this is the briefing. i'm sally bundock. our top story: president trump defends his supreme court nomination brett kavanaugh, but says he could change his mind if he's convinced by claims of sexual misconduct. one of the salisbury chemical attack suspects is identified as a high ranking russian spy after an investigation by a security website. fears that moscow's also meddling in macedonia's upcoming referendum, which could see it move closer to the eu and nato. coming up in the business briefing: hey, big spenders! italy's populist coalition release their first budget amid growing fears about the country's finances. also coming up: the imf ramps up the size of argentina's bailout programme to stave off a worsening economic crisis. a warm welcome to the programme,

briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. also in the programme: desperate measures on the high street, the flagging department store debenhams opens what it's calling a concept store in watford. it's hoping in—store experiences will lure shoppers back to the high street. so what's the best experience you've had in a shop? do you shop mostly online? tell us what you're up to, just use #bbcthebriefing. president trump has defended thejudge he's nominated

to join the highest court in the united states after a third claim of sexual misconduct against brett kavanaugh. but speaking at a news conference, mr trump also said he could withdraw mr kavanaugh‘s nomination to the supreme court, if some of the accusations prove to be true. mr kavanaugh denies wrongdoing. our washington correspondent, chris buckler, sent this report. a nominee to sit on america's highest court will walk into a senate room later as the accused, and brett kava naugh‘s senate room later as the accused, and brett kavanaugh‘s testimony will be weighed against one of his accusers. in her opening statement to thejudiciary accusers. in her opening statement to the judiciary committee, christine blasey ford says she remembers a teenage brett kavanaugh drunkard league groping her, trying to re m ove drunkard league groping her, trying to remove her clothes and believing he was going to rape her. all of which he denies. despite this and other accusations,

donald trump is standing by the man he once as his next to supreme court justice. they know it's a big fat conjob. justice. they know it's a big fat con job. but justice. they know it's a big fat conjob. but the president justice. they know it's a big fat con job. but the president says he will listen to what doctor blasey ford has to say. republican senators have delayed this for weeks now. they're giving the women a major chance to speak. now, it's possible i'll hear that and i'll say," hey, i'm changing my mind. " that is possible. we want to give them a chance to speak. another woman, deborah merrett elma ramires, says brett kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a college park east b and a third accuser, julie swetnick, says as a high school student she saw him press up against girls and expose his body parts. she also claimsjudge kavanaugh parts. she also claimsjudge kava naugh was present parts. she also claimsjudge kavanaugh was present at a party when she was gang raped, although there is no suggestion that he was involved. he's called the

accusations ridiculous and from the twilight zone. we have had accusation after accusation after accusation. very few of them, if any, corroborated. lawyers, if we can make the contact, get on it right away. this hearing is not a trial, but with america watching, president trump's choice to become a supreme courtjustice knows he will have to subject himself to the court of public opinion. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. for full coverage of the senate hearing, stay tuned to bbc news on thursday. and for more on the background, go to the bbc news website. you can read all about the brett kava naugh nomination and the accusations against him in less than 300 words. go to bbc.com/news and follow the links. china has rejected a charge made by president trump,

that beijing is interfering in november's mid—term elections in the united states. mr trump said china didn't want his republican party to win because he his administration was challenging china on trade. translation: we do not and will not interfere in any country's domestic affairs. we refuse to accept any unwarranted accusations against china. that was the chinese reaction to those accusations from the us president at the un general assembly. a lot happening on the sidelines. one of the prime suspects in the salisbury nerve agent attack is a highly decorated russian military colonel, an online investigative group has claimed. bellingcat reported that this man who was named as ruslan boshisov, and said by the kremlin to be a civilian is actually colonel anatoliy chepiga, a top—level officer in the gru, russia's military intelligence service. here'sjon donnison.

he called himself ruslan boshirov when he arrived in the uk in march. he said he was a tourist. but this is who it's thought he really is, colonel anatoliy chepiga, a russian military intelligence officer. the online investigative journalist the site bellingcat said he was born in 1978. he is thought to have fought with the russian military in chechnya and was awarded russia's highest decoration, hero of the russian federation. using the alias ruslan boshirov, the british government believes he travelled to salisbury with another agent calling himself alexander petrov, their mission, to try to kill sergei skripal using a nerve agent hidden in this perfume bottle. british officials have not commented on bellingcat‘s revelations, but the

