this is bbc news. i'm kasia madera. our top stories: president trump has sought to discredit the woman accusing his supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh of sexual assault, as negotiations continue over whether christine blasey ford will testify to congress. us secretary of state mike pompeo tells the bbc that north korea is still a nuclear threat, though plans for a second summit are under way. it is in the works, we are hoping everything falls together, it makes good sense here, before too terribly long. in a defiant speech, the british prime minister theresa may has drawn the battle lines on brexit, after her proposals were rejected by eu leaders. and new research suggests one in 20 deaths globally are caused by drinking alcohol. hello, and welcome to bbc world news.

president trump has sought to discredit the woman who accused his us supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh of sexual assault. christine blasey ford, a psychology lecturer, said judge kavanaugh tried to rape her when they were both teenagers. mr trump said if the assault had been as bad as she said, then she or her parents would have filed charges at the time. today, a group of all—women supporters backed brett kavanaugh‘s nomination. the panel said it would vote on monday on mr kavanaugh‘s nomination. professor ford has allah is left to respond to an offer. our washignton correspondent, chris buckler. talk us through this informal deadline. it has now been extended a

little bit and solidified somewhat. yes, essentially the big question remains will christine blasey ford be prepared to testify to the senate judiciary committee or not? republicans who lead that committee, the chairman is chuck grassley, he set a deadline couple of hours ago in orderfor christine set a deadline couple of hours ago in order for christine blasey ford's we re in order for christine blasey ford's were to come back and say she was prepared to testify. she didn't respond to that deadline and now they have set a deadline for the coming hours and they have made very clear that as far as they are concerned if there is no response, then they intend to press ahead with a vote on whether or not brett kavanaugh should be the next supreme court justice on monday. kavanaugh should be the next supreme courtjustice on monday. that would ta ke courtjustice on monday. that would take it to the next age of really confirming him as a member of america's highest court. but christine blasey ford continues to wa nt christine blasey ford continues to want a christine blasey ford continues to wanta number of christine blasey ford continues to want a number of conditions for this hearing to take place in orderfor her to give testimony. she wants brett kava naugh to her to give testimony. she wants brett kavanaugh to give testimony first. she doesn't want him in the

room when she gives testimony and she wants no time limit on the opening statement that she gives. and it seems clear at this stage that the republicans on the committee are not prepared to accept all that she is requesting, which does leave a really difficult situation here, and one that senators themselves know they have to handle carefully. so we just have a few hours left to find out whether or not she is prepared to give testimony otherwise republicans say they will press ahead. well, chris, as we wait the deadline, we should speak about developing story that the new york times is reporting on, that the us deputy attorney general suggested secretly recording president trump to expose in the white house. rod rosenstine denies the report, which cites anonymous sources, claiming he also sought to invoke the 25th amendment to remove president trump from office for being unfit. so, another development, another bit of news that mr trump will not welcome. yes, and it is alleged this

conversation happened around the turmoil that followed the fbi directorjames comey being sacked from that position directly by president trump. it is claimed the conversation was had in which rod rosenstine the deputy attorney generalfor the us made a statement in front of other members of the department ofjustice in which he seemed to say that perhaps they should consider taking president trump to use as proof that he was not mentally fit to hold office. and even suggested potentially invoking the 25th amendment of the us constitution. that is a mechanism for effectively removing a president from office although there are a lot of hoops to jump through. now there has been a very swift denial from rod rosenstein. he has said that the report in the new york times was an inaccurate and an —— incorrect. sources have said they were in the room when rod rosenstein spoke about

taking the president but it was clearly at joke, taking the president but it was clearly atjoke, a sarcastic remark and there was never any intention to record conversations with donald trump. nonetheless, given the animosity between rod rosenstein, currently the man who is overseeing that investigation that's going on into potential russian interference in the 2016 election, and of course claims of collusion in it, there is a real tension and it is likely to make relationships between rod rosenstein and donald trump, if anything, even worse. the president of course has called that investigation of witch—hunt. and i suspect we might hear something from president trump as he speaks in missouri tonight at a rally about what he thinks of this latest development and these latest claims about rod rosenstein. if he does make a comment, chris, i am sure you will bring it to us. chris buckler, oui’ will bring it to us. chris buckler, our correspondent in washington, many thanks. the european council president,

