this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm james reynolds. the us supreme courtjudge, ruth bader ginsburg, has died. she was 87 and had been undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer. with weeks to go until the presidential election, her death sets up an intense political battle over her replacement. crowds are continung to gather on the steps outside the supreme court to pay their respects. hello and welcome. within the past couple of hours it's been announced that the us supreme courtjudge, ruth bader ginsberg, has died.

she was 87. she had been undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer. as one of four liberal justices on the court, her death raises the prospect of president trump trying to expand its slender conservative majority. ms bader ginsburg was beloved by liberal americans for championing women's rights. 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 that the supreme court ruled that sex discrimination

was unconstitutional. she wrote 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. laura on the life and career of roof bailey ginsberg. a short time ago i spoke to the bbc‘s katty kay in washington — she gave me her reaction. there is a recognition, we can get to the politics later, here isa get to the politics later, here is a woman who overcame huge

hurdles. she was in a place not particularly friendly to women. she was the second woman on the supreme court and battled gender discrimination her whole career, made it onto the supreme court and has been battling cancer for years. she was much loved and became this iconic figure. she had these famous workout routines where she would do push—ups and left weights right into her mid 80s, so weights right into her mid 80s, so the rpg workout became a cult following. so there was a lot of affection for her and her ferocious commitment to the supreme court as an institution and to liberal values. the democrats, she was a hugely important legalfigure. democrats, she was a hugely important legal figure. and then of course there are the politics of this too. at the moment, we have got these massive forces coming into play and the death of one woman has become a tectonic shift in american politics with what it is, five or six weeks until your selection was light to sticking on her role as a

trailblazer. 114 supreme court justices in history, of whom are only four were women. she was the second. when she was nominated in 1993, it was still highly unusual to have a woman on the court which now seems a routine thing. but in terms of history, she is still a trailblazer? she was usually important and she took women's rights and promoting women's rights and promoting women's rights very seriously throughout her whole career. she made her legal name i battling sex discrimination in the workplace. that was how she came to prominence in the country. it is the famous case that the film about her life is based on. then it took a number whole presidency. we went through the bush years where there was no woman appointed. then we got into 0bama's residency where he appointed two more women. that is a total of four. so not very many. now we are at a supreme court of nine, down to eight with only two women on the supreme court.

both of them are liberals, both appointed by president barack 0bama and we will see who replaces roof bailey ginsberg and how many members of the us senate will allow for the confirmation of a supreme court justice to take place in this very ferocious election out of their. in her own lifetime, ginsburg, very unusually criticise a president. criticise president trump so summer criticise president trump so summer irony than that he might get to choose a replacement. there is a statement coming out this evening saying that her dying wish was that she wanted the next president to be the person who chose her successor. she didn't specify whether that next president would bejoe biden or donald trump but she wa nted biden or donald trump but she wanted at least to get through the selection and i guess because she is a democrat, at

least have the chance that that would be joe biden least have the chance that that would bejoe biden and not donald trump who replaced her. i spoke to a democrat this evening he said to me, look, it is no secret in democratic circles that a lot of democrats wish that she had retired during resident 0bama's time because then he could have chosen her successor and ensured that they would have been a liberal replacement because these are lifetime appointments. then you would have had dirty, potentially 30 yea rs of have had dirty, potentially 30 years of a democrat on the supreme court and now the democrats are facing the possibility of losing another seat on the supreme court and being really unbalanced. you have six republicans and three democrats. just tuning anything the immense amount of coverage, not just the immense amount of coverage, notjust on the immense amount of coverage, not just on the the immense amount of coverage, notjust on the bbc but every other network, can you sum up how important the supreme court is to america and why we are discussing the death of a judge and why that matters?” discussing the death of a judge and why that matters? i think it was something that really took me by surprise when i first moved to america. so much

attention is played around the world to presidential elections, to the senate election, perhaps even to congressional elections and we don't really think about these ninejudges who sit don't really think about these nine judges who sit on the supreme court of the united states who are nominated by a president for reflecting their political values. they are political values. they are political appointees and they are there for life stop the supreme court really affects enormous amount of american life. it affects what you do in your bedroom, where you can go to school, race issues, who you can marry, gay rights in the country. it affects financing for elections. i can't think of an aspect of american life where the supreme court at some point is not called to weigh in. and what the supreme court rules becomes the law of the land. having that supreme court body in your political favour is an enormous triumph if you area is an enormous triumph if you are a republican or a democrat. you really want a republican supreme court and if you are a

democrat you want to democratic supreme court. democrats tonight, and i haven't said to me, look, everything is up for grabs if the republicans take control of the supreme court six republicans to three democrats. abortion rights are up democrats. abortion rights are upforgrabs, democrats. abortion rights are ay democrats. abortion rights are up for grabs, gay rights are up forgrabs, up for grabs, gay rights are up for grabs, race equality in the countries is up for grabs. voting rights are up for grabs. they really feel that this is a moment where they could be losing a huge amount of power and where america could about two become a much more conservative country for years to come, whoever is elected in november. both contenders for the presidency, donald trump and joe biden, have given their reaction to the news. shejust died? she just died? wow. shejust died? wow. i didn't know that, you're telling me now for the first time. she led an amazing life, what else can you say? she was an amazing woman, whether you agreed with her or not, she was an amazing

