president trump's controversial nominee for the supreme court, brett kavanaugh, moves a step closer to getting the job for life. chanting more protests on capitol hill today as the senate narrowly voted to push ahead with a final vote on his appointment this weekend. it comes after accusations from dr christine blasey ford that judge kava naugh sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers. we'll be asking ifjudge kavanaugh is now guaranteed the job. also tonight: the nhs trust accused of decades of poor maternity care that it's claimed led to babies dying — the boss says he won't be resigning. sharing the nobel peace prize for their campaigns against sexual violence in war — a congolese gynaecologist and a yazidi human—rights activist. guilty of attempted murder — the man who pushed random strangers, including this 91—year—old man, on the london underground. and we will be reporting live from

liverpool which, for the next 48 hours, is the land of giants. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news — who will meet warrington in super league's grand final? wigan take on castleford in the second semifinal. good evening. president trump's controversial supreme court nominee, who's facing sexual assault claims, looks likely to be appointed this weekend after two previously undecided senators said they would back him. susan collins, who was regarded as a republican waverer, announced she would support brett kavanaugh. a democratic senator, joe manchin, also said he'd vote in favour of thejudge. several women have accused mr kavanaugh of sexual assault, allegations he denies. our north america correspondent nick bryant reports from washington. this uniquely american melodrama is

reaching its conclusion. capitol hill now the scene of protests night and day. donald trump claims these we re and day. donald trump claims these were professional protesters, paid for by the liberal billionaire george soros, but they claim to the nation's capital of their own will ina nation's capital of their own will in a last—ditch attempt to block brett kava naugh‘s in a last—ditch attempt to block brett kavanaugh‘s nomination. there please directed at his republican backers. so many of the fault lines in american politics converge on the supreme court, abortion, gun rights, 93v supreme court, abortion, gun rights, gay marriage, which is why this debate is so very passionate. the vote in the senate was procedural, but it had the potential to kill off the nomination. so the republican majority leader made what sounded like a closing argument. the uncorroborated mud and the partisan noise and the physical intimidation of members here in the senate will

not have the final say around here. the senate will have the final say. when the vote finally came, it passed, by the narrowest of margins. on this vote, 51—49, the motion is agreed to. america has been transfixed by the allegations from christine blasey ford that brett kavanaugh christine blasey ford that brett kava naugh sexually assaulted christine blasey ford that brett kavanaugh sexually assaulted her as a teenager, a claim he strenuously denied. i am innocent, i am innocent of this charge! tonight, 80 wavering female republican senator announced she would back his nomination in the final vote tomorrow. i she would back his nomination in the finalvote tomorrow. i do not believe that these charges can fairly preventjudge kavanaugh from serving on the court. i will vote to confirm judge kavanaugh. applause who would have thought back injuly, when donald trump first nominated him, that this suburban dad would be

the focus of such a fight? but it has ended with a major victory for the white house, donald trump will get his man. the supreme court will soon have a more decisive conservative majority. this brutal and ugly confirmation fight has felt like a clash between two divergent americas. in a washington that is ever more tribal, in a country that is ever more polarised. brett kava naugh will brett kavanaugh will be confirmed by the senate tomorrow, and this has been a milestone moment in american history, one that has pitted donald trump against the me too movement, conservative america against liberal america. the question has often been not just who you america. the question has often been notjust who you believe but whose side you are on, and this is such a major victory for the white house, it instantly gives donald trump a legacy — within two years of entering the white house, he has managed to get two right—wing justices on the supreme court, and

they should be there for decades to come, long after donald trump has left office. nick bryant, thank you. the head of an nhs trust at the centre of scores of allegations of poor maternity care says he won't be resigning. his comments come as a former nurse tells the bbc that problems on maternity units have been not been properly addressed for almost two decades. the chief executive of the trust, simon wright, who's had the job since 2015, has apologised to any families who've been failed over the past two decades. michael buchanan's report contains some distressing details. forceps used. the baby comes out, there's no cry. i thought, "no, she's dead." i know. julie hughes' daughter should be 16 today. but memories and medical records are all that remain. she says staff failed to spot baby elisha was in distress. i can remember saying to the lady who's got the little pink badge... sorry — i get upset. "she's dead."

