch time for brexit talks and theresa may‘s leadership. she has persuaded, cajoled and argued with eu leaders for 18 months. alaska together in austria ended with angry recriminations. back home, some cabinet members are threatening to quit over her plans. loyal colleagues say it is time or unity. everybody needs to get behind the prime minister and pull behind her, because she is trying to deliver the best deal for britain and that is the best way to take this forward. by the former brexit secretary david davis says that the cabinet must exert its authority and get teresa makes to change direction. disagreement is over the so—called irish backstop. teresa may

is suggesting the uk stays in that you‘s customs union. conservative brexiteers incest that this has to be fairly time limit to that this has to be fairly time—limited. —— that this has to be fairly —— insisted that this has to be fairly time—limited. the labour leadership is scathing about the plans.“ time—limited. the labour leadership is scathing about the plans. if she comes back with something which is just a fashion that she has cooked up just a fashion that she has cooked up with brussels and it does not meet our test, we are not going to vote for it. the british people are not stupid, we are not stupid, we are not voting for a bridge to nowhere, we need to know what our future of europe is going to be and a fudge will not fix it. ministers are still working towards a deal. this afternoon, the brexit secretary made a flying visit to brussels for another face to face meeting with

the eu‘s she figures share. let‘s talk to our reporter in brussels adam fleming. behind the scenes i am not exactly sure. it was unannounced and that it was unpredicted and it was not scribbled in all of our diaries. the way the brexit talks work is that the civil servants and officials are locked in the room, working on the text, mine by line, and they get as far as they can before they get their political masters to come in and self political problems or sign off on the final deal and get it over the line. i am told that today, with raab and barnier, it was a proper negotiating session as opposed to a last—minute victory lap because there are still some outstanding issues. from that week you saw earlier from barnier, outstanding issues. from that week you saw earlierfrom barnier, it outstanding issues. from that week you saw earlier from barnier, it is issues, plural, over the you saw earlier from barnier, it is

issues, plural, overthe back—up plan for avoiding a hard border, the irish backstop, the most knotty problem of all. tell me what the problem of all. tell me what the problem with that is, in terms of the various players and what they are thinking. how long have you got? that backstop is this back—up plan with the withdrawal agreement, where the eu and uk have agreed that there is something in there that will prevent the return of a hard border ifa prevent the return of a hard border if a future trade deal negotiations months and months down the line does not solve that problem, the eeo has put down its version, which would be northern ireland remaining —— remaining in the customs union and the elements of the single market that are necessary to avoid a border. the uk are ok with a backstop but not the idea of northern ireland being part of a customs territory that is separate from the united kingdom, so a temporary customs arrangement has been put forward, which would mean

that the uk and northern ireland are ina that the uk and northern ireland are in a customs arrangement with the european union that would prevent having a border, and then they would have separate arrangements to deal with rules and regulations on goods in agriculture and things like that, and that is what they put forward, but do they eat you says, we are not too keen on the word temporary, and does this include all of the european union trade policy as opposed to terrorists? it is a real head scratcher. today, —— as opposed to who tarrifs. a british cabinet meeting on tuesday, and then your opinion leaders on wednesday, a sickly saying that they do not know what

happens out —— basically saying they do not know what happens now. thank you very much. see if our chief political correspondent can help us out. nice to see you. a lot of effo rts out. nice to see you. a lot of efforts being made today to play down the idea that the deal was done. downing street are saying that it is close. they are saying about dominic raab going there forjust that our is the side of the intense effo rts that our is the side of the intense efforts that they are making to get a deal. the reason he went was to say face to face to barnier the strength of the feeling here about the issues, the fact that northern ireland cannot be treated differently and that the uk cannot end up in this temporary customs arrangement, and it goes on and on and there is no sign of how the uk can get out of it. we have members of the cabinet, they are demanding that there is some sort of

time—limited or at least a very clear way market out of how the uk can get out of the customs arrangement. notjust can get out of the customs arrangement. not just brexit can get out of the customs arrangement. notjust brexit ears but other mps are concerned about it because it means that the uk cannot cite trade deals with other countries, for example, and that is why they feel so strongly about that. jeremy hunt the foreign secretary has taken to twitter and has said that raab‘s visit is a sign that we are trying really hard. he has been hosting foreign visitors at his country residence and he took to twitter and this is what he said, and then he said that he put all these foreign visitors in that maze, you can see that picture now of that maze, and said to them, try and get out of this, and he has likened that to the brexit negotiations. that has not been photoshop? idol think so, we looked at the very closely. —— i do not think so. ask the negotiations are a bit of a maze,

