acknowledge climate change was make impact on the environment. welcome to bbc news, i'm james reynolds. our top stories: the us supreme courtjudge, ruth bader ginsburg, has died. she was eighty—seven and had been undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer. with weeks to go until the us presidential election, her death sets up a battle for her replacement. prepare for a winter battle against coronavirus — that's the latest warning for the northern hemisphere from the world health organization. as cases rise, governments gci’oss as cases rise, governments across the uk bring in more restrictions ahead of possible nationwide shutdowns.

hello and welcome to bbc news. within the past couple of hours it has been announced that the us supreme courtjustice ruth bader ginsburg has died, she was 87. she had been undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer. as one of four liberaljustices on the supreme court her death raise this prospect of president trump trying to expand its slim conservative majority. laura trevelyan looks back at her life and career. ruth bader ginsburg was born in brooklyn new york in 1933. child of recent immigrants, she attended cornell university, meeting her husband marty there, the love of her life. despite excelling at harvard law school the young mother could not get a job at a law firm when she graduated, experiencing sex discrimination first hand. she worked to promote women's rights at the american civil liberties union in the 70s, arguing in front of the us

supreme court that women faced discrimination in employment. rbg was involved in the first case of the supreme court ruling that sex discrimination was unconstitutional. she read the brief, rbg co—wrote the brief, for the aclu that basically ended up providing all the reasons why sex discrimination had to be unconstitutional under the 14th amendment. as ruth bader ginsburg's reputation as a trailblazer for women's rights grew, she was made a federal judge by president jimmy carter. then came the ultimate honour. i, ruth bader ginsburg, do solemnly swear... it was president bill clinton who nominated her to the supreme court in 1993. in the hearing she defended a woman's right to choose an abortion. she became only the second female justice in history, defying those concerned about her age. i was aged 60 when i was nominated. and some people thought

i was too old for the job. well now i am into my 27th, starting my 27th year on the court, so i am one of the longest tenured justices. so if you worried about my age... it was unnecessary. laughs. ruth bader ginsburg was a powerful author of legal opinions. when the court ruled in favour of george w bush in 2000, effectively deciding the presidential election in his favour, she famously wrote the dissent. as more conservative justices were appointed to the court in recent years, her dissenting opinions were more frequent, and her legacy became clear. 0n the court she continued to legitimise and extend the rights of women. in the workplace, in education, in all walks of life. but beyond that, she continued to work for the expansion of rights, the recognition of rights, for all people.

ruth bader ginsburg's distinctive legal voice made her a cult figure. she was parodied on late—night tv, the subject of books, t—shirts and a documentary, much to her surprise. it is amazing. laughs. i am soon to be 87 years old, and everyone wants to take a picture with me! laughs. she had to apologise for calling then—candidate donald trump a "faker" in 2016, a rare misstep. in herfinal years she battled cancer repeatedly, receiving treatment while still working. democrats willed her to stay in thejob, fearing president trump would replace her with a conservative leaning justice, cementing the court's tilt to the right. ruth bader ginsburg will be remembered as a champion of women's legal rights and a leading liberal voice on the supreme court. let's cross to the bbc‘s katty

kay in washington. normally when someone dies there is a few hours of pause while reflect on their life. not this time. some of that is happening and colleagues are remembering her and chiefjustice roberts has sent out a nice tribute to her saying that the whole nation is in morning and what an extraordinary woman she was. as laura pointed out there, pointing to the ashtray hurdle she had to overcome to get where she was, professional hurdles in particular. but you are right in your question, in that list has moved very quickly into intensely political territory, i just had a long conversation with a democratic strategist, who was saying to me that look, we have the prospect that we could win the prospect that we could win the presidency in november, when the senate in november, but if we leave —— lose the supreme court, 6—3 republicans and democrats, we may as well have lost everything, that is

