welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is lebo diseko. our top stories: senior republicans discuss the next steps in the process to confirm donald trump's nominee for the supreme court. it follows a day of dramatic testimonies on capitol hill from judge brett kavanaugh and dr christine blasey ford, who's accusing him of sexual assault. doctor ford, with what degree of certainty do you believe that cavanagh certainty do you believe that cava nagh assaulted you 7 certainty do you believe that cavanagh assaulted you? 100%. i swear today, under oath, before the senate and the nation, before my family and god, i am innocent of this charge. also on the programme — cast out for refusing to kill their disabled babies, we meet the kenyan mothers standing upfor babies, we meet the kenyan mothers standing up for their children. and the invisible threat that could

wipe out half the population of killer whales in the world. hello and thank you forjoining us. it's been a day of emotional testimony at the us senate, as president trump's nominee for the supreme court, brett kavanaugh, repeatedly denied allegations that he sexually assaulted a teenage girl some 30 years ago. earlier, his accuser, professor christine blasey ford, insisted that the attack did happen, and described its devastating impact. here is what both had to say at the start of the hearing. iam here i am here today it not because i wa nt to i am here today it not because i want to be. i am terrified. i am here because i believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while brett kavanaugh and i

we re to me while brett kavanaugh and i were in high schools. my family and i intend no ill—will towards dr ford or her family, but i swear today under oath, before the senate and the nation, before my family and god, i am innocent of this charge. the bbc‘s chris bucklerjoins us now from washington. chris, as we said, and emotional day, what stood out to you? yes, it was striking to hear to people both with incredibly powerful testimony, but strikingly different approaches, different tones to how they give evidence to thisjudiciary committee. we had christine blasey ford who was very controlled, very calm but nonetheless very emotional and quiet. the voice shaking a she talked about what happened 36 years ago and she talked about the alleged attack. on the other hand from judge cavanagh attack. on the other hand from judge cava nagh we have attack. on the other hand from judge cavanagh we have someone who was angry. what some refer to as a

righteous anger at —— cavanagh mac. often shouting at times saying that he was not responsible. simply saying that he was not in any way involved. but what we got were two different people saving to make very different people saving to make very different things about many —— two very different things about many yea rs very different things about many years ago. i wash pushed onto the bed and he began grinding into me. i yelled, hoping that someone downstairs might hear me. and i tried to get away from him, but his weight was heavy. brett groped me and try to take off my clothes. he had a hard time because he was very inebriated and because i was wearing a i—piece bathing suit underneath my clothing. i believed he was going to

rape me. i categorically and unequivocally deny the allegation against me by dr ford. i never had any sexual or physical encounter of any kind with dr ford. i never attended a gathering like the one dr ford describes in her allegation. i've never sexually assaulted dr ford or anyone. so, chris, you said there that the republicans really tried not to go after doctor ford directly but they did accuse the democrats of politicising this? yes, this is ultimately a political process. this hearing to try to appoint a new supreme courtjustice. hearing to try to appoint a new supreme court justice. and hearing to try to appoint a new supreme courtjustice. and it is a deeply political one in terms of washington. but it also felt incredibly personal today. and there is no doubt that when you talked to democrats or republicans they will tell you there are people who are

having their reputations dragged through the dirt. and alternatively people have been forced into difficult questions about things they say happened many years ago and they say happened many years ago and they have to relive them. and as a result we have democrats and republicans essentially fighting with each other as they listened on this committee to two people telling two very different stories. you could tell as far as republicans we re could tell as far as republicans were concerned there was a great deal of frustration. just listen to senator lindsey graham hit out at the democrats. to my republican colleagues, if you vote know you are legitimising the most despicable thing i have seen in my time in politics —— you vote no. you want this seat? i hope you never get it. i hope you're on the supreme court. that's exactly where you should be. and i hope that the american people will see through this charade, and i wish you well andl this charade, and i wish you well and i intend to vote for you and i

hope everybody who is fair—minded will. chris, this has become so politicised, hasn't it? tell us what's at stake for each side? yes, it is incredibly important, because it is about appointing a justice to the highest court in america. a court that essentially can decide and influence america's laws. and judge cavanagh is undoubtedly the peak of president trump. he wants him to sit on the court and partly because he is a conservative judge court and partly because he is a conservativejudge —— court and partly because he is a conservative judge —— judge kavanaugh. conservative judge —— judge kava naugh. democrats are conservative judge —— judge kavanaugh. democrats are concerned he could push this further to the right. this is all important because ultimately a supreme courtjustice will sit there for life and that meansjudge will sit there for life and that means judge kavanaugh could influence the decision of that court for decades. who exactly was each side trying to convince, because they were not, you know, the republicans were not likely to convince the democrats, the democrats were not likely to