donald tusk, says he's still confident of reaching a compromise on brexit that works for everyone. it follows a defiant speech by the british prime minister theresa may who said europe needed to show the uk more respect in negotiations. 0ur deputy political editor john pienaar has more. theresa may's in a hurry, some say getting nowhere fast landing a brexit deal. so, how to come back from her diplomatic battering — the chorus of eu leaders telling her her brexit plan wouldn't fly. her answer in downing street? defiance — their turn to compromise. britain had rejected the eu's basic demands. uncontrolled immigration from the eu would continue. and we couldn't do trade deals we want with other countries. that would make a mockery of the referendum we had two years ago. she was prime minister of great britain and northern ireland. on no customs border with ireland or on the mainland, there would be no backing down. it is something i will never agree to. indeed, in myjudgement, it is something no british prime minister would ever agree to.

if the eu believe i will, they are making a fundamental mistake. mrs may was prepared to walk away from negotiations, though eu citizens settled here would have rights guaranteed. but after the headlines reporting the prime minister's rejection and humiliation, she came back with her own final demand. throughout this process, i have treated the eu with nothing but respect. the uk expects the same. a good relationship at the end of this process depends on it. european leaders lined up against her this week. now she was keen to show she'd face them down. but there are potential dangers behind her, at home. brexiteer tories demanding no compromise. they are campaigning to adopt the so—called chequers plan, which leaves the uk tied to some eu rules and standards. it was making it apparent that no

deal remains better than a bad deal, and that she is not going to give in to the bullying by the european union, and that's very important. however, it's a mistake to persevere with chequers — that's not really brexit. the eu doesn't like it because it leaves us too tied in to their rules but without respecting their institutions. from my point of view and from the brexiteers' point of view, it isn't properly leaving the european union. the irish border and how to avoid border checks after brexit is still a barrier to a deal. british proposals need more work and more negotiation, the eu council president donald tusk said in a statement tonight. he also called britain's brexit position this week surprisingly tough and uncompromising, though he shared the view of ireland's leader that agreement was still possible. i think we can have a deal, we're entering into a rocky patch over the next couple of weeks, but i'm determined to keep working and secure the deal that we need.

in parliament they say your enemies are behind you, but here, mrs may's labour opponents are also preparing to defeat any deal she comes up with. their wish list — an early election, maybe another referendum. to them, every bad day for mrs may is an opportunity to make it worse if they can. the prime minister's negotiating strategy is collapsing around her, and now the country is staring down the barrel of no deal. the prime minister's chequers proposal was never going to be accepted either in the eu or by her own party, and so she's in denial. the prime minister's back on her berkshire constituency. it won't count as an escape. she couldn't get away from her troubles over brexit if she tried. john pienaar, bbc news, westminster. much more in—depth analysis on the website. the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, has hinted another summit between kim jong—un and president trump could be on the cards. it follows a visit to pyongyang by the south korean leader, widely viewed as a step towards towards peace.

mr pompeo told the bbc‘s state department correspondent, barbara plett usher, that all the leaders in the region were focused on working towards a long—term peace agreement. two lea d e rs two leaders are going to have to make lots of things happen. they are the decision makers in each of the two countries. i am going to visit pyongyang mac if the schedules or work. we will continue to solve this vexing problem and then the two met leaders will continue to build upon the negotiations that i had at other levels. so it is in the works? it is in the works. we are hoping everything falls together. it makes good sense here. before too terribly long. given the way that things are moving do you think you can say there is no longer a nuclear threat from north korea? no, there is still a threat. we still have work to do. but the good news is the threat is