woman who led an amazing life. actually, i'm sad to hear that. let me be clear that the voters should pick the president and the president should pick the justice for the senate to consider. this was the position of republican senate took in 2016 when there were almost 10 months to go before the election. that is the position the united states senate must ta ke the united states senate must take today. and the election is only 46 days off. i think the fastestjustice ever only 46 days off. i think the fastest justice ever confirmed was 47 days and the average is closer to 70 days. and so, they should do this with full consideration and it is my hope and expectation of what should happen. let's have more on this. marc fisher, senior news editor

for washington post. he told me more about ruth bader ginsburg's legacy. certainly, she will have an extraordinary legacy when it comes to protecting individual rights in the united states, her long history as an advocate for the civil liberties union and then of course as a supreme court justice, pushing really for women's rights, abortion rights, voting rights, but she spent much of her career on the supreme court on the minority side, on the losing side, so she was known in the end more for her fiery dissent on behalf of those rights than for any setting of new direction in the law. but politically, her legacy will be much more mixed, there will be serious questions raised as historians look back at her decision in 2016 not to resign from the court and give president ba rack 0bama another opportunity to nominate a liberaljustice, but rather to cling to her seat, despite her poor health and so to give, as we now find, donald trump a third crack at adding

a conservative to this court. ruth bader ginsburg criticised donald trump openly, i think the supreme court chief justice john roberts had to have a quiet word with her. it must be a bitter irony for her supporters that she has died under president trump's tenure, potentially giving him the chance to nominate not just a successor, but in some way, surely, to define her legacy on the court. yes, unless there is suddenly a rebellion by republican senators, this will be a 6—3 conservative majority on the supreme court for the first time in some years, and so that certainly tarnishes ruth bader ginsburg's political legacy. there are many women and men in the united states who would find that statement outrageous and offensive because they are very defensive of ruth bader ginsburg's place in history, the second woman to serve on the supreme court and for many years she was the only

woman on the court, and so she is seen as a trailblazer and a historic figure by many people, and they believe that she had no obligation to leave the court to give 0bama another chance to place a younger liberal on the court, but i think you will hear from a number of historians, both liberal and conservative, who will say that would have been the politically wise thing for her to have done. you mentioned that if her successor is nominated by trump and confirmed, it will be a 6—3 conservative majority. looking back in history, when you have a liberal or a conservative majority on the court, what can that court do in its effect on american life? it can have an enormous effect on basic rights, the balance between the individual and the collective, the rights of individuals and particularly of minorities,

whether they be racial minorities, religious minorities, people of a particular age group, those rights are protected by a certain kind of liberal legal thinking that those on the court have fought for for many years, so there is a real divide in the united states as we see in all the controversy surrounding president trump and his drive to put conservatives on several levels of federal court. i think, in the end, ruth bader ginsburg will be seen as a stark figure because of her commitment to women's rights, but the court itself, has really, in recent years under this chiefjustice, shied away from some of these bigger, more dramatic decisions that reshape the basic structure of daily life in the country and this chiefjustice, john roberts, has tried to stay out of those more emotionally divisive

cases, but in a 6—3 majority, he may not have the ability to keep the court running down a very centrist approach that he's adhered to in recent years. chiefjustice roberts, who clearly is a conservative man in his own personal thinking, betsy west is the film maker behind the documentary about supreme court justice ruth bader, called rbg. i think in some ways, people have been holding their breath because 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? yeah. she was hanging on and certainly in our documentary, we filmed her doing the workout that was really one of the most amazing scenes i have ever witnessed.

she came in there with a sweatshirt that said "super diva". she didn't look at us or the camera and she went — she just 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 well into their 80s when they get a cool, catchy nickname. laughs she did! rbg, tell us about that. they call her ‘notorious rbg' which is a play on the notorious b.i.g. she used to make a joke on this. did she know who the notorious b.i.g was, the rapper, who she was being compared with? no but i think her grandchildren filled her in. she said, we have

a lot in common. we were both born and bred in brooklyn. that was a surefire laugh line. she had a great sense of humour about herself and she got that nickname because she, of the very stinging dissents she was writing as the supreme court was moving to the right, 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 hashtag just took off. and she was determined to work through life—threatening illness, all the way up to the end? yes, absolutely. she was extraordinary.

