this is bbc news — with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm lewis vaughan jones. us media reports that president trump has decided to nominate federaljudge amy coney barrett to the supreme court. the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in america has now passed seven—million — twenty percent of the world's total. tributes are paid to a british police officer shot dead in south london by a man who was being detained. his service will never be forgotten and we are deeply grateful for it. it is a really distinguished service from a lovely, much respected police officer. and — look away if you don't like rodents —

but this rat is officially a hero — and he's got a gold medal to prove it. us media reports say president trump has decided to nominate the federaljudge, amy coney barrett, to fill the supreme court seat left vacant by the death of ruth bader ginsburg. the bbc‘s us partner cbs has been told by multiple sources involved in or familiar with the selection process that she will be nominated by mr trump tomorrow. supreme court justices are nominated to the bench by the us president, but must be approved by the senate. with the death ofjustice ginsburg, a liberal stalwart, mr trump was given the chance to cement a rightward ideological tilt of the nine—member court by replacing her with a conservative.

so, what do we know about his reported pick, amy coney barrett? she's a judge on the circuit court of appeals, a position she was nominated to by president trump. she's 48 years old, was born in new orleans, and has seven children. previously, she served as a clerk for the conservative supreme courtjustice antonin scalia, who died in 2016. and, she's described as a devout catholic, making her a favourite among religious conservatives. our correspondent david willis has more. president trump had said that he would be selecting a woman to his seat vacated by the death of ruth bader ginsburg and indeed, amy coney barrett was seen at the white house for a meeting with president trump earlier this week. she is conservative and that applies, of course, to her views on abortion and since appointed to

the appeals court by president trump back in 2017, she has ruled on two cases involving abortion rights in both cases, ruling in favour of those rules being tightened. so, a long target, if you like, of abortion rights advocates who will not be very pleased to see this 48—year—old woman being appointed to the highest court in the land. her appointment is something of a formality now because, of course, it has to because, of course, it has to be approved by the us senate. republicans have the majority in the upper house and despite objections of two republicans, it seems that the majority that they need to approve the appointment of amy coney barrett and probably before the us presidential election in november. that is potentially

highly significant and not only because of all of the various fows because of all of the various rows that are going on surrounding the election, it is extremely volatile and tumultuous times in american politics but also because the us supreme court could ultimately be brought to bear to determine the outcome of that election and it could be highly contested, given the fa ct highly contested, given the fact that president trump, of course, in the past couple of days has said that he might not actually accept the result of the ballot. meanwhile senior officials, friends and family paid their respects today to the late supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg. she became the first woman to lie in state at the us capitol building. 0ur correspondent ba ra ba ra plett usher reports from washington. ready, step. this was a solemn part in the political tumult that this was a solemn pause in the political tumult that has engulfed the capital sincejustice ginsburg died a week ago. and she was still breaking barriers. the first woman to ever lay

in state here, her casket placed on the platform that supported america's most famous president, abraham lincoln. i have the high honour to welcomejustice ruth bader ginsburg to lie in state in the capital of the united states. the democratic speaker of the house arranged the memorial for this liberal icon. it was a simple service, punctuated by the music she loved. a family friend led the tributes, praising the life and work of someone who changed the course of american law. justice did not arrive like a lightning bolt, but rather through dogged persistence. all the days of her life, real change, she said, enduring change, happens one

step at a time. justice ginsburg made ground—breaking advances in securing women the same rights as men, systematically eviscerating the obstacles thrown up by a male—dominated leader profession. 0n the supreme court, she established a reputation as a strong liberal voice. amidst all the goodbyes, a brutal partisan battle has taken shape over justice ginsburg's vacant seat which is set to cement the supreme court's conservative shift for a generation. notably absent here were republican leaders, who are plunging forward with president trump's controversial plan to move quickly in an election year. and from fema members of congress, and honour guard of women acknowledging that their world was shaped by her pioneering work. this marks the end of the mourning period forjustice convert an president trump is ready to nominate her replacement on saturday, setting off an unprecedented sprints to get a justice on the supreme court

by the election and triggering a political and cultural battle that will continue no matter who wins the presidency. the united states now has more than 7 million coronavirus cases — that's according to statistics from johns hopkins university. the figure of 7 millon 5 thousand 7 hundred and 46 cases, confirmed by tests, is the highest in the world. bill hanage is an associate professor at harvard t. h.chan school of public health. he gave me his reaction to the figure. it's an enormous number. it actually covers an even larger number which is the true number of cases which have been here. in fact, things are potentially worse than they appear. we under detected cases read in the start of the spring, but importance in places like florida have not learned a

