welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is ben bland. our top stories: president trump announces his choice to fill a critical vacancy in the united states supreme court. it is my iron and privilege to announce that i will nominatejudge brett kava naugh to announce that i will nominatejudge brett kavanaugh to the united states supreme court. brett kavanaugh is a 53—year—old conservative justice who serves on the us court of appeals in washington. if confirmed, he'll move the supreme court further to the right. i'm sophie long, live outside the caves where rescue teams will shortly resume their operation to bring the remaining boys to safety. so far, eight of the children have been brought to safety. all are said to be in good health. in the past hour president trump

has named his nominee for the supreme court. he's brett kavanaugh, a 53—year—old conservative justice who serves on the us court of appeals in washington. judge kavanaugh worked as a white house aide under president george w bush and faced a long confirmation battle when nominated for his current post. here is what president trump had to say about him. judge kavanaugh has impeccable credentials, unsurpassed provocations and an unproven commitment to equal justice provocations and an unproven commitment to equaljustice under the law. a graduate of yarck college at school, he teaches at harvard, yale and georgetown. he is considered a judge isjudge, a true

thought leader among his peers. the last 12 years he has served as a judge on the dc circuit court of appeals with great distinction, offering a vote 300 opinions which have been widely at night for their skill, inside and rigourous adherence to the law. —— insight. more than a dozen has been adopted as the law of the land. there is no one in america more qualified for this position and no one more deserving. myjudicial philosophy is straightforward. ajudge myjudicial philosophy is straightforward. a judge must myjudicial philosophy is straightforward. ajudge must be independent and must interpret the law, not make it. interpret statutes as written and interpret the constitution as britain, informed by history. —— as britain. tomorrow, i begin meeting with members of the stand at which plays an essential

role in this process. i will tell each asset at that i revere the constitution —— each senator. if confirmed by the senate, i will keep an open mind in every case and i will always strive to preserve the constitution of the united states in the american rule of law. let's speak to our north america correspondent david willis in washington. talk us through the next step because this is just the act first stage. president trump giving the name of his nominee and subject to what could be is an senate confirmation hearing? absolutely. although, president trump has gone

with the favourite. this is somebody who graduated from yale law school, who graduated from yale law school, who worked with resident george w bush and was a legal clerk to the man he is now seeking to replace, justice anthony kennedy, widely seen asa justice anthony kennedy, widely seen as a swing vote on the nine member supreme court. something brett kavanaugh will supreme court. something brett kava naugh will not supreme court. something brett kavanaugh will not be. the senate majority leader said brett kavanaugh and one other close runner stood the best chance of getting easily through the senate confirmation process and, as you mentioned, that could be tied because, unlikejust over a year ago when neil gorsuch was approved by the senate, the majority now that the republicans and joy isjust majority now that the republicans and joy is just one vote. in actual

fa ct, and joy is just one vote. in actual fact, john mccain, the republican senator from arizona are suffering from brain cancer, cannot make it to the confirmation vote and they could bea the confirmation vote and they could be a problem for president trump. as far as the democrats have confirmed, they have vowed to fight these nomination. chuck schumer, comedy senate minority leader issued a statement saying he would posejudge kavanaugh's nomination statement saying he would posejudge kava naugh's nomination with everything i have. we also have reaction from us senator susan collins. she is a moderate republican who has said she would not vote for a supreme court nominee who threatened to do away with the so—called roe v. wade, the landmark ruling that legalised and gave every woman in the us at the constitutional right to an abortion. she issued a somewhat guarded statement saying judge kavanaugh has

impressive credential and experience having served more than a decade on the district court of appeals and i look forward to questioning him in meetings at my office. just to read the rate the importance of these nomination for our viewers who have not perhaps followed the ins and outs of the us system. this has potentially an impact that will reach for generations? very much so. there is a lot of concern on the left, amongst democrats, that this will basically use the court which has nine members to the conservative point of view and that would have ramifications for social issues, not just abortion, health provisions, 93v just abortion, health provisions, gay rights and so on. that is why democrats vowing to oppose the nomination of brett kavanaugh. it