"leave her." "no, no, no." and these people are around her, trying to recover her. they worked on herfor 20 minutes. i said, "please leave her alone." and that was it. no more. i held her, said goodbye. and. . .went home empty—handed. her daughter's birth was brutal. a forceps delivery that leftjulie needing reconstructive surgery. she says no investigation was carried out into what happened to her baby or to her. this former nurse, who wishes to remain anonymous, spent more than a decade at the maternity unit of the trust, and she says mistakes were rarely investigated properly. when i was there, i don't think they learned from it. i think it was a case of, "we will dot the is, cross the ts, and cross our fingers that it doesn't happen again. " if you don't learn,

you risk repeating errors. eva is three, happy and healthy. but her mother andrea is anything but. her daughter's forceps delivery left her with an open wound for nine months and ongoing incontinence problems. she has had two major surgeries and may need more, and now suffers with depression. it has just totally changed our life as a family. my daughter is ok, and i am grateful for that. but we haven't had any more children. i feel upset, the fact that i am perhaps not the only person this has happened to. more than 100 allegations of maternity errors over nearly 20 years are currently being investigated by an independent review. nhs inspectors have also raised concerns about current maternity services, although the trust insists its care is safe. it's all adding pressure on the trust's chief executive. are you out of your depth, mr wright? he refused our several interview requests, so we went to see him.

are you out of your depth, mr wright? no, not at all. i have a difficultjob to do and intend to see thatjob through. i want to take the opportunity once again to say that for any parent, any mother, who has had any issues to do with their mums, please come and talk to the organisation. we want to make sure we take that learning on board, and we are deeply sorry for any harm that has occurred to any baby in our organisation over the last 20 years. for those families who have been failed by the trust, an apology matters less than demonstrating lasting improvements in care. michael buchanan, bbc news. this year's nobel peace prize has been awarded to two people who have campaigned against sexual violence in war. one is a yazidi human rights activist, nadia murad. the other is a congolese gynaecologist denis mukwege. the nobel committee said they wanted to send a message of awareness that women are being used as weapons of war and the perpetrators should be held to account. 0ur chief international

correspondent, lyse doucet, reports. a peace prize to fight one of the worst weapons of war — sexual violence. 25—year—old nadia murad was brutalised by islamic state fighters. it all came back when she returned to her village in northern iraq last year — horrific memories of being raped every day for months, her mother and six brothers killed when islamic state stormed into the yazidi heartland, including their village of kojo. we visited kojo just weeks ago — a monument to a massacre, almost everyone killed or captured, women sold as sex slaves. nadia spoke of it when i met her in new york with her lawyer, amal clooney. translation: i went to visit my family home a few months ago. it was completely destroyed.

isis had left nothing behind. it's going to be hard to forget, but at least we are working now to bring those criminals to justice. at least that is something, a tiny victory. and today, in eastern congo, sweet celebration in a place known for its pain. the clinic where gynaecologist denis mukwege treats victims of sexual violence. translation: the prize has a big meaning that although it took time for the world to recognise us, the world has started listening to women, and not just listening but getting to know the problems that you face. cheering understanding our problems is not enough. they must realise that when you commit a crime against anyone, it's not right. they call him "the miracle doctor". in congo's war, sexual violence so severe many require surgery. they've used the world's podiums

to fight for justice. now they are armed with a powerful prize — to try to end one of the worst crimes of war. lyse doucet, bbc news. the head of the international police agency interpol has disappeared after travelling to china to visit family. meng hongwei hasn't been seen since he left his home in the french city of lyon, where interpol is based, a week ago. the consumer goods giant unilever, which makes products from dove soap to marmite, has decided not to move its headquarters out of the uk after all. the company had planned to close its uk headquarters in london and operate instead out of the netherlands. but most shareholders were against the idea. our business editor, simonjack, explains why. you either love it or hate it, and enough people hated the idea of unilever scrapping its uk headquarters for the company to shelve its plans. formed nearly a century ago, when the dutch company

margarine unie merged with british soapmaker lever brothers, the company has always been headquartered in both london and rotterdam, employing 7500 people in the uk and 3000 in the netherlands. since then, it has grown into a global consumer giant, producing brands such as pg tips, persil washing powder and magnum ice creams. its london home was opened in 1932, and it has been in the ftse 100 index of leading firms for decades. that means some pension funds that track the index have to own it. leaving would have meant they would have had to sell it. bad news for savers — and why this investor voted no. unilever is a very profitable company, with growth prospects all over the world. and if it had left the uk index, many uk pensioners and savers would have lost the ability to benefit from the future profits and dividends of the company. so a determined group of city institutions managed to shut the exit door in the face of a company management who still believe abandoning its london hq was the right idea.

