this is bbc world news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: senators' ultimatum to the accuser of supreme court nominee — reach a deal to appear or we vote without you. after the british prime minister's defiant speech on brexit, the european council chief says we can still find a compromise. germany's far—right controversy: merkel pledges to think again over intelligence chief's promotion. and new research suggests one in 20 deaths globally are caused by drinking alcohol. the woman who has accused us supreme court nominee, brett kavanaugh, of sexual assault has yet to agree a deal to give evidence to a committee of senators.

two separate deadlines for christine blasey ford to confirm whether she would testify on capitol hill have now passed. the head of the senatejudicial committee says the panel will vote monday on whether to back mr kavanagh. speaking at a rally in missouri, president trump said he was sure brett kavanaugh would eventually be confirmed. brett kava naugh would eventually be confirmed. and he was born... you talk about central casting, he was born... they were saying it ten years ago about him, he was born for the us supreme court. he was born for it. applause and it's going to happen. our washington correspondent chris buckler has more on the story. we've already had one deadline that's passed in the past few hours, that was the original deadline for her lawyer to come back and say she was prepared to testify at some stage next week. the committee apparently was suggesting wednesday, she was suggesting thursday. but the problem here is they seem to disagree on the terms of what these proceedings will take.

essentially she wants to be able to say that she will go after brett kavanaugh, he will give testimony first. she does not want brett kavanaugh in the room. she also feels strongly that she should have no time limit set on her opening statement, and there are a number of other conditions that she is demanding. now, we're getting the impression already from the committee, and particularly the republican senators on the committee, that they're not prepared to accept all of the terms that she's asking for. as i say, this is a complicated one for those republican senators because they have to be seen to handle this carefully. one of the big sticking points seems to be they would quite like other people to interview christine blasey ford whenever she appears before the committee, and that is partly because all the republican senators who said on thejudiciary committee are male. and as a result, they've been looking at the idea of potentially having female lawyers, female counsel come in and do that for them, and that's partly because of controversy about the way a female witness was handled

in the last 25 years or so. at this stage there is the danger a deadline will pass and we're still working out exactly what will happen next. chris, thanks for that. stay there, because in a separate development, the us deputy attorney general, rod rosenstein, has described a report as inaccurate that he discussed invoking a constitutional clause to remove president trump from office. the new york times, citing anonymous sources, also said that mr rosenstein had suggested secretly recording the president to expose chaos in the white house. let's go back to chris. i should emphasise that these are reports in the new york times from anonymous sources that have been denied, but if they are true, yet more damage for the white house? yeah, the big issue here is also causing a bigger divide

between the department ofjustice and president trump, particularly as this investigation into allegations of russian perhaps even invoke as what is known as the 25th amendment of the us constitution. that's effectively a mechanism of getting rid of a president. now, we've had a fuller statement from rod rosenstein. he has said, "i never pursued or authorised recording the president, and any suggestion i have ever advocated for the removal

of the president is absolutely false. " we've also been speaking to our own sources, and someone within the department of justice, who apparently was in the room when this alleged conversation took place, said to us that it had been said but in a sarcastic and a joking way. rod rosenstein may have said about taping the president, but it was only ever intended as a joke, and the intention was that it would never happen. there was no suggestion that it should be taken seriously. however, president trump has been speaking about it at that rally that you referenced that he's been taking part in in missouri, and he didn't mention rod rosenstein specifically but he did talk about the fbi and the department ofjustice. he said there were many good people there, but "there is the lingering stench," and "we're going to get rid of it too." as i say, he didn't mention rod rosenstein, but he did mention the department ofjustice and it gives you a sense there could be more divisions as a result of what's been alleged by the new york times. 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. our 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'd 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're campaigning to dump 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. ithink, 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 to secure that 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. let's get some of the day's other news. the united nations aid chief has

warned that more than a third of yemen's population now face starvation. mark lowcock told the un security council there were already pockets of famine—like conditions in yemen, where a saudi—led coalition is fighting the houthi rebels backed by iran. police in brazil have arrested a man accused by the us of being one of the main financiers of the lebanese militant group, hezbollah. paraguay had issued an international arrest warrant for assad ahmad barakat for identity theft. he was detained near the border with paraguay and argentina. 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 culiac n city. 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. tanzania's president has ordered the arrest of those responsible for a ferry sinking on lake victoria

that's killed at least 136 people with scores of people still missing. john magufuli said the vessel appeared to have been overloaded — and negligence was to blame. lebo diseko has this report. it is the worst kind of wait. hundreds of families desperate for news of their loved ones who'd been on board the mv nyerere. with no transport to get to the island closest to the scene of the disaster, they're stuck. as much as they hope for the best, some are already preparing for the worst, grieving and burying their relatives. on the shore nearest to the disaster, the trauma is just as plain to see. the community watches as the rescue effort continues, but hope is fading fast. translation: we can't reach my brother. yesterday morning, he spoke to our mum. we've not heard from him since.

