this is bbc news, i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: christine blasey ford, the woman who has accused us supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh of sexual assault when they were teenagers, has agreed to testify against him next week. as iran's president promises a "crushing response" after at least 25 people are killed at a military parade, tehran accuses britain, the netherlands, and denmark of harbouring opposition groups. for british broadcaster sky, ending a dramatic two—year battle with 21st century fox. and anthony joshua has defended his wba, wbo and ibf heavyweight titles with a seventh—round stoppage of alexander povetkin at wembley. lawyers for the woman who has

accused us supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh of sexual assault say she will testify against him at a confirmation hearing next week. allegations from christine blasey ford emerged in the media last week. she gave details of an incident which she says happened when they were teenagers. mr kavanaugh has denied the allegations. our washington correspondent chris buckler has more. i think it is extremely significant, and it sets up a potentially very sensitive, but nonetheless very high—profile hearing next week. one in which he will deny these allegations that he sexually assaulted christine blasey ford at his party in the 1980s. he says he wa nts to his party in the 1980s. he says he wants to clear his name following these allegations and the media.

now, according to the lawyer of christine blasey ford, she too is prepared to go forward and give what she describes in a letter which has been sent to the committee as first—hand details of brett cavanagh's first—hand details of brett cava nagh's sexual misconduct. first—hand details of brett cavanagh's sexual misconduct. now, in this letter sent by her lawyer, they are very critical of the process which has taken place leading up to the point of potentially having this testimony. they say there has been leaks, they say there has been bullying, and they are also concerned about the terms and conditions, essentially, about how this hearing will be conducted. they say they want certain guarantees. we have already seen indications of what they are likely to be. they want brett cavanagh likely to be. they want brett cava nagh to give likely to be. they want brett cavanagh to give his destiny first. christine blasey ford does not want kavanaugh in the speech when she speaks, and she only wants to be questioned by senators. that is a problem for republicans because they only have male senators sitting on thejudiciary only have male senators sitting on

the judiciary committee, and only have male senators sitting on thejudiciary committee, and they have proposed, per example, bringing ina have proposed, per example, bringing in a female lawyer to question christine blasey ford on what is a sensitive issue and what is potentially very difficult testimony. but she says she will only be questioned by senators. though it is clear she now says she wa nts to though it is clear she now says she wants to give evidence, it is also clear from this latter that they wa nt to clear from this latter that they want to continue negotiations on what the terms and conditions of that will be. if this does go ahead, iam that will be. if this does go ahead, i am interested in what difference it will make, because donald trump just last night was saying that he firmly believes rather kavanaugh will be confirmed 7 firmly believes rather kavanaugh will be confirmed? it must be said, there is a republican majority in there is a republican majority in the senate, there is a republican majority on this committee. ultimately they are likely to back president trump's choice. it does make it more difficult. you could argue that the nature of this testimony, what is said here, could have an impact on brett kavanaugh himself. there is a growing frustration inside the white house

about what they say is delay after delay about how this is being conducted. even with regard to this letter, they say if you look carefully at it, and there is some truth to this, you not say that christine blasey ford will definitely give evidence, they say that she is prepared to give evidence if they can agree on terms. she does also say she is hopeful they can agree to terms. that does suggest that has been progress. it gives you an idea that next week there is going to be very sensitive and potentially a very difficult set of hearings that could be, i suppose, noticed by the white house but which could also have a real impact on president trump. iran's government has summoned the envoys of a number of western countries over an attack on a military parade which killed at least 25 people. the incident took place in the south—west of the country, in the city of avahz, near the iraqi border, when gunmen opened fire near a stage set up for the parade. alanjohnston has the story. a warning, though — you might find some of the pictures in his report distressing. fear and chaos amid the gunfire.

moments ago, these soldiers would have been in the parade, marching proudly. now, suddenly, they are under attack. they are desperate for cover, scrambling to survive. bullets whistle overhead, and there are dead and injured all around. then, in the thick of the danger, terrified civilians run for their lives. the gunmen had attacked as officials would have been watching the parade. anyone in this place filled with troops and spectators was at risk. inevitably, there were women and children among the dead and wounded. but the security forces fought back, and four militants were killed.