scrapping their uk headquarters here was not to do with brexit. the company insisted it was to make it simpler, more nimble, and better able to protect itself against foreign takeovers. but shareholders' insistence that a company like unilever belongs on the london stock exchange will be a welcome pre—brexit boost. this is great news for london. it comes as a real shot in the arm at this time of uncertainty, in particular. it confirms london's status as one of the world's leading global financial centres. unilever is not the only anglo—dutch company. the biggest payer into uk pension funds is royal dutch shell, who are watching this process carefully. the message seems clear. uk investors want the world's biggest companies to call the uk home. simon jack, bbc news. a criminal investigation is under way after hundreds of tonnes of medical waste, including body parts, were left to pile up at several sites in the uk. healthcare environmental services

has a contract for disposing of much of the hospital waste from england and scotland. the government has been urged to explain why it didn't tell parliament it had convened the cobra emergency committee last month to discuss the problems. here's our health editor, hugh pym. one of the main sites at the centre of this medical waste saga, at normanton in west yorkshire. the company allowed a backlog of waste to build up at centres in england which should have been sent for incineration. the regulator, the environment agency, told the government injuly. ministers discussed it at a meeting of the cobra emergency committee last month, but it was only revealed yesterday. and the local mp, yvette cooper, told the mps should have told me mps should have been informed sooner. well, i think it's irresponsible that the health department and the environment agency still haven't told us the full facts about what on earth is going on, on an issue where there are environmental—health questions being raised, and we still don't know the full facts. it's completely unfair

on the local community. the other main site is at shotts in lanarkshire. the company, healthca re environmental services, is run from here. a new facility was opened only in april by princess anne. the managing director, garry pettigrew, said he would continue to work with different agencies until the issue was resolved. the company says there is a lack of incinerator capacity to burn the clinical waste and claimed tonight in a statement that the amount of waste produced by the nhs for burning outweighs the entire incineration capacity in the uk. not so, says the environment agency. we've looked across the country, worked with other health—care sector waste operators — we know there is no capacity issue with incineration across the country to deal clinical waste. industry experts agree but say the cost of incineration is rising. we've still got the same number of incinerators, we've still got more or less the same amount of waste

going through them, but what has changed is the market price for that capacity. it fluctuates a lot over the years, but over the recent 12—18 months, the price has increased quite considerably. the department of health and social care, covering england, said in a statement, "we are monitoring the situation closely and have made sure that public services, including nhs trusts, have contingency plans in place." "there is absolutely no risk to the health of patients or the wider public." the environment agency said, as part of its enforcement action, it had partially suspended the compa ny‘s permit here at the normanton site. that means it won't be able to receive any more hospital waste for incineration while it concentrates on trying to reduce the backlog. with the regulator taking action, it's not clear what this will mean for the compa ny‘s future, and the ability of the nhs to dispose of its medical waste. hugh pym, bbc news, west yorkshire. the death toll continues to rise in indonesia a week

on from the earthquake and tsunami. at least 1,000 500 people are known to have died but rescuers fear the final death toll could be much higher as they try to reach remote areas on the island of sulawesi that have been cut off. 0ur south east asia correspondent, jonathan head, has been speaking to people in a village just south of palu — one of the worst hit areas — where they are struggling to cope. if you want help in palu, you have to turn up and demand it. and even that doesn't always work. these men have come from a village submerged under a sea of mud. i met them yesterday after their request for government aid had been turned down. but today, when we went to see how they were living, camped in the local mosque, our arrival coincided with that of a police truck carrying some much appreciated rice and noodles, albeit enough only for a couple of days. "they showed up out of the blue", said this man, one of the men i had

met in palu just as the supplies were running out. "we're really happy. " it was a welcome opportunity, too, for some community outreach by a police force accused by some locals here of insensitivity to their plight. these officers wanted to correct that impression. "this is actually our own food", said the colonel. "but we heard about these people and we felt sorry for them." so many of palu's inhabitants are still living like this. day—to—day challenges are hard enough. but their biggest concern is over when and how they can get back to their homes. i was taken to see where the torrent of mud had swept across the village. so they are telling me there were four houses here that have just completely disappeared. yes, totally buried under the mud.