translation: i was told that i lost my aunt, my father and my younger sibling. it's a huge loss to us. this is what is left of the mv nyerere, its overturned hull floating on the water. lake victoria is africa's largest, and the ferry was travelling between the islands of ukerewe and ukara, capsizing around 15 metres from ukara's shore. ——50 metres. it operated a busy schedule, taking people to and from the market. it's thought it was particularly full because it was market day. and while it's not clear exactly how many people were on board, witnesses say it could have been up to 400, that's four times its capacity. it's thought many of the passengers couldn't swim. 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.

this is not the first disaster on lake victoria, but the death toll has shocked the country. the president has declared four days of national mourning, and a number of arrests have been made, including the captain, who apparently wasn't on board at the time. the president also says the government will cover funeral expenses for all of the victims, a small comfort in such a huge tragedy. the german chancellor angela merkel has agreed to reconsider the promotion given to the former head of the domestic intelligence agency hans—georg maassen. he was removed for casting doubt on reports of far—right demonstrators chasing immigrants in the city of chemnitz. but in a compromise agreement he was then given a more senior position. andy beatt reports. it's a row which catapulted germany's spymaster from the shadows into the spotlight, and pushed angela merkel‘s fragile

coalition into crisis. hans—georg maassen was told to quit this job as chief of domestic intelligence after he challenged reports of far—right unrest in the eastern city of chemnitz. the biggest and most violent protests in decades erupted last month after a german man was fatally stabbed in a fight with migrants. along with the protests, xenophobic assaults, described as anti—migrant hunts. footage emerged of demonstrators apparently chasing down foreigners to attack them. maassen, though, questioned the video's authenticity, claiming he had no reliable information about such hunts taking place. as critics accused him of failing to stand up to the far—right, and even harbouring extreme views himself, angela merkel

oversaw his removal and subsequent appointment to a senior post at the interior ministry. now that move, seen by many as a promotion, and criticised by some of mrs merkel‘s coalition allies, is in question. translation: we've agreed to reassess the situation. i think that's right and necessary because people in our country have a right to have their concerns and problems resolved. we want to find a common, sustainable solution through the course of the weekend. talks are now under way at the top tier of german politics to try to decide what to do with mr maassen, and diffuse a row that's exposed painful fault lines in german politics and society. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: the messaging app used for grooming children which the police are struggling to stop. ben johnson, the fastest man

on earth, is flying home to canada in disgrace. all the athletes should be clean going into the games. i'm just happy that justice is served. it is a simple fact that this morning, these people were in their homes. tonight, those homes have been burnt down by serbian soldiers and police. all the taliban positions along here have been strengthened, presumably in case the americans invade. it's no use having a secret service which cannot preserve its own secrets against the world. and so the british government has no option but to continue this action, and even after any adverse judgement in australia. concorde had crossed the atlantic faster than any plane ever before, breaking the record by six minutes.

this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the woman who has accused us supreme court nominee, brett kavanaugh, of sexual assault has yet to agree a deal to give evidence to a committee of senators. two separate deadlines to confirm she would testify have passed. 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. a bbc news investigation has found that police are struggling to combat child grooming taking place on a smartphone messaging app called kik which is popular with teenagers. kik has played a part in over 1,100 police investigations into child sex offences over the past five years. but officers say the company won't help identify predators unless they overcome major bureaucratic hurdles.

angus crawford reports. mark, you're wanted. not the wake—up call he was expecting. hello, are you all right? mark kirby's about to be arrested. under his duvet, two phones — from his bed, he's been sexually grooming children using kik, a messaging app — free to download and popular with teenagers. you're under arrest... he was sent to prison for more than three years, but kik‘s users are often anonymous, so police can't trace and help his victims without help from the company. there's a child that is probably going to be abused for another 12 months before we know who that is. and kirby's case is not the only one. look, these diagrams show other offenders northampton police need to track down. so each one of these could be a predator? yes. abusing children? yes.

but kik won't help unless officers start a formal international legal process, taking months and costing money the force doesn't have. so when you ask kik, you get an automated response? yes. so you, the police, get an automated response, saying we can't provide that information? yes. it's a bureaucratic nightmare. it was abuse, yeah, sexual abuse — the worst form of hurting a person, really, is hurting a child. vulnerable and lonely, taylor was first groomed on kik at the age of 13. it started in moments, but lasted years. it started with a lot of, just, like, selfies, but then, yeah, it would escalate to underwear photos, like naked photos, and videos, yeah, bad — they ask you to perform sexual acts, and then film them and send that. how many men do you think may have tried to groom you? over 100, possibly up to 200, yeah.