lesson. is it too soon to look back and try and learn lessons? because the us has a very large population and so, you would expect a large number of cases. but did it inevitably have to lead to 7 million cases? words are the things they could've realistically been done to reduce the number? it would be generally challenging for the united states, which obviously has the division of power between the federal government in the state. but it is noticeable but the federal government did not make it real attempt to do anything which has been a really desperate failing so far. the united states is big, yes but we can account for this by coming up with per capita mortality and taste statistics. the united states is 21,000 or so cases for every million of its population and it has over 600 deaths per million at the moment and as you know, it is still ongoing. that second statistic just overtook the united kingdom and like i said,

florida is reopening. so when we go from here? you said florida's reopening, where do we go from here? in the winter, it will be very crucially dependent on what, i call it the epidemiology situation where you want to know what's going on, you want to know what the risk of transmission is, within the local communities and so on. where i'm talking to you from, which is massachusetts up in the northeast. we have good situational awareness, we have testing, monitoring, other parts of the country may not so good. but we are going be monitoring the situation being prepared for what will happen if and when we see cases the way they're going right now. tributes have been paid to a police officer shot dead by a detainee at a custody centre in south london. he has been named as 54—year—old sergeant matiu ratana — known as matt. a 23 year old suspect — who was being processed in croydon after being arrested — is believed to have turned

the weapon on himself. daniel sandford reports. examining the scene of the murder of one of their own colleagues. forensics officers working at the croydon custody centre in south london today. a suspect was brought here at around at around 2:15am this morning in a police vehicle, but he was carrying a concealed revolver and, still handcuffed behind his back, appears to have shot the custody sergeant in the chest before shooting himself. the dead officer, 54—year—old matt rata na, who'd served his whole career in the metropolitan police and was about to retire, was rushed to hospital, but couldn't be saved. he gave 29 years of his life to the public of london. he has now tragically been killed on duty. his service will never be forgotten and we are deeply grateful for it, and it is a really distinguished service from a lovely, lovely, much respected police officer.

welcome to east grinstead rugby football club. i'm matt ratana, head coach. sergeant ratana, who was originally from new zealand, was a much loved colleague, but was also well known as a first—class rugby player and the coach at east grinstead rugby club in sussex. just before last night's shift, he whatsapped about how great the last training session had been. his assistant said that was typical of his enthusiasm. he affected so many people positively. so many people have gained something great from matt. and he's going to be a huge loss to the gym, to the rugby club, tojust anyone that knew him. yeah. matt ratana leaves behind a partner and an adult son from a previous relationship. his colleagues knew him as a big guy. big in stature, big in heart. friendly, capable.

a lovely man, highly respected by his colleagues. we begin our minute's silence for our fallen colleague. this afternoon, the metropolitan police held a minute's silence in tribute to the dead officer, led by the head of the force and the mayor of london. the prime minister sent his deepest condolences to his family. to think that a police officer can be killed in a police station is a huge concern notjust to the police, notjust to those of us politicians who are charged with giving the police the tools they need, but everyone. the suspect is in a critical condition in st george's hospital, tooting, after having surgery. he was originally arrested on suspicion of possession of class b drugs and possession of ammunition. how he then managed to smuggle a gun into the custody suite is at heart of an investigation. today all those involved in policing are in deep shock. once again, an officer has been killed on duty. once again, they remember

the hidden risks they face when they come to work each day. well staying with that story — new zealand police have issued a statement: commissioner andrew coster said that "while sergeant ratana spent most of his career in the uk, anyone who serves here will always be a part of our new zealand police far—no." "we send our condolences to his friends and family here and abroad, and his colleagues in the metropolitan police and across the uk who will be deeply feeling this loss today." stay with us on bbc news — still to come. a rare apology from north korea's kimjong un — he says the brutal killing by his soldiers of a south korean official was "disgraceful affair". music. ben johnson, the fastest man on earth, is flying home

to canada in disgrace. all athletes should be clean going into the games. i'm just happy that justice is served. it is a simple fact that this morning, these people were in their homes. tonight, those homes have been burnt down by serbian soldiers and police. all the taliban positions along here have been strengthened, presumably in case the americans invade. it's no use having a secret service which cannot preserve its own secrets against the world. and so, the british government has no option but to continue this action, even after any adverse judgment in australia. concorde had crossed the atlantic faster than any plane ever before, breaking the record by six minutes.