how democrats are feeling tonight. i have just how democrats are feeling tonight. i havejust been acting —— texting with someone onjoe biden‘s acting —— texting with someone on joe biden‘s campaign acting —— texting with someone onjoe biden‘s campaign who says they were speechless and frantically trying to write e—mails, her words were "i am speechless tonight". a lot of turmoil in an already tortuous political campaign and this has added to a huge amount of tension in what was already a very divided election. as you have been on the phone, i don't know if you have seen the statement released by senator mitch mcconnell, talk us through that please. senator mitch mcconnell pang could —— tribute to ruth bader ginsburg obviously but also in the very last line of his statement saying that the president's nominee will receive a vote on the floor, so to explain the process of this, to viewers around the world, the president nominates his candidate, the president is donald trump, the senate and house to approve by a majority that candidate, the senate is held at the moment 53

republicans to 47 democrats, so it looks like a fairly straightforward issue for republicans. but there is an election in a month, it takes time to nominate a supreme court judge, time to nominate a supreme courtjudge, they have to be vetted, there is an intense security check that goes on, there is a lot of preparing of that candidate going on before there is a vote, they have to go through hearings in the senate before they are voted on and there is only what, 50 days,... i think45 potentially. until the election, to run an election campaign and do that, most people seem to think tonight is difficult to see that vote taking place before the election, but the election happens on three november, the new president is not actually inaugurated and sworn until january the 20th odd, so there is nearly what, three months, and that buys them extra time, thatis and that buys them extra time, that is what is called a lame—duck session and the feeling is tonight as mitch

mcconnell seems to be suggesting that during that lame—duck session when the republicans will still hold, whatever happens, it will still be president trump and it will still be the senate, that is when they think that they can get through their next supreme court justice. get through their next supreme courtjustice. now... go ahead. looking at some of the numbers, you said 53—47 which is a number we should keep saying, thatis number we should keep saying, that is the republican control of the senate. i have noticed in the last hour or so the number of people are focusing on what we call moderate senators or centrist republican senators, there is some suggestion that some of them may not want to go along with this plan. what do you red into that early speculation? lisa makowski was a republican senator who was a moderate who has defied resident from on a few occasions in alaska, just before the news broke actually that ruth bader ginsburg had died, she tweeted out that she would not want to confirm a new supreme courtjustice would not want to confirm a new supreme court justice until

after the inauguration, in other words she would want the president, whoever that was, to be in place, so that takes off one. so 52. senator susan collins of maine told the journalist reportedly a couple of weeks ago that she also did not feel comfortable about appointing a new supreme court justice in october. we are still in september, that suggests he is wavering. here's something interesting that i had not thought of, and i love this you are as much an american politics long as i am. here we go. let's get nerdy about this. all of the senators who are elected, there are possible senate swings from republican to democratic control and it swings technically on the vote in november but those senators are not confirmed until january, until inauguration day which is when the new democratic president could come in. but there is one senator in arizona, mark kelly, who is running in what is called a special election. the astronaut. the astronaut, he

would become a democratic senator immediately. straightaway. so there you go, a needle is moving. i think we are really... i am terribly sorry to all of our viewers... no, no, in the end... democrats are hoping, there is a glimmer of hope that the senate may not confirm president trump was magpies, ——'s choice. but republicans are pretty confident tonight. that is why you and i are getting to these numbers, 53, 52, 51, because with those numbers comes influence over the direction of america in abortion, birth control, guns, school prayer, for decades. racial issues. and you know, the democrat i was speaking to this evening, the reason that she was feeling so cataclysmic about this and was saying, you know, we could win the white house and when the senate but if we lose the

supreme court, six republicans to three democrats, we have lost everything. she said everything that is up for play, abortion rights in this country, a rights in this country, a rights in this country, racial equality in this country. all of those issues that liberals would like to see moved in a more progressive direction, there is the possibility that if you have a 6—3 conservative to liberal supreme court in this country, those people are appointed for life remember, than america becomes a much more conservative country, de fa cto more conservative country, de facto whoever is in the white house. there is one thing i was reading about the figure of nine supreme court justices reading about the figure of nine supreme courtjustices is not actually set in the constitution, it merely talks about a supreme court, achieve who willjudge on impeachment, people looking back through history say it has changed size. so one potential plan which i know fdr carried out in the 1930s is to talk about expanding the court. there is speculation i have seen that demo democrats, if lose the

