♪ hello and welcome to "live from paris." let's look at what is making headlines this hour. at least seven people have died after flash flooding in the southern region in france. make it almost impossible for emergency workers to access the area. we will be getting the latest from our correspondent.

german chancellor angela merkel's has suffered a setback in the elections. syria failed to zone the planned buffer around the rebel-held stronghold. ♪ >> we begin with with a developing story. authorities in southern france say at l least 13 people have bn killed in violence storms and that gave several months of rainfall in just hours. around aed in the area

popular tourist destination in the south of the country. the prime minister is on his way to the affected region. one of the victims was a woman swept away by the waters, while two others were found dead in another town. another individual was injured as his house collapsed. one river rose by more than six meters. the floodwaters in some cases were t too powowerful for emergy services to get through. joining us is our southern regional correspondent. we have just had an updated figure of 13. whatat more can you tell less?s? -- what more can you tell us? 14.he number is now officer died in ththe

weather-rerelated incident. dam cololpsed. overer 1000 people in another tn of being evacuated. i should stress that alert is still in force. i just checked. i don't know when that will be dodowngraded to ororange or yel. where i am, it has been downgraded. the rain has stopped. , it 60 kilometers from here has not. >> how difficult has it been for emergency services to get into the affected region? >> as yoyou can imagine, three mohs of raiain since 6:00 this morning? it is exextremely difficult. bridgeges have comee down. roads arare cut. there'e's someththing like 20 villages and towns underwater.

i think the water has risen by five meters. therere are incredibly powerful waves s hitting the coast as wel which is preventing water from being evacuated. we have to bear in minind this s not an uncommonn phenomenon. whwhen the weathther is very ho, the water getets scooped upup fm the mediterranean anand hits s e blacack mountains. there is a massive runoff f of water with rain. the problem is ththe water raing down on the mountainside along and the rivers cannot handle that much water. >> as you pointed out, it is not uncommon in that part of france. but we are experiencing an unusual year with meteorologists saying 2018 will be the hottest year since 1900.

that area in particular is prone to flooding but not on the scale we have witnessed in the last 24 hours. >> actually, there have been incidents in the last 20 or 30 years wherere otherer rivers hae gone extxtremely high atat timed led to multiple fatalities. partlyme, what is blamed is rabbibit population growth -- wrap it population growth -- rarampant population growth. peoplele want houses as oppososo living in apartments. there has been huge construction. in the freakf difficultmaking it for the rain to go into the rivers and be evacuated to the sea.

there has been around that number in the growth of people and construction taking place where it should not be, especially on the floodplains beneath the black mountains. >> thank you. fromll be getting updates chris and our reporting team on the way to the scene throughout the course of the day. now to the other big story of the day. in germany, chancellor angela have sufferedies historic losses in the bavarian state elections losing the majority. they will now need to form a coalition. the party losing to the green party and also the far right, dealing a blow to the already fragile coalition government. [applause] >> a seismic political shift. the christian social union has lost its majority in bavaria with its worst results in the

southern state since the 1950's. >> of course, today has not been an easy day for the csu. we accept the results with humility. and we will have to analyze and learn from it. >> the original results are likely to cause turbulence at the national level. partiesis one of three in chancellor angela merkel's fragile coalition plagued by infighting over issues like immigration. the csu l leader and interior minister has called for a new government. it is not a good day for us, the christian social union. on the one hand, it is a reresut we cannot bebe satisfied w with. on the other hand, bavarian voters gave us a clear mandate to build a new government. party came in

second, nearly doubling its vote from the election five years ago while the other party will enter the state government for the first time. >> we stand for our traditions, our families, and our bavaria. these results are also a message to merkel. she was finally go. >> they will now have to form a coalition. the next election is october 28. he is expected to update his cabinet this week prompted by resignations. the government has vowed to pick up the reform agenda again as soon as the new ministers are announced. just five months to go. a flurry of talks between britain and the e.u. have ended without an agreement on brexit. this leaves besides just three

days to close the gap in their positions before a make or break summit. remainsstumbling block andsland between ireland north island. inside, british negotiators, including the brexit secretary. they made the trip to meet with the e.u. negotiator. speculation about a breakthrough in talks was quickly brushed aside when he tweeted. >> despite intense efforts, some key issues are still open including the backstop for ireland and northern ireland to avoid a hard border. theme border between remains the biggest sticking point.