bbc understands there is no dispute in its identifying of anatoliy chepiga. speaking at the un in new york, theresa may again strongly attacked russia's actions. in response, russia said britain's allegations were kindergarten stuff. jon donnison, bbc news. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. an activist with the russian protest group pussy riot has left hospital in germany, saying he believes he was poisoned by the russian secret service. pyotr verzilov, who invaded the pitch during the football world cup final injuly, fell ill in moscow two weeks ago. rupert murdoch's 21st century fox will sell its 39% stake in sky to comcast, ending the media mogul‘s association with the satellite broadcaster after almost three decades. it had been unclear whether fox would retain its stake in sky after comcast won a £30 billion bidding war for the satellite broadcaster on saturday. mexico's new president,

andres manuel lopez obrador, has promised he'll set up a truth commission to investigate the disappearance of forty—three students four years ago in the state of guerrero. the students disappeared in september, 2014 in the town of iguala after local police handed them over to a criminal gang. the chairman of australia's national broadcaster the abc has resigned after claims he wanted a journalist sacked because she had upset the government. justin milne had been under pressure since a leaked e—mail suggested he had leaned on management to get rid of a reporter, which the government didn't like. a government inquiry into the matter is due to report in the coming days. let's turn to our top business story.

we are looking at italy, where worries over the country's finances have been pushing up its borrowing costs on bond markets. in a few hours time the government will release its budget for next year, the first since the anti—establishment five star movement and right—wing league formed a coalition government in june, with both parties making some expensive election promises. a minimum income for the poor, earlier retirement and tax cuts are all one the menu iain anderson is founder of the international communications agency, cicero group. lovely to see you. morning. always in the background there is a concern about italy. of course, that became right at the forefront in the summer when they have the election, and we saw the five star movement coming, liga, they made a lot of promises to get voted in, so what will they say today? this is a big moment for italy, sally, exactly as you says eight. the budget will be presented.

doesn't need to be passed until the end of october —— as you say. the finance minister, not from one of the two main parties, trying to reassure markets significantly yesterday by saying we're going to have a degree of fiscal discipline. at the same time making these significant spending commitments and reducing taxes. squaring the circle will be really hard to do. italian bond rates have been moving up over the summer in advance of this moment. what he decides will have big implications for italy's ability. their debt to gdp is 13096, thatis ability. their debt to gdp is 13096, that is a lot to get to service if it's becoming more expensive?m that is a lot to get to service if it's becoming more expensive? it is, and markets' focus for the past few weeks is increasingly on italy. what he decides will have a big impact in

terms of the ability for italy to be able to raise funding going forward. it's a very important day. we will keep a close eye. iain, thanks very much. iain is back speaking with us about other stories later in business briefing. donald trump has said he doesn't have a timeframe for north korea to denuclearize. he was speaking at the un shortly after his secretary of state, mike pompeo, said he planned to visit pyongyang next month to set up a second summit with the north korean leader kimjong—un. our state department correspondent, barbara plett usher, sent us this update. the us is moving forward on negotiations with the career. mr pompeo met the north korean foreign minister here and he accepted an invitation to go to pyongyang next month. that will be part of the north —— security council session,

how to go forward with this, and what america wants other security council members to push north korea to do in this context. the second pa rt to do in this context. the second part of it is sanctions, the americans are clear they want to keep up the maximum pressure to give them leverage in negotiations, but them leverage in negotiations, but the russians and chinese have said the russians and chinese have said the sanctions should be eased. there's quite a lot of cheating. the americans have called out russia as a major cheater. i don't know if mr pompeo's going to name names but he'll definitely stress the importance of keeping up the sanctions regime. mr trump has been talking up north korea as part of his big diplomatic achievement here at the un, especially his great relationship with kim jong—un. in fa ct, relationship with kim jong—un. in fact, he told mr pompeo not to set a timeline for denuclearisation. he said don't play the time game, there's no need to rush, it could ta ke two there's no need to rush, it could take two years, three months, five months, as long as there are no missile or nuclear tests and the

sanctions remain, it doesn't matter, which is something i'm sure kim jong—un would like to hear, but i don't know about mr pompeo. barbara plett—usher covering the un general assembly for us. your with the briefing. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: a kayaker‘s slapped in the face with an octupus by a seal, probably the strangest story you'll see all day. benjohnson, 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. you're watching the briefing. our headlines: president trump says sexual misconduct allegations made against his supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh are part of a "big, fat con job" but hints he'll withdraw his support if he's convinced by testimony by one of the accusers later. the salisbury nerve agent attack suspect who claimed he was an innocent tourist is identified by a security website as a high—ranking russian spy.