ginsberg seat might try and boost the numbers to 11 if they ta ke boost the numbers to 11 if they take senate and the presidency. if they take the senate and the presidency they have the power to do so, there is a chance they would do that, pete buttigieg, i don't know if you remember him... i remember him, the mayor of south bend, indiana. one of his platforms was the notion of expanding the supreme court want even 11, potentially up into 15, 17 i think. but some people really wa nt think. but some people really want a much bigger supreme court in order, it is a weird anomaly in the american system, here we are, we talk endlessly about the election of president, the election of senators and members of congress, we spend so much time and money on elections in this country but there are nine people who are not elected, who are put there for life, who wield an enormous amount of power over what americans do in the bedroom, the classroom,

their workplace, what they do in the universities, in almost every facet of life, and they are not elected. it is sort of weirdly undemocratic. and i guess that is why democrats might look to seeing if they could reform the system. katty kay, we will be back with you later i am sure. we're going to stick with this story now and speak i think to a professor 110w speak i think to a professor now whojoins us speak i think to a professor now who joins us alive. first of all your reaction to the death of ruth bader ginsburg?” mean as if 2020 couldn't get any worse. this isjust catastrophic, it is politically, it is destabilising to the court, and as your previous speaker noted, there are so many variables now that have been injected into the next couple of months, it is really troubling. and i red that her deathbed wish was that she not be replaced until a new

president has been inaugurated, but i don't think there is any likelihood whatsoever that president bush, president trump would refrain from trying to push a nominee through. we will break this down, and look at the political consequences in a second, but just first the political consequences in a second, butjust first of the political consequences in a second, but just first of all, i wonder if you would sum up the impact she has had both on the impact she has had both on the law and on the united states as a whole? let's start with the second question. 0n the united states as a whole she has been a genuine icon of equality, of the respect for the rights of women and the advancement of women in their career, has been a movie about her, i can tell you as a law professor that she is an absolute inspiration to so many of my students. even those who disagree with her politically have such admiration for the quality of her writing, the quality of her writing, the quality of her opinions, her integrity, her honour, and i

think that they, i can tell you because i have been watching on social media, they are feeling huge loss as they project their lives in the law for decades to come, that this isjust lives in the law for decades to come, that this is just tragic. in terms of her effect on the law, she has written some profoundly significant opinions, interestingly she has allied with some conservative justices on some libertarian issues, particularly related to the protection of criminal defendants, she was an ally of justice scalia, which surprised many people on the issue of witnesses against people in a courtroom. but even if you are in the dissenting wing of a court, even if you are writing the dissenting opinion, those dissenting opinions in a very divided court often are the seeds that are planted for changes that will blossom in the future, and she has planted

some remarkably significant seeds, even in the opinions where she was in the minority. talking about opinions in the minority was perhaps the most famous ones, she simply said, i descent, around bush and al gore in 2000. normally court adequate would say you respectfully descent but she was in the minority there and something that stuck with her ina something that stuck with her in a publicly angry way.” think that is true and i think also that signals to you why we should have no expectation that president trump is going to follow mitch mcconnell‘s allegedly model from the last president when he refused to allow garland walker to be brought before the senate because the president, merrick garland, sorry. that the president knows that this election may end up in the courts again and how great would it be to have a conservative justice that he has appointed phil that seat in

the event that some contested issue in this election as a before the supreme court. and we are looking now, obviously we are looking now, obviously we have to, even in the aftermath of ruth bader ginsburg's death into potential new nominees. we know who they might be because president trump has set himself on september night, he gave a list of 20. some senators may not be interested. there are other federaljudges, not interested. there are other federal judges, not francisco, daniel cameron, paul clements. there is a mixture ofjudges and lawyers. are you familiar with some of these names mr trump has put forward? some of their names. paul clement was a very significant player in the bush administration when he was representing the government in a lot of the litigation related to guantanamo and detainees. i think it is going to be a very politically oriented appointment because it has got to generate his base, it has got to excite his base. that is going to be a factor here. how will the appointment impact the