will be a very tightly run process and we will have to wait and see how it all goes but this has proved deeply devices. democrats believe the future of the constitution as we know it is at stake here. many thanks indeed. now let's get the very latest on the daring mission to rescue the remaining boys trapped in a cave in northern thailand. let's go to the scene and join our correspondent sophie long. it is day three of these high risk operation to rescue i2 it is day three of these high risk operation to rescue 12 boys and their football coach who had operation to rescue 12 boys and theirfootball coach who had been trapped in a cage deep inside that mt behind me. so far it has been a successful. eight of the boys have been brought out safely and are now in hospital. today it will be the turn of the four and potentially there football coach as well. they will have to dive through the narrow passageways that leave to the

outside. there have been heavy downpours overnight and conditions he can change very quickly. this report from lucy williamson. police helicopters over chiang rai have come to signal hope. inside this one, a fifth boy, pulled today from deep inside the mountain and flown to join his team—mates in hospital. his identity kept private even as his arrival here makes global news. a week ago, this mission was seen as almost impossibly risky, but with every success, confidence in the team here has grown as the monsoon rains have so far largely held off. ivan was one of the rescuers in the cave that first day. stationed near one of the route's most difficult parts to replace the divers' empty tanks, he helped guide the boys through and deal with problems. i was very scared because when i saw the diver and the kid on the horizon, we can't see that far, maybe 50 metres, i still didn't know if it was a casualty or if it was a kid. so i was very scared.

it didn't feel good. but when i saw that he was alive and breathing and seemed to be all right, it felt very good. it felt very good. what did you learn from that first day? one of the difficult things in the cave is communication. talking inside the cave is difficult. you need to be very close. if you are more than five or ten metres away, the echo and the water and everything, it's incredibly hard to understand. misunderstandings and the high complexity leads to very bad situations. so we need to plan for that. we need to keep communication very simple. thai children are warned about this mountain by their grandparents, that it swallows people and does not let them out. so far, this operation has proved that adage wrong. eight children have been counted out of its caves, four more are waiting with their coach for the rescuers to return tomorrow.

the battle with this mountain is being won through careful planning and tight control, but it is also relying on a sense of unity among the country, the divers and the boys themselves. lucy williamson, bbc news, chiang rai. if the management of water is crucial. water has been pumped out of the caves. it is raining at the moment. they have done everything they can to divert the water away from the cave mouth but this is a complex operation. we look at some of the factors that make it so. the operation to rescue the remaining boys and their coach from deep beneath this mountain has been risky, complex and daring. they have been stranded about two and a half miles from the entrance of the cave system.

getting them out one by one involves them walking, wading, crawling and, for long periods, diving through murky, muddy water. there are narrow passages, sharp inclines and descents. two divers accompany each boy. the youngsters, aged 11 to 16, are given full face masks and air tanks so they can breathe normally. there's a guide rope to help them through tunnel and replacement air tanks at key points. now, where the tunnels are flooded, the escape method involves the boys being attached to a diver, hugged underneath their body. but there are pinch points. 0ne hole narrows to around 15 inches. so they have to squeeze through on their own, with their air tank being carried on ahead. 0ne diver in front, the other behind. it's a perilous operation. just how dangerous was underlined last week, when this former thai navy seal died from lack of air while travelling through the flooded chambers. but the thai authorities say

the threat of monsoon rain causing further flooding made this rescue essential. the whole exhausting journey takes several hours. once the boys emerge, they're given a rapid physical check, and there are fears though that some may have dangerous lung infections. longer term, it's the psychological impact which is a key concern. helping these children, some not yet teenagers, to come to terms with the trauma of their terrifying ordeal. the operation was applause last night. we have seen a lot of action here this morning. dive teams and leaders of the operation go in and rescue workers as well. all indications that the operation has either resumed 0ar will do so imminently. it is impossible to tell

