this is bbc world news today. i'm karin giannone. our top stories... america's most senior diplomat arrives in riyadh, as a senior member of the saudi royal family tells us donald trump's decision to pull out of syria is very negative. it will further entrench not only the iranians, but also the russians. overwhelmed with snow — parts of europe grapple with the worst winter weather for years. underneath this white blanket is a tarmac road. this area hasn't seen this much snow in well over a decade. a former italian communist militant who's been on the run for 37 years has been arrested in bolivia. hello and welcome to world news today. donald trump's unilateral decision to pull us forces out of the syria conflict has already made us

diplomacy difficult in the middle east. one of the president's closest advisors had a tricky time last week in turkey, trying to persuade ankara not to move against america's kurdish allies. on sunday night us secretary of state mike pompeo arrived in riyadh, which might be even more uncomfortable because of the added tension over the killing of the saudi journalist jamal khashoggi. the bbc‘s barbara plett usher is in riyadh following mr pompeo‘s trip, and told me what we can expect. this issue of jamal this issue ofjamal khashoggi obviously, but also other things like counter—terrorism, iran, syria, all of these things will come up, and before mr pompeo arrived i had a chat with senior member of the royal family, and sal seidel, and i began by asking him about syria and what he thought of president trump's

decision to withdraw us troops from syria because that's a topic that has dominated mr pompeo‘s trip so far, and this is he said. the us's actions from my perspective is that it is going to further complicate the issue, rather than find any solutions to it, and it will further entrench not only the iranians but also the russians and bashar al—assad, so that, from that perspective, of course, it is a very negative development. general mattis was well—known here, wasn't it? yes, he was a man who had experience in the area. of course he was commander of central command. he served i think in iraq and afghanistan, so yes, he is pretty well known. do you think that his departure is a loss for us saudi relations? i think it's action that counts rather than personalities. we still have to wait and see what's going to happen with his departure.

when it comes to iran, do you think that israel is a better allies and cat are? as long as they occupy arab territory and look at how they are treating the palestinian people in the west bank and gaza, there's not going to be any way of corporation between the kingdom and israel. there's overt cooperation between the kingdom and israel already. you tell me how and where. intelligence sharing. i have no idea and i don't think there is, because nothing remains secret and the fact that the israeli government and mr netanyahu has been leaking these news about saudi and israeli corporation is to serve his purpose is. with the crown prince was completely in the dark about this murder of mr kuch orgy as the saudis say he is, isn't that just a staggering level of incompetence to let something like this go on under his nose —— mr

jamal khashoggi. rogue actions is not unique to the kingdom of the crown prince. the crown prince's reputation has been damaged internationally. is that matter of concern here? of course it is a matter of concern and it's an unfair attempt to criminalise the crown prince on the part of media. there has been no proof at all of these contentions of his participation in any nefarious activity at all. you feel president trump and mr pompeo are strongly supporting the saudi government and the saudi us relations at this point? they have publicly said so and they clearly say that there that is literally no evidence that the crown prince has been involved in this case. what mr pompeo has said exactly as there is no direct reporting of a link

between the crown prince and the murder, but he's also said he wants to ensure those responsible for the killing are held fully accountable and that he will press the crown prince on this issue. barbara plett usher in riyadh. severe snow storms continue to wreak havoc across europe and the united states, and forecasters are warning it's not over yet. it's only half way through the skiing season and yet the austrian village of st anton has seen almost five metres of snow — twice the amount it normally sees for the entire season. in the nearby resort of lech, three men were killed in an avalanche and a fourth person is missing. our correspondent bethany bell is in kleinzell in central austria. mountain regions in austria are used to snow, but this is extreme. days of heavy snowfall are taking their toll. last night three skiers from germany were killed in an avalanche in lech. their bodies were found on a ski route that had been closed off because of the danger of avalanches. a fourth person is still missing.

translation: yesterday evening we decided to cancel the search because it had become too dangerous. we know how the weather will develop so we can probably initiate the search again on wednesday. the risk of more avalanches is very high. some ski resorts and mountain villages have had to be evacuated. other areas are snowed in. these firefighters near the town of kleinzell in central austria are working round the clock to clear snow from homes and buildings. the snow is very heavy and there is a real risk this roof could cave in. translation: it is quite dangerous work. as you can see all the men are harnessed because you could easily slip off while coming down. the risk is relatively high. driving conditions are treacherous. it's a struggle to keep the streets clear.

