this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. more pressure on donald trump is my supreme court nominee as she evades questions on day two of her senate confirmation. europe scrambles to stop the second wave of coronavirus infections. two new “— wave of coronavirus infections. two new -- q wave of coronavirus infections. two new -- 0 new receptions and other countries. some arab states have been deporting uighur muslims back to china. and in eastern russia, the story behind the award—winning image that took months to capture.

hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. donald trump's nominee to the us supreme court met with lawmakers on capitol hill for a second day of her confirmation hearing. amy coney barrett spent a lot of the time telling senators she would not use a seat on the supreme court to impose her conservative views on american law. democrats have spent a lot of time trying to prove she will. barbara plitt usher has this. amy coney barrett came prepared for confrontation, confident in her record and memory. she spoke without notes — unlike many of the senators who were grilling her scapula my

sister, megan... amy coney barrett got softball start, asked to introduce herfamily. got softball start, asked to introduce her family. but got softball start, asked to introduce herfamily. but question quickly pivoted to fears democrats had that she would undermine existing rights such as abortion. do you agree withjustice existing rights such as abortion. do you agree with justice scalia's view that abortion was wrongly decided?” don't have an agenda to overrule it, i have an agenda to stick... that's really too bad because it's rather a fundamental point for a large number of people in this country. amy coney barrett sites up to questions on the matters i could come before the court. she would take an approach but not an activist one. judges can just wake up and say they have an agenda, they like or hate guns are abortion, and walk him like a real queen hoping to impose their will on the world. democrats pressed her on

an ongoing controversy, worried that mr trump's nominee would rule against obamacare when it's challenged in court next month. we oi'i challenged in court next month. we on this side do not believe obamacare is the best way to provide quality health care over time. republicans have tried to defeat what's known as the affordable care act in congress, and judge barrett has criticised earlier rulings supporting it. but she insisted she did not necessarily oppose it.” supporting it. but she insisted she did not necessarily oppose it. i am not hostile to the aca or any statute that you pass. i apply the law, follow the law, you make the policy. the election was front and centre, with mr trump saying he wa nts a centre, with mr trump saying he wants a supreme courtjustice confirmed in time to make sure he gets a good hearing in any election dispute. butjudge barrett declined to say whether she would step aside from an election related case.” have had no conversation with the president or any of his staff on how imight president or any of his staff on how i might rule in that case. it would bea

i might rule in that case. it would be a gross violation ofjudicial independence for me to make any such commitment orfor independence for me to make any such commitment or for me to be asked about that case and how i would rule. the hearings continue but there's little doubt she'll get the job. republicans almost certainly have the vote to cement a conservative majority on the supreme court for generations. heavy fighting is taking place for third day in southern afghanistan, as the government forces try to defend the capitalfrom a government forces try to defend the capital from a taliban assault. the un is told the bbc that as many as 35,000 people may have fled their homes. it's the most serious taliban assault since negotiations with the government began a month ago and don't hire. the talks were held then as an historic opportunity for peace, but have become bogged down. lease doucet is in kabul. this isn't what afghans expected when news came that the first afghan peace talks

we re that the first afghan peace talks were getting under way a month ago. now there's a major taliban offensive in southern afghanistan and a growing humanitarian crisis. afg ha n and a growing humanitarian crisis. afghan government forces have had to call in another round of us air strikes to bolster their forces as they continue to try to push the attacking caliban back on what is a third day of heavy fighting around ostergaard. the humanitarian impact continues to grow by the day. the un has confirmed to us that some 35,000 afg ha ns a re has confirmed to us that some 35,000 afghans are now on the run. one family told us that they fled in haste with only the clothes that they were, not knowing where they would find a safe place to sleep. as one man put it, "if we don't die in this war, we will die of hunger." and it's all raising questions about that peace process so far away in the gulf state of qatar. the