there is nothing left of them at all. without heavy machinery, which they don't have, there is no hope of clearing out this much mud. and there is another worry. the bodies of those caught by the mudslide. well, we have reached a point in the village where there is a really strong smell because of a body that is buried in some of this debris. they cannot get it out. it is really distressing the people who live here and it gives you an idea, with all this mud, just what an immensejob it is going to be to get these villages back to some kind of normal life again. that worry was brought home to them later when a search and rescue team brought a corpse to the mosque. a reminder these people really don't need of the immense human cost of this disaster. jonathan head, bbc news, palu, indonesia. the manager of the footballer cristiano ronaldo, says he is doing well and is "ready to return

to action" despite being accused of rape. shares in the italian football club juventus, where he plays, have fallen by 5% following the allegation which dates back to 2009. it comes as new pictures emerged of the footballer in a las vegas nightclub which are said to show him with his accuser kathryn mayorga. cristiano ronaldo strongly denies the allegation made against him. a man who tried to push two people onto the tracks on the london underground has been found guilty of attempted murder. paul crossley said he had chosen his victims at random and hadn't intended to kill them. one of the people he pushed was the 91—year—old former boss of eurotunnel, sir robert malpas, who was left with a fractured pelvis. richard lister‘s report contains some shocking images. watch the man in the mac, sir robert malpas, aged 90, and he never saw this coming. sir robert is badly hurt. commuters try to raise the alarm. eventually one of them pulls him to safety.

a little earlier, another attack at another station. tobias french just avoids the train pulling in, but his assailant escapes. when passengers finally grabbed paul crossley, he said he knew what he had done was wrong. he told the court he'd had an allergic reaction to his schizophrenia medication. this was a most shocking incident and the victims in this case were extremely lucky to have survived. this could easily have been a double murder investigation. and more victims. crossley said the attacks here and at tottenham court road station were not planned and he didn't intend to kill anyone. the jury disagreed, but the judge says crossley‘s mental state will be considered before he passes sentence. the police stress this kind of attack is extremely rare, but for these two men it could easily have been far worse. richard lister, bbc news. people's free time should be recorded as a way to measure

the uk's "well—being" — that's according to the green party. its co—leaders sian berry and jonathan ba rtley told their party's autumn conference that using a "free time index" for time spent outside work and commuting is a better measure of how well the uk is doing than gdp. it's time to shift away from the culture of work, which sees us work harder and harder for longer and longer, often without reward or satisfaction. and to recognise that true freedom will only be found when people have more control of their time and how that time is spent. meanwhile, plaid cymru's new leader has said brexit leaves wales "at the mercy of westminster". speaking at the party's autumn conference, adam price compared the brexit process to titanic and said voters should be given a chance to "avert disaster" through a fresh referendum on the final brexit deal. crowds have been on the streets of liverpool today to watch giants striding

through the city. the huge puppets are there as part of a street theatre festival. it's their third and final visit to liverpool. 0ur correspondent danny savage is there. hoisted high above me in liverpool tonight are two of the three giants that have been walking the streets of merseyside today. the car is not so of merseyside today. the car is not so little little boy and on the bed isa giant so little little boy and on the bed is a giant dog. you will see some wonderful pictures of him in a few moments. this is about to live street theatre, a story being told over a period of three days. today was the first day and tens of thousands of people came out to see the giants on theirjourney and this weekend many more thousands are people are expected here in liverpool to see them. it was thirsty work walking the streets of liverpool today, even for giants. this extraordinary, huge mechanical dog went down a storm. operated by a team of nearly 20 artists, the giants here are becoming the stuff of legend.