underneath this white blanket is a tarmac road. this area has not seen this much snow in well over a decade. in neighbouring germany, the army has been brought in to help clear the roads. and people here are bracing themselves for more. heavy snow is forecast over the next few days. bethany bell, bbc news, near kleinzell in the austrian alps. chris fawkes says it's highly unusualfor chris fawkes says it's highly unusual for the snow to be this heavy so early in the season. they've had another 30 centimetres in the western general in saint anton which is next door to lech, where there were fatalities in the avalanche. this is part of an ongoing snowfall event that goes between sunday and tuesday and between sunday and tuesday and between that time we are expecting

between that time we are expecting between 60 centimetres and a metre of snow widely, so that's going to cause some further significant problems. the authorities in austria have read weather warnings out in force for this and it's notjust austria, it's the far south of germany, so austria, it's the far south of germany, so areas austria, it's the far south of germany, so areas already hard—hit already this month which has been incredible. why so much snow in such a short time, and how different is this to what usually happens in winter in these parts? if you look at the outs, a typical snow amount at the outs, a typical snow amount at the outs, a typical snow amount at the end of the season would be two or three mountains at the top of the mountains. saint anton has 4.8 metres snow and it's early in the season metres snow and it's early in the season which is incredible. one of the reasons this has happened, if we think back to the uk's weather, christmas day we had a big ridge of high pressure that built and it's basically not gone anywhere and what that's been doing is steering areas of low pressure well to the north of the uk and they've been diving southwards to hit the northern side of the alps, so austria and germany. the winds have been northerly, so the weather fronts when they've

coming along have been rammed into the mountains. it's something called the mountains. it's something called the barrier effect weather weather fronts can't get over the mountains because there are 4000 metres high so because there are 4000 metres high so any precipitation just gets dumped on the northern side. so austria and germany have been particularly ha rd austria and germany have been particularly hard hit, but at the same time areas like italy haven't seen same time areas like italy haven't seen that much snow from these weather events because they've been on the wrong side of the mountains. there are other parts in the south of europe and the middle east even getting a lot of snow in recent days. on the other side of the atlantic, tell us what's going on with the snow that's hitting the washington area for example? on friday we had winter storm that started off in the midwest. it's brought over 40 and metres of snow in missouri, where we have some crashes and a number of fatalities, so crashes and a number of fatalities, so it's been causing some big problems. it's worked eastwards. the heaviest snow today is around the washington, dc area over into maryland and virginia. we've had snow totals in this part of the world of 17 centimetres already but

it's an ongoing event and the snow is going to last night and on into tomorrow as well. by that time some of the snowiest areas could see around 30 centimetres. there has been disruption to transport. flights have been cancelled in their hundreds. we've had some power supply problems. that kind of situation looks like it will continue unleased in the next 24 hours. be chris fawkes from the bbc weather. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. greece's prime minister alexis tsipras says he will call a confidence vote in parliament, after thejunior partner in his coalition government withdrew its support. the two parties disagree over an agreement made by tsipras's government, which would see greece's northern neighbour given the official name of north macedonia. the deal has yet to be ratified by greece's parliament. the president of venezuela's national assembly has been detained while travelling to a rally. opposition leaderjuan guaido was arrested by intelligence officers and released a short time later. mr guaido has said he is willing to replace venezuela's president, nicolas maduro, after the opposition declared mr maduro's second term illegitimate. on saturday brazil recognised

mr guaido as venezuela's legitimate president. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come... from a communist militant to a crime novel writer — who is cesare battisti, who has just been arrested in bolivia ? day one of operation desert storm to force the iraqis out of kuwait has seen force the iraqis out of kuwait has seen the most intense air attack since the second world war. you are bobbing tobacco is america's oldest industry and one of its biggest, but the industry is nervous of this report. this may tend to make people wa nt to report. this may tend to make people want to stop smoking cigarettes. report. this may tend to make people want to stop smoking cigarettesm not a street that is unaffected. huge parts of code they were simply demolished as buildings crashed into one another. this woman said she'd

