the spanish opera singer who's died at the age of 85. hello and welcome to bbc news. judge brett kavanaugh has been sworn in as the newest member of the supreme court hours after the tightest vote in the senate for more than a century. it is an historic win for president trump and it also ensures a conservative majority among the justices, who have the final say on us law. his ascent to the highest court in the land comes despite weeks of heated and divisive political debate after allegations of sexual assault. our correspondent barbara plett usher has the latest from washington. it has been a great week for donald trump, the economy is looking good, the supreme court even better. trump, the economy is looking good, the supreme court even betterlj stand before you today on the heels ofa stand before you today on the heels of a tremendous victory for a nation, our people and our beloved and constitution. just a few hours ago, the us senate confirmed judge brett kava naugh to ago, the us senate confirmed judge brett kavanaugh to the united states supreme court. this is what president trump, stroke as he would deliver, and he has, a month before midterm elections. brett kavanaugh ‘s confirmations of the conservative majority on the supreme court that will america's erections regeneration. shut it down! but it isn't the kind of victory he imagined, the bruising nomination battle has left ugly scars and exposed america's deep divisions. serjeant—at—arms will restore order in the gallery. it was a close vote almost among party lines and it didn't go smoothly. democrats had opposed mr cavanagh from the beginning on ideological grounds. they also rejected him as unfit for office after a harrowing debate over sexual violence are transfixed the nation —— kavanaugh. thejudge's nomination was upended by a university professor who accused him of trying to rape her when they were teenagers but is belligerent and partners in response bellied republicans to defend him as the victim of a political attack. democrats focus now on turning this distressing episode political gain. i understand, i share the deep anguish that millions of americans are experiencing today. but i say to you, my fellow americans, there is one answer. the vote. but the message read by women who feel empowered by the need to movement, they are convinced the voice of a sexual assault victim have been ignored. registers have lost this battle but they are going to carry on the fight into the midterms. even though on the fight into the midterms. even thouthudge on the fight into the midterms. even though judge kavanaugh has on the fight into the midterms. even thouthudge kavanaugh has won his seat on the supreme court the political drama continues. the nastiness of the dispute is also energised president trump's supporters. there is a lot at stake for everyone in this divided america. barbara plett usher, bbc news, washington. nikki gagnon is a sexual assault survivor from maine and a constituent of senator susan collins, who voted in favour of brett kavanaugh. nikki was at the protests yesterday and tomorrow, she'll be meeting senator collins for a survivors speak out. earlier, i spoke to nikki about what she hopes to get out of the meeting. well, tomorrow afternoon, a lot of protesters are going to the portland jetport and we are hoping to meet with senator collins when she flies in. we are not sure if she is going to show up, but we will be there regardless and are hoping to let her know how disappointed we are with her decision to confirm kavanaugh. why the disappointment, from your specific point of view? well, last november, i was kidnapped and raped here in a local area and my case is going to trial and so, like a lot of people here, i have a personal stake in this issue and ijust can't express how upset i am that she voted affirmatively for kava naugh. do you believe that voices like yours and many others right across the country just haven't been heard 7 yeah, absolutely. up until the final vote, i was hoping that our statements would have an impact on her, but it really feels like we haven't been heard. i protested three times in the past week and i was up at her office three times. the police kicked us out each time. i was arrested yesterday and i feel i could did everything i possibly could to be there and to try to let them hear my voice, but the staff was just very cool and very rude with us and i'm not sure what else we could have done. the protests we have been watching from right around the world, the different protests in washington dc, this feels like a particularly divisive moment in us history. it really is. it feels like, for people like me, our country is kind of slipping out of control. but as someone who really believes in protest as a force for change, i feel like we can't give up at this point. we have to keep working and keep up the momentum. november 6 is coming and that's when we will be voting. i wanted to pick up on the midterm elections — what kind of impact do you think these decisions will have? it will have a huge impact. in the last day, we have raised $4 million to fund whomever is going to run against senator collins. we don't know who that person will be, but the democratic candidate is going to have an incredible amount of resources to run against her. obviously, november we will see what effect that has on elections. thank you so much for sharing your story with others. let's get some of the day's other news. on the eve of brazil's presidential election, the far—right candidate and front—runner, jair bolsonaro, has vowed to tackle crime and reduce record high murder rates. mr bolsonaro accused previous governments of leniency in the treatment of criminals. he's denied claims he is racist, sexist and a homophobe. in indonesia, the bodies of more victims from the earthquake and tsunami have been unearthed, taking the death toll to around 1,650. more than a week after the disaster, officials say they're moving