convince republicans, but a few senators are undecided? yes, it is an incredibly small number. ultimately you could argue that there were two audiences, one was president trump, and certainlyjudge kavanaugh president trump, and certainlyjudge kava naugh was trying president trump, and certainlyjudge kavanaugh was trying to impress him because of the suggestion that he was not impressed by how he spoke in a fox news interview earlier this week. he wanted him to be more aggressive, he wanted him to defend himself more, and certainly we had that today but there is no doubt that today but there is no doubt that america was watching this very closely. what is important as far is senators are concerned is to try to convince the fuse when —— few senators who could sway one way or the other. there are democrats in republican states who will watch closely to see how both of these people give evidence today. but beyond that as well you also had those republicans who were concerned about this nomination, who were concerned about the allegations that we re concerned about the allegations that were coming forward. now, some of those small group of senators, three

republicans and one democrat, have been eating and having conversations, we know the republican party have also been having conversations. —— have been meeting. and the republican senators are going to push ahead with that vote in a matter of about 12 hours' time and that means there could be a final senate vote as early as the start of next week. chris, i know you're going to be watching that very closely for us, and thank you for giving us your thoughts on this. let's get some of the day's other news: financial authorities in the us have filed a lawsuit against the head mr musk has described the charges as unjustified. mr musk has described the charges . translation: mr musk has described the charges translationzlj mr musk has described the charges . translation: i was as an infant. translation: i was traced from home. a friend took me in. but after three weeks she asked me to put acid in my son's food. i refused to poison my child and left. —— chased. florence has struggled ever since, doing odd jobs to survive. and she can't even afford a

wheelchair for her son. she survive. and she can't even afford a wheelchairfor her son. she is not alone. many women in rural kenya say they are pressured to kill disabled children. no one knows how many of them give in. but infanticide has deep cultural roots. i'm trying to understand the cultural context, why children would kill children with disabilities, so i've come to the village near the masai mara to meet with a traditional birth assistant. she spent her whole life delivering babies. she says it wasn't an easy choice of parents of disabled children. translation: they didn't know what to do. they had no alternative. even though they loved the baby, if the mother asked the man for the baby, if the mother asked the manfora the baby, if the mother asked the man for a solution, he didn't have one. those who choose to defy

tradition do not always keep their babies. this is a care home in nairobi. i have a new found friend here. these children have disabilities, as you can see, but they need love, just like all children but the reality is their mothers and families have faced a lot of stigma and many of them have been forced to abandon their children in institutions like this. this home was started entirely by accident. my idea was to start the day care. but we had 11 abandoned children. in a month there were 30. a child is best placed at a home set up, but, well, when there is no other option. their parents simply never returned. such is the demand, there are now 86 children here

living in conditions experts say will only make their health worse. and she says the only thing the government gives them are more children to care for. every month, florence meets up with other mothers who have gone through similar things. like lydia, she was asked to insert needles into her son's wrists, she was told it would cause a slow but secret death. they draw strength from each other in a society where some would rather their children did not exist. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: tributes have been paid to postman pat, john connell. # and his black and white cat... in all russia's turmoil,

it has never come to this. president yeltsin said the day would decide the nation's destiny. the nightmare that so many had feared for so long is playing out its final act here. russians are killing russians in front of a grandstand audience. it was his humility that produced affection from catholics throughout the world, but his departure is a tragedy for the catholic church. israel's right—winger, ariel sharon, visited the religious compound, and that started the trouble. he wants israel alone to have sovereignty over the holy sites, an idea that's unthinkable to palestinians. after 45 years of division, germany is one. in berlin, one million germans celebrate the rebirth of europe's biggest and richest nation. this is bbc news.

the latest headlines: the woman who is accusing brett kavanaugh of the woman who is accusing brett kava naugh of sexual assault, the woman who is accusing brett kavanaugh of sexual assault, told the senate committee that the event 36 years ago changed her life dramatically. testifying earlier, judge brett kavanaugh denied allegations of sexual assault. let's get more on our main story this hour, the hearing in the senate judicial committee. jocelyn frye is a senior fellow at the centre for american progress. she is the former director of policy and special projects for first lady michelle obama. thank you forjoining us. critics

have said the democrats have delayed and delayed this process and it has and delayed this process and it has a negative impact on doctor ford, what do you make of that?” a negative impact on doctor ford, what do you make of that? i think that the system is a little unfair. doctor ford wanted to remain confidential, she wanted to figure out a way to tell her story, but do so out a way to tell her story, but do so in out a way to tell her story, but do soina out a way to tell her story, but do so in a way that protected her privacy. she, for reasons that were not in her control, her privacy was violated. now the real question is how to make sure that the process is fairand not how to make sure that the process is fair and not really point fingers at who is the plain —— to blame. at the process of the nomination was broken long before doctor ford came forward and there has been extreme partisanship on the committee for a wireless. now the real focus should be on trying to make sure that the