government's chief spokesperson at the negotiations told the bbc that this intensifying violence was raising questions about the taliban and's commitment to the peace talks. it was putting pressure on government post negotiating team and whether they would be able to continue but this process. china and russia have been elected to the united nations a top human rights body despite accusations they are themselves among the world's worst rights abusers. saudi arabia had hoped to secure that as well but failed to secure a bid. the murder of jamarcus failed to secure a bid. the murder ofjamarcus augie failed to secure a bid. the murder of jamarcus augie was failed to secure a bid. the murder ofjamarcus augie was a failed to secure a bid. the murder of jamarcus augie was a factor. failed to secure a bid. the murder ofjamarcus augie was a factor. one ofjamarcus augie was a factor. one of malaysia's best known politicians has made a bid to become prime minister following months of political instability. he has the support of bub majority of mps in parliament. but they've cast out on that claim, saying he only told the

king the number of mps supporting him, failure to provide a list of names. more than 20 people have been arrested in thailand after police dispersed protests in the capital bangkok. dispersed protests in the capital ba ng kok. protesters dispersed protests in the capital bangkok. protesters gathered in the city of the micro centre. they'd been calling for the resignation of the prime minister who seized power ina the prime minister who seized power in a 2014 coup. across europe, many countries are imposing more extreme measures to fight this second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. the czech republic has a new state of emergency, schools are set there. the dutch prime minister has announced a partial lockdown which will mean the complete closure of restau ra nts, will mean the complete closure of restaurants, hotels and cafes. germany, which did have relatively low infection rates, has now imposed an11pm curfew on low infection rates, has now imposed an 11pm curfew on bars and restau ra nts an 11pm curfew on bars and restaurants across the country.

meanwhile spain has declared a state of emergency in madrid, and police are patrolling the streets to stop people leaving their neighbourhoods. jean mackenzie sent this report. this is an early night by spanish standards. last orders now at 10pm, and no one is allowed to leave or enter the city unless it is essential. but with the rules chopping and changing for weeks, people are tired and confused. all the time we are breaking the rules and nobody cares. like, even the police, they don't say anything. very soon after spain reopened, cases surged, giving madrid the highest levels of coronavirus in europe.

yet thousands have come out to protest against the latest measures. many are angry their sacrifices have been squandered. people in madrid are fed up. they have already been through the strictest lockdown in europe, and here they are again, with their movement being restricted. they want instead for the government to be focusing more on other measures to control the virus, so more tracing and testing, more doctors. a couple of weeks ago, only some neighbourhoods were locked down, the poorer, more overcrowded ones, including elena's. they were trying to make a line and divide the city with the poor people, the contagious people. the national government intervened, concerned madrid's politicians were not doing enough, and imposed a state of emergency, against their will. now it is a political war. they are creating a lot of confusion and we have been days, like, i don't know, what can i do tomorrow, i don't know if i can do this, i don't know if i can do that. i think that is the main problem.

and second of all, i think we can't last this for a long time. a solution cannot be a lockdown. do you accept that a lot of the confusion and resistance has come because people have been given two different ways that they can do things? but getting spaniards to eat before their 10pm curfew is a tall order. tonight, many restaurants have not even bothered to open, and julian says they will just continue the night back at his. as patience erodes, it is clear countries will need much more than just rules and restrictions. jean mackenzie, bbc news, madrid. covid—19 figures are also going the wrong way here in the uk. on

tuesday, the number of daily deaths recorded was the highest it's been and four months, 143 recorded compared with 50 on monday. the uk's overall total has now passed 43,000. the number of new cases is also up, with more than 17,000 being registered today. the british prime minister borisjohnson registered today. the british prime minister boris johnson is registered today. the british prime minister borisjohnson is under pressure to tighten restrictions and, minutes after the latest minutes were released, the labour leaders are keir starmer has supported a 2—3 week national lockdown, or circuit breaker as is being dubbed to prevent the health service being overwhelmed. there is no longer time to give this prime minister the doubt. the government's plan simply isn't working. another course is needed. that's why i'm calling for a 2—3 circuit break in england and line with sage's