been given no help and no advice by the authorities. she stood outside the authorities. she stood outside the ruins of her business. tens of thousands of black children in south africa have ta ken thousands of black children in south africa have taken advantage of laws passed by the country's new multiracial government and enrolled at formerly white schools. tonight sees the 9610th performance of her long—running play, the mousetrap. when they heard about it today, the management considered whether to cancel tonight's performance but agatha christie would be the last person to want such a thing. the latest news, as the us secretary of state arrives in riyadh a member of state arrives in riyadh a member of the royal family says the us decision to pull forces out of syria is very negative. let's stay with that — and the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, is in saudi arabia to meet with the crown prince

mohammed bin salman. it's expected they will discuss iran, syria, and the conflict in yemen. mr pompeo has said he will ask the crown prince to hold journalist jamal khashoggi's killers accountable. let's discuss this more. with us is a global affairs analyst. thank you forjoining us. given that the us senate directly blames the crown prince for the murder ofjamal khashoggi, how much of that do you think will be reflected in mike pompeo's words to mohammed bin salman in their forthcoming pompeo's words to mohammed bin salman in theirforthcoming meeting? sure, good to be with you. mike pompeo has a very top foreign affairs orderfrom this pompeo has a very top foreign affairs order from this trip ending that blockade on qatar, countering iranians ruins in the region, there's yemen on the table, but he is saying the right things that they are concerned about the murder of khashoggi and that not enough has been done to investigate who exactly was responsible. now it has to be said that now with the changing

dynamics in washington, democratically controlled congress and also in the senate, the hand is being forced and they will have to deal with yemen more forcefully with the saudis and also the khashoggi murder. canady meanwhile has been taking a very different but a very bold stands —— canada. publicly and locally criticising saudi arabia on human rights issues and of course most notably in recent days giving asylu m most notably in recent days giving asylum to the saudi teenager who locked herself in a bangkok hotel room saying she feared her family was going to kill her. right, welll think canada, this is a sign of canada punching above its weight. there is i think disgust at the way saudi arabia has treated women in the country, and the prime minister justin trudeau who by the way is an election year reading the political canadian sentiment and going very ha rd canadian sentiment and going very hard on this and the repatriation and granting of asylum to the

teenager was done extremely quickly, so teenager was done extremely quickly, soi teenager was done extremely quickly, so i think canadians support, it remains to be seen whether they will go through with the $15 billion arms deal to saudi arabia. the problem there of course is that it could cost u p there of course is that it could cost up to 3000 canadian jobs in the rich ontario and cost a lot of money so rich ontario and cost a lot of money so that's a big issue. you are describing their one of the risks that canada is taking by behaving like this with saudi arabia, perhaps that the us is prepared take, one of the many risks it sees and could befall canada. do you think that will happen? yes, i think so. trudeau likes to say the world needs more canada and also the governments in ottawa, it's filling a void, a principled humanitarian, ethical void that has been caused by america withdrawing from its traditional role, so i think canada is very happy to play that role, stand up for human rights around the world and give the saudis a hard time. canada is very vulnerable. it's a

small country and can be easily pushed around by some of these countries, but they said let's stand up countries, but they said let's stand upfor human countries, but they said let's stand up for human rights even if there is some economic and possibly costs later on. thank you very much indeed for talking to us. a former italian communist militant has been arrested in bolivia in an international police operation. cesare battisti is wanted in connection with four murders in italy in the 1970s, which he denies committing. battisti escaped from prison in italy in 1981 and lived in france and brazil, developing a career as a crime novel writer. brazil's new far—right president bolsonaro vowed to extradite him, and so battisti went on the run — as naomi lloyd reports. the many faces of cesare battisti, former communist militant, crime novel writer and wanted man. these are the images brazilian police