this is bbc news — our top story this hour. us media reports that president trump has decided to nominate federaljudge amy coney barrett to the supreme court. it's the rarest of apologies — and it comes from the north korean leader kim jong un. he's expressed his regret for the killing of a south korean at sea. the official was shot dead by north korean soldiers, and his body set on fire, apparently as a precaution against coronavirus. and it comes as tensions between the two koreas are high. soo kim, a former cia analyst who monitored korean relations said so, it really is bizarre because i think that the south korean government and, rightfully so, the media have actually taken this as really a true apology from the north korean leader, when in fact they did express "regrets", but at the same time

they did take the time to point the blame and to criticise the south korean government for their contact as well. we still have to see since it's been less than 2a hours since we saw the "apology" from north korea, but one — the facts still remain to be disputed, and two — as you just mentioned, i think it is really in the interest of the south korean government to try to smooth out the seams between the two koreas so that one — the international attention is not so much on the north korean belligerence, and two — if there are any prospects for inter—korean reconciliation and peace, that any questions about, any doubts about north korean intent and their sincerity towards the south can sort of be quelled. as to what extent that can be done, that remains, i think, to be seen. relations between china and the united states took

another hit this week when president trump used his speech to the un to criticise beijing's handling of the coronavirus outbreak. the ongoing souring of relations has prompted the un secretary general to warn against the outbreak of a new cold war. our world affairs editor, john simpson has this special report. china's new—found strength is everywhere, confronting taiwan and hong kong. taking on australia, japan, india. sparring with donald trump. they let the plague out. they shouldn't have done it. china uses its economic muscle right around the world. this week it was accused of ordering barbados to ditch the queen. in the years when china was building up its strength and wealth, its official slogan was a modest one, "hide your light and bide your time." but in the past ten years as china's strength has grown, the official slogan has

changed. now it's, "strive for achievement". should we be worried? the leading chinese dissident, ai weiwei, now in exile in cambridge, thinks the west is so dependent on china, it's incapable of resisting. the west should really worry about china from decades ago. and now it's already a bit too late. there's almost no way for the west to stop this, kind of, profit—making business and to simply cut it off, it will hurt, deeply. that's why china is very arrogant. china sees it differently. it regards itself as a developing country, only now taking its rightful

place in the world. hello, sorry for the wait. this newspaper owner is closely linked to the top chinese leadership. translation: the situation is tense. that's a fact, but we are not confronting not confronting the west as a whole, the west does not equal the usa. i think the hard—line attitude of the usa is, in part, caused by its election politics. yet, he is pretty hardline himself. he told me that under certain circumstances, china could use military force to invade taiwan. as for hong kong... translation: if the violent protesters threaten police lives by throwing projectiles and petrol bombs, i believe the police should be allowed to use their guns and they should open fire. do such threats imply

a new cold war? 0ne former british foreign secretary thinks not. there are areas where china needs to be confronted, but there are other areas where there is room for cooperation. we have to take very seriously, a robust analysis but one "cold war" is the right way to analyse and understand china's rise. the key seems to be the us election. directly that's over, we'll see if the winner wants further confrontation with china or more coexistence. two people have been wounded in a knife attack outside the former offices of the french satirical magazine, charlie hebdo. the victims, a man and a woman who are staff members of a television company, were seriously wounded, although both are reported to be out of danger. two people have been arrested.

0ur paris correspondent, lucy williamson reports. in central paris today, the familiar scenes of a recurring nightmare, a knife attack that left two people seriously injured at a building once occupied by the satirical magazine charlie hebdo. the victims are employees of a television production company with offices there. translation: outside the metro, i saw a machete with lots of blood and people shouting. it was a bit of a panic. in the passageway that is right next to my work, i saw a victim lying there covered in blood. that's when i panicked and people started panicking and shouting. the police arrived and asked us to stay locked up. all in all, on the way, i saw two victims with lots of blood. one man — believed to be the attacker — has been arrested and a suspected accomplice has also been ta ken into custody. police told the bbc that one of those detained was found with blood on his clothes.

the sight of police cordoning off these streets will bring back painful memories for france. just around the corner from here, the former offices of the satirical magazine charlie hebdo, target of a deadly terrorist attack five years ago. those suspected of involvement in that attack are currently standing trial at a court here in paris. the place and timing of this attack has meant prosecutors are treating it as a terrorist inquiry. charlie hebdo, which now operates from a different location, has tweeted its support to the victims. "the entire team offers its support and solidarity to our former neighbours and colleagues and to the people affected by this odious attack," it said. arriving after a government crisis meeting, the prime minister, jean castex, said the symbolism of this attack, its location and timing was clear.