recommendation. a temporary set of clear and effective restrictions designed to get the r rate down and reverse the trend of infections and hospital admissions. mental health issues have been raised by the across the world, and access to metal health services has been severely disrupted in virtually every country in the world. that's according to a new study carried out by the who. they found the pandemic has affected or even halted critical mental health services in 93% of countries worldwide. of all the age groups, young people and adolescents have been the hardest hit, more than 70% of services for them or partially or totally disrupted. and when it comes to countries incorporating mental health into their covid—19 response plans, south and southeast asia had the fewest, about 65%. someone who can help us

understand these figures and what this means and what is required now at this timejoins this means and what is required now at this time joins us now from new york. we hear so much about mental health issues, and it's hit established mental health care at a time when most people need it most. yes, i also want to particularly highlight how important mental health intervention is for young people, as you mentioned earlier. what most people and governments don't realise is that we currently have the largest generation of young people in the history of the planet right now. more than half the world's population is estimated to be under 30 years of age, and mental health challenges even before the pandemic was a huge barrier for young people to realise their

fullest potential. so for example, suicide was the second leading cause of death in people aged up to 29. those mental health challenges that existed before the pandemic have either been exacerbated or the gaps in mental health services has been increased because of and during the pandemic. so are you saying that young people are affected more by mental health issues than other age groups? definitely, that's why the statistics are is telling us, in addition to the high suicide rates that i mentioned, mental health challenges such as depression are now quite high amongst adolescents and young people. the covid—19 pandemic, especially the virus and the efforts to contain the virus has also had an impact on this. for example, school closures, loss of job opportunities, unemployment and unable to meet with their peers, missing out on important life

occasions like graduations and weddings... just on the gender issue,is weddings... just on the gender issue, is there a big gender divide here? ijust issue, is there a big gender divide here? i just wanted issue, is there a big gender divide here? ijust wanted to issue, is there a big gender divide here? i just wanted to focus issue, is there a big gender divide here? ijust wanted to focus on, if we may, on asia, because in asia specifically, mental health problems of any age is a stigma. there is, definitely. except for myanmar, where that suicide rates are almost equalfor where that suicide rates are almost equal for adolescent girls and boys, and all the other countries, suicide rates for young boys is much higher then young girls. that means that a lot of the toxic masculinity and gender stereotypes that we have about young men and boys, that they shouldn't be emotional or cry, they shouldn't be emotional or cry, they shouldn't look for help has actually pushed young men to be silent and not seek the help that they need. this is also true for lgbt q people, because of the stigma around their gender identities, they are unable

to access the services their government provides. there are also horrific stories of conversion therapy is happening at home for lg bt therapy is happening at home for lgbt q people, particularly those locked down inside homes with families and friends and peers who do not necessarily accept them for who they are. we have to leave it there for now, but thank you very much forjoining us from new york. stay with us here on bbc news, still to come: football superstar cristiano ronaldo tests positive for covid—19. he's now self isolating. parts of san francisco least affected by the earthquake are returning to life. but in the marina area where most of the damage was done, there are more conscious than ever of how much has been destroyed. in the 19 years since he was last here, he's gone from being a little known revolutionary to an experienced and successful diplomatic operator. it was a 20lb

bomb which exploded on the fifth floor of the grand hotel, ripping a hole in the floor of the building. this government will not weaken! democracy will prevail. it fills me with humility and gratitude to know that i have been chosen as the recipient of this foremost on her. this catholic nation held its breath for them and they call the 33. and then... bells told nationwide to announce the first rescue, and chile let out an almighty roar. hello, you're watching bbc news. our latest headlines: amy coney barrett, donald trump is my choice to be the next supreme courtjudge, was grilled by senators today. but she