reduced from where it was. no test and no missile launchers. to com plete and no missile launchers. to complete out a nuclear missile programme, any good engineer will tell you you have to conduct tests. there is work to do. when we took office, the world was closer to war with north korea than it is today. that's a big step forward. but we are going to keep the economic sanctions in place until such time as north korea is fully and verifiably deniau chlorides. that's the agenda that president trump has set out. that is what he agreed to with chairman kim —— —— denuclearised. he has twittered that there was no longer a threat from north korea. the president was saying that the risk is reduced. that the effort that north korea had engaged in to rapidly seek to perfect their missile system and their weapons system, nuclear weapons system, that risk had been greatly reduced as a result of the

effo rts greatly reduced as a result of the efforts that this president undertook. but by expressing his views in real time publicly, eve ryo ne views in real time publicly, everyone can see them, is there a danger that he gives away the game? kim jong—un seems to have picked on that, he gets out of the policymaker. that is the view of the allies. that is not what the allies tell me. let's just at that one moment. whatever means, whatever modalities this administration issues to achieve demutualisation of north korea, it has proven more effective than at any time in america's history, so you can could critique my style, the president's style, this much you can say, for the first time since yesterday and north korean party paper talk about in equalisation at a peaceful denuclearised korean peninsular. that is just one example —— demutualisation and a peaceful

denuclearised north korean peninsula. donald trump is putting us peninsula. donald trump is putting us in peninsula. donald trump is putting usina peninsula. donald trump is putting us in a position to get to the end that the world so richly deserves. you mention your position as cia director, in order to do a deal you will need to know when kim jong—un is lying. how will you know that? we can talk about what we know or don't know. the best way to know if we are at the end is when we have talked about it, verification. this is the cena —— and other discussion. when we can verify the north korean country has made the decision to ta ke country has made the decision to take all of the nuclear weapons programme and step—down and at that time sanctions will be relieved —— sine qua non. the us secretary of state speaking to barbara plett usher. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: as a deal to avert a battle in idlib is agreed, we talk exclusively to a group of british extremists who have lived and fought there for years. ben johnson, the fastest man

on earth, is flying home 30 hours after the earthquake that devastated mexico city, rescue teams still have no idea just how many people have died. well, there is people alive and there is people not alive. we just can help and give them whatever we've got. it looked as though they had come to fight a war, but their mission is to bring peace to east timor, and nowhere on earth needs it more badly. the government's case is being forcefully presented by monsieur badinter, the justice minister. he's campaigned vigorously for abolition, having once witnessed one of his clients being executed. elizabeth seton spent much of her time at this grotto, and every year, hundreds of pilgrimages are made here. now that she's become a saint, it's expected that this area will be inundated with tourists. the mayor and local businessmen regard the anticipated boom as yet another blessing of st elizabeth. this is bbc news,

the latest headlines: president trump attacks the credibility of the woman accusing his supreme court nominee of sexual assault, as negotiations continue over whether christine blasey ford will testify to congress. and britain's prime minister warns that talks with the eu are at an impasse — accusing leaders in brussels of being dismissive of the uk. more than 130 people have drowned after a ferry capsized in lake victoria close to the tanzanian shore. it's thought around 400 people were on the vessel, meaning it was heavily overcrowded, so there are fears the death toll will rise. the bbc‘s senior africa correspondent anne soy has more. they stand and watch, helpless. just a few hundred metres away,

the upturned hull of the mv nyerere. rescuers who arrived by boat recovered bodies from around the capsized vessel. relatives nearby islands tried to get to the scene of the disaster. 0thers waited and just lethal news. —— anxiously. translation: we can't reach my brother. yesterday morning, he spoke to our mum. we've not heard from him, since. translation: my nephew's on the island. he told me the news that his father, my brother, was on the ferry. they last spoke when he said he would be taking the ferry to head home. after the accident he tried