hound and his master woke up in the centre of liverpool this morning before setting out. they are huge and they have all these mechanical bits. and the design of the vehicles that drove them. it was amazing. the dog, whose name is xolo, had a great time, climbing on a bus shelter and stopping to be a pampered pooch. what was it like to manicure a giant dog? very difficult! but we did our best and it was excellent. it was a wonderful experience. we're so happy that they've come to liverpool and included us. there's also a third giant involved, washed up on a wirral beach, so the story goes. the operators, known as lilliputians, from the land of tiny people, are mainly french. but some locals are involved, too. so, i am controlling the rope, which is attached to the giant's right hand. so, helping him to walk in the most

natural way possible. it's quite a physically demanding role. i've never done anything like this before. this is all about a moving spectacle of street theatre on a grand scale. sound, light and vision. for the next 48 hours, merseyside really is the land of giants. danny savage, bbc news, liverpool. that's it from us tonight. have a good weekend. now on bbc one it's time for the news where you are. hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm lizzie greenwood—hughes. the headlines tonight. this year's grand final line up is decided as wigan beat castleford to once again set up a showdown with old rivals warrington.

glenn murray gives brighton only their second win of the season, beating west ham at home. and jorge lorenzo walks away from this huge crash at the inaugral thailand moto gp. we're starting with rugby league because this year's grand final line up has been decided. and once again, it's between wigan and warrington. the two old foes will meet at old trafford next saturday after wigan comfortably beat castleford 13—0 in tonight's second semi—final. joe lynsky reports. in super league, a season's artwork

can come down to one friday night shuffle. when it could finish at one point above castleford in the regular season but that is enough for home advantage. and games at this magnitude, that make all the difference. the early... 0ver this magnitude, that make all the difference. the early... over the line. crucially, that was the first half's only breakthrough. for all kosovar‘s tenacity, they struggle to get forward. by the second half, this the season was catching up with them and keep you make a mark on his second we get home match with sam tompkins. a try for him meant more to describes. after 90s and fisher, the poster boys moving on. but as we can's tenets in defence nature there will be one more outing to come. fittingly, tompkins got the final kick of the match. we can never looked like losing. it'll be their first grand final in the last six seasons. first grand final in the last six seasons. for wigan, this season of farewells goes the very end. joe lynsky, bbc news. meanwhile, there's a big blow for england's rugby league side,

as their starforward sam burgess has been forced to withdraw from the squad to face new zealand in the upcoming tri—series. he captained england in last year's world cup final, but shoulder and wrist surgery means he won't feature in wayne bennett's side. burgess, who plays his club rugby for south sydney, will remain in australia in preparation for the 2019 season. the three—test series starts at the end of the month. football now. brighton beat west ham in the night's premier league match. glenn murray scored for the home side on 25 minutes. it's brighton's second win of the season and moves them up to 12th in the table. the game of the weekend though is on sunday between liverpool and manchester city — joint top of the table and both unbeaten with six wins from their first seven matches. it's also city's first return to anfield since their rather hostile champions league tie in april. then, the city bus was pelted with objects on arrival at the stadium, breaking windows

and prompting extra security this time. in terms of the match, pep guardiola doesn't have a good record against the liverpool manager jurgen klopp. in their 14 previous contests, the spaniard has won just five against the german, and he's lost the last three. i have a lot of respect about the way he plays, how proactive they are in his teams. never, when i play a manager do i have to beat him to be better. i try to beat lots of teams. last season in the premier league, we did it. in champions league, we could not do it. now, we've become used tojose mourinho's increasingly strained press conferences, but today's effort ahead of manchester united's game against newcastle lasted just three minutes. after summoning the journalists to the training ground for 8am, united's manager was then quizzed on the possibility of his side going five matches without a win, their worst start for 29 years. most of the questions were based on whether mourinho felt

the poor form was acceptable. this is what he had to say. i think we have enough potential to do better than what we are doing in the premier league. we are better than this, and because we're better than this, and because we're better than this, and because we're better than this, our situation is going to improve. i have no doubt about that. meanwhile, newcastle united's manager rafa benitez has been fined £60,000 after accepting a football association charge for commenting about the refereee. it refers to comments benitez made about andre mariner prior to newcastle's premier league game against crystal palace last month. the game was a goalless draw. still with football, and england's women take on brazil tomorrow in the first of two friendlies.