translation: this is the time for the government of the republic to reiterate its unwavering commitment to freedom of the press, its resolute will by all means to fight against terrorism and to affirm to the nation that we are fully mobilised. france has been reliving the horrific attack on charlie hebdo five years ago as survivors give testimony in the trial of those suspected of involvement. earlier this month, charlie hebdo reprinted the cartoons of mohammed that originally made it a target for islamist violence — echoes of an attack that continues to leave its mark on france. his name is mag—arwa. he's a rat. an african giant pouched rat. he's also a life—saving hero. he's just been awarded a gold medal for his work detecting landmines in cambodia, the first rat to receive this honour. duncan kennedy tells his story.

this is magawa, the mine—clearing, medal—winning, mind—blowing rat. he is actually a giant african pouched rat, capable of clearing an area the size of a tennis court in just 30 minutes. something that would take a human four days to do. and now for the first time in their 103—year history, one of britain's leading animal charities has given him the highest award. magawa is a true hero rat and we're thrilled to celebrate his life saving devotion by awarding him the pdsa gold medal. it took a year to train magawa to work in cambodia. he walks up—and—down sniffing out the chemicals in the mines and gently taps it when he finds one. he's discovered 39 mines and 28 bits of explosive ordnance, making him the most reliable rodent. tell me, why

is magawa so special? magawa, year after year, he searches the biggest amount of square metres, he finds more mines than any other rat. like i said, he is the one that each handler wishes to work with. magawa is one of 45 rats who have cleared enough land in cambodia for one million people to live on. so his handler, says he is due to retire in november but is fit enough to work for another year. a cuddly rat — well, perhaps. an effective one — certainly. magawa, the mega mine clearer. a reminder of our top story — president trump is reported to have picked amy coney barrett as his nominee for the vacant seat on the us supreme court. she's a federaljudge known for her conservative religious views. you can reach me on twitter —

i'm @lvaughanjones. hello. the last weekend of september won't be a particularly warm one, but for much of the uk, it'll be dry, there'll be some occasional sunshine. but there is one significant fly in the ointment — this area of low pressure which has pounded parts of eastern england, especially norfolk, with wind and rain to end the week. it will still be close by over the weekend, it will still be windy and still a chance of seeing a bit of rain. it'll be cloudier compared with elsewhere. so, this is how the weekend is shaping up, on the chilly side. some sunshine, but those strong winds particularly across parts of eastern england. they'll still be there as we start saturday. still with some outbreaks of rain lincolnshire into east anglia.

elsewhere, clear, chillier, maybe a touch of frost to start the day in parts of scotland, northern england and northern ireland. but across much of the uk, well, winds are reasonably light in comparison compared to eastern england. there'll be some sunshine. the cloud, though, across eastern england delivering some showery outbreaks of rain at times, especially the further east you are. and temperatures, well, mid to low teens, just maybe a few spots along the south coast reaching as high as 16 degrees celsius. the white arrows are the average speeds here. of course, they are higher the further east you are. we'll turn the arrows black and look at wind gusts, and 50—60 mph right along the coastline, just maybe easing a little later in the day, but make no mistake — these will still be strong winds with big waves and again cloud with some outbreaks of rain. and there'll be more cloud generally across central and eastern parts of england on through saturday night into sunday. could see a bit of drizzle, maybe south east england, out of that. where you're clear, it'll be chilly again, and again parts of northern ireland,

scotland and northern england will get close to freezing or a touch of frost as we start sunday. but again with some sunshine to follow. on sunday, we'll keep a fair amount of cloud across the midlands, across the eastern side of england, you could see a few spots of light rain. there's still a noticeable wind right along that coast in particular, just not as strong as it's been. the lighter winds elsewhere, you get to see a bit of sunshine, maybe turning hazy later in northern ireland. the temperature may be a degree or so higher. but as winds turn south—westerly into the start of next week, it will turn a bit milder. a bit of rain heading to northern ireland on monday, and further spells of wind and rain across the uk coming our way from midweek.

this is bbc news. the headlines — us media reports say president trump has decided to nominate the federal appeals courtjudge amy coney barrett to fill the supreme court seat left vacant by the death of the liberal icon ruth bader ginsburg. the nomination comes weeks before the us presidential election. the united states has now had more than 7 million coronavirus cases, according to a running tally byjohns hopkins university. the figure for cases confirmed by tests is the highest in the world. more than 200,000 americans have died during the pandemic. the metropolitan police commissioner's paid tribute to an officer who was shot dead at a custody centre in south london, describing him as "big in stature and big in heart". sgt matt ratana, who was originally from new zealand, had served nearly 30 years in the met.

now on bbc news, it's six months since the uk first went