calling him but he couldn't get through. translation: i was told that i lost my aunt, my father and my younger sibling. it's a huge loss to us. la ke lake victoria is the country's largest. the ferry was on its usual route, taking people and goods from two of lake victoria's islands, ukora and bugolora. it is thought overcrowding was probably a factor in the tragedy. it's unclear how many people were on board the mv nyerere. witnesses say it could be as many as 400, four times its official capacity. translation: when the captain was trying to slow down and about to dock, the passengers were already running to the other side, ready to get off. so, now, the weight was too much on one side of the ferry. so, it capsized and sank. la ke lake victoria has seen many tragedies in recent years. in 1996 more than 800 people died in a single sinking. while the death toll

this time is not expected to go that high, it has been particularly deadly. but ferries are central to the lives of people here. many were back on the water, even as rescue teams continued their search. the president has announced four days of national mourning and a number of arrest. meanwhile, the families of those still missing way to news. the chant as it will be good are fading fast. —— chances. let's get some of the day's other news. the vatican has confirmed that pope francis has accepted the resignation of two more chilean bishops, in the wake of a sexual abuse scandal. the pontiff attended an emergency meeting in chile in may, after vatican investigators alleged senior church officials in chile had not only failed to act on abuse claims, but had hidden some of them. police in the south indian state of kerala have arrested

a roman catholic bishop, who has been accused of rape. bishop franco mulakkal denies repeatedly raping a nun over a two year period. severe storms have caused widespread flooding in mexico's sinaloa state. videos posted on social media show homes and businesses submerged, and cars floating through streets in culiacan city. according to local media, the state's governor has asked for a state of emergency to be declared. the deal to avert an all—out battle in idlib in syria hangs now on the reaction of the 10,000 or so extremists, including foreign fighters, who are still backing the assad regime. on monday, turkey and russia agreed to set up a demilitarised zone in the region, to try to avoid further bloodshed. a deadline has been set, for what russia insists are terrorists to leave idlib by mid—0ctober. but will they? the bbc‘s quentin sommerville has spoken exclusively with a group of british extremists who've lived

and fought in syria for years. these are two of the last british armed jihadists still fighting in syria. they have allied themselves with some of the most notorious extremist groups. this is idlib. one of the men is from brighton. he turned his back on britain for good five years ago. there is a relief in idlib that an onslaught has been averted. he's taking a break to go shopping. in britain, he's a wanted man. in syria, he is free. he came here to wage holy war, in the meantime got married and had a daughter. i've been speaking to them via skype for months. no longer wanted back home in britain, they are increasingly unwelcome in syria too. you and your foreign

islamists friends say that you went to syria to help? a lot of syrians would say you've only made things worse and it's time for you to go? nobody has asked me to leave or say that i've made it worse, to be honest with you. but it sounds like there aren't many options left and it sounds like the only options left for you and other foreign fighters are death or capture, is there a third option? if i believed what you said, i would have been gone a long time ago. for me, in syria there is always changes, always obstacles, there's always difficulty. but the difference between me and you is i have belief. a fundamentalist belief is what still powers these men, even as they are losing the war. but these men won't give up support for the al-qaeda linked hts nusra. abu yusuf says he'll never leave

syria but he still wants his identity disguised. isn't it the case though, that you and other foreign fighters should just reconcile with the regime, put down your weapons and leave? you say even if we die here, we are happy. that's fine for you, that's your choice to make that sacrifice. but what about the civilians, what if you are sacrificing them? that's not their choice. here, they balance family life and armed jihad. they have married syrian women, but still they don't truly belong. 0n the hills outside idlib, yet another british

fighter is on patrol. some foreign fighters have cut their ties and fled syria in the last few weeks. others are secretly making preparations for their families. he says he's staying. these may be the last moments of what counts for ordinary life for british armed jihadists, but they have never been more isolated. their next move and that of their extremist allies, has never been more important. the fate of three million people trapped in idlib may depend on it. alcohol kills three million people worldwide each year, more than aids, violence and road accidents combined. that's according to a new report from the world health organization which says men are particularly at risk. katie silver has the details. in much of the world, as we enter