now, there are new fears about possible russian interference, this time surrounding a critical referendum in the republic of macedonia this weekend, which may determine whether the country integrates into the eu and nato. the referendum is asking macedonia's two million people to approve a plan to change their country's official name to the republic of north macedonia. doing so would distinguish it from the neighbouring region in greece and end a name dispute that's been blocking macedonia's route to eu and nato membership. our europe correspondent damian grammaticas reports. he is the prime minister shaking up this corner of europe. in a region russia has long influence. asking macedonians to vote this weekend to change their country's name. because

doing so will open the path to the eu and nato membership. our dream is a modern european macedonia, says zoran zaev, which will be integrated into the eu. the prime minister is asking to macedonians to compromise the country's name and sense of history for the promise of a european history. it would be good for macedonia. that than now. better than now. i am sure. it doesn't matter whatever they call us. the significance of the other things is important. so you would not feel that you are losing history? not at all. but you'll be getting something the future? much more. to get this far, he has done a deal with greece to end the dispute over the name macedonia that has blocked the way

forward. our citizens, more than 80%, want to be part of the european union and nato. having a strategic goal more than 27 years, we have now the biggest democratic right to decide for ourfuture. we the biggest democratic right to decide for our future. we are in front of democratic decisions and we are very happy because of that. rising over. is a giant statue of alexander the great. greece says he and the name their heritage from ancient times, and it will have the changes they want to the eu. the new name named in this referendum is the republic of north macedonia. on the day that greece was signed, russia has claimed they had tried to create trouble. that night, there were riots as copier,. there were evidence of some who took part of

this talk russian money, it said investigators. —— skopje. now the same investigators are focusing on possible russian interference online. more than half the population, 1 million macedonians, 01’ use population, 1 million macedonians, or use facebook and twitter. thousands of new accounts are being greeted each day. the fear is that these are russian controlled networks being readied, put in place to stirup networks being readied, put in place to stir up trouble soon. what the russians are trying to achieve in the region, it is not to welcome macedonia. they keep maintaining the stability. that is the point. so of course there is no sense to be aggressive with all the big online armies of trolls. they can do it after the referendum. it is better. the perfect time. the progression politician here is part of the campaign to undermine the

referendum's legitimacy. he is openly hostile to the west. they wa nt to openly hostile to the west. they want to delete us. is the future not... our future is russia and euro asian union. the country from greece to china. the tactic is to corporate boycott of the referendum. if turnout falls below 50%, the vote will not be allowed. the pro—western government will be undermined, and thatis government will be undermined, and that is when the online armies can be unleashed. bearing dramatic is, bbc news, back at three. —— damian grammaticas. —— skopje. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello, i'm tulsen tollett. coming up in your thursday sport briefing: the countdown to the ryder cup continues with the pairings due to be announced in the coming hours.

we'll find out later who'll host football's euro 2024 tournament. and juventus maintain their unbeaten start to the italian season but barcelona can't do likewise in spain. the excitement is building as the opening ceremony for the 42nd ryder cup gets underway in paris later on thursday. the captains will also name their pairings for the first set of matches on friday morning. earlier in the week phil mickelson suggested that both he and tiger woods would be willing to pair up and redeem themselves. back in 2004 the duo — then the top two players in the world — failed to win a point on the opening day. the experiment was promptly scrapped and it doesn't appear current captainjim furyk will bring it back. imean, i i mean, i guess nothing is out of the wrong. they did place in golf yesterday. —— realm. they both mentioned it would be a better period in the past. i won't ever said that it could not happen, but it is partly not too likely. uefa's executive committee will choose the host nation for euro 2024 later on thursday. the decision will be made in switzerland with both germany and turkey the two countries competing,

unlike 2020, where the tournament will be staged in 12 cities in 12 countries. germany said the case it presented will make it very difficult for uefa to overlook them while turkey said its bid represents a new frontier for uefa. we hope that we will get this tournament, because it is important for football, so the tournament, because it is important forfootball, so the kids tournament, because it is important for football, so the kids can offer the clubs, for the federation, everybody sort this in 2006, when we had the world cup in germany, and this is important for our country. i don't know what will be this decision, but we hope that we can win. in case you missed it, juventus maintained their unbeaten run in italy's serie a with a 2—0 win over bologna. paulo dybala and blaise matuidi goals inside the first 20 minutes was enough in turin as cristiano ronaldo and company. —— company made it six wins from six

played in the league. they're three points clear of second placed napoli who also won on wednesday. barcelona remain top of la liga in spain on goal difference despite being beaten 2—1 by leganes. real madrid's on loan midfielder oscar scored the winner. they stay top because oscar's parent club and european champions real were beaten 3—0 by sevilla with two first half goals from andre silva setting them on their way. and in the third round of the english league cup chelsea came from a goal down to beat liverpool 2—1, eden hazard with the winner four minutes from the end. arsenal were 3—1winners over second tier brentford thanks to a danny welbeck double. their north london rivals tottenham won a penalty shootout over watford after it finished 2—2 at the end of 90 minutes in what was a frenetic finish. now, in a lot of sport, you have to be naturally gifted to reach the top level. and basketball is no different.

