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 court in chicago has convicted a white police officer of the fatal shooting of a black teenager in 2014. jason van dyke shot laquan mcdonald 16 times in a case that sparked months of protests in the american city. van dyke is to appeal. the united nations says it's urgently trying to raise $50 million for immediate relief to help victims of the earthquake and tsunami in indonesia. at least 1,500 people are confirmed to have died on the island of sulawesi. a criminal investigation is under way after hundreds of tons 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 and scotland 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 me mps should have been informed sooner. 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 is garry pettigrew, who wasn't available for comment today. —— he 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 waste, and said tonight in a statement the amount of waste produced by the nhs the burning outweighed the entire incineration capacity in the uk. not so incineration capacity in the uk. not so says the environment agency. we've looked across the country, worked with other healthcare waste operators, we know there is no capacity issue with incineration gci’oss capacity issue with incineration across the country to deal with clinical waste. industry experts

agree but say the cost of incineration is rising. we still got the same number of incinerators, we still got more or less the same amount of waste going through them, what has changed is the market price for that capacity. it fluctuates a lot over the years, over the recent 12 or 18 months, the price has increased considerably. the department of health and social care covering england said in a the environment agency said as part of its enforcement action, it had partially suspended the company'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 is not clear what this will mean for

the compa ny‘s future is not clear what this will mean for the company's future and the ability of the nhs to dispose of its medical waste. now on bbc news, the travel show. this week we are in kazakhstan. the view from the top. a vast country in the middle of central asia. full of stunning landscapes and nomadic traditions. you can feel the fish tugging on the net. nature and the great outdoors have always been central to that kazakhstan people's way of light. —— life. birds chirping, fish jumping, sunset, way of light. —— life. birds chirping, fishjumping, sunset, i get it. and i am here to explore how they are now combining both ancient and modern ways to stay in touch with their wild side. it feels good to make the sound, but i don't know

what they are saying. this is a lot offun! i have arrived in keswick sun's —— kazakhstan‘s bigger city of almaty. 0nce kazakhstan‘s bigger city of almaty. once that when the country was part of the ussr and before that it was the capital city. now things have changed. back in 1991 it was the

last soviet republic to declare independence, ten days before the colla pse independence, ten days before the collapse of the union. since then has been under the president who moved the capital north to the city of akrotiri. 0ne moved the capital north to the city of akrotiri. one thing is clear, this country has gone through a tumultuous period. but through it all nature has continued to play a vital role for the once nomadic people here and to travellers who visit. you start to get a sense of that at the green bazaar. there has been a market here since before soviet times. this is fermented horse milk, which has been around since the nomadic times and they say it isa since the nomadic times and they say it is a cure for tuberculosis. it is a strong case. the aftertaste is almost like you are smoking a cigar. i don't know why, but that typically what it tastes like. very sharp, very intense taste. —— that is exactly. some russian influences have

remained. but some of the old has acted it and is that have been suppressed under the soviets have once again been bubbling to the surface. such as faith in nature, known as baksis. can you tell me what it is? spiritual servants who are created by nature to help people. these days in modern culture, the people still go see a baksi? yes, it is part of our life, if official medicine, european medicine doesn't help, people go to a baksi. i can't say i know what to expect but i feel ready. i am taken

toafar expect but i feel ready. i am taken to a far corner of the city, an old unmarked apartment block. i am on my way up to the baksi's apartment, she will be waiting for us outside the door. not exactly what i expected. we have just arrived we havejust arrived here in we have just arrived here in the apartment, we are in the middle of some kind of ceremony. there are two ladies who are hitting their souls cleaned, it is hard to know what is going on. this is extremely intense. can you

explain a little bit of what is happening? like an exorcism? each baksi is different. in this one incorporates elements of islam, kazakhstan‘s most followed religion. there is a power in this room, i cannot describe right now. i have never experienced anything like this. so now it is my turn, having

witnessed the devotion of the others, i iq would not be right to go through it without the same belief. we agree on just a blessing to my journey. but belief. we agree on just a blessing to myjourney. but then unexpectedly, i seem to be getting the full treatment. it feels good to make the sound, but i don't know what they are saying. as an experience alone it is very powerful. as the process continues, the baqsi calls on the totem animals as they did many years ago here. i may not believe in everything that is happening here, but i do like to

