this is the briefing. i'm victoria fritz. our top stories: republicans press for a vote on donald trump's nominee to the us supreme court, a day after hearing from the woman who accuses him of sexual assault. dr ford, with what degree of certainty do you believe brett kavanaugh 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. thousands of rya nair passengers face travel misery, as more than 200 flights are grounded by industrial action. france prepares the stage for the biggest team event in golf, with europe and the us bringing the big guns out on the green. electric shock. tesla boss elon musk is charged with fraud by us financial regulators, sending shares in the car maker tumbling. a warm welcome to the programme,

briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. and you can be part of the conversation. with planned industrial action by ryanair today, we'd like to know if the prospect of plane strikes would alter your travel plans. tell us what you think, just use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. a crucial vote is due to take place in a few hours‘ time by the us senate judiciary committee on president trump's supreme court nominee. it's the first in a series of votes before judge brett kavanaugh can be confirmed.

it follows an electrifying hearing by that same senate judiciary committee that went on for almost 8 hours, with testimony by both judge kavanaugh and the woman who's accused him of sexual assault, christine blasey ford. in a session that was often heated and emotional, brett kavanaugh denied that he'd attacked her when they were teenagers. earlier, dr ford fought back tears as she told the panel that she had feared for her life as brett kavanaugh attempted to rape her. our washington correspondent chris buckler reports. had to, the committee hearing felt more like a court. with senators left tojudge the more like a court. with senators left to judge the testimony of a supreme court nominee against a woman who has accused him of a horrific attack when they were both teenagers are. i am here today not because i want to be, i am terrified. i am because i want to be, i am terrified. iam here because i want to be, i am terrified. i am here because i believe it is my civic duty. details

of christine blasey ford's allegations had already been published. but in the hushed committee room, her words had a different impact. i believed he was going to rape me. i tried to yell for help. when i did, brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from yelling. this is what terrified me the most. there was a stark difference in tone from brett kavanaugh, he did not try to hide his anger as he denied the allegations. my family and my name have been totally and permanently destroyed. he was careful in the language he used about doctor ford, but he attacked the process. describing it as a political hitjob that had impacted severely on his family. the other night ashley and my daughter is liza said their prayers are. little eliza, all of ten yea rs prayers are. little eliza, all of

ten years old, said to ashley, "we should pray for the woman". is a lot of wisdom for a io—year—old. should pray for the woman". is a lot of wisdom for a 10-year-old. across america, people watched the highly charged proceedings that saw democrats clashed with bothjudge kavanagh and democrats clashed with bothjudge kava nagh and centres. democrats clashed with bothjudge kavanagh and centreslj democrats clashed with bothjudge kavanagh and centres. i want to know what you want to do. i am innocent of this charge. you are prepared for an fbi investigation? a don't reach conclusions. you cannot have it both ways at. you are looking for a fair process, you can do the wrong town at the wrong time, my friend. in a tweet, president trump said colin datuk —— said colin. republicans are likely to push ahead for a full vote of the committee, likely to head to a senate vote next week. of the committee, likely to head to a senate vote next weeklj of the committee, likely to head to a senate vote next week. i am optimistic. i thought the judge did

well. we gave doctor ford the chance to have her say. i think it is time to have her say. i think it is time to vote. the longer that the nomination remains open, we know that more and more of these perilous, anonymous and uncorroborated allegations will be made. the committee heard powerful, personal testimony, but some will argue it was ultimately drowned out why an american‘s deep political divides. i'll be speaking to a lawyer who was at the senatejudiciary hearing, for her thoughts on the testimony and what happens next. that's in a few minutes. tens of thousands of ryanair passengers are facing travel disruption today because of strike action in several european countries. the airline has cancelled hundreds of flights as some of its pilots and cabin crew stage walkouts. but ryanair says the vast majority of its flights will take off as scheduled. caroline rigby reports. is the writing on the wall for

europe's largest low—cost carrier, ryanair? this it industrial action is the latest in a series of strikes in the latest months, following the airline ‘s decision in december to recognise unions for the first time. and with planes once again stranded on the tarmac, it is likely to cause yet more misery for passengers. pilots and cabin crew in the netherlands, germany and belgium will be involved in the 24—hour walkout, as well as cabin crew from italy, portugal and spain. although the vast security of flights will ta ke the vast security of flights will take plan, more than 250 could be cancelled and that could affect more than 44,000 cancelled and that could affect more than a4,000 passengers. ryanair has said it is notified those who are affected, but will not pay compensation, despite recommendations that it should. this latest row centres around where and how the company ‘s multinational staff are employed. currently