closer to calling off recovery efforts. the country's security minister says some of the worst affected areas will have to be declared mass graves. the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, is due to meet the north korean leader kim jong—un in pyongyang. mr pompeo flew in from tokyo which was the first stop of his east asia trip. he told reporters there that he hoped to settle the details for a second summit between president trump and mr kim on denuclearisation but north korea insists it has no intention of giving up its nuclear weapons as long as sanctions continue. there is growing concern over the fate of a saudi arabian journalist who disappeared while visiting the kingdom's consulate in turkey. turkish police sources suggest he may have been killed inside but there has been no official response from the country's authorities. saudi arabia says the accusations are baseless. caroline rigby has more. jamal khashoggi entered the consulate in istanbul on tuesday. he hasn't been seen since. the alarm was raised by his turkish fiancee, who had been waiting outside. since then, rumours have been swirling about what might have happened to him. appearing here on the bbc, he is a journalist who, in recent years, has been critical of some moves by saudi arabia's crown prince and had been living in self—imposed exile outside of the kingdom. speculation in turkey has suggested mr khashoggi may have been abducted or even killed within the consulate. but following an investigation by police, there has, as yet, been no official response from the turkish authorities. saudi arabia has dismissed talk of an abduction. it insists the journalist left the building shortly after he entered it. the kingdom's consul general in istanbul confirmed his country was helping with the search. he opened the doors to the consulate on saturday in an effort to demonstrate the missing man was not in sight. —— to demonstrate the missing man was not inside. translation: i would like to confirm that the citizenjamal is not at the consulate, nor in the kingdom of saudi arabia, and the consulate and the embassy are working to search for him and we are worried about his case. as the days pass, fears increase for mr khashoggi's welfare. calls for press freedom and the protection ofjournalists grow louder, too. the washington post has left mr khashoggi's column blank to mark his disappearance. what's clear is that the longer this mystery remains unresolved, the more it threatens to deepen strains on an already difficult relationship between turkey and saudi arabia. caroline rigby, bbc news. joel simon is executive director of the international committee to projectjournalists. i asked him what the next steps should be. first of all, i'm gravely concerned. i'm following developments, i'm reading more and more reports. there are strong indications that turkish authorities are convinced that mr khashoggi has been killed. we certainly don't know if that's true but this is the time for anyone with any information, notably the saudi authorities, they must come forward and make it public. this is a very grave moment and we need those with information to share it with the public. if he has been targeted, why do you think that would have been? well, he was a criticaljournalist, or he is a criticaljournalist. that's the thing we really need to stress that, that we really hope that this is not... he is a criticaljournalist, he has written critically —— that we really hope that this has not occured. he is a criticaljournalist, he has written critically about the crown prince. he has been sceptical of some of the reforms the crown prince has implemented. he has been critical in his column for the washington post about some of the saudi policies in yemen. there is no question he has been a thorn in the side of the saudi authorities and the crown prince and so, there is a lot of speculation that they had an animus and that's why people are concerned. let's broaden this out slightly. i know you, as an organisation, have had concerns about saudi arabia and journalists working there and commenting on it for awhile. absolutely. saudi arabia, there is a lot of talk about reform but there is not any significant political reform. saudi arabia remains one of the most censored countries in the world. we're getting regular reports about journalist being detained. —— we're getting regular reports about journalists being detained. one was recently sentenced to a long prison sentence. at the end of last year, there were seven saudi journalists in prison. we believe there are more at this time — it's actually difficult to get information. there's no question that saudi arabia is an extremely controlled and restricted country for the media and thatjournalists who criticise the authorities do so at their peril. and just for people coming into this the first time, a journalist walking into a consulate and then disappearing and obviously, we have stressed quite clearly that we don't know what has happened, but how unusual is that? i've been doing thisjob — executive director of the committee to protect journalists — for a decade. before that i worked in cpj's latin america programme, so i've seen a lot. this — i really hope this is not true, but if he went into an embassy and was killed, this would be one of the most grave and frankly craven crimes that i've ever heard of. pope francis has ordered a thorough review of all the documents related to accusations of sexual abuse by a former us cardinal, theodore mccarrick, who resigned in july. it follows allegations that the pope himself was complicit in a cover—up. our europe regional editor danny aeberhard has more. pope francis, seen here greeting young visitors to the vatican, is credited in many ways with renewing the roman catholic church. but the issue of clerical sexual abuse continues to shake the institution to its core. the vatican is keen to show it is taking action. its latest statement on the