‘-- i know at this ‘ -- i know at this senator senator —— i know at this senator very well. i believe that she would never do this. i knew that to be the case before she even stated it at the hearing. she is a person of integrity and i stand by her. i have also heard some argue that the chairman of the committee somehow treated professor ford and fairly. nothing could be further from the truth. the terror man, along with his excellent staff, treated professor ford with compassion and respect throughout the entire process. that is the way the senator from iowa has conducted himself throughout a lifetime, dedicated to public service. but the fact remains, mr president, someone leaked this letter against professor

ford's express wishes. i suspect, regrettably, that we will never know for certain who did it. to that leaker, who i hope is listening now, let me say that what you did was unconscionable. you have taken a survivor, who was not only entitled to your respect, but who also trusted you to protect her. and you have sacrificed her well— being trusted you to protect her. and you have sacrificed her well—being in a misguided attempt to win what ever political crusade you think you are fighting. my only hope is that your callous act has turned this process into such a dysfunctional circus that it will cause the senate and

indeed, all americans, to reconsider how we evaluate supreme court nominees. if that happens, then the appalling lack of compassion you have forwarded professor ford, well at least have some unintended positive consequences. mr president, the politically charged atmosphere surrounding this nomination has reached a fever pitch, even before these allegations were known and it has been challenging, even then, to separate fact from fiction. we live ina time separate fact from fiction. we live in a time of such great unity, as the bitter fight over this nomination both in the senate and

among the public clearly demonstrates. it is not merely a case of differing groups having differing opinions. it is people bearing extreme ill will toward those who disagree with them. in our intense focus on our differences, we have forgotten the common values that bind us together as americans. when the some of our best minds are seeking to develop even more sophisticated algorithms, designed to link us to websites that only reinforce and cater to our views, we can only expect our differences to intensify. this would have alarmed

the drafters of our constitution, who were acutely aware that different values and interests could prevent americans from becoming and remaining as single people. indeed, at the six objectives they invoked in the preamble to the constitution, the wonder that they put first was the wonder that they put first was the formation of a more perfect union. their vision of a more perfect union does not exist today. if anything, we appear to be moving further away from that. it is particularly worrisome that the supreme court, the institution that most americans see as the principal guardian of our shared constitutional heritage, is viewed

as part of the problem for a political problem. mr president, we've heard a lot of charges and counter charges about judge kavanaugh, but as those who have known him at best have attested, he has been an exemplary public servant, judge, teacher, coach, husband and father. despite the turbulent, bitter fight surrounding his nomination, my fervent hope is that brett kavanaugh will work to lessen the divisions in the supreme court, so that we have far fewer of these decisions. and so that public confidence in our judiciary

these decisions. and so that public confidence in ourjudiciary and our highest court is restored. mr president, i will vote to confirm judge kavanaugh. thank you, mr president. senator susan collins, republican of the main, she held out earlier today so the main, she held out earlier today so that she would wait before indicating which way she would vote. she was going to announce it and she just has. something of a masterclass in closing arguments there, but essentially saying that tomorrow, it is going to be a yes. just to remind you that it was 50 — 49. sorry, 51-49. if two you that it was 50 — 49. sorry, 51—19. if two outstanding senators had flipped and crossed over to that site, then itjudge kavanaugh would

not have succeeded in his attempts to sit on the supreme court. so a yes from senator susan collins. we will find out what that means after 9pm here on bbc, news. in the meantime, let's go back to the other story. a criminal investigation is underway after hundreds of tonnes of medical waste, including body parts, were left to pile up at incineration sites in the uk. healthcare environmental services have the contract for disposing of much of the hospital waste from england and scotland. the government has been urged to explain why it did not tell parliament it had convened the cobra emergency committee last month to discuss the problems. so what are the legal requirements of how medical waste is stored, managed and disposed of? joining me now is terry tudor — associate professor from the university of northampton and senior lecturer in waste management. thank you for speaking to us,