which teresa me has been trying for months and months to get around. —— which the prime minister has been trying to get around. there is still hope that it is just the same issue that has been going on for months about the northern ireland backstop. this is a real pressure cooker, isn‘t it, at the moment, all of these looming deadlines and the pressure on the prime minister, people in the cabinet, accenture ‘s saying, we are not happy with what you are doing, and herfuture is in the balance. it is also her leadership as well, because if she can geta leadership as well, because if she can get a deal against all of the odds and with all of the ups and downs that we have, i think their are many and her circle who feel that this would change the dynamic, so that this would change the dynamic, so if she can come back with a deal and put that to her cabinets to parliaments, that then changes things, because she can say, this is the only thing that will work, after all of this, this is what we have come up with, and your choice is to

back this or mass uncertainty. people are talking about leadership challenges, maybe another general election, maybe extending article 50, all of those things are in the mix, and when is how it is going to pan out, so if you do not vote for her deal, they do not like the idea that they are being threatened, but they‘ve won certainly the uncertainty. we have known that for a long time. thank you very much. trains are being disrupted along the devon coast, afterflood damage from storm callum caused a large hole to open up beneath the line between exeter and newton abbot. the west of britain has been worst affected by torrential rain, with homes flooded and people left without power in parts of south—wales. tomos morgan reports from carmarthen. the basement at number six, seven terrorists. this was the playroom of

—— seven terrace. injust underfive hours last night, jason discovered his home was decimated by the heavy rain. i have lived all my life and i have never seen a flood like this. i know it does flood in the surrounding area but this has not happened in 30 years. christmas is coming. halloween is around the corner, fireworks. there will be none this year, do you know what i mean? south wales has borne the brunt of storm callum. 30 minutes north in this village, cory sharlpling, who is 21 years old, died in a landslide. the weather is also affected in other areas across the uk.

in devon, flooding has destroyed this railway track. repairs are expected to take at least the rest of the day. if a hole opens up, we cannot run the trains. i'm going back to cornwall because that is or my university is. i am going to be back very late. this is the first of two buses. you have to be philosophical, haven't you? such was the chaos caused by the torrential downpour that emergency services have had to help deal with the aftermath. last night, a river broke its banks and there was pressure from all of the extra water. the clean—up operation has begun but the effects of such devastation will be felt for some time to come. storm callum has also caused problems for many farmers across wales. becky eardley filmed this footage of a horse rescue in gilwern in montmouthshire. two men swam out in to water six—feet deep to lead the animal to safety. no—one was injured in the rescue and the horse is said to be recovering well. germany, france and britain have issued a joint statement urging a credible investigation

into the disappearance of the saudi journalist jamal khashoggi, saying that saudi arabia needs to provide a full and detailed response to allegations that he was murdered inside its consulate in istanbul. but amid reports that the uk and the united states could boycott a forthcoming business conference in riyadh, the saudis have said they‘ll retaliate to any sanctions. the foreign secretary jeremy hunt had this assessment of the situation. for all of the lurid details associated with this story, we simply do not know what happened to jamal khashoggi two days ago. to jamal khashoggi 12 days ago. we don‘t want to get ahead of the facts but the facts do not look good, and that is why we are seeing this pretty strong statement about upmost seriousness and a hint in the wording that officials do believe something pretty awful happened. if relevant, the ministers say that the saudis should identify, and those responsible should be held to account. that is a fairly serious warning. the foreign secretary was asked about this just a short time ago and he said it really is more than ever up

to saudi arabia, up to them to come clean. what happens from now on is absolutely up to saudi arabia. they must have seen the huge national concern from the united states, now from britain, france and germany, and what they need to do is co—operate fully with the investigation, the turks are asking us to do that and get to the bottom of this. jeremy hunt, the foreign secretary. shadi hamid from the bookings institute and the author of islamic exceptionalism says that the authorities in riyadh are making a mistake if they think saudi arabia can get the better of the us in a diplomatic stand—off. saudi arabia is talking a big game, but the context here is that the us is the much stronger partner in the relationship with saudi arabia, and sometimes we are asking —— acting as

that the saudis have the leverage and they are going to punish the us and they are going to punish the us and they are going to punish the us and the economy. the saudis have been saying in various statement that everyone will pay a big price if there are repercussions against them, but the idea that saudi arabia can damage the us economy is frankly absurd. it is the us, along to some extent with european partners, who have the leverage and the saudi military, for example, and its air force in particular, would be grounded without us military support. the us has provided a security umbrella for saudi arabia for decades now, so the us is and has been saudi arabia‘s most important ally in security terms, so that gives the us and the international community more generally considerable leverage am the saudis can issue these very strong and somewhat unhinged

