this is news line from berlin the president trumps supreme court nominee wins crucial backing two key senators pledged their support for judge cover no he could be confirmed later today the senate is due to vote on a controversial nominee despite allegations of sexual misconduct. in formula one britain's lewis hamilton takes poll position they do in japan all sebastian vettel and ferrari continue to wobble to bring you the highlights from qualifying into the cup. and one of oprah's great voices falls silent.

the music world mourns the loss of soprano come by you who has died at the age of eighty five. i'm glad you could join us president donald trump's nominee for the u.s. supreme court brett cover no appears to be heading towards confirmation after weeks of partisan infighting over the controversial nominee the senate is expected to hold a final vote later today two key senators have pledged to support cover not tipping the vote in his favor the judge has been extensive you questioned by the senate judiciary committee and probed by the f.b.i. after three women accused him of sexual assault. on friday the senate voted to end debate on the matter by

a margin of fifty one senators to forty nine now analysts believe that is also likely to be the margin in covenant confirmation vote on this vote the yeas are fifty one the nos are forty nine the motion is agreed to. two wavering senators firmed up in favor of kavanagh on friday republican susan collins of maine as announcement of her intention effectively broke the deadlock. mr president i will take him her judge cabinet. that piles the pressure on democrat joe manchin who had not declared his position but soon after collins announcement he said he would also support governor are defying most of his democratic colleagues. of the republicans only lisa murkowski of alaska looks likely to vote against governor today who are republican jeff flake of arizona said he would support unless quote something big changes he's the

senator who was confronted in a lift by undercover no protesters and subsequently propose the f.b.i. probe into judge kavanagh's alleged sexual misconduct so the republicans look likely to garner enough votes today to confirm the judge's nomination. meanwhile thousands of demonstrators protested outside the supreme court they even entered the senate building confronting senators several hundred demonstrators were arrested. responding to the ongoing outcry president trump issued a tweet saying the very root elevator screamers are paid professionals only looking to make sentences look bad don't fall for it. well the demonstrators were all in favor of continental it looks as though you are on the winning side of the end of a fruit episode in washington. for more let's cross to washington where michael caniggia is standing by also michael it looks like judge governor's confirmation to

the supreme court is all but assured at this point how big a victory would this be for donald trump's republican party. well from a pure perspective of party politics it is certainly a big win for donald trump and the republican party after all the republicans had their goal for a long time set on achieving a republican a conservative majority on the supreme court and in fact donald trump campaigned on this very issue to make the court have a conservative majority during his election campaign and with the with the confirmation of kavanagh he will have achieved that goal but the question is whether the price to achieve that goal the bitter fight over over kavanaugh this ultimately worth it because this could alienates mainstream voters and especially women from the republican party in the future so it has to be seen whether actually

that this big win will hold in the future so let's look at the immediate future looking at congressional elections which are coming exactly one month from today do you see this confirmation battle influencing how people vote. well that is the big question and the answer is not is not known yet what seems clear is that this this confirmation battle this bitter fight will rally the voters of both the democrats and republicans the base of both parties the democrats that is probably not such a big deal because their party has been motivated to vote against trump basically for a long time but for the republicans this could be a good sign because their base trump supporters aside has not been so motivated to go to the polls and this gives them a reason and your nation to go to the polls and and show their support for trump and the republican party and what this confirmation hearing has done is put matters

like sexual assault and women's rights into the spotlight again but what does it tell us about washington today. well the the poison and the the very poisoned remarks by dr ford in the hearings certainly elevated this topic on the top of the political agenda in washington today the topic of sexual assault the relations between men and women and gender politics in general but what is also remarkable here is that it seems that that party lines even here are. general gender lines because while most democrats women and men believe for it most republicans men and women say they side with kavin are so it seems that in today's washington party politics basically trumps everything else. michael can in washington thank you. time now for other stories making

headlines this hour at least fifty people have been killed in congo after an oil tanker collided with another truck authorities say at least one hundred people were injured now the tanker was on its way from the western city of my teddy to the capital kinshasa it's not yet clear what caused the collision. the funeral of a thirteen year old boy said to have been shot dead by israeli soldiers has been taking place in gaza officials in the territories said he was one of three palestinians killed in friday's clashes on the border with israel the israeli military said thousands took part during explosive devices and grenades at its troops. people in latvia casting their ballots in parliamentary elections today opinion polls suggest a populist party catering to the country's large ethnic russian minorities and the need ahead of parties in the governing center right coalition.

