Theresa May under pressure from all sides as negotiators try to secure Withdrawal Agreement. Dominic Raab and Michel Barnier held an unscheduled meeting on Sunday evening, but there was no breakthrough on the Irish border ‘backstop’. It had been reported that the EU wants to agree in principle a deal ahead of Wednesday’s key summit of EU leaders, and that most details have already been nailed down with UK negotiators. However, as negotiations enter the final stages, it is far from clear that the Prime Minister will receive sufficient support for any deal she attempts to make with the EU. After a frosty meeting with Michel Barnier, the DUP has warned that it could withdraw support for Theresa May’s government if the deal involves any new regulatory or customs checks between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. David Davis, the former Brexit Secretary, called on Cabinet ministers to “exert their collective authority” and reject any plans in which the whole of the UK would stay in the EU’s customs union indefinitely. Meanwhile Ruth Davidson, leader of the Conservatives in Scotland, has indicated that she will resign if Northern Ireland stays in elements of the single market and customs union and the rest of the UK does not. It will be a particularly turbulent week ahead.

Saudi Arabia in global spotlight over missing journalist. Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist who has written for the Washington Post and has been a long-standing critic of the Saudi government, was last seen entering the country’s consulate in Istanbul on 2 October. The BBC reported that Turkish officials had “audio and video evidence” that Mr Khashoggi, a US permanent resident, was murdered inside the building. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for “the whole truth” on what happened, and said he fears a “new normal” is developing where dictatorial regimes engage in brutal acts with an increasing sense of impunity. President Trump called the incident “really terrible and disgusting,” and promised “severe punishment” if the Saudi regime is found to have been involved in the journalist’s death. However, he said he would not cancel a $10 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia because it would “hurt jobs” in America. The President has himself previously described journalists as “the enemy of the people.”

Irish government in crisis after minister resigns. Dennis Naughton, an Independent TD, resigned as Communications Minister on Thursday. He had been embroiled in controversy over his handling of a national broadband rollout, having had private dinner meetings with a US businessman bidding for the contract. “It is clear to me that the Taoiseach does not have confidence in me,” Mr Naughton told the Dáil. The resignation comes at a sensitive time for Leo Varadkar as he prepares for a meeting with Fianna Fáil leader Micheal Martin, with whom the Fine Gael minority government has a confidence and supply arrangement. With the 2019 Irish Budget passed, the deal is now up for review. Mr Martin said that the issue of Brexit is “more serious than the interests of any individual or party,” and called on the Taoiseach to avoid calling an election until a Brexit deal is done between the EU and UK.

Ashers Bakery wins appeal at the Supreme Court. The five justices of the UK’s highest court unanimously found that the bakery’s decision not to bake a cake for a customer in 2014 did not violate the law. Gareth Lee ordered a cake iced with the message, “Support Gay Marriage,” but when Ashers subsequently refused to fulfil his order he sued the company for discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and political beliefs. Delivering the judgement, Lady Hale said that Ashers refused to bake the cake because of its message, deemed to be inconsistent with the religious beliefs of its owners, and not because of the sexual orientation of the customer. “They would have refused to make such a cake for any customer, irrespective of their sexual orientation,” she explained. However, Lady Hale also took the opportunity to emphasise the need for legal protection against discrimination: “It is deeply humiliating, and an affront to human dignity, to deny someone a service because of that person’s race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief. But that is not what happened in this case.”

“Difficult day” for Angela Merkel’s sister party in Bavarian election. The CSU, allied to the Chancellor’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), held a majority of seats in Germany’s second most-populous state between 1966 and 2008. On Sunday exit polls suggest that it has suffered its worst election result in over 60 years, with its share of the vote down 10 percentage points on the last state election. It still took 37% of the overall vote, according to early estimates, but the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has entered the state parliament for the first time, with 11% of the vote. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, a senior official in CDU, described the result as “bitter” but “not surprising.” She added: “We need to address the issues which are burning under people’s fingernails.” While the CSU moved to the right on immigration, partly in response to the challenge from AfD, other parties benefited from a pro-immigration platform. The Greens emerged as the second-largest party, doubling their share of the vote, reflecting greater fragmentation in the wider German party system.

Also published on Medium.