you how long before the next boys are being brought out but at least nine hours. meanwhile eight boys are recovering. they are in foreign team and have not yet been reunited with their parents, they are building their parents, they are building their strength and waiting and willing iron the final four and their coach as well. —— willing on. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: two big supporters of brexit resign but britain's prime minister theresa may appears to have strengthened her position. central london has been rocked by a series of terrorist attacks. police say there have been many casualties and there is growing speculation that al-qaeda was responsible. germany will be the hosts of the 2006 football world cup. they pipped the favourites

south africa by a single vote. in south africa, the possibility of losing hadn't even been contemplated and celebration parties were cancelled. the man entered the palace through a downstairs window and made his way to the queen's private bedroom, then he asked her for a cigarette. and on the pretext of arranging for some to be brought, she summoned a footman on duty, who took the man away. one child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world. education is the only solution. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: president trump has nominated a conservativejudge brett kavanaugh to fill a critical vacancy on the us supreme court.

earlier in his career he worked on the impeachment of president bill clinton. more now on the nomination to the supreme court ofjustice kavanaugh. i'm joined from chicago byjosh blackman, who is an associate professor at the south texas college of law, specialising in constitutional law and the us supreme court. given that is your speciality, is this the choice you thought president trump would choose?m this the choice you thought president trump would choose? it is not a surprise. 0ver president trump would choose? it is not a surprise. over a year ago it was reported that president trump was reported that president trump was considering justice kennedy as a replacement. as a way to persuade him to require a retired. brett kavanaugh him to require a retired. brett kava naugh served the him to require a retired. brett kavanaugh served thejustice kennedy 20 years ago and i may suspect that had someone to do with the decision to step down. so now he has appointed two candidates to the court that they are both very

conservative. you mentioned are leaning is because of the short list of the four likely nominees, they we re of the four likely nominees, they were all considered to be conservative leaning but as far as this choice, brett kavanaugh goes, how far to the right to you think he is relatively speaking? how far to the right to you think he is relatively speaking ?|j how far to the right to you think he is relatively speaking? i think what you have to know about brett kavanaugh is you have to know about brett kava naugh is that you have to know about brett kavanaugh is that he has been at the centre of conservative politics for quite some time. who was involved in the ken starr investigation of bill clinton in the 1990s, he worked at the bush white house during 911 and hasissued the bush white house during 911 and has issued decisions on virtually every major constitutional issue, abortion, separation of power, the second amendment. he has been in the centre of everything and he is a known quantity. there is no mystery and he has the credentials that president trump was looking for.“ it makes it through the senate

confirmation hearing and makes it onto the supreme court, what impact will his appointment have on the big social issues of the day, in particular the one that seems to be the most current hot topic that could go to the supreme court the consideration of the constitutional right across the us for women to have an abortion. that is the million—dollar question. i am sure the democrat senators will ask a of questions about abortion. what i think your listeners should keep in mind is that roe versus wade, that famous case, is not the only case we have. there have been other since then. and the supreme court has chipped away significant lee at this roe vs wade. i think what will happen is that states will regulate more aggressive laws targeting abortion. so while roe vs wade will

remain in name, the states will have more authority to regulate access to abortion. wonderful to more authority to regulate access to abortion. wonderfulto have more authority to regulate access to abortion. wonderful to have your thoughts and your take on this. josh blackman there are four is on this choice ofjudge brett kavanaugh as the nominee for the supreme court. it's been a remarkable day in british politics. it's just 2a hours since we brought you news of the resignation of the uk's brexit secretary, david davis. now the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, has also left the government. the departure of two leading brexiteers has fuelled serious speculation about the future of theresa may's leadership. and comes just days after the prime minister secured a ha rd—won agreement in cabinet on the shape of the brexit process. andrew plant reports. taking his first steps in a newjob, jeremy hunt, health secretary yesterday, foreign secretary today. his first task, a tribute to the man