now this one is for wine lovers while most of the cultural industries have been suffering under the heat of the summer in western europe the wine industry is reaping the benefits with a great harvest almost finished here in germany wine makers already toasting its success. the sun is shining on germany seven yards and it's one harvest two thousand and eighteen looks like it'll exceed expectations this year's output is higher than it has been financially two decades one fish smaller than the average. yes it became clear early on that it would be an extraordinary year we had the earliest blooms the earliest shoots everything happened earlier than ever before and p. realised something special was coming. german wine makers are delighted by the early harvest bringing it closer in time to competitors in southern europe and german wine lovers can equally rejoice the tipple promises palatable pleasures.

as inside as an afternoon twenty eighteen is certainly one of the best vintages of the last twenty years also in terms of quantity we last produced this much in one thousand nine hundred ninety nine but it wasn't nearly as good and the dry weather has left the vines very healthy giving us exceptionally our own matic white wines and rich and full bodied reds for. high quality german wines and more off them time to make room on the wine rack for the vintage of two thousand eight hundred. in formula one breeding champion lewis hamilton has secured pole position for sunday's japanese grand prix the mercedes driver is looking to stretch an already strong lead at the top of the driver standings during qualifying he got a helping hand from main rivals ferrari who season is fast unraveling.

right. this was the moment substantial realized he was in trouble after heavy rain ferrari decided to stick with into media tires for the final session a bad call kettle was right the track was dry and once again the season tire confusion cost his team. kettle was forced to hit the pit and settle for nine his worst qualifying this season the team missed hades on the other hand switched to slicks strolled across the street. and hamilton finished in pole position and. everything about my people but ultimately when it comes to being under pressure and making the right decisions right that's why we are the best team in the world with tri freezes to go in a fifty point lead in the driver's standings hamilton could wrap up the title with time to spare. today's wonderfully a games are under way in

germany but veritable women have already moved into a second after beating balls to neil last night dutch midfielder david class and hammered home in the fifty's in the thirty fifth minute to open the scoring. and then net of blame and second late in the game minutes after coming off the bench removed but i am an above champions by and at least until today's results are in. spanish opera singer. has died in her home city of buffalo in a at the age of eighty five voice was known for its purity precise control and power and she was a pioneering arising a form of operatic singing. known as el cantante she found a new audience in one thousand nine hundred seven though when she joined rock star freddie curie in recording an album the title track off the no now became the anthem of the one thousand nine hundred two summer lympics. for more let's talk to a classical music correspondent rick in boston it's good to see you so let's start

with that famous moment in one thousand eighty seven duets with freddie mercury which then became the anthem of the buffalo in olympics in one thousand nine hundred two what's the background to that performance well pretty murky he loved opera and he loved months of a couple a couple and she invited him to join her on a project for the summer games and they had this iconic video. and she actually performed alone at the one thousand nine hundred two games because he died the year before when she did that she reached an audience of some two billion people in this was many times more than she had in all her four thousand other appearances combined this made her as you can see it rocked. it rocked indeed i mean operatic circles she also rocked own way by reviving conto what moved her to do that. well you know bill contra literally means beautiful singing and bill conto always was there and always will be there as long as there's operatic singing the

premier bel canto singer of the twentieth century was maria colace and she didn't allow very many people into her sphere but she did say a month or a couple a is my true successor in there actually close friends she gave her. earrings that had been given to her by the singers to follow bill conto the particular quality about months or a couple days voice is that she had this light airy quality she could hit the high notes and she could certainly fill a room with her voice but she could also sing the soft notes beautifully and high in which she did that she'd made her fans ecstatic. going in to have personality she had quite a reputation really as a diva. and that. well you know a diva is also we think of them a sort of. slightly and maybe high strung and nervous calling off performances and short notice driving her body to distraction and waging war against other divas but she wasn't that way at all she was actually

a warm hearted person very inclusive. music should people together even though she was somewhat eccentric but very extroverted not introverted in this sense to she was a nature a national icon of of space and of course of the world in the sheer popularity of this person people adored her for her singing and also her human qualities and incidentally that signature moment with frederick freddie mercury some operatic singers do that when their voices are indeed declining she was actually at the height of her career and she kept going at a very very late very late phase even singing two years ago. classical music correspondent rick fall cathing q thank you. that's our world news update for now we will have another one in exactly forty five minutes but for now we leave you with the unforgettable voice of one said act by.

make your smart t.v. even smarter with a w. bush want to see. what you want when you want to. update. extraordinary. jack. decide what's off and. find out what you can do w. jumpstart.