that's shocking. yeah. and it's still rife. posing as a child, within seconds we get this message from a 42—year—old man. then this. and there's more. we also find sexualised images of children, and users offering to share them. our research found kik featured in more than 1,100 police investigations into child sex offences across the uk in the last five years. kik refused our request for an interview, but in a statement said: it says it will continue to: safety—focused organisations,

what do you think of that? i think if that was the case, i probably wouldn't be sitting here talking to you now, because there's clearly a problem. i've clearly got cases, as any other police officer, that we're banging our heads against a brick wall. leaving offenders at large and victims unprotected. it's all going on behind closed doors, but there you can see it, that they're not doing anything about it, because at the end of the day it makes them money. angus crawford, bbc news. a municipality in ukraine has taken a drastic step in banning russian culture from the region. the area, which borders poland, is high in anti—moscow sentiment and the boycott aims to protest kremlin—backed forces in crimea. the ban on russian language arts has sparked condemnation from the country's leaders and ridicule from around the word. georgina smyth has the story. of the rich in history,

architecture, and culture, but only certain types of culture from now on —— the city of lviv. the two nations to share a common soviet union passed, but critics say that influence is becoming too strong. lawmakers making the controversial move to ban russian cultural products like books, films, public readings, and songs. translation: there is enough russian content, even a lot of it. your feigned there is not enough of ukrainian content. we should have —— you will find. ukrainian and russian are similar languages, but use of the latter in the pro—western lviv has become increasingly political

after russia and its crimea in 2014. parliament says the ban will last until the end of russia's occupation of the peninsula, which has claimed more than 10,000 lives. the moratorium has been dubbed a war on language by russia and foreign ambassadors have called for tolerance. translation: lviv is a very friendly city, the population is very loyal to russians. people say different things, they had never encountered any language discrimination. things, they had never encountered any language discriminationm things, they had never encountered any language discrimination. it is still unclear how the ban on russian culture will be implemented or policed. georgina smyth, bbc. -- bbc —— bbc news. 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 organization says this is a problem, with alcohol responsible for one in every 20 deaths. there is no such safe

alcohol consumption, any consumption is associated with some risks. these risks are increasing 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 world health organization says, for governments, the benefits of alcohol don't measure up. these figures show that the cost of alcohol consumption to 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 world's 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 2010. europe, which drinks 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 for 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 save lives. katie silver, bbc news. that is all for now. the latest headlines coming up in a couple of minutes. stay with bbc news. hello.

very mixed weather for this weekend, some improvements on the way for next week. storm bronagh swept away and following that we had a cold, blustery wind on friday with some showers and plenty of rainbows. but for this weekend, it's going to be wettest across southern parts of the uk, but cool for all of us. we've seen bronaghjust heading up towards scandinavia, battering here with gales and severe gales, the cool showery airflow now being replaced by all this cloud that's coming in from the atlantic. so, very quickly, that cloud is coming into england and wales and into northern ireland. thickest cloud in the south—west. outbreaks of rain here into wales, perhaps into the south midlands and later into the south—east of england as well. sunny spells and a few showers for scotland, but not very warm anywhere, really. 13—14 degrees at best. under that rain in the south—west, it's going to 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 atlantic and this time it moves a bit further north.

still in the colder air to scotland and northern ireland, temperatures in scotland easily down to two or three degrees. now, into sunday, sunshine and showers to scotland, improving weather for northern ireland, but we've got this rain for england and wales, quite heavy rain, a miserable sort of day. as it clears away we get the sunshine, watch out for the strengthening winds on the back edge of that rain, it could well be gale force, and of course it is going to be a cold day. maybe only 11—12 degrees in some places. now, that area of low pressure deepens as it leaves our shores, takes the wind and rain away with it, and it allows high pressure to build in quickly from the atlantic. and that means the weather is going to be settling down. there will be a few showers across northern scotland, where it could be quite windy still on monday, and there will be some stronger winds down these north sea coasts. but away from here, we'll have light winds, a fair bit of sunshine around. pleasant enough on monday,

but still not that warm, 16 degrees at very best. now, we are getting high pressure building on across the uk because the jetstream is moving further north. as we saw over the past week, jetstreams pick up areas of low pressure and these areas of low pressure are going to be steered to the north—west of the uk. so that's where the wind and rain is. on tuesday, the winds will be lighter everywhere, plenty of sunshine. after a chilly start, temperatures just beginning to rise a little in the south. we may see some rain arriving in the north—west later on tuesday and beyond tuesday as well. that's because the centre of the high—pressure drifts further south, allowing temperatures 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: the woman who has accused us supreme court nominee, brett kavanaugh, of sexual assault has yet to agree a deal to give evidence to a committee of senators.

two separate deadlines for christine blasey ford to confirm whether she would testify on capitol hill have now passed. 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. the german chancellor angela merkel has agreed to reconsider the promotion given to the former head of the domestic intelligence agency hans—georg maassen. he was removed for casting doubt on reports of far—right demonstrators chasing immigrants in the city of chemnitz. a group of men have been sentenced to nearly 50 years in prison collectively, after they were found guilty of what's been described