best information is put before the committee. what did you make of the process ? committee. what did you make of the process? it was so emotional, so emotionally charged, but we did see the republicans, they would say they have made an effort to make sure that she was treated fairly. well, i think she had an opportunity to present her testimony, which was important. i think overall, the process was woefully inadequate. when you look back to the 1991 hearings involving anita hill and clarence thomas, the process was far more robust than what the leadership did this time around. doctor ford was given an opportunity to speak, but there really wasn't an effort to provide opportunities for additional witnesses or experts, who could bolster her testimony. and the process was rushed. they have tried

to push forward at breakneck speed, even before all of the documents we re even before all of the documents were provided and before an investigation could be done. so i think the process has left something to be desired and it has hurt the overall process and it impaired dr blasey ford's opportunity to be heard appropriately. it is interesting you make the comparison to the anita hill case. i was listening back to some of her testimony just the other listening back to some of her testimonyjust the other day listening back to some of her testimony just the other day and the questions that were put to her, or people would say were so degrading, so people would say were so degrading, so dismissive of her account of what happened to. that didn't happen today. we heard rachel mitchell, that was the prosecutor who the republicans put forward, so she didn't have to face an entirely, a panel entirely made up of white

males, begin by saying i am sorry. well i think the prosecutor in this case is an experienced prosecutor who works on sexual assault cases. however, i think, who works on sexual assault cases. however, ithink, this who works on sexual assault cases. however, i think, this is not a court room. this is the senate judiciary committee and every member of that committee has an obligation to understand the witnesses coming before them and engage on the substance, that is why they are elected. i think what we saw from the male members in the majority, is really a refusal to engage dr blasey ford directly at all. sorry to interrupt, do you think it would have been better if she faced questions from republican members of the senate directly?” questions from republican members of the senate directly? i think it would have been, it would have been better in terms of them having to

respond to her directly. they basically ignored her. and i think what you saw is that they had someone what you saw is that they had someone else doing their work for them and then wentjudge kavanagh came before them, they had no problem with engaging with him directly and talking about his pain and his experiences. i think it was fairly dismissive of dr blasey ford injusta fairly dismissive of dr blasey ford injust a different fairly dismissive of dr blasey ford in just a different way that they treated anita hill. one of the things that really stands out from the anita hill case isjust things that really stands out from the anita hill case is just how vilified she was afterwards. both by wider society and also within her own community as well. what would you like to see in place now for dr blasey ford, to make sure that she is not traumatised like that? well, i think, she spoke herself about the tremendous support she has received from people across the country and i hope she continues to get that support. she is a survivor of sexual

assault and that is important for any survivor. i think it are the larger issue here is to also be treated with respect and credibility by the committee in self. —— in itself. i think process did not treat her well. go on... very briefly, what do you think has changed for the better and what do you think really hasn't changed at all since that anita hill case? at what has changed is that there are is an incredible amount of attention on this issue. women across the country, and men, are concerned about this issue. but what hasn't changed, really, is how the committee ultimately handled this type of issue. there were members on this committee that were dismissive of her, who said she is confused and

next up. —— mixed up. ifeel insufficient progress on these issues. thank you so much for taking the time to speak to us. the population of the world's killer whales is under threat, as a banned chemical once used as a flame retardant and coolant, has built up in the mammals' bodies, preventing them from reproducing. scientists from the zoological society of london say killer whales in british waters are likely to be extinct within a century. our science correspondent victoria gill has more details. there are some distressing images in this report. the ultimate marine predator is falling prey to an invisible threat — manufactured chemicals lingering in the ocean. polychlorinated biphenyls — or pcbs — that were once used to heat proof everything from electrical components to paint and glue, are leaching into the marine environment and are found at toxic levels in the bodies of killer whales. the very highest levels

in the killer whales are actually levels that we think will completely suppress reproduction. the effects of these chemicals have been at the heart of years of investigation by scientists, including this team from london's institute of zoology, who've carried out detailed postmortems on the bodies of marine mammals. the pcbs alone, no other threat, just the pcbs alone is enough to cause the extinction of more than half of the world's killer whale populations, which is really devastating, really. this is a killer whale apocalypse. polychlorinated biphenyls are extremely stable, heat resistant chemicals. they were used in a huge range of products, including paints and sealants, until research revealed them to be toxic. they were widely banned in the 1980s. their legacy though, has proven just as toxic. the un estimates that 1a million tons of pcbs have yet to be disposed of safely and they may still be