released of the disguises he might be using. finally tracked down in bolivia, moments before his arrest, he is sporting a fake beard and sunglasses. convicted in italy in the 1970s of belonging to an outlawed terror group, batistuta escaped from prison —— battisti escaped from prison —— battisti escaped from prison —— battisti escaped from prison. he is wanted in connection with four murders, which he denies committing. after fleeing italy he took refuge in france and reinvented himself as a crime novel writer. the change of french government main he faced extradition and in 2004 he fled to brazil. after yea rs and in 2004 he fled to brazil. after years in custody he was freed by the then president lula in 2010, to the anger of italy. a popularfigure among many on the left, he continued writing and has a five—year—old son with his partner. but when brazil's new far right president bolsonaro came to power, the good life in

brazilfor came to power, the good life in brazil for battisti was over. facing extradition, he went on the run again and this time his time was up. long sought by italian authorities are battisti now faces life in prison in his home country. i can speak to gianni riotta, a columnist for la stampa newspaper in italy. you covered this story a long time ago. tel is the reaction generally to his capture. people are quite satisfied because there is some sense of closure, battisti gained some famous novelist and a lot of people protected him first in france, in paris, and then in brazil, rio, but in italy a life sentence is quite rare and he got two and he still denies the actual killing, but he doesn't deny to be an accomplice to the killings, and

he tried to get an amnesty and he didn't. many of his friends and comrades then actually testified against him, so he always refused to settle scores with italian justice, and eventually was caught. we are told he could be on his way to italy in ours. what is likely to happen to him on arrival? he will be arrested and his sentences complete, he has two life sentences to serve, so he will be sent to jail. most of his comrades are by now free, or they serve what is called in italy worked jail sentences, meaning that they sleep at night in jail but they work asa sleep at night in jail but they work as a citizen during the morning and many, as a citizen during the morning and any as a citizen during the morning and many, many terrorists are serving a kind of sentence. for a while he will stay injail and kind of sentence. for a while he will stay in jail and the fact that

he has been, you know, fleeing and a lwa ys he has been, you know, fleeing and always refusing to answer questions or to report to the authorities, will have all the parole services being stern and his case. on the other hand, brazil doesn't have a life sentence law. they have up to 30 years. so he will have 30 years to serve, but he's in his 60s now. i'm hearing the plane hasjust left the bolivia. tel is a little about his crimes and those years of violence known as the years of lead. what sort of scars have a left on italian society? i wrote a column that we'll run tomorrow on the italian daily stamper, as a cub reporter i covered terrorism and that sort of seared our soul and our minds and it never heals. battisti started out as a common criminal,

then, while he was serving his military service which at the time was mandatory, bounced an officer sophie was sent to jail. in jail he met militants of the extreme radical left and joined the communist party and served. he is believing in the sentence against him, that he killed two people by his own hand, and then he organised the killing of two more people and the wounding of a young man. i'm so sorry, we have to leave it there, we are out of time. thank you very much, jeana gigot are speaking to us from rome. catherine downs has all the sport. let's started the big match in the premier league today, tottenham posted manchester united in what was billed as ole gunnar solskjaer‘s first real test is taking over as manager last month and he passed

with flying colours of maintaining his unbeaten start with a sixth consecutive win since taking over. marcus rashford scored before half—time, after a perfectly timed paul pogba past but it was david de gea who was the star, as the spaniard made a string of fine saves which helped take his side level on points, with this place arsenal. the first half i thought we were excellent. i thought we played the game plan perfectly and then the second half, they changed a bit. of course they put us under pressure and but we could have scored a few was well on the counter, but we've got a good couple of centre backs there, good back four, and david in behind, unbelievable today. i'm happy because i think that's the way that we want to grow and to play, i think taking risks, playing the foot ball think taking risks, playing the football that we want to play. i think with a different situation and circumstance the team was fantastic

and for me it was the best 45 minutes i saw tottenham play, after for a half years in charge. in the early game, everton moved tens for 24 hours at least thanks to a 2—0 win over bournemouth. dominic calvert—lewin added the second in stoppage time after kurt zouma got the first goalfor stoppage time after kurt zouma got the first goal for the club. lionel messi has reached yet another career milestone. he scored his 400th la liga goal in 435 matches. barcelona have beaten eibar 3—0 they are top of the table. he is already the lead's leading goal—scorer with cristiano ronaldo in second place. qatar have booked their place in the knockout stages of the asian cup after demolishing north korea six nil -- after demolishing north korea six nil —— 6—0. one player scored four times in the match, here's his first after nine minutes. he is a leading