in fact, if you're tall, you can be pretty good. take a look at this 12—year—old from montreal. yes, that's right, that's oliver rioux playing for his school team. in case you missed it, this video is still trending around the world. at 12—years—old, he's already 6 foot 10. and with the net lowered to a junior height, the game looks pretty easy for him. that is somewhere way appear. —— up here. you can get all the latest sports news at our website — that's bbc.com/sport. but from me and the team that is your thursday sport briefing. a group of kayakers got more than they bargained for when they got up close to a group of seals in new zealand. they filmed a seal appearing to attack them — with a rather unusual weapon, as caroline rigby reports. blink and you will miss it. but

there is something ratherfishy going on here. we were just trying to shoot cute seals. one popped up his head with an octopus in its mouth. this group of kayakers were filming their trip of the coast of kirkorov new zealand's south island, when it sees that they paddled to close to a seal having its large. my friend kyle was not in the right place at the right time. basically got smashed in the face. pretty massive octopus, too. he felt so much pain on his neck. he was really confused. luckily, he made a quick recovery from the sucker punch. the octopus also managed to escape its predator, believed to be a new zealand first deal. —— fur seal. the

deal was not a damp squib, and got these kayakers these kaya kers in these kayakers in more ways than one. that will definitely give you an adrenaline rush. will smith organised his next adrenaline rush because he performed a stunt to mark his 50th birthday. it is aimed at raising awareness about deprivation. asi as i say, he turned 52 days ago, antimarket by dangling above the grand canyon from a helicopter. yes, it isa grand canyon from a helicopter. yes, it is a budgie with a difference. it is highlighting the work of the global citizen charity, which aims to end extreme poverty. stay with

us. to end extreme poverty. stay with us. we have the business briefing coming right up. good morning. another fine moreton bay on the way for many today. the next 24 hours will see some weather changes. in lincolnshire, the hot spot was 24 degrees. by the time we get to friday, temperatures will be a good 10 degrees lower, if not a bit more. that cold air is to the north at the moment. lying behind us were the front, which is snaking across the far north of the uk, to take us to the start of the day with our press of rain. it keeps temperatures up overnight. ballment colours to the north, cooler to the south. we start the morning rush hour with a chill in the airagain. the morning rush hour with a chill in the air again. a touch of cross here and there, mostly with single figure temperatures. a bit more cloud in north—west england to bed to what we saw yesterday. across the highland and ireland, a wet and windy start. the rain will turn a bit more showery as it works through

scotla nd bit more showery as it works through scotland in the morning and early afternoon. by the end of the day, a few showers into the north of it in. one or two showers and sunshine falling into scotland. this time, the cooler colours in the north, the warmer in the south. much, much cooler across scotland, northern ireland by the end of the day. temperatures at best in the mid—teens. but south of the midlands, wales, and southern england, a warm day, maybe a degree 01’ england, a warm day, maybe a degree or two warmer than it was yesterday. this fragmented area of cloud and some showers working across the south coast is what will bring cooler air to all by the time we going to friday. friday could start with a touch of frost in the northern half of the country this time. high pressure could be moving in keeping largely dry. but as that cool front was away, all of us will have seen the door open to cooler conditions to see the end of the week out. more cloud to begin with is the cold front moves away in this hour. sunny conditions for the mist majority. one of two showers in scotla nd majority. one of two showers in scotland and northern ireland throughout the day. mostly dry

friday, but a chilly one, with temperatures between 12 and 16 degrees. a big drop across the south, compared with what we have seen so south, compared with what we have seen so far this week. high pressure holds on across the south as we go into the weekend. it inches away slightly, just to allow the weather front is into scotland and northern ireland, bringing cloud and some showers. but most will stay dry, particularly in england and wales, where we will stay a little cooler. goodbye for now. this is your business briefing. i'm sally bundock. hey big spenders. italy's populist coalition releases its first budget, amid growing fears about the country's finances. plus — bailout boost for argentina. the imf lines up more money to stave off a worsening economic crisis. and financial markets in asia are mixed following the fed's decision to raise interest rates and signals more hikes to come.