the e.u. and the u.k. want to avoid a land border and customs checks, but they disagree on how to do it. in london, hard brexit supporters like boris johnson are pressing may for a tougher approach. some calling for rebellion against the prime minister whose backers are calling for unity. >> i think everyone in the u.k. should have confidence that this prime minister, theresa may, will never sign a deal that is not compatible with the letter and spirit of the referendum results. she is coming back to brussels hoping to get a breakthrough at last. they wilill researchh the saudi arabian conflict in istanbul as part of ththe investigation into the

disappearance of t the prominent saudi journalist. a critic for policies and disappeared october 2 after country in istanbul suburb. turkey believes he was murdered and his body removed while saudi arabia has denied the allegations. staying in the region. in styria, the deadline has passed without jihadists leaving. under the terms of the deal broken by russia and turkey, they needed to withdraw from the area by monday. it was aimed at averting a government assault on the region. we have more from beirut. >> the routine of deadlines. october 10 last week k was the deadline to withthdraw heaven weaponry -- heaeavy weaponry.y. today was another deaeadline.

the bibiggest concern was thee jijihadist group in the a area. they were unclear about whether they would comply or not. there has been talk about them delaying. turkey has b been workining to t them to agree. finally, y yesterday got a statement. it is quite unclear.. they say they are grateful for the efforts to keep the area peaceful a and will tranand protect the area as well to keep the area libeberated from assa's government. we have not seen troop movovemet last nightht. they will belike staying. they have been clear they will not hand over r their weapons compleletely. they s said they will continue jihad to keke the area a away fm thee assad government. at the momenent, it looks like they will l comply a as turkey s asked.

the other large group there has said from the beginning they will comply with this. >> the main border crossing between jordan and syria has reopened after a three-year side.e on the jordanian on the syrian side, it was a key trading route. >> here is the frontier between syria and jordan. a trade artery between the two countries. the crossing we opened monday with the roads restored. passengers and goods can start to cross again. >> the renovation work has been finished. everything is in place. we now have the official document confirming the border crossing's reopening. >> they closed it in 2015 after the post was overcome by syrian rebels. came in to reopen july.

before the syrian civil war began in 2011, hundreds of trucks came through every day. following the three-year dry spell, incncrease trade should benefit both countries. >> there are 5000 jordanian vans ready to begin transporting goods. >> it is good news for lebanese authorities, too. trade between lebanon and nearby gulf countries was slow down considerably by the closure. >> prince harry and the duchess of sussex are expecting a child in the european spring of 2019. the announcement coming as harry and meghan arrived in sydney for the start of a 16-day tour of australia and new zealand. a reminder of what is making headlines this hour. at least 13 are dead after violent storms and massive rainfall caused flash flooding in the southern region of france. iting floodwaters making

close to impossible at times for emergency workers to access the area. also, german chancellor angela merkel's allies in bavaria suffered their worst election said to since 1950 increase pressure on the german leader. the deadline passed overnight with jihadists failing to leave the last rebel held stronghold of idlib. time for a look at the dayay's business news. you're starting out with the fallout in the business world over the the disappearance of the journalist. ford alltone, g.m., among the latest companies to announce they will not be attending the conference called davos in the desert. other see he owes -- other

c.e.o.'s have already pulled their plans to attend. on sunday, a saudi stock market finished down 3.5% as concerns over potential international sanctions loom. the u.s. government is questioning the future of government contracts. >> sanctions are no joke. we are talking about an impact globally,the region, and even for the u.s. there are a lot of relationships companies,ntries and oil companies definitely. these ties will be broken if that happens. there will be loss of jobs. the economic toll this could take is beyond expectations. had threatened to

retaliate against sanctions placed on them. the possibility of production cuts israel in oil markets. up.es on brent crude west texas crude up as well. investors keeping a close eye on this week's brexit negotiations. the failure over the weekend to find a solution to the island situation. the frankfurt dax is up just under .25% following a technical glitch that saw the opening delayed today. in japan, the infamous workaholic is this culture is finding new ways to express itself. working remotely is becoming far less unusual. what is unusual is the nature of some of the location options japanese employees have further telecommuting base.

