While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Oct 6

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Backing from senators puts Brett Kavanaugh on track for US Supreme Court

President Donald Trump's nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, looked headed for a lifetime job on the US Supreme Court on Friday after two crucial senators said that sexual misconduct accusations against the judge would not prevent them from voting to confirm him.

If Kavanaugh is approved in a final Senate vote, likely on Saturday, Trump will have achieved a victory in his drive to consolidate conservative dominance of the nation's highest court and move the American judiciary rightward.

Two key senators, Republican Susan Collins and Democrat Joe Manchin, both seen as swing votes, said they would support Kavanaugh, after weeks of debate about sexual violence and the nominee's character and temperament that gripped the nation.

A sharply partisan battle over the nomination became an intense personal and political drama when university professor Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were high school students in Maryland in 1982.

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Chicago police officer convicted in 2014 fatal shooting of teen

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Jason Van Dyke, a white Chicago police officer, was found guilty of second-degree murder on Friday, nearly four years after he shot and killed Laquan McDonald, a black 17-year-old holding a knife.

The violent encounter sparked intense demonstrations across the city after a video recording of it was released showing Van Dyke firing 16 shots at McDonald.

The closely-watched trial here again highlighted the fraught relationship between this city's police force and its residents, particularly people of colour, as well as questions here and nationwide surrounding how officers use deadly force.

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Saudi prince says Turkey can search consulate for missing critic

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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman said he is ready to allow Turkey to search the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul for a Saudi journalist critical of his rule who went missing after entering the building.

"The premises are sovereign territory, but we will allow them to enter and search and do whatever they want to do," Prince Mohammed said in an interview at a royal palace in Riyadh. "We have nothing to hide."

Jamal Khashoggi, who's been living in self-imposed exile for the past year, has been missing since Tuesday.

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Melania Trump visits baby elephants, takes Kenya safari

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US First Lady Melania Trump cosied up to baby elephants and went on safari in Kenya on Friday, on the third leg of a solo tour of Africa that has contrasted with the ongoing tumult in Washington.

Looking relaxed and happy, the former model gave a baby elephant bottled formula at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Nairobi, famed for its work rescuing the orphans from the wild. She then took to the Nairobi National Park where she spotted rhino, giraffe, hippo, buffalo, zebra and other wildlife.

However her choice of a white colonial-style pith helmet while on safari drew some criticism on Twitter, with one person comparing her look to that of a "colonial administrator".

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Football: Ronaldo ready to play despite rape allegations, says Juventus coach

Juventus coach Massimo Allegri says Cristiano Ronaldo is ready to play for the Serie A team against Udinese on Saturday.

The 33-year-old soccer player on Tuesday denied rape allegations levelled against him by a woman who sued him in court in the United States.

"Cristiano Ronaldo is fine..." Allegri told a news conference in Turin. "As far as on the field matters - he is ready to play."

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