the weekend, many people's attention turns towards getting a drink. but the world health organisation says this is a problem, with alcohol responsible for one in every 20 debts. there is no percentage of safe alcohol consumption, any consumption is associated with some risks. these risks are increasing substantially when a person is even ina substantially when a person is even in a state of mild intoxication. their 500 page report details a huge number of ways that alcohol is killing us. from drink—driving to alcohol induced violence to 200 different health conditions including liver cirrhosis, cancer and stroke. drinking also makes people more susceptible to infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, hiv and pneumonia. the well held —— world health organisation says the governments, the benefits of alcohol don't

measure up. the benefits of alcohol don't measure up. these figures show that the cost of alcohol consumption to societies are much bigger than the reve nu es societies are much bigger than the revenues that the governments and societies received from alcohol taxes. this is not a problem across the globe. as more than half the population over 15 does not drink at all and there has been some good news. heavy episodic drinking and alcohol related deaths have both dropped since the descent. europe, which prints the most, has dropped 10% in these eight years. but in all other regions, alcohol consumption is on the rise, especially in asia, with china and india seeing significant hikes. and the problems are much worse than men, who account for more than three quarters of alcohol—related deaths. experts are calling on governments to do more, to come up with creative solutions to come up with creative solutions to save lives. a sobering thought on which to end. goodbye. very mixed weather for this weekend,

some improvements on the way to next week, store bronagh swept away and following that we had a cold blustery wind on friday with some showers and plenty of rainbows. this weekend it is going to be wettest across southern parts of the uk at cool for all of us. we have seen bronagh heading up towards scandinavia, battering here with gales and severe gales, the cool showery airflow being replaced by this cloud coming in from the atlantic. quickly that cloud is coming into england and wales and northern ireland. 0utbreaks coming into england and wales and northern ireland. outbreaks of rain in the south—west into wales, perhaps into the south midlands and later into the south—east of england as well. sunny spells and a few showers to scotland, but not very warm anywhere really. 13— 1a degrees at s. under that rain in the south—west it will be a miserable day, could get more rain through the

midlands, east anglia during the evening before it fades away and then more rain returns from the atla nta ca n then more rain returns from the atlanta can this time it moves further north. still cold air to scotla nd further north. still cold air to scotland and northern ireland, temperatures in scotland down to 2— three degrees. into sunday sunshine and showers to scotland, improving in northern ireland but rain for england and wales, miserable day, as it clears away we get the sunshine, watch out for the strengthening wins on the back edge of that rain, it could be dealt force, and it will be a cold day. —— gale force. 11— 12 in some places. that area of low pressure deepens as it leaves our shores, takes the wind and rain with it, and allows high pressure to build in from the atlantique. that means the weather is going to settle down. there will be showers across northern scotland where it will be quite windy still on monday, then some showers. some sunshine around, pleasa nt some showers. some sunshine around, pleasant enough on monday but still not that warm, 16 degrees at very

best. we are getting high pressure building on across the uk because the jet stream is building on across the uk because thejet stream is moving north. as we saw over the past weekjetstream ‘s pickup areas of low pressure and these areas of low pressure will be steered to the north—west of the uk. that is where the wind and rain is. 0n that is where the wind and rain is. on tuesday the wins will be lighter everywhere but after a chilly start, some sunshine, temperatures rising in the south, we may see some rains arriving in the north—west. beyond tuesday. the centre of the high—pressure drifts further south allowing that bridges to rise in the southern parts of the uk, but towards north and northern scotland in particular we could get some wind and rain. this is bbc news. the headlines: president trump has sought to discredit the woman who accused his us supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh of sexual assault. christine blasey ford said judge kavanaugh tried to rape her when they were both teenagers. british prime minister theresa may has delivered a defiant statement about her plans for brexit.

she has called on the eu to show britain more respect. european council president donald tusk said he remains convinced they can still find a compromise. alcohol kills three million people worldwide each year — more than aids, violence and road accidents combined. that's according to a new report from the world health organisation, which says men are particularly at risk. the report also stresses that harm from drinking is greater among poorer consumers than wealthier ones. now on bbc news, the inside out programme has an exclusive report on the latest idea for disposing of