open myself to the experience as a traveller. all i can say is, i know i feel something. although many muslims here frown on these ancient ceremonies, to some kazakhs, they area direct link ceremonies, to some kazakhs, they are a direct link to their nomadic past. it's the world ‘s ninth largest country, but has extant is also one of the most sparsely populated. —— kazakhstan. its people we re populated. —— kazakhstan. its people were traditionally nomadic with their lives tied to their environment. today travellers come to explore its relatively untouched landscapes. i want to find out more of the kazakhstani people's relationship with nature today. i am heading east to the world's fourth—largest lake, aral see, or at least it was. welcome to the dusty

streets of this village, if you can believe it used to be a bustling fishing village, but if you come over here and go down to the ground, you can see what used to be the bottom of the aral sea. there is not much fishing going on now. it has been called one of the world's biggest environmental disasters. the sea which stretches the border between kazakhstan and was becker stand was once about the size of ireland. —— use pakistan. —— was becker stand. —— uzbekistan. the seed dried out and with it went the livelihoods of many people who lived on the sea's produce. i have heard that here in kazakhstan and the sea was actually coming back and bringing travellers as well. so off

igoin bringing travellers as well. so off i go in search of the aral sea across miles of the old seabed. i have arranged to meet a guide in this region. he wanted me to see the full extent of what the sea, which was actually a large lake, once was. thousands of years before it dried up thousands of years before it dried up in the 20th century. the view from the top! what caused it to recede so far? the flow of water was diverted to

feed the soviet cotton industry. uzbekistan still remains one of the world's largest suppliers of cotton, but while uzbek side was lost, interventions mean the kazakhstan side is returning. approaching the shawl, one of the biggest draws for travellers has been the uri site of shipwrecks scattered across the old sea bed. ——

shore. —— eerie. spiderwebs everywhere. here we are. at one stage this was the fourth largest city in the world, and soon it will retain that title. —— sea. i made it. both strapping, fishjumping, sun setting, i get it. i get it now. a beautiful place. —— birds chirping. good morning. this is where we spent the night last night. it might look like the desert, but actually it was very cold this morning. the bedding wasjust a simple roll out the low mat on the ground with some blankets. but this is the fishermen‘s house. they are

going to take us out to catch some fish. they are cheaper. i am working on it. but it should be a good day. —— chipper. my hosts tell me i am not the first traveller to stay with them following pc‘s return. —— the sea's. the sun has not yet crested over the horizon. today we are fishing, and on the fishing team, we have one sleepy inexperience travel show presenter, and lay posts, the fishermen and his father. these are oui’ fishermen and his father. these are our bows. there are a lot of fish out there and our plan is to catch them and bring them back to shore. 0k. them and bring them back to shore. ok. we are maybe 100 metres

offshore. we have encountered the first net. so from what i understand that the net was put out last night right before sunset. and it stays out until sunrise and they come on people back in, and every day is quite a surprise. but it seems that over the years there are more and more in the nets every single day. 0k, more in the nets every single day. ok, so, it is my turn to give this a shot. pulling on the net. it is not too hard, actually. it is interesting, because it is like when you are fishing with a real, you can feel the fish taking on a gnat. —— reel. —— on the net. you must love it out here.

so we have been pulling the net for about 30 minutes, now. the basket is almost full. so i think we are probably getting it in the end. we have caught a lot of fish. besides the amount, they are big fish. myself, being a traveller, being out with people is a wee special. here you can tell that there is a lot of i°y you can tell that there is a lot of joy in thejob you can tell that there is a lot of joy in the job this morning. you can tell that there is a lot of joy in thejob this morning. for

them, you can tell that they absolutely them, you can tell that they a bsolutely love them, you can tell that they absolutely love it, especially when they can bring in a hall like this. —— haul. they can bring in a hall like this. -- haul. i they can bring in a hall like this. —— haul. iwanted they can bring in a hall like this. —— haul. i wanted to see how kazakhstan‘s relationship with nature is changing. sigh meeting up with the mountain guide. she has agreed to take me out to some of the places she likes to explore. —— so i am eating. —— meeting. we begin with one of the country's most impressive cultural sites. they look almost eight paintings. and these cliffs are eight paintings. and these cliffs a re covered eight paintings. and these cliffs are covered with petroglyphs, right? there are many sides. there are about 5000 coming here. it was discovered in 1957 by an archaeologist. it is more than 5000 carvings on the rocks in this area.