local ethnic arab separatists say they carried out the attack but the islamic state group has also claimed responsibility. on the streets, there was anger. translation: in the middle of the parade, we realised there was a group wearing fake military clothing. they attacked our children from behind us and then fired on women and children. they fired completely blindly, meaning they weren't taking targets, just firing. meanwhile, iran's foreign minister said the gunmen had been armed by a foreign regime and its us backers, an apparent reference to either israel or saudi arabia, but he produced no evidence of this. another parade, in the capital tehran, passed off peacefully, watched by president hassan rouhani. he has promised what he called a "crushing response" to the attack in hawaz. earlier i spoke to the

iranian—american author and academic azadeh moaveni, and she told me a bit more about who might be responsible for this attack. well, there is a separate test group, —— separatist group which took responsibility immediately. they started calling media organisations and saying it was them. it is witty evidence, i mean, them. it is witty evidence, i mean, the government, the foreign minister, has waned hostile foreign enemies. the implication is that the government in tehran believes that this is related to tensions in saudi arabia. i think the impact this is going to have is encouraging iranians to view this terror attack in the context of riding tensions in the united states and see that as the united states and see that as the natural knock—on effect. i wa nted the natural knock—on effect. i wanted to ask you your take on that.

as far as we know there isn't any evidence so far, but this was a line pushed out why the government very quickly? well, there has been no shortage of very vocal sympathy by saudi arabia and other regional states about the marginalisation, grievances of iran's arab minority in the south. there were saudi figures online saying that this was some kind of low back for the repression that they face. —— blowback. there is a long history in iran, iran has lots of religious and ethnic minorities populated around border regions, and there is a long history of foreign states in the region using these internal fractures to pressure iran. saddam hussein, when he invaded iran at the beginning of the errani raqqa war, called on the arabs of the region to join with him. —— iran—iraq war. just give us an idea, we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that this was a horrific attack and the pictures

are a horrific attack and the pictures a re really a horrific attack and the pictures are really upsetting and difficult to watch. how unusual is to have an attack like this in highly unusual. few and far between. there was an isis terrorist attack in iran last year that killed almost more people than this. it is very shocking to iranians. it will help the government to reinforce the narrative that we have to fight these transnational cini jihadists abroad, because otherwise the fight will come to us. —— sunni. abroad, because otherwise the fight will come to us. -- sunni. what do you think the response will be? in all likelihood, a crackdown in those areas. it is a very strategic area to iran. it is home to two seaports, it is oil—rich, it is of great strategic importance. so i think there will be a securitisation of that area, and ethnic iranian arabs who have legitimate re— —— regions is -- who have legitimate re— —— regions is —— grievances against the government will be caught up in that. the chinese communist party and the vatican have signed

a landmark deal to co—operate over who has the right to appoint the country's bishops. in future, china will propose candidates and the pope will approve them. the accord could work to unify china's 12 million catholics, who are currently split between state—supervised churches and underground congregations loyal to rome. in afghanistan, at least eight children have been killed in a mine explosion in the northern faryab province. eyewitnesses said the children, aged between 6 and 12 years old, had been playing near a police station when the blast took place. police believe the taliban planted the mine. a court in the southern indian state of kerala has refused bail for a roman catholic bishop accused of raping a nun. thejudge ordered bishop franco mulakkal to remain in police custody to face questioning in a case that has triggered outrage among clergy. a nun accuses the bishop of sexually assaulting herfor two years . he has denied the allegations. a high—speed rail link has been launched in hong kong,

connecting the territory with mainland china. the express rail link connects hong kong to the southern chinese city of guangzhou injust a0 minutes. despite its convenience, the new rail link has attracted criticism because it allows the chinese authorities to operate inside the hong kong terminal. the american cable giant comcast has won its fight for control of the broadcaster, sky, after beating 21st century fox in a blind auction. sky's independent directors are now expected to recommend comcast‘s bid to shareholders. our business editor simon jack explains what the deal means. well, it's probably the most epic, protracted boardroom battle i've ever witnessed. it has been going on for months. both of these companies want sky very, very badly for different reasons. if it was going to be very close, i would have expected fox and disney to carry on and fight this,

but sources tell me now that comcast are offering 10% more than fox disney. fox is now predominantly owned by disney. and this is a knockout blow which will see comcast win this very big battle. now comcast are the biggest paid tv provider in the us, their market has been dwindling, they want to expand into other markets, they are up against netflix, etc, so this gets them 23 million subscribers in a stroke. they have ended up paying up a lot for it, £17.28. they were at eiajs, they had closed bidding, they had to put their offers in an envelope and go through three different rounds of bidding. they have done enough to win this, this will be a disappointment to fox disney who, remember rupert murdoch, owner of 21st century, sorry, it is quite complicated, he wanted to sell it to disney, he would have liked to have done that, including 39% of sky, and indeed all of sky.

stay with us on bbc world news. still to come, singer extraordinary, now "ambassador extraordinary." rihanna takes on a new role promoting barbados. 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 when they were teenagers has agreed to testify against him next week. and gunmen attack a military parade in iran, killing at least 29 people. president rouhani promises a "crushing response." an engineer on the ferry that capsized on lake victoria in tanzania has been rescued two days after the tragedy. divers looking for survivors heard a knocking sound and discovered the man, who had shut himself in a small cabin.