receiving irish contracts, some unions argued as living in other countries should be able to negotiate terms under local laws. stands the european commission was keen to reiterate to ryanair michael o'leary on his recent trip to brussels. respecting the law is not something which workers should have to negotiate, and not something that can be postponed to a later date. consumers, workers and businesses rightly expect this to be applied in practice. the airline says it has made significant process in negotiations over recent weeks, including reaching -.,, . ,, . ,, .. negotiations over recent weeks, including reaching collective . . . ,, .. negotiations over recent weeks, including reachind collective labour= negotiations over recent weeks, including reachind collective lab yet, = agreement in several countries. yet, with a number of unhappy staff and a new batch of unhappy customers, it appears turbulent times are not over just yet for ryanair. caroline rigby, bbc news. let's brief you on some of the other stories let's turn to our top business story now. billionaire tech entrepreneur elon musk has been charged with fraud by us financial regulators.

they allege the boss of tesla deliberately misled investors earlier this year, when he tweeted that he planned to take the electric car company private by buying back its shares. mr musk has called the action unjustified, saying he has always acted in "the best interests of truth, transparency and investors". david buik from core spreadsjoins me now. good morning victoria. do you think elon musk has an argument run in defence? such as i know, about five pages, no. let me explain. you got a company that in july pages, no. let me explain. you got a company that injuly 20 time share prices were $19 20. at the close of business last night, $307, that is in eight years at. in the share

price you're paying a huge amount for expectation. we all know that electric cars are the way forward. elon musk has been challenged over the years, are you sure you will make those thousands of cars? has been a doubt because the delivery as promised has never quite become that. he has obviously struggled to maintain that share price, which is important to him also, to give confidence to shareholders and his workforce. we all know electric cars are the way forward. i think the idea, as you say, on the seventh of august he led us to believe that the private, the company would go private. you are talking a company worth $56 billion, which is not insignificant. everybody get very excited and started salivating. there was some sort of muttering that it might be through some saudi wealth management. you can imagine,

it is like any ceo coming out and making share sensitive comments. it goes up and down. yesterday we saw the fact that seems to be this enquiry, those viewers who do not know, the sec is the security ‘s and exchange commission, the equivalent of our fca. the financial conduct authority. they are tough. is go to have to step up to the plate and give them a really good account of himself because the share price fell 1196 himself because the share price fell 11% yesterday, it will fall again today, i would. we will leave it there. i know you are back with plenty more papers. see you soon. seven men accused of planning a major terror attack in the netherlands are to appear in court later on friday. police say the plot involved assault rifles and hand grenades. the men, with alleged links to the so—called islamic state group, are also suspected of having materials to make a number of car bombs. russell trott reports. these elite dutch specially

anti—terrorist teams were taking a chances. footage released by police shows heavily armed officers with helicopter support moving in on a group suspected of plotting a major terrorist attack. execute as say seven men, armed and dangerous, were arrested. they are accused of tried to obtain assault rifles, handguns, explosive vest and materials to make several car bombs. translation: explosive vest and materials to make several car bombs. translatiosz is always difficult to decide how long you are the suspects carry on. 0n long you are the suspects carry on. on one hand, you need to gather evidence, but on the other hand you do not want an attractive take a. we had to act now because their plan was at a bad state. the gang were being watched for months as part of a surveillance operation carried out in the port city of rotterdam and arnhem and surrounding villages. although they haven't renamed, the seven are said to be in their 20s

and 30s and were known to the authorities. the key figure, they say, is a bit for your old man of iraqi origin, convicted last year of tried to reach territory controlled by the islamic state group. two others also had convictions related to attempt travelling to iraq or syria. this latest raid came three months after three men were arrested, suspecting planning attacks in rotterdam and other targets in france. the seven will appear on court targets in france. the seven will appearon court in targets in france. the seven will appear on court in friday —— in court on friday, meanwhile, the likelihood of a terror attack, say dutch officials, remained substantial. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: pop star to movie star. lady gaga turns oscar—worthy actress in the new movie, a star is born. 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 people 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 which 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, a million germans celebrate the rebirth of europe's biggest and richest nation. you're watching the briefing.

