Hundreds of protesters against US President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee have been arrested in Washington as the pick inched closer to winning confirmation.
Republicans declared that an FBI report had exonerated Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault allegations.
But Democrats said the five-day inquiry was “incomplete” because it was limited by the White House.
The Senate will hold a procedural vote on the nominee on Friday.
The likelihood of Judge Kavanaugh winning a full Senate vote appeared to increase on Thursday after two Republicans whose backing will be essential gave a positive account of the FBI inquiry.
If confirmed to the lifetime position on America’s highest court, the 53-year-old is expected to help conservatives dominate the nine-member panel, which has the final say on issues such as abortion, gun control and voting rules.
Thousands of mainly female demonstrators marched on Thursday through the nation’s capital, starting at the appeals court where Judge Kavanaugh currently presides.
They converged on Capitol Hill and held a rally outside the Supreme Court, chanting: “Kavanaugh has got to go!”
Police rounded the protesters up in a Senate office building after they sat down and refused to budge.
They said 302 people were detained in total, with comedian Amy Schumer and model Emily Ratajkowski reportedly among those arrested.
US Capitol Police kept demonstrators at bay by forming a protective barrier around lawmakers walking through corridors.
Some activists unfurled banners saying they believed the woman who alleges Judge Kavanaugh assaulted her when they were teenagers. Others held signs that read: “Kava-Nope.”
There was another protest in front of Trump Tower in New York City.
President Trump and his fellow Republicans declared the FBI report had cleared their nominee, as they sounded increasingly confident Judge Kavanaugh would win confirmation.
Senators said the FBI had spoken to five witnesses connected to accusations by Christine Blasey Ford, who alleges a drunken Brett Kavanaugh pinned her down, tried to remove her clothing and covered her mouth when she tried to scream at a house in 1982.
Federal agents are also said to have spoken to four other witnesses involving a separate accusation by Deborah Ramirez, who claims the nominee exposed himself to her when they were both were at Yale University. He denies both allegations.
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Osaka cuts San Francisco ties over ‘comfort women’ statue
Japan’s Osaka city has ended its “sister city” ties with San Francisco over the display of a statue depicting women forced to work as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War Two.
Osaka mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura said the “comfort women” monument “destroyed the two sides’ relationship of trust”.
The work depicts three young women – from Korea, China and the Philippines – standing in a circle holding hands.
It is estimated that some 200,000 women were kept in these military brothels.
The statue on display in San Francisco, which was initially set up privately but officially accepted by the US city last November, is entitled the “Women’s Column of Strength”.
It represents the women who worked in the brothels at the time, including some who were reportedly lured with the offer of paid work as cooks or cleaners, according to a UN report.
Mr. Yoshimura’s decision to end Osaka’s sisterhood with the city, which dates back to 1957, was first announced in November, but the move was delayed following the death of San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee in December.
Lee was later replaced by London Breed, the city’s first female black mayor.
Mr. Yoshimura set out the reasons for his decision in a 10-page letter to Ms. Breed, saying that part of the “problem” was the monument’s inscription, which he said “presents uncertain and one-sided claims as historical facts”.
“There is also disagreement among historians when regarding the historical facts such as the number of ‘comfort women’, the degree to which the former Japanese army was involved, and the extent of the wartime harm”, his letter adds.
In a statement, Mayor Breed said it was impossible to cut the ties between the two cities, which have enjoyed a relationship “for over 60 years”.
“One mayor cannot unilaterally end a relationship that exists between the people of our two cities,” she said.
The full inscription on the side of the statue reads: “This monument bears witness to the suffering of hundreds of thousands of women and girls euphemistically called ‘comfort women’, who were sexually enslaved by the Japanese Imperial armed forces in 13 Asian-Pacific countries from 1931 to 1945.”