goal—scorer with five in the tournament so far. the 2018 asian player of the year branded off the rout with qatar's six in the second half. japan booked their last 16 place after a controversial 1—0 win over oman will stop there was a penalty, criticised for going down a little too easily. you then stepped up little too easily. you then stepped up to smash home the spot kick for the only goal of the game. the japanese are unbeaten in seven matches since their manager took charge after the world cup. it's the first day of the masters lee grant alexandra palace in london. we had a bit of a shock, defending champion mark allen is out losing 6—5 in deciding frame to belgian's luca brecel. only the top 16 players in the world play the tournament and it was high—quality match with all but two the 11 frames seeing breaks of more than 50. the two times champion john higgins is inaction against wales' ryan day, currently all

square at 3—3, day was trailing by two but has fought back to level the match. and australia's k—w and held offa match. and australia's k—w and held off a challenge from defending champion peter sagan to win the tour down under classic for the third time. he avoided the final lap crash and took his first win in his new colours. the race in adelaide was a preliminary to the six—day tour down under which begins on tuesday. matt kuchar has kept his lead going into the final day of the sony open in hawaii, after carding a third round 66, after back—to—back 63s. the american produced another near—perfect round on day three. he hit four birdies to move to a team under, which puts him two shots ahead of the pack —— 18 and, which puts in two shots ahead of the pack. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @karinbbc. thanks for watching bbc world news

today. for many others it's been a mild day today, but it set to turn colder for many of us. we have a whiff of winter in the air tonight because we got a cold front moving and across northern scotland and behind that, yes, the air is properly turning colder. we'll see a few sleet or perhaps snow showers pushing into shetland for a time overnight. it's a glancing blow off cold air that arrives and the cold really limited to scotland, where a frost will set in the countryside away from that, there's too much in the way of cloud or breeze to be particularly cold overnight. temperatures more widely around 6—8. after a sunny and frosty start the day in scotland, the weather will over will stop through the afternoon will see rain arriving across the north—west of the country. there will be dry, bright weather elsewhere, but the mildest weather elsewhere, but the mildest weather will be across southern and western parts of the uk. a glancing blow of cold affecting the north—east, where it will feel much

cooler than the weather we've had over the weekend. the cold weather doesn't last long. we are back into the mild stuff as we head into tuesday. slow—moving weather friend will bring some heavy rain, persistent rain, and western scotland, and the highlands, rain could amount to 150 millilitres of rain before it eases southwards. tuesday, in the milder air, temperatures for most of the uk reaching 10—11. temperatures rising in the northern isles with shetland and lerwick seeing a high of 7 degrees. through tuesday and into wednesday, our weather front slowly pushes southwards. the rain moves from scotland finally into northern ireland and across into parts of england and wales as well. this area of rain you can see on the charts is a cold front pushing southwards. some uncertainty over the exact position on wednesday afternoon, but to the start of our front we've got while air hanging around, ten degrees in london wednesday. further north, cold enough for some snow to move into the scottish mountains through wednesday afternoon as the

colder air arrives. as the cold front clears southwards by thursday, we're into straight northerly winds coming down from the arctic. as well as the cold air arriving for most of us as the cold air arriving for most of us there will be a lot of dry and sunny weather, after a cold and frosty start temperatures struggle somewhat. there will be some wintry showers across the north of mainland scotla nd showers across the north of mainland scotland and across the northern isles. as temperatures struggle, highs between 3—7. this is bbc world news, the headlines as the us secretary of state arrives in riyadh a senior member of the saudi royal family warns of the consequences if president trump pulls us troops out of syria. more heavy snowfall is expected in the alps over the next 24 hours, as parts of europe continue to grapple with the worst winter weather for three decades. three skiers have been killed in an avalanche in austria. greece's prime minister alexis tsipras says he will call a confidence vote in parliament, after his coalition partner withdrew its support. the two parties disagree over an agreement to give greece's northern neighbour the name "north macedonia." a former italian communist militant who went on the run,

has been arrested in bolivia. cesare battisti is wanted for four murders in italy during the 1970s. he was found sporting a fake beard.