and this is the central part, which is very significant and very important at that date, because people were speaking from here, and it was served as a backfill. so you can clearly hear what they were talking about down in the valley, where the people were standing and listening. so here we see the 12 dancing men which is doing the ritual dance. and here is a woman who is giving birth to a child. as you walk around the site, it is amazing how many carvings you see, here. carla tells me it is thought they believed more animals —— be more animals they cut into the rocks, be more animals they would successfully hunt. —— karla. it adds to the clearance today, being a to come in touching distance of being so come in touching distance of being so old. i'm used to multiple layers

of security, men making sure that you don't breed on like this. but being able to see every little chip out of the stone makes it special. —— breath on art like this. but what karla really wanted to show me was how some people are mixing old kaza khsta n how some people are mixing old kazakhstan with the new. sand boarding on kazakhstan‘s most famous singing sand june. they must because under the right conditions, thejune makes a under the right conditions, thejune makesa humming under the right conditions, thejune makes a humming sound, almost like and organ. —— dune. it is huge. you can see the little dust devils twisting up the sides. it almost looks alive. the skin of the dunes

like a snake. 0ver looks alive. the skin of the dunes like a snake. over the past 150 yea rs like a snake. over the past 150 years it has moved like a snake. 0ver years it has moved like a snake. over the past 150 years it has moved three metres. slowly, but it has moved three metres. slowly, but it is moving. i don't know how we are going to snowboard down it. along for the ride was karla's friend and 0lympic snowboard trainer leanna. the dune reaches a height of 150 metres and while it might look placid from a distance, it is a different story when you're up there. it is a little windy today. but we are on the singing sand. i guess it is always how it is here. for myself, i have gone snowboarding before. what are some differences with sand boarding? —— sandboarding. leaned back, yes? that being said,

it was comforting knowing that i would be going slower than on snow. and the cool thing about a sand dune is there a —— there are no trees. —— sand dune. there are am strapped in. i think sand dune. there are am strapped in. ithinki sand dune. there are am strapped in. i think i am ready. —— there i am. this is a lot of fun, although i

promise you that you get sand in a lot of places you do not want sand. 0ne lot of places you do not want sand. one of those places is your mouth. i have a bit of a crunch in my teeth right now. but it is a rush. karla is about to come down. she standing up. she looks excited that little bit nervous. you have got it, karla! but before long, we are starting to get the hang of it. —— she's standing up. —— she looks excited but little bit nervous. this is a lot of work. what is

incredible, though, is when you come down, as the fans start to avalanche, you can feel it shaking and reverberating underneath the board. it is very cool. it seems as you come down. we have a final round from the very, very top, if i can — ifi from the very, very top, if i can — if i could make it. let's stay here and takea if i could make it. let's stay here and take a break for if i could make it. let's stay here and take a breakfor a if i could make it. let's stay here and take a break for a second. if i could make it. let's stay here and take a breakfor a second. yeah! and with that, my trip to kazakhstan is atan and with that, my trip to kazakhstan is at an end. and what a ride it was. hello. while there is some red in

the forecast, not everybody has it. saturday is the looking pretty, particularly across the south and south—east of the country. heavy rain expected. pretty chilly, too. in northern parts of the uk, it will be beautiful with sunshine on the way. this is what it looks like in the early hours of saturday morning. it is raining across yorkshire, parts of wales, to the south—east. misty, murky, fog in london, essex, perhaps indicated in surrey as well. notice that the weather is not bad in the morning across scotland, northern ireland, and eventually brightens up across the north—west of england, too. parts of the midlands, east anglia, the south—east, you are in for a wet afternoon. pretty chilly with 1a expected in london. at least a sunny 12 expected in belfast and also in the lower parts of scotland. after that, the weather in britain most of us. that, the weather in britain most of us. goodbye. —— the weather improves for most of us.

good morning. welcome to breakfast with naga munchetty and charlie stayt. 0ur headlines today: hope among the devastation. as the search for the hundreds missing in the indonesian earthquake continues, we hear one boy's astonishing story of survival. protests and bitter divisions, but us senators say they will approve brett kava naugh‘s controversial appointment to the supreme court. the president of the european commission, jean—claude juncker, says there's fresh momentum in brexit talks and warns no deal would be a disaster. former captain gary neville attacks the manchester united board after reports managerjose mourinho will be sacked after today's game with newcastle.