aboubakar famau has this report. an anxious wait from the shore. relatives unable to hold back their tears. (sobbing) the ferry capsized two days ago. officials say it was filled four times its maximum capacity. it tipped to when passengers moved from one side to the other. divers resumed their search for survivors today after hearing knocking from inside the vessel, rescuing an engineer. he's said to have survived in an air pocket inside the mv nyerere ferry and is in a serious condition. after three days of exhausting work, rescue operation is still ongoing. while some families wait for the news, others have started

a difficult process of collecting their relatives and preparing them for burial. angelina's daughter emilliana died on board the boat. translation: she was waiting for employment. i work hard to educate her and was relying on her to help me financially in my old age, but these are god's plans. the government is already making plans for the bodies that have not been claimed or identified, digging graves just metres from the site of the accident, ahead of a burial tomorrow. translation: we believe there are people who will not be able to be identified from their relatives so we decided as the government to set aside an area where we can have a

burialfor aside an area where we can have a burial for the bodies that would be damaged. tanzania's resident has ordered the arrest of all those who manage the fairy and has declared four days of national mourning. an official investigation into what happened will take place once the rescue effort to find any survivors has ended. abubakar famau, bbc news, ukerewe island in tanzania. the british foreign secretaryjeremy hunt has urged eu leaders to "step back from the abyss" of a no—deal brexit and engage with theresa may's plan. the president of the european council, donald tusk, has defended the eu's approach, saying she knew well in advance about european objections. our political correspondent matt cole reports. international law, international commerce and the media — what have we got to fear? at a rally today, the former brexit secretary david davis telling theresa may she's got it wrong and should seek a new way

of leaving the eu. we should only accept a clean and clear up brexit. i am afraid the compromise is exactly what i think chequers is. so if leaders in europe have rejected her plans and she's being buffeted by backbenchers, who can theresa may rely on for support? step forward the foreign secretary, insisting she's right to demand concessions from brussels. if the eu's view is thatjust by saying no to every proposal made by the united kingdom, we will eventually capitulate and end up either with a norway option or, indeed, staying in the eu — if that's their view, then they've profoundly misjudged the british people. this social media post from donald tusk, the eu council president, has helped stir the bad blood, mocking mrs may for what he says is trying to cherry—pick the best bits out of the single market. mr tusk played host

at the salzburg summit where the so—called chequers plan was dismissed. but he's rejecting suggestions the ideas were knocked back without explanation. in a statement, he said: but trying to get beyond the growing acrimony, he continued: so, what next for eu negotiations? who's going to blink first? theresa may says eu leaders have to come up with new counter—proposals for future trading relations. but there's little sign of that. however, the prime minister says her officials are working on new proposals for northern ireland's border with the republic, and if those plans can find a way to keep goods flowing freely after brexit, then perhaps they might be able to give some momentum back to the wider talks too. in dublin today, ireland's foreign minister suggested a solution was doable. everybody has accepted, including

the british prime minister, that unique solutions are required in order to put a backstop in place to ensure the border infrastructure between northern ireland and ireland cannot re—emerge. so we need to get on now and negotiate that in a way that's acceptable to both sides, and i believe it is possible to do that with an intensification of negotiations. but getting brussels to agree on britain's divorce is only half the battle. theresa may needs the support of her own mps to get the deal through parliament, and a tricky conservative conference in just over a week's time might reveal just how hard it will be to unite her party behind her. matt cole, bbc news, westminster. a chinese hospital ship has docked in venezuela where, for the next week, it will provide free health care to local patients. venezuela's defence minister said the visit was agreed by president nicolas maduro during a visit to beijing last week. at the time, venezuela agreed to increase its exports of oil to china, one of its main creditors. venezuela's economic crisis has led to severe shortages of food and medicines, and the collapse of public services.

it's no secret that election ads in the united states can be cut—throat. and with the mid—term elections coming up in november, the democratic party in arizona has gone all in to stop republican congressman paul gosar winning re—election. what's their secret? rylee carlson explains. paul gosar the congressmen isn't doing anything to help rural america. they are presented as average arizona residents with regular concerns. nothing you haven't seen before in a political attack ad. but in a surprise twist, the sick people here are asking for voters do not re—elect congressmen paul gosar are his own siblings. paul gosar are his own siblings. paul gosar are his own siblings. paul gosar is my own brother.m paul gosar are his own siblings. paul gosar is my own brother. it is a knockout punch is far as campaign ads are concerned. but it is not the first of his siblings have taken