firstly, convening the cobra committee. was this real, or is this really a risk to national and regional security? certainly from the report that i've seen, i wouldn't suggest that it is. it seems to be a situation whereby the waste was stored, more waste was stored than would have been permitted, but i probably wouldn't say it's a situation whereby the law has been broken. have they broken any rules or was? again, from what i have seen, it seems to be a situation whereby they might have held moral waste than might have been permitted to do so, so in that

sense, there would be some issues about the permitted levels, but it seems to be that, really. we are hearing a lot about these incinerators, is the system not fit for purpose? i certainly wouldn't go down that road to say it is not fit for purpose, it seems to be the situation whereby things might have not gone to plan. we are dealing with a situation whereby, from time to time, things do happen and issues in terms of capacity at fourth the uk, relating to waste treatment. when you say, we are hearing all about capacity, what are you referring to with capacity? talking

about the speed the parts are disposed, or where they are stored? when we mention capacity, we are talking about treatment capacity. in other words, as regard to the actual treatment technology to manage the waste, that is what we refer to women talk about capacity. we will have to leave it there, but thank you for speaking to us. this year's nobel peace prize has been jointly awarded to two campaigners against the use of rape as a weapon of war. the nobel committee said the congolese gynaecologist, denis mukwege, and the yazidi human rights activist, nadia murad, had made a "critical contribution" to the fight against sexual violence in conflicts. let's go live to washington now where we can talk to tony gambino, executive director of the panzi foundation, which was founded by dr denis mukwege. thank you for speaking to us. tell

us thank you for speaking to us. tell us about doctor miracle! doctor denis mukwege is an extraordinary man, i have known him for about 15 yea rs man, i have known him for about 15 years and i really don't know anyone who combines his commitments to justice, his skill, he is an extraordinary surgeon, his courage, he survived assassination attempt six years ago, yet he chose to go back to exactly where people tried to murder him, to continue his work and with all that, he remains an extraordinarily humble man. he is an amazing man. we have heard about women celebrating outside of the clinic where he operates from, we've heard from the former head of the un

hci who recommended him ten years ago for the work he was doing. why do you think it is important this year? it is always important to try to respond better to the incredible suffering survivors of sexual violence around the world face. doctor denis mukwege speaks so eloquently saying that we can do so much more to respond to this crying need, not just in much more to respond to this crying need, notjust in the congo, not just in africa, but all around the world where sexual violence u nfortu nately still world where sexual violence unfortunately still continues at much too high a level. we are hearing about it being described as his heroic work. it is fantastic to have heroes in our lives these days, but i also am reading that he is possibly the only figure to have stood up and defended these women,

these victims of sexual violence. is that right? that's really not right. first of all, the survivors of sexual violence themselves stand up with great courage, having suffered sometimes violence that i can barely imagine. they speak out and go to the justice system to demand that their perpetrators are brought to justice. this is something that doctor denis mukwege always speaks about, his tremendous admiration for these girls, sometimes very young girls, and women, their courage in the face of what they have experienced to come forward. he and eve ryo ne experienced to come forward. he and everyone else who is working in this area certainly want to do everything they possibly can to encourage that and to support those achievements. we have run out of time, but thank you so much for giving us your

reflection on the nobel peace prize winner. let's have a look at the weather. on sunday, it will be wetter and windier. this area of cloud and rain across a central part of the country isa across a central part of the country is a weather front which will increase over the night. to the north, a few showers but it should be clear and cold. to the south—east, and other mild night with mr fogg. this is the picture for saturday, a drab day for england and wales, some heavy rain which will confine itself to the east, slowly will brighten up across the west. further north, it should be a fine day. bright, cool, and it will feel much cooler across the south east. on sunday, it will be wet and

windy across scotland and northern ireland, with the best of the sunshine in england and wales. this is bbc world news today. our top stories... key republican senators say they will vote for judge brett kavanaugh‘s nomination to the supreme court — a final senate vote is expected on saturday. he has been an exemplary public servant, judge, teacher, coach, husband and father. as the death toll continues to rise in indonesia after last week's earthquake and tsunami — we report on the plight of villagers who lost everything. there were four houses here that have just completely disappeared.