state m e nts strong and somewhat unhinged statements but it does not change the basic fact that they are playing with fire here and they are going into very risky territory. the headlines on bbc news... the eu‘s chief negotiator michel barnier says despite crunch talks with the brexit secretary in brussels today there are still key unresolved issues. after the storm, the clean up — roads and railways continue to struggle after a battering from storm callum. france, germany and the uk issue a joint statement demanding a ‘credible investigation‘ in to the disappearance of the journalist, jamal khashoggi, who vanished after visiting saudi arabia‘s consulate in turkey. the traditional governing party in bavaria — the csu — has lost its absolute majority in state elections, according to exit polls. the csu regional premier, markus soeder, has acknowledged the result. he said he was ready for coalition

talks with any of the democratic parties except the populist, anti—immigrant, alternative for germany. the greens emerge as major winners and could have doubled their share of the vote. the poor performance in bavaria of chancellor angela merkel‘s sister party, the csu, could further complicate her federal government. let‘s get more on this now from boyan panchevski, who‘s the germany correspondent for the wall streetjournal — hejoins me now from munich. what do you read into these exit polls so far? it is obvious, as you said, another blow to angela merkel‘s coalition, because the lock as a whole will be weakened, but perhaps more importantly, the junior coalition partner have suffered a really overstating defeats. bareboat, they

we re overstating defeats. bareboat, they were “— overstating defeats. bareboat, they were —— they were practically decimated. according to the exit polls they were 9% down from 20% the last time, and now the grassroots are pushing for the party to exit the federal coalition, which would be probably the only external factor that could bring down angela merkel as chancellor. i think that is probably the greatest immediate challenge to her. the second challenge to her. the second challenge will be from within her conservative camp because she is facing a reelection as party chairwoman in december, and voices are already growing louder for her to step down as party chairman, which would be technically the rest out of her stepping down as leader. to what extent were these polls protected ? to what extent were these polls protected? -- predicted? the green party have done even better in the polls, they reached 19% in some exit

polls, they reached 19% in some exit polls, which is an amazing result. we see from the initial analysis that a lot of voters have left the gazmend mula tojoin us have that a lot of voters have left the gazmend mula to join us have left the csu tojoin —— have left gazmend mula to join us have left the csu to join —— have left to gazmend mula to join us have left the csu tojoin —— have left tojoin the csu tojoin —— have left tojoin the csu. i think the key word for this is fragmentation. we have seen that on a federal level and we are seeing it now on a local level as well. what are the issues that have contributed to this change in bavaria? it all started in 2015 with the great refugee crisis. this was a front—line states as refugees were coming into germany, they were coming into germany, they were coming through bavaria, so there was the drive, but some of the analysis of the exit polls show that voters also cared about other issues, very local issues such as housing,

infrastructure, education, etc.. i think one big factor that was mentioned to me and all of my working here is all of the infighting. the conservative party was seen as crippling, petty, fighting with angela merkel all of the time. i think voters on the whole did not like that so they‘ve resorted to even voting for the green party to teach a lesson. thank you very much for your time. it‘s emerged that sir richard branson‘s virgin — and stagecoach — shared a pay—out of more than £50 million from their profit—making west coast mainline, just months before handing the financially troubled east coast line back to the government. here‘s our business correspondentjoe miller. it carries passengers along the main corridor between london and glasgow and makes a tidy profit along the way. virgin‘s west coast franchise did so well in the last financial year that owners sir richard branson and stagecoach‘s sir brian souter

received a dividend of over £51 million. butjust a few months ago, the very same owners dropped out of a contract to run the troubled east coast line, the government was forced to step in and was left with a £2 billion shortfall. there is of course nothing to stop a private company rewarding its owners, but these large payouts will add to concerns that billionaires are cherry picking the most profitable parts of the railways. that‘s certainly labour‘s view. it says any money made in the west could be spread around the country if the railways were re—nationalised. buying a ticket is so extortionate these days that many people can‘t afford simply to travel by rail. so we want to see that investment being pulled back into a good, publicly owned railway system which really does put the passenger at the heart. virgin says passengers are satisfied with its west coast

service and in a statement, the department for transport stood behind the company, saying that privatisation had transformed railways and improved customer service. commuters caught up in this year‘s summer of chaos may well beg to differ, but one passenger group says it‘s the management rather than the owners that make all the difference. whoever is operating the railway, regardless of who owns it, is to manage it in a way that delivers excellent customer service, and i think there is evidence to suggest that passengers would appreciate greater value for money. the west coast franchise is up for tender again soon, but with rail fares set to rise further in january, the next operator will need to prove that travellers‘ hard earned cash is being put to good use. joe miller, bbc news. a british cyclist has been shot dead by a hunter in the french alps, police have confirmed.