matter is measured, but its implications could be profound. it concerns theodore mccarrick — a senior us cardinal who resigned amid accusations that he had sexually abused a teenager nearly 50 years ago. the vatican warned that by reviewing the documentation on investigations into cardinal mccarrick, it could emerge that choices were taken that would not in keeping a contemporary approach. pope francis spoke out against sexual abuse and clerical cover—ups on a bruising trip to ireland in august. good morning. he called them a scourge that had to be eliminated at any cost. but during the trip, a former vatican diplomat, archbishop carlo maria vigano, alleged that the pope knew of the accusations against the cardinal five years ago. he called on the pontiff to resign. he has claimed that pope francis was told about mccarrick‘s behaviour with adult seminarians and was told that benedict xvi, his predecessor, had placed sanctions on theodore mccarrick. apparently, the pope did nothing and somehow rehabilitated mccarrick. there is evidence in what vigaro is saying, in terms of documentary evidence. pope francis declined to respond directly to archbishop vigano's claims. the vatican statement does not mention them specifically, but it repeated a promise made by the pope three years ago — "we will follow the path of truth, wherever it may leave". stay with us on bbc news. still to come: a banksy original, a top london auction house and a buyer willing to part with $1.1; million — what could possibly go wrong? this was a celebration by people who were relishing their freedom. they believe everything's going to be different from now on. they think their country will be respected in the world once more, as it used to be before slobodan milosevic took power. the dalai lama, the exiled spiritual leader of tibet, has won this year's nobel peace prize. as the parade was reaching its climax, two grenades exploded, and a group of soldiersjumped from a military truck taking part in the parade and ran towards the president, firing from kalashnikov automatic rifles. after 437 years, the skeletal ribs of henry viii's tragic warship emerged. but, even as divers work to buoy her up, the mary rose went through another heart—stopping drama. i want to be the people's governor. i want to represent everybody. i believe in the people of california. this is bbc news, the latest headlines. brett kavanaugh has been sworn in as a justice on the supreme court after earlier being confirmed by the us senate. his confirmation comes despite huge protests outside the senate building. demonstrators are angry over claims of sexual misconduct which judge kavanaugh denies. the uk government has voiced its concern over hong kong's decision not to renew a work visa for a british journalist. victor mallet is vice—president of the city's foreign correspondents' club. it was criticised by beijing after it hosted an event featuring a pro—independence activist. the bbc‘s tim allman has more. fluttering in the breeze, a symbol of who ultimately rules this city. not that these protesters need much reminding. they came to the immigration department calling for press freedom, worried a red line has been crossed. it's notjust barring victor mallett from working in hong kong. the government is barring all future journalists from having to report on hong kong independence, or any opposition voices. victor mallett writes for the financial times and is vice president of the hong kong foreign correspondents club, or fcc. in august, the group posted an event featuring andy chan, head of the hong kong national party which advocates independence. china called for it to be cancelled but the fcc declined. subsequently the party was banned and now victor mallett does not have a work visa. it was not unexpected there would be a further clampdown on the media but it's unexpected that we're fighting a rearguard action here. all this comes just days after the fourth anniversary of the beginning of the so—called umbrella movement. these were protests calling for greater democracy rather than independence but they unnerved the local government and beijing. for more than 20 years, hong kong has operated under the formula of one country, two systems. some here are increasingly concerned the emphasis is now more on the former than the latter. imagine paying more than $1 million for a painting, only to see it destroyed in seconds. well, it happened at an auction in london where a work of art by the celebrated street artist banksy had just gone under the hammer. duncan kennedy reports on every artist's nightmare. this is a story about a painting. this is a story about a painting. this painting. girl with balloon, by banks it. but that may be the last clear thing we can say about it. yesterday, during an auction in london, the art world was stunned when it was ripped to pieces by a shredder hidden inside its own frame. so far so bizarre. but what had happened and who did it? well, tonight, another video has emerged. a video on banksy‘s own instagram page apparently showing him hiding the shredder inside the frame. why? well... banksy‘s video then shows friday's auction. as the bidding for the painting hits 850,000, this happened. the picture is sliced into bits. stunt or serious statement? no—one knows. but his fans believe it's banksy at his baffling best. i thought it was absolutely brilliant. banksy has taken good ideas and made them universally great, made them universally acceptable. when before banksy came along painting on the street was a criminal act. if banksy does a painting on the wall, suddenly it's art. what's the difference? sotheby‘s has expressed bewilderment about all of this and hasn't revealed what the person who bought the picture thinks about having half a picture. social media is awash with claims, but it is the truth that may have been shredded in all of this. as for banksy, well, seeing any bit of him, if it is him, is a rarity itself. painter, prankster, and now paper shredder. his talent for spectacle and publicity clearly placing him at the cutting edge of art. duncan kennedy, bbc news. tributes have been paid to the opera singer montserrat caballe, who's died aged 85. her career spanned 50 years, and included a duet with freddie mercury. frankie mccamley reports. # barcelona. # it was the first time that we met. # barcelona.