the number of times 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 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 there. kristen clarke, president and executive director of the national lawyers committee for civil rights under law. she spoke to me about the legacy justice ginsburg leaves behind. let's take a listen. my my organisation, the lawyers committee for civil rights under law, has had a number of seminal civil rights cases that have been heard by the court throughout the years and had

the opportunity to sit on the court, watch her in action, see her engage, see her pose questions, and she is a unique figure on the court. she is not somebody who was ever silent or quiet, she was very, very active. a very active questioner. 0f active. a very active questioner. of both parties that appeared in cases, that went before the court. this is an incredibly sad moment for the country and for our democracy. in many respect, justice ginsburg lies at the heart of our nation's gender equality movement. she forged a career as a woman fighting for genderjustice at the aclu, she was one of the first tenured law professors at columbia law school and only the second woman to be confirmed to the united states supreme court.

this is a loss for the nation, no doubt. when she became a lawyer, there was an article recently and a magazine, it was incredibly hard for women to make a legal profession, they we re make a legal profession, they were condescended to, patronise, told they needed to be with their families, she kept going and she made it all the way to the supreme court. that is quite a blazing trail that she made. indeed, and it explains in many respects why she is such a pop icon, if you will. she grew up in brooklyn, she attended public schools and has a very kind of gritty background that a lot of ordinary americans can identify with. i am ordinary americans can identify with. iam here ordinary americans can identify with. i am here in washington, dc and the supreme court's flooded tonight by people who admired her deeply. she bore the nickname rbg, and was very

much beloved by women, girls, and americans all across our country. one of my most famous quotes from justice ginsburg was, even in a speech where she observed that our constitution isa observed that our constitution is a living document that evolves with our times, and she was somebody who believed that we, the people, is a term that, throughout history, has become more inclusive, more inclusive of african—americans, more inclusive, more inclusive of african—america ns, native americans, and eventually of women, when the 19th amendment was finally adopted. her death leaves the balance of the supreme court in question. she was undoubtedly a liberal justice, but a republican, a conservative president or a president with the support of conservatives, may now get the chance to pick her successor, potentially changing the balance of the court in a way that we haven't really seen since clarence thomas in 1991.

i would argue that she was a fair justice, i would argue that she was a fairjustice, impartial, i would argue that she was a fair justice, impartial, and independent. she was confirmed with an extraordinary bipartisan majority in the senate 27 years ago, i'd believe the vote was 96—3... senate 27 years ago, i'd believe the vote was 96-3. .. it was the last boat in the 90s. yeah, and throughout her time on the bench, she proved somebody willing to fully hear both sides of a case and come up both sides of a case and come up with a fair outcome. she was somebody who really pushed to breathe life into the principal equal justice breathe life into the principal equaljustice under law, breathe life into the principal equal justice under law, and her death, no doubt, changes the balance of the court and the balance of the court and the supreme court is a central institution in our democracy. the supreme court issues rulings that impact every aspect of our daily lives, and we need and want a court that

reflects the diversity of our country and reflects the diversity of our cou ntry a nd reflects reflects the diversity of our country and reflects the values and principles that animate our constitution. but kristin, how do you deal with the fact that, at the moment, president trump, whom ruth bader ginsburg are sized in her lifetime, unusually, and was told off for it, how do you reckon with the fa ct it, how do you reckon with the fact that he may get to pick her successor, who may be a com plete her successor, who may be a completejudicial her successor, who may be a complete judicial opposite? you know, we have an election which is under way. it is actually not the case that we have an election on november three, there are several states where early voting is already under way. in addition, we have a pandemic that has upended life in our country and we have protests happening across our country, and there is legislation sitting on the desk of senator mitch mcconnell, the leader of the senate, who has failed to move and provide relief to vulnerable americans who are suffering because of the pandemic. he has failed to

provide the resources that states really need to conduct safe and secure elections in our country, he has failed to respond to the police violence crisis and there are bills dealing with all of these issues sitting and collecting dust on his desk. it is my belief that he needs to turn to those pressing priorities right now before anything else, and it would be share hypocrisy for him to ignore the words that he said in 2016, which is that no supreme court nominee need to be thrown into the cauldron of an active election season. kristin clark they are. it is now past midnight in america, and on capitol hill, the us flag flies at half staff. next to that building, there is the supreme court. ruth bader ginsburg's workplace for 27 yea rs. ginsburg's workplace for 27 years. eightjustices ginsburg's workplace for 27 years. eight justices remain ginsburg's workplace for 27 years. eightjustices remain on that court, they now await word of how the replacement will be

chosen, which may come to define the presidential election. 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 m4, 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 courtjudge, ruth bader ginsburg, has died. she was 87 and had been undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer. a row has already broken out over whether donald trump should nominate a successor before november's presidential election. the world health organization has warned that the coronavirus pandemic is "not burning out or going away". doctor mike ryan, the head of the who's health emergencies programme, said that northern hemisphere countries needed to do far more to combat the disease over the coming winter. the united states government has said it will ban downloads of two chinese social media applications — tiktok and we chat — from sunday. tiktok said it was "disappointed" with the ruling and both companies have vowed to fight the decision. coming up at 6am, breakfast with naga munchetty