he replaces. i would like to start by thinking my predecessor boris johnson and my principaljob at a time of massive importance for our country is to stand for square by the prime minister. doris johnson was the second high—profile politician to leave the uk government in a single day. in a letter he said the brexit dean was dying, suffocated by needless self—doubt. 0ne dying, suffocated by needless self—doubt. one of the longest days in uk politics had begun at midnight on monday. david davis, the man negotiating britain's exit from the eu resigned, unhappy, he said, with plans that did not go far enough. the point is i was the person to present it to parliament, to the eu, to everybody else. and if i don't believe in it then i won't do as good a job as someone who does. believe in it then i won't do as good a job as someone who doesm has been called the cheque is compromise, a plan for britain's exit from the eu, thrashed out at

the countryside retreat last friday. hailed on saturday as a united approach, now it is clear a very divisive document indeed. mr speaker, on friday at chequers the canberra cabinet agreed a conference providing a responsible and credible basis for progress in negotiations with the eu towards a new relationship after we leave on march 29 next year. theresa may faced questions on the plans in parliament, speculation mounted, would there now be a challenge to her leadership? we have three months worth of negotiation with the eu at a critical time. attacks as three months to do a leadership election. you cannot have both of those happening at the same time. so i encourage my colleagues to step back and think about this. the political drama in london is being watched closely by leaders in europe as well. politicians come and go. but the problems they have created for the problems they have created for the people remain. and the mess

caused by brexit is the biggest problem in the history of the eu — uk relations. as the smoke cleared, theresa may was still standing with a new foreign secretary and dominique —— neil gorsuch in charge of eu negotiations. written's plans causing earthquakes at home long before they even reach the eu. —— dominic raab in charge of eu negotiations. let's get some of the day's other news here in the uk police say it's "shocking and utterly appalling" that a woman has died after being exposed to a nerve agent in wiltshire. dawn sturgess was contaminated not far from where a former russian spy and his daughter were poisoned in march. her partner, charlie rowley, remains critically ill. our home affairs correspondent, june kelly reports. dawn sturgess was a mother of three, two grown—up sons and a daughter of 11. today, they and her parents are mourning her. she and her partner, charlie rowley, fell ill

after being exposed to what's being described as a high dose of novichok nerve agent. it's understood the couple each had it on their hands. this was dawn sturgess in a local shop the day before she collapsed. with her death, a murder investigation has been launched by scotland yard. it is both shocking and utterly appalling that a british citizen has died having been exposed to a novichok nerve agent. but make no mistake, we are determined to find out how dawn and her partner, charlie rowley, came into contact with such a deadly substance. and we will do everything we possibly can to bring those responsible to justice. the couple's last journey together was on a bus from salisbury to amesbury. tonight, the police said there were no traces of novichok on the bus they took. it's understood charlie rowley‘s flat in amesbury is regarded as the key location, as police search for a container which was the source of the nerve agent.

the work of the teams in their specialist heavy suits is being made harder by the heat. it was novichok which was used in the attempted murder of sergei and yulia skripalfour months ago. here in salisbury, the hostel which was dawn sturgess' last home has been closed, and is now one of the decontamination sites. people in this area believed the novichok crisis had passed. dawn sturgess, no doubt, thought the same. at the cordon by the hostel, flowers have been left with a message — "dawn, you were the innocent one in this." in a tragic twist, dawn sturgess has become the unintended victim of an international murder plot. the hunt is now on for her killers. june kelly, bbc news, salisbury. football, and after the briefest of pauses — the world cup in russia resumes. we're very much at the business end of the tournament now with the first semi—final taking place later on tuesday. france play belgium, as the bbc‘s tim allman reports. this is what happiness looks like.