# the duet that brought pop music and opera together. montserrat caballe and freddie mercury's 1987 hit single barcelona. which became the anthem of the 1992 summer olympics in the city. last night, the 85—year—old passed away after being hospitalised for two weeks. tributes were paid to the star known as the world's greatest diva at the opera house in barcelona where she performed more than 200 times. montserrat caballe was a fantastically important singer, a perfect technique that fascinated, with wonderful phrasing, with wonderful expressivity as a singer, by being so unbelievably perfect. born in barcelona, montserrat caballe, at the age of nine, was accepted for training at the city's music college. after graduating in 1953, her career, which spanned 50 years, went from success to success. appearing on stage all over the world. starring in 90 opera roles with nearly 4000 performances. her lead roles gave her international stardom. despite a glittering career, there was some controversy. in her later years montserrat caballe was given a six—month suspended sentence for tax fraud. she was also dogged by ill—health, spending three months in hospital with a brain tumour and receiving treatment for heart trouble. as her body arrived at a funeral home in spain, media gathered and the country's royal family paid tribute, calling the singer "the great lady of the opera". her funeral is expected to be held on monday in the city she clearly loved, barcelona. as her body arrived at a funeral home in spain, media gathered and the country's royal family paid tribute, calling the singer "the great lady of the opera". her funeral is expected to be held on monday in the city she clearly loved, barcelona. finally, one million people have flocked to the us state of new mexico to be carried away by the world's biggest balloon festival. that is it from me. you can reach me on twitter at any time. you are watching bbc news. good morning. i think is pretty safe to say whatever the weather you had yesterday you will have the opposite today. let us look at why. we had a weather front moving across england and wales yesterday which brought heavy prolonged rain for a time. further and west under an influence of high pressure we had some drier sunnier weather conditions. it was a north—south divide across the country. the best you could do to entertain yourself in the afternoon was perhaps a splash in muddy puddles across england and wales. the north it was a glorious afternoon for getting out and about. a little on the chilly side but beautiful with some sunshine. those clear skies continuing. that means a chilly start to sunday morning. we will see single figures quite widely across the country. and maybe a little bit of mist and maybe in some areas light frost. we could be greeted to a scene like this first thing. the only exception to that is further north and west. there is a weather front pushing into scotland as we speak, it is bringing strengthening winds, gusting to gale force through the day and some heavy, persistent rain into scotland and perhaps gradually into northern ireland. a real contrast in what you had yesterday. further south, it is a completely different story. we will continue with the blue sky, the sunshine, and a degree or so warmer as well. a beautiful afternoon for spending time outside. temperatures will be up on where we were yesterday. we should see highest values perhaps of around 14—16 degrees. further north, 11—14 at the very best. we still have this north—south divide into monday. much of england amount under the influence of high pressure. this weather front acting like a conveyor belt. bringing a pulse of rain. there may be the potential for localised flooding before it eases into western scotland, as we see another day through northern ireland and much of central and western scotland seeing some persistent rain. further south, the south—westerly bloke driving in more cloud. a degree or so warmer with some sunshine, highs of 18 degrees. that will be the trend as we go through the middle part of the week. we keep the south—westerly flow and temperatures will start to pick up. notjust across england and wales, even into scotland, particularly eastern scotland. if it's the warmth that you are after, you won't be disappointed with this forecast as we go through the middle of the week. likely to see high teens, low 20s across the country. with elements like early—morning frosts, a little bit of mist, but also some warmth, we could be asking the question, are we going to experience an indian summer? until then, take care. this is bbc news. the headlines: brett kavanaugh has been sworn in as a us supreme courtjustice, hours after being confirmed in the tightest vote in the senate for more than a century. his appointment cements conservative control of the court. mr kavanaugh has denied allegations of sexual assault. the turkish authorities say they believe a prominent saudi journalist, jamal khashoggi, has been murdered inside the kingdom's consulate in istanbul. mr khashoggi, who's criticised some of the saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman‘s policies, has not been seen since entering the consulate last tuesday. the vatican's announced that pope francis has ordered a thorough review of all the documents related to accusations of sexual abuse against a former us cardinal, theodore mccarrick. the pope accepted cardinal mccarrick‘s resignation in july. now on bbc news, talking books. hello, and welcome to talking books, with me, gavin esler.

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