issue with his politics. seven of them once wrote him an open letter ina open them once wrote him an open letter in a open —— local paper but two more have stayed mum throughout his tenure. mr gosar has so far responded on twitter are saying: and while this add is generating a lot of buzz for his opponent, doctor david brill, mr gosar has held his seatin david brill, mr gosar has held his seat in 2011 and when his district we re seat in 2011 and when his district were 71% of the vote in 2016, he is considered unlikely to keep it again. pop star rihanna has been given an expanded role in her home country of barbados, aimed at promoting the island caribbean nation. already a cultural ambassador, the singer's new title is ambassador extraordinary, looking at investment, education and tourism in barbados. i asked cheynejones,

a journalist in rihanna's hometown of st michael about this elaborate new title. as you said, it's a fancy title, ‘ambassador extraordinary‘. in fact, all that means is that she now has the specific responsibility for promoting education, tourism and investment for barbados. that's really what it is, she has direct influence over those things, and i guess she will be working with the government over education, tourism, and investment in barbados, trying to get some more foreign exchange into the country. and the prime minister is saying that she already a track record in the world of things like business? yes, the prime minister's saying that rihanna, she's looking at all her business acumen, and she says the fact that it's a significant creative acumen and shrewdness in business, as well as her charitable contributions has led her to this decision to give her the title. but, shane, you know as well as i do that there'll be people watching

saying that this is just a big publicity stunt. maybe some people overseas, but i don't think that's the feeling on the ground here in barbados. i think that we love rihanna, rihanna loves barbados. we recognise the immense talent she has and immense influence she has globally, and itjust makes sense. publicity stunt — i don't think so. in boxing, britain's anthonyjoshua has retained his three world heavyweight titles with a win over his russian opponent, alexander povetkin at london's wembley stadium. joshua knocked povetkin out in the seventh round, extending his unbeaten professional record to 22 fights. holly hamilton at the sport centre has more. anthonyjoshua has anthony joshua has indeed anthonyjoshua has indeed retained his heavyweight titles after the ——

knocking out alexander povetkin defeating. forjoshua, that means 22 professional wins and boxing fans are now looking to whether a date can be set with wbc champion wilder for the undisputed heavyweight title. holly hamilton on antonyjoshua's victory. a reminder of our main news — lawyers for a woman who has accused the us supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh of sexual assault say she's agreed to testify before the senatejudiciary committee. the committee chairman had given christine blasey ford until today to decide whether she wanted to proceed. that is just about it for me. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @lvaughanjones. hello there. we have already seen

some big contrast in the weather through the first half of the weekend and that will continue into sunday as well. this was the scene as the end of the day. clear skies, it is set to be a fairly chilly best tonight. temperatures are well down in single figures. a mix of sunshine and showers for many areas on sunday. we have this frontal system shifting its way eastwards across england, wales two. higher pressure holding on to ward the north. the sunday morning, a soggy start to the day for much of wales, central and southern england two. to the north, much clearer skies after that chilly start. some sunshine and a peppering of showers at italy for the northern parts of ireland and northwest

scotland. this rain will start to push towards the south—east and it will not eatjust heavy rain to contain with, but also some brisk winds blowing in from the north. we could see gusting around 50 mph. further north, still that breeze coming from the north, blowing in one of two showers across wales, northern england. showers and sunshine in between. the bulk of scotla nd sunshine in between. the bulk of scotland two, a real day of sunshine and sunglasses one minute, umbro is the next. with the of that breeze, it will feel not particularly warm. temperatures at 11 to 15 for the rest of us. later on sunday, eventually we will lose the wet weather from the south—east and most places are largely dry as the end the day. under those clearer skies, a chilly night, chilly first in monday but high—pressure moving in that should quieten things down as we start the new working week after

that fairly chilly start to monday. should be sunshine for many of us. a pretty soggy weekend. still a few showers on the map, especially for parts of northern and western scotland, under those western —— lighter winds, temperatures should creep up a bit. temperatures 1a to 17 degrees or so. tuesday, a largely dry day once again, fairly light wind. more rain later in the day. this is another approaching system. further south, a brighter picture and top temperatures around 16 or 17 degrees. this is bbc news, the headlines: lawyers for christine blasey ford, the woman who has accused us supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh of sexual assault, say she will testify against him next week. she gave details of an incident which she says happened when they were teenagers. mr kavanaugh has denied the allegations. iran's supreme leader has ordered security forces to find

the people behind the attack on a military parade that left at least 29 people dead. the state news agency says tehran has summoned the envoys of britain, the netherlands, and denmark, accusing their countries of harbouring iranian opposition groups. the american cable giant, comcast, has won its fight for control of the broadcaster, sky, after beating 21st century fox in a blind auction. the $40 billion bid will make comcast, which owns the nbc network and universal pictures, the world's largest pay—tv operator with around 52 million customers. now on bbc news, disclosure tells the stories of the victims of abuse