>> chained to a desk no more as japanese firms try something new . more flexibility in where the employees work like temporary outdoor offices is one of the solutions. >> we tend to have stereotyped ideas in the office. this was a good experience of working in the open-air, something we do not experience every day. >> unusual venues are popping up all over, even in major subway ¥200 buys 15e minutes of peace and privacy. karaoke clubs can make great teleworking spaces. a private room goes for ¥600 or about $5.30 an hour. >> many business people use cafés for work, but they often find it inappropriate to make phone calls were open classified documents in such a public

environment. you can have your own enclosed space at a karaoke club so you can work without worrying about confidential information leaking. as office sharing companies move into the market, employers are increasingly won over by the collaborative atmosphere fostered by y the new spaces. is rise of freelancing helping drive the trend toward more flexible workspaces. sears filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy monday after racking up over $6 billion in losses since its last annual profit in 2010. nearly 190 locations will be closed by the end of the year with the aim of reorganizing around his best performing locations. the billionaire c.e.o. has stepped down effective immediately while staying on as chairman.

he tried to keep sears out of bankruptcy court ahead of the holiday shopping season but it was not enough for creditors. the company has been battere for years by a rapidly shifting marketplace. with the monday filing, thousands of employees face an thertain future with ongoing change in retail. see what amazingng to downturn you can see walking down the high streets of various american suburbs. thank you. time for the press review. time to take a look at what is making headlines around the world. i'm doing in the studio by my fellow australian. let's take a look at the reaction in germany after the state election in the area.

what have you found? >> it is not something that would usually dominate headlines, estate election in bavaria. it is the stork drubbing -- historic drubbing of angela merkel's party that is receiving headlines. they could lose their absolute majority for the first time in decades. it is having a ripple effect at the federal level in berlin. it is confirming the growing unpopularity of angela merkel -- position ofr governor --and popularity of angela merkel and her government. we see this fantastic cartoon of leaders enjoying a pike of beer.

it is oktoberfest after all. rejoicing in the fact that at least they got the 5% needed to stay in parliament. by that definition, it is a triumph and not a defeat. we are looking at what this means for angela merkel. it theman daily calls disaster of the bavarian elections, pointing to what they say is an exhaustion of the ruling coalition, a miserable spectacle of federal politics. it also reveals the ones binding power of large parties like merkel's cdu party and the socialists, their influence is waning and they don't know how to stay relevant among german voters anymore. there is doubt the german government will even survive its full term until 2021. there's another state election at the end of the month and merkel's party could face deep losses. this could force her to relinquish the chairmanship of her party at a congress in

december. finalphen hawking's thoughts about humanity have been revealed this weekend in excerpt published from his last ever statement. >> the physicist died earlier this year. his peers have been publishing the last paper he was working on . he warned artificial intelligence could develop a will of its own in the future that would be in conflict with our own ideas. he also warns a nuclear war or environmental calamity will probably wipe out earth in the next 1000 years. but by then, we would have found a way to survive. those who do escape such calamity would be creating a new species of superhumans with the use of gene editing technology to outsmart others. finally, the biggest threat to earth? he says an asteroid collision

and climate change. >> authorities in the american city have been mocked online for their reaction to a prank. what is the story? >> i think authorities did not get a prank. somebody stuck googly aisles -- eyes on the statute of a revolutionary war general in the city of savannah. furious authorities posted a message on facebook saying, "it may look funny, but harming our historical monuments is no laughing matter. in fact, it is a crime." they then ask people to come forward about who could be behind the prank. instead of getting helpful information, they got a barrage of mockery online with one saying she will not visit y-eyesah until the googl psychopath is caught. aboutr posted on facebook

-eyed crime spree. >> we have a world champion in blind wine tasting. it is neither france nor australia. >> exactly. it is the kind of talent you would expect a winemaking country like france or australia to win. taken --elgians have have been crowned world champions of blinded wine tasting this weekend. it was a competition that took place in france. guessed sevently out of 12 wine varieties. interestingly, finland came in second, another non-winemaking country. france came in a commiserating third-place. italy and spain, italy came in

third, spain came in last, as proof you don't need to be a somalia to be a world champion. the champion worked in the wine , taking a supermarket as much wine as possible from all around the world. sounds good to me. >> certainly an enjoyable pastime. thank you. if you want to look at the stories she has been talking about, you can find her at france24.com. do stay with us here on "france 24" as i will be back after a short break. ♪

>> disaster struck the island. hurricane irma erased eveverythg in its path. one year later, how is st. maarten coping? >>

[dramatic music] ♪ smith:n n thispisosode "a world on the brink," we are gngng to ok at a aart of the world where the contints and ma c cultus collide, the origin of the three great monotheistic religions, and the source of many of today's most violent conflicts: the middle east.