turnout of his base which he knows is so vital to overcome what appears to be a... a reducing but still significant lead thatjoe biden has right now. professor, thank you so much forjoining us. thank you. let's speak to betsy west, the filmmaker behind the supreme court justice called filmmaker behind the supreme courtjustice called rbg. she was ill but nevertheless, this move must, as a deep low to all who knew her. i think in some ways, people have been holding their breath because she has been sick for several yea rs, off she has been sick for several years, off and on with cancer. but ruth bader ginsburg was an extraordinarily determined and, you know, energetic

octogenarian. she was famous for her workouts? yes. she was hanging on and certainly in our documentary, we filmed her doing the work out that was really one of the most amazing scenes i have really one of the most amazing scenes i have ever really one of the most amazing scenes i have ever witnessed. she came in there with a sweatshirt that said "super diva". she did look at us or the camera and she went, just paying attention to her trainer brianjohnson paying attention to her trainer brian johnson and was paying attention to her trainer brianjohnson and was putting her through her paces. i think she was a role model for so many people on so many different levels and certainly for older women in terms of keeping herself going. there are not that many people who are not that many people who are well into their 80s when they get a cool, catchy nickname. laughs she did! rbg, tell us about that. they call her the notorious rbg which is a play

on the notorious b i g. she is to make a joke on this. did she know who the notorious b.i.g, the rapper, who she was being compared with? i think her grandchildren felt around. she said, we have a lot in common. we were both born and bred in brooklyn. that was a surefire lifeline. she had a great sense of humour about herself and she got that nickname because she, of the very stinging to sense she was riding as the supreme court was moving to the rights and more and more conservative decisions on voting rights and reproductive rights. and she really told it like it is. younger people just gravitated to the idea of this feisty, older woman who was speaking truth to power and the

notorious rbg # took off. and she was determined to work life—threatening illness, all out to the end? yes, she was extraordinary in the number of times she would get an alert, we would get an alert that she had been to the hospital after a fall, broken ribs. she had another recurrence of cancer. another recurrence of chemotherapy. she would keep going. she rarely missed a day in courtand going. she rarely missed a day in court and kept up with all the opinions. i have to say, this woman loved the law, she loved herjob and what she was doing. she felt that she was making a contribution to her country and as long as she could do it, she was going to be in their. right up until the age of 87. betsy west, thank you so much forjoining us. yes, thank you. want more note on the story.

president trump says ruth bader ginsburg was an amazing woman and he sat to hear she died. let's pick up another story on this bulletin. the news of the justice's death comes on the news that the coronavirus pandemic is hitting the us. it leads the world in the highest number of recorded deaths from over 19. the figure is nearing 200,000. joining me now from florida is dr dena grayson, an infectious disease expert and viral pandemic doctor. in terms of number of infections, how do we expect the second wave to be different from the first? well u nfortu nately, from the first? well unfortunately, you know, we never ended the first wave here in united states. we had actually even worse, a second peak on top of the first wave because states reopens too early back in the late spring and early fall. and now here we are entering the fall and entering next year's upcoming flu season and unfortunately we

have had mrtrump, flu season and unfortunately we have had mr trump, my governor here in florida, and other states around the country pushing to reopen schools despite the fact that many of these schools, certainly here in florida and in other states, are in coronavirus hot zones. i think what we're going to see here in the united states u nfortu nately here in the united states unfortunately is we're going to see another huge surge in cases. we are restarting to see this uptick in cases here in united states and we know what is going to happen. first, the number of cases go up, then we start seeing the hospitalisations go up and then u nfortu nately, hospitalisations go up and then unfortunately, the death rises. that is where we are out again u nfortu nately. that is where we are out again unfortunately. i wonder if there is a paradox here. a disciple this, speaking about experience in europe, we were all pretty better understand the virus but pretty good at following restrictions. as it now swapped ? we following restrictions. as it now swapped? we are pretty good at understanding the virus but pretty bad following restrictions, do you think that is fair? i think that is probably fair over in europe.