leaking from landfill sites today. in the ocean it's killer whales, apex predators, who suffer the worst consequences. it's killer whales' position at the very top of the marine food chain that leaves them particularly exposed to these chemicals. the killer whales eat everything in the sea, from penguins and seals, to even other species of whale, and because pcbs are everywhere in the environment they're in every marine animal, so each contaminated meal is another dose of these chemicals. they're also transmitted from mother to calf — pollution passed from generation to generation. victoria gill, bbc news. tributes have been paid to the creator of ‘postman pat', john cunliffe, who's died at the age of 85. the popular children's television programme, which began in the early eighties, was sold to more than 50 countries around the world. the bbc‘s tim allman has more. postman pat, postman pat, postman pat and his black and white cat. whimsical, gestalt check on a

heartwarming. postman pat and his black and white cat. —— postman pat. a television favourite for generations of children. in the fictional town of broomdale, eve ryo ne fictional town of broomdale, everyone in town was your friend and everyone in town was your friend and every day was and adventure. it was inspired by a cricket bat and home in the lake district. a postman who travels around and meet a lot of people, a friendly character and they said, sounds quite likely, i don't think anybody has done it. you go back and write an outline for 13 episodes. john cunliffe also wrote and appeared in rosie andjim, another gentle programme aimed at entertaining and educating youngsters. born in lancashire, he had been a librarian and a teacher.

hill go on to write nearly 200 books, also several volumes of poetry. but he will be best remembered for postman pat, a character of genuine warmth and charm who lived in the hearts of millions of children. john cunliffe, the creator of postman pat, who's died at the age of eighty—five. hello, good morning. it's fair to say yesterday across england and wales felt a bit more like summer. in the sunshine in lincolnshire, we had temperatures here as high as 25 celsius. now, today, still going to be dry in most places. there'll still be some sunshine

around, but it will feel much, much cooler. we've got high pressure sitting to the west of the uk, the warmth is getting pushed away into the continent, and around the top of the high pressure, we've got these cooler winds coming in behind a band of cloud, which, in the morning, is affecting southern counties of england. it will clear away, you could get one or two light showers coming in on a north—easterly wind into the south—east corner of england, the north—westerly will bring more cloud into the highlands and islands and a few scattered light showers here. temperatures, though, will be significantly lower for the likes of newcastle. six degrees lower than yesterday in london. those temperatures will fall away sharply underneath the clear skies, with the winds falling light. northern half of the uk sees a little bit more breeze, some cloud perhaps pushing into northern ireland and especially the north—west of scotland. not quite as chilly here, but it will be much colder further south, 2—3 into northern parts of england and wales. sunshine, though, will boost those temperatures on saturday, lighter winds too. a bit more of a breeze across the north, more cloud coming into scotland and northern ireland, rain into the north—west, may be arriving into the central belt later on in the day. but ahead of that, it will feel a bit warmer, with temperatures 17 or 18. that weather front coming into the north—west is very weak, not amounting to very much

and as it heads south, more a band of cloud with little or no rain on it at all. there's the band of cloud moving into england and wales. sunny spells following on behind that. the north—westerly wind will start to drop the temperatures and a fair number of showers coming into scotland, some of those in northern scotland could be quite heavy as well. sunday will feel a little cooler, those temperatures 12—16 typically north—south. high pressure out to the west of the uk, those showers getting pushed away into the north sea. a northerly airflow as we head into monday, that's never a good direction, and that means some sunny spells, yes, but we will see quite a chilly feel on monday. and into the north—west of the uk, the next weather system arrives, clouding over in scotland and northern ireland, some more substantial rain into the north—west by the end of the day, but temperatures struggling between 11—14 on monday. that rain will push southwards overnight, leaving us with a more westerly airflow. not quite as chilly by day or by night. there will be a lot of cloud, and probably not much rain. this is bbc news.

the headlines: senior republicans are discussing a timetable for the next steps in the process to confirm donald trump's nominee for the supreme court, brett kavanaugh. the judiciary thejudiciary committee the judiciary committee were scheduled to vote on friday in. earlier in the day, the committee heard from doctor christine bolasie ford, who was accusing mr cavanaugh of assaulting her at a party 36 yea rs of assaulting her at a party 36 years ago. “— of assaulting her at a party 36 years ago. —— doctor christine blasey ford. doctor ford insists that she is certain it was mr cavanaugh that she is certain it was mr cava naugh who assaulted that she is certain it was mr cavanaugh who assaulted her and that the assault change the life significantly. judge kavanaugh emphatically denied the allegation of sexual assault. each is democratic senators of destroying his family and good name for political reasons. —— he accused.

now on bbc news, hardtalk‘s stephen sackur talks to former