0ur headlines: donald trump's nominee for the us supreme court and the woman who accuses him of sexual assault have given dramatic testimonies in front of the senate's judiciary committee. republican senators are now pressing ahead with the process to confirm mr kavanaugh, with a first vote expected friday. let's stay with that now. let's speak to kristen clarke, the president and executive director of the national lawyers' committee for civil rights under law. that committee to you at the hearing. what was to be in the room? it was very powerful today. i was seated just a few rows behind dr christine blasey ford this morning,

andi christine blasey ford this morning, and i found her christine blasey ford this morning, and ifound her incredibly compelling. she, ithought, presented her testimony with great clarity. she did not embellish, when she was asked to repeat her account to several senators, there was tremendous consistency in her account. she was honest about the things that she did not remember, and she was followed byjudge brett kavanaugh and she was followed byjudge brett kava naugh who and she was followed byjudge brett kavanaugh who came out in a startlingly, in a very startling and angry fashion. i thought his tone was incredibly belligerent and it was incredibly belligerent and it was shocking and not becoming of someone was shocking and not becoming of someone who seeks a lifetime appointment to a nation's highest court. my hope is that the senators will show respect to dr ford and think about the value of bringing in

the fbi to take testimony, to investigate, and take statements from individuals who we heard about today. we heard about markjudge, who has been hiding out, who a p pa re ntly who has been hiding out, who apparently gave a statement indicating that he is not willing to come forth to the senate, does not wa nt to come forth to the senate, does not want to come forth, but the fbi can actually compel testimony from someone actually compel testimony from someone like him, or elect a witness. according dr ford, he was there, he was a high an eyewitness, andi there, he was a high an eyewitness, and i think it is critical that the senate in trying to determine the a ccu ra cy senate in trying to determine the a ccu ra cy of senate in trying to determine the accuracy of what happened that day. —— he was an eyewitness. accuracy of what happened that day. -- he was an eyewitness. is that what is likely to happen next, do you think? do you think we will end up you think? do you think we will end up with the fbi involved? no, to be honest, no. sadly, the senate

judiciary committee went ahead and scheduled to vote that is scheduled to ta ke scheduled to vote that is scheduled to take place just hours from now. they have not had a chance of the opportunity to digestive what they heard today from dr ford and brett kavanaugh, it is most unfortunate. the vote was then moved to the full senate and we know that there are many in the senate who heard what happened today and are uncomfortable with what happens, and it is possible that once this moves out of thejudiciary possible that once this moves out of the judiciary committee possible that once this moves out of thejudiciary committee that others in the senate will question, maybe be successful in postponing this process. but it is uncomfortable to think about racing forward with an irreversible lifetime appointment to the us supreme court with these kinds, this kind of disturbing allegations looming overjudge on the court. in the interests of transparency, you have filed a lawsuit, have you not, on behalf a

senator of oregon? we did, since day one these days have been extraordinary. we have seen the white house go through great efforts to conceal vast amounts of cavanaugh‘s to conceal vast amounts of cava naugh‘s records, and to conceal vast amounts of cavanaugh‘s records, and there are hundreds of thousands of documents on his ten year white house that have not been turned over to the public. —— brett kavanaugh. they have not been seen by the public and that could shed light on what kind of individual he is. we filed in the senate yesterday on behalf senator because we believe that there is no way that any senator can say that they are carrying out their constitutional duty to provide consent of the constitution requires, under circumstances where vast amounts of relevant information had never been produced or considered by the senate. thank you

very much. thank you for having me. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. coming up on this programme... india and bangladesh face—off in the final of the cricket t20 world cup. after two years away, lots of talking and plenty of golf in between, the ryder cup is finally upon us. the sport's premier competition gets under way shortly just outside paris, these four men are leading the teams out. both teams were introduced to the crowd as part of a glamorous opening ceremony. the biggest cheer of the day was reserved for a certain tiger woods, before both captains, thomas bjorn andjim

woods, before both captains, thomas bjorn and jim furyk, woods, before both captains, thomas bjorn andjim furyk, made passionate speeches to the rallying proud. the ryder cup is a tradition unparalleled in history of sports, is one of passion, pride and powerful golf and it shows the world that golf truly is one of the great sports of the world. we will play with passion, commitment, and we will play with pride. —— crowd. at more than anything this week, we will pay for that crowd. india and bangladesh will go head—to—head in the final of cricket's asian world cup in dubai. india are ahead currently, they upset many predictions by eating pakistan many times. —— bangladesh. predictions by eating pakistan many times. -- bangladesh. is tough to beat bangladesh in bangladesh. they have proved it many times. they are