in the uk, there was an attitude a lot like here in my country, here in the united states for a long time, where the virus became politicised. but once your prime minister, borisjohnson, but once your prime minister, boris johnson, unfortunately got ill with covid—19 and was able to overcome that, he became a believer in the virus and decided herd immunity may be wasn't such a good idea. u nfortu nately be wasn't such a good idea. unfortunately here in united states, what has happened is that this has become very politicised so a lot of mr trump's ha rd—core supporters still think it is a hoax. they call it a hoax, refused to wear masks. they are believing fake news about the virus that only 6% of the deaths actually happen. and on top of that u nfortu nately, happen. and on top of that unfortunately, mr trump and some of his appointees are actually — have actually been pushing at the cdc to lower the amount of testing and changing the reporting of the data. so it is really concerning here in this country is not only is

there some fatigue of course with the lockdowns but also we have a chunk of the population that has never believed that there is really a threat and has refused to wear masks from the get go. thank you so much doctor. thank you. let's bring you some of the reaction to the death of ruth bader ginsburg. the president himself has reacted. and the republican senator from south carolina, lindsey graham. we have also had reaction from the supreme court, from andrew cuomo, the governor of new york. we will have much more on this story which has the potential to become one of the central

stories of the us election. see you soon. hello. well, i think most of us would agree that the last few days have been pretty decent on the weather front. we've had plenty of sunny spells. it's been pleasantly warm, and this spell of settled weather is going to continue through the weekend. there might be one or two showers in the far south of the country, brought by this low pressure which is actually close to spain and portugal. that's just encroaching into the south of the uk. but on the whole, it's looking absolutely fine, and the advice is make the most of this weekend because next weekend could be very different. much more like autumn. so, this is what it looks like early on saturday morning. you can see the showers there crossing the english channel, just about approaching cornwall and devon there by the second

half of the morning or around about lunchtime. let's zoom in to the south and see where the showers will be. so, the thinking is cornwall, devon, maybe somerset, one or two possibly sneaking into the isle of wight as well, but certainly north of the ma, it's looking mostly sunny. in fact, a beautiful afternoon on the way. bit of a breeze still blowing out of the east—northeast, but even in the north of the country, temperatures could nudge up to close to 20 celsius. the thinking is that later on in the afternoon, it might cloud over around the aberdeenshire coastline and also the north of england. there's a lot of cloud here in the north sea and that north—easterly wind will push some of that cloud closer to land. but the evening on the whole is looking fine for most of us on saturday. sunday's weather forecast is going to be a mostly bright if not sunny day. the winds will be just that bit lighter in the south and no further showers are expected in the south, so, a dry day and a warm one as well. temperatures possibly hitting the mid 20s in the south east of the country, cooler on the north sea coast, only around 15.

the outlook for early next week, it is still looking fine, but midweek onwards, it's a complete change in fact, weather systems are expected to spiral up in the atlantic and head in our direction. yep, you guessed it. autumn will be knocking on the door. so, a big change in the way for around about tuesday, wednesday onwards. now, the beginning of the week is looking absolutely fine and on monday, the south of the country with temperatures still hitting around 25 celsius, a little cooler by tuesday and from wednesday, it's all change.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the us supreme justice ruth bader ginsburg has died, she was 87 years old. she had been undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer. her death raises the prospect of president trump trying to expand the court's slender conservative majority. the world health organization has warned that the coronavirus pandemic is not burning out nor is it going away. the head of the who's health emergencies programme warned that northern hemisphere countries need to do more to combat the disease. the united states government says that it will ban downloads of two chinese social media applications, tiktok and we chat. dectalk said that it was disappointed with the ruling, both companies have vowed to fight the decision.