the kind of happiness you feel when your team, your country, reaches the semifinals of a world cup. imagine how much more happy you may be if you reach the final. for france and belgium, the only thing stopping them is each other. their semi—final ta kes pla ce them is each other. their semi—final takes place in saint petersburg. the belgian squad looked relaxed enough as they trained in moscow. that they know the scale of the task ahead of them. when you face a team like france you know that you need to concentrate full 90 minutes. they are special individuals who can decide a scoreline in a single action. i don't think this is the sort of game where you can walk onto the pitch and think that you will perform in a way that what you did

before will help you. not at all. as for the french, they are the favourite. although that is an opinion not necessarily shared by everyone. translation: opinion not necessarily shared by everyone. translationzlj opinion not necessarily shared by everyone. translation: ithink eltham has been the more complete tea m eltham has been the more complete team during this tournament. they are able to defend, to attack. their aerial game, they are strong everywhere. they have all it takes to bea everywhere. they have all it takes to be a great team and hence they area to be a great team and hence they are a great team. a fantastic generation. and if we want to beat them we must play a great match. great match. well, that is something that would make everybody happy. you can reach me on twitter. i'm at ben m bland. hello there.

it's been a remarkable run of hot weather really. temperatures over the last five days somewhere in the uk have pushed over the 30 degrees celsius mark, and yesterday it was the turn of kew in west london to push above the 30—degree mark. 31 degrees celsius the top temperature yesterday. many areas did see some decent spells of sunshine. this was the scene in norfolk during monday, but further north—eastwards, in whitby, in that area, we had some thicker cloud and gary spotted a few spots of rain falling from the cloud. this, a cold front pushing through, and later in the day, the same weather watcher, gary, spotted some brighter weather following the cold front through. now, the satellite picture shows extensive cloud over northern and eastern parts of the country. that cold front continues to work its way southwards and significantly, it's going to be bringing fresher air. so the humidity will be dropping and as that happens, the temperatures will drop further as well. so it's going to be fresher, more comfortable night's sleep ahead. temperatures between around about 10 and 15 celsius for the early risers tuesday morning.

a lot of dry weather out and about as well. this is the pressure chart for tuesday, high pressure still with us but we do have that weak cold front moving into the heart of southern england. further north in scotland, a weak warm front will bring some thickening cloud and the prospect of seeing a few spots of rain. nothing to help the gardens mind you. for most areas, it's just going to be a dry day. a lot of cloud to start off with but that cloud will thin and break up with time, some spells of sunshine breaking through as we go through the afternoon. now, temperature—wise, ok, it's not going to be not as hot, we probably won't see temperatures into the low 30s, but it's still going to be pleasant out and about when the sun comes through. 2a celsius in london. close to normal for the time of year. 21 in edinburgh. if we see some decent sunshine across the south—west, we could see temperatures in the mid—to—high 20s in the warmest spots here. now, there could be some changes afoot on wednesday. a weather front threatens the north—west of the uk, bringing the prospect of some rain.

uncertain how much and where that rain will be falling but something the gardeners will be looking out for. away from the north—west corner, though, it's the same old story, a lot of dry weather with some bright or sunny spells, and again, temperatures widely in the low—to—mid—20s, so pleasant weather really weather for many of us. towards the end of the week, we're going to keep the dry theme going with further sunshine and what you'll notice is the temperatures tending to build. we should see highs in london pushing back into the upper 20s as we head through saturday and sunday. that's your latest weather, bye for now. at stake

this is bbc world news, the headlines: president trump has nominated brett kavanaugh to fill a crucial vacancy on the us supreme court. judge kavanaugh is known as a conservative justice who worked as a white house aide under president george w bush. he also assisted with the impeachment investigation into president bill clinton. rescuers in thailand are preparing for what they hope will be a third and final day of the operation to free the remaining four footballers and their coach trapped in a cave. so far eight boys have been brought to safety. they are now in isolation in hospital. the british prime minister theresa may appears to have weathered an immediate challenge to her leadership. during a turbulent 2a hours, two of her senior ministers — both supporters of brexit — resigned over her plans to keep close trade ties with the european union after britain leaves the bloc. after almost 70 years as the uk's

leading rehabilitation centre for injured servicemen and women, headley court in surrey is to close its doors.