the 34—year—old restaurant owner was riding a mountain bike in woods near the town of les gets on saturday evening when he was shot dead. the victim, who‘s been named locally as mark sutton, had lived in the area for several years. now, we‘re being told to eat less meat to help tackle global warming. but it seems our sunday roasts and steak dinners are safe in the hands of the government‘s climate change minister. claire perry has told the bbc that politicians telling people to eat less meat smacks of the worst kind of ‘nanny state advice.‘ here‘s our environment analyst roger harrabin. burping farm animals are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, so cutting down on meat is one of the simplest things we can do to protect the climate. one report advises no more than one meat portion a week — either as steak are cut into strips to flavour meals like stir—fries. will the government pass on that advice? no, it won‘t.

i think you‘re describing the worst nanny state environment ever. who would i be... advising — is it nanny state to advise? ..sitting there are advising people in the country, coming home after a hard day of work, to not have, you know, steak and chips — please! those who enjoy a nice joint of beef will breathe a sigh of relief, but people concerned about the climate say the government should be advising us — to switch from beef to chicken, and to cut down on all meat. to stay within safe climate limits, we need to tackle the amount of meat we're eating. but actually lower meat diets that are higher in vegetables and plant proteins are also better for our health, so it's a win—win situation. there's been a huge rise in interest in flexitarianism — people eating less meat — and businesses are starting to respond to that. so the supermarkets have been introducing lots of great ranges now for people wanting to choose alternatives to meat. tomorrow the government launches green gb week, to shift britain towards a future with zero carbon emissions. scientists say that cutting down

on meat must be on the policy menu. roger harrabin, bbc news. pope francis has conferred sainthood on the murdered archbishop of san salvador, oscar romero, at a ceremony in the vatican attended by tens of thousands of pilgrims. the pope wore the rope belt that was stained with the archbishop‘s blood when he was shot dead at the altar in 1980. during his life romero regularly spoke out against military atrocities during el salvador‘s civil war. john mcmanus reports. 1980. as el salvador‘s bloody civil conflict rages, another victim‘s funeral. but this was not just another critic of the military government, it was archbishop oscar romero. he was killed during mass. he told soldiers and police that their loyalty to the state was less important than the christian injunction "thou shalt not kill."

his opponents called him "a gorilla in a cassock." his killers were never brought tojustice. today in rome, pope francis wore romero‘s bloodstained belt as he declared him a saint. some in the vatican oppose this canonisation. they thought romero‘s teachings veered too close to marxism, which the church has traditionally opposed. but pope francis, himself from south america, smoothed the path, with the pontiff confirming romero died a martyr for his faith, not his politics. in el salvador, where 75,000 died in the civil war, it has been a day to celebrate a man who paid the ultimate price for standing up dor justice. six other saints were also created today, including pope paul vi, who led the church for 15 years. he began a long process of reform, rejecting some of the more ostentatious trappings of papacy. for a long time, many catholics

wondered why the church refused to canonise archbishop romero. for them, today‘s celebration by the pope is a long overdue correction. now for a look at the weather. they said that a call for england and wales should keep the temperatures up wales should keep the temperatures up but it gets cold or the further west you go. temperatures not far from freezing and eastern scotland. sunny skies developing more widely and a few showers in the northwest. most of england and wales looks pretty cloudy. could be heavy at times and some late sunshine giving

the temperatures a booth in the southeast, but otherwise, 12—15d. moving into tuesday, the rain is pretty much gone, but we are left with cloud and mist and fog around many eastern parts of england and a band of rain coming in from the northwest, but either side of that, sunshine, and temperatures hitting 13-17dc. hello this is bbc news. the headlines: the eu‘s chief negotiator michel barnier says despite crunch talks with the brexit secretary in brussels today there are still key unresolved issues. the pace of the negotiations pick up ahead of wednesday‘s summit of eu leaders, the ambassadors from the other 27 member countries hold a separate meeting. after the storm, the clean up — roads and railways continue to struggle following a battering from storm callum. trains in devon are disrupted along the coast after flood damage caused a 6ft hole to open up beneath the line. france, germany and the uk issue a joint statement demanding a ‘credible investigation‘ in to the disappearance

of the journalist, jamal khashoggi — who vanished after visiting saudi arabia‘s consulate in turkey. in response the saudi‘s say they will retaliate against any sanctions imposed on them. angela merkel‘s regional allies in bavaria look to have experienced their worst election result since 1950. exit polls suggest the csu, mrs merkel‘s bavarian sister party, has lost its absolute majority. the greens and the far right alternative for deutschland made the biggest gains. now on bbc news david sillito reports on the shortlisted buildings — including the winner — for this year‘s riba stirling prize, one of the most prestigious awards in architecture. how much? i think it was over $1.5 billion, maybe $1.75 billion by the time we got done.

you don't realise the scale of how big this build is.