proving that actions are stronger than words and they are shown by their performances that their action is strong, and they have got experienced players in their side. jose mourinho's press conference on friday is one not to be missed. the manchester united manager is speaking for the first time about what appears to be a power struggle with his own player, paul pogba. at a strip in paul pogba of his position early in the week, benches united within and by a second league team. now for the first time as a unified country, germany will host football's european football championship. their bid — led by world cup winning captain philipp lahm — was chosen ahead of turkey in a meeting of uefa's executive committee in switzerland on thursday. it'll be the second time that germany has hosted the tournament, having previously held

the championship in 1988. berlin will host the final. we are happy and we will do everything for the tournament. we saw in 2006 in germany, the people were so emotional, and all the world, they came together and it was a really big party and, we will do our best that we feel the same in six years. it was a nightmare champions league debut with juventus for cristiano ronaldo. he was shown a red card in their 2—0 win over valencia last week that has only received a 1—game ban, which means you'll be able to face his previous team, manchester united, in the competition next month. —— he will be able to. you've almost certainly heard of lady gaga. a pop phenomenon known for her high—energy music and somewhat unusual fashion choices. but now she's earning critical acclaim as an actor. tim allman reports. we'll know lady gaga as a pop star.

for some, she is unique fashion icon, but now she has aspirations to bea icon, but now she has aspirations to be a pop star. she was in london the leading lady for the first time and it seems she is a natural with oscar buzz already building. that would be wonderful, but the reward for me is in the artistic experience of creating the song and giving it over to you and all can hope for is that it touches people's lives. it is a beautiful love story and it operates on many levels, and i am excited for people to see it and experience it. a remake of the 70s original, a star is born is about a struggling singer, played by lady gaga, he meets and falls in love with a country meets and falls in love with a cou ntry style. meets and falls in love with a country style. he is played by bradley cooper, making his directorial debut. actor, now director, any thoughts of a career change into music? no, no, there is

no career as a singer. that was jackson, that was jackson. not going to do it? i don't think so, no. the film will soon be released around the world and it has received rave reviews. the title may be a star is born, but this leading lady is a star already. stay with me on bbc news. so much more to come. hello there. across england and wales yesterday, he could be forgiven for thinking it was summer. today they will still be a lot of dry weather, there will still be some sunshine but it will feel much cooler. the warmth in the

heat is getting pushed away the other side of the channel, high—pressure sitting to the east of the uk, these cool winds rotating over the top of that. cooler air is coming in behind the band of cloud which is still affecting southern counties in england not friday morning. that moves away, could get showers coming in on a north—easterly winds to coast and the south—east. it will be a cold wind here. a significant drop in temperature for newcastle, 13 degrees here. it will be degrees cooler than it was yesterday in london. those temperatures will fall away quickly. it will be a cold night across the southern half of the uk, not quite as cold this time as on friday night in the north. rating possible too. bags of sunshine on the way and for most parts of england and wales, it will be dry and quite sunny. we will

start to see some rain arriving into the north—west, could get down to the north—west, could get down to the central belt by the afternoon. could be a shade higher ahead of that, 17 to 18 degrees. that weather continues to move southwards into saturday and sunday, as it moves southwards though, it starts to fade away. just a hint of rain across south—west england and wales. we will start to see the temperatures dropping a little bit from saturday in the sunday and they will probably be quite a few showers coming in scotland, few of those could be heavyin scotland, few of those could be heavy in the north of scotland particularly. a pretty chilly day on sunday certainly. we still got a high pressure to the north—west of the uk and more of a northerly airflow on monday. the cold air will push its way down to the southern half of england and wales but it is going to be dry, little or no rain around at all across the uk, except in the north—west, where we will see the next weather system arriving in the next weather system arriving in the north—west of scotland. ahead of that, temperatures struggling to 11

to 14 that, temperatures struggling to 11 to 1a degrees, it will feel quite chilly. this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. electric shock — tesla boss elon musk is charged with fraud by us financial regulators, sending shares in the car maker tumbling. plus, $1 trillion of trade in the balance — time is running out for a new deal on nafta as talks between the us and canada hit the buffers. and on the markets: the nikkei injapan hits a 27 year high on friday after strong gains on wall street, thanks to the federal reserve's up beat assessment of the us economy.