pushed back against democrats who see her as a conservative activist. europe is seeing a second wave of coronavirus cases, as numbers are spiking in several countries. measures are stepped up to control the spread. over the past few years, the spread. over the past few years, the chinese government has believed to have obtained up to a billion uighurs in re—education camps. he was he is learned that china is pursuing uighurs beyond its own borders in the middle east with the support of the governments there. an investigation by the bbc‘s arabic services that arab states, including saudi arabia, have been forcibly deporting uighurs back to china where they are then believed to be detained. sudanese is married with five children. she is one of many uighur people from the xinjiang province in china who live in exile. two years ago, her husband made a

pilgrimage to saudi arabia. while there, he was arrested by the police. since 2009, china has launched a people's war on terror in xinjiang to say what they is islamist separatism after violent incidents like the bombing of a train station in 2014. today, it's believed over a million ethnic uighurs and other religious minorities are detained in camps across xinjiang. former detainees allege that those inside have faced torture if they refused to renounce their ethnic language and religion — a claim china denies.

five uighurs were deported to china from saudi arabia. among them, i know three of them, i know personally. they deported more than 20 students, and i have their names and ids. so i can say 20. so why are these muslim led countries a p pa re ntly these muslim led countries apparently collaborating with china's crack down on the uighur people? in february last year, saudi crown prince mohammed bin samhan made a visit to his country's biggest trading partner, china. there he cited $20 billion worth of agreement, including a $10 billion deal to build an oil refinery complex in china. bin somma and was reported to told his hosts," china has the right to carry out anti—terrorism and extremism work for its country. " anti—terrorism and extremism work for its country." they shamelessly exploited fears of terrorism and

islamaphobia worldwide to justify its policies of islamaphobia. this time, it's really to violate one of the most fundamental tenets... is not to send people back to a place where they have a well—established fear of persecution. the chinese embassy in london told the bbc... the question for those seeking refuge outside of china is, will they be able to see their homeland orfamilies ever they be able to see their homeland or families ever again? and they be able to see their homeland orfamilies ever again? and will there ever be a safe haven for them abroad? in the world of sport, the portuguese football star christiano ronaldo has tested positive for the coronavirus. thejuventus

ronaldo has tested positive for the coronavirus. the juventus forward ronaldo has tested positive for the coronavirus. thejuventus forward is not showing any symptoms, but has gone into self isolation. let's go to tolson tollett, who joins us from sportscenter. 35 years old, where did he catch it? it's a hard one to work out because they're in a confined bubble, the portuguese team. but if you think about the fa ct team. but if you think about the fact that they played paris and france at the weekend with that 0—0 draw, maybe it was from one of the players possibly. you never know from the french team. it's a case of trying to work out where it's come from. we do know there were two players who did withdraw from that game in france before that match, so there were two positive tests for portugal before the match was played in paris. but he's feeling well? many people are feeling well and asymptomatic who have coronavirus. you need to be cautious. he may be a symptom medic could pass it onto someone symptom medic could pass it onto someone else who suffers badly the

virus. when it comes down to it, where do you play football games? you have fans in some countries and not in others. at each of these venues, sometimes you have fans, sometimes you don't. so the problem across the whole of football. so you have to look at it from the bigger picture, do you take everyone out of it watching the game, or do you let fa ns it watching the game, or do you let fans go to the game and run this possibility? i'm not saying that's where it's come from but there's a chance it's come from transmission from being near fans chance it's come from transmission from being nearfans leaving chance it's come from transmission from being near fans leaving the ground. and we've been through this whole process for the last few months. thank you very much. a photograph of a siberian tiger, one of the rarest creatures on earth, was captured using a camera that was set up for months in the forests of russia's far east. and it brought the photographer of the award of 2021 life photographer of the year. the annual award, organised by london's natural history museum, was announced during an online event as our science correspondent victoria gill reports.

in the wilderness of russia's far east, taking even a blurry snapshot of one of earth's rarest creatures would be a realfeat. but with a combination of skill, luck and months of persistence, photographer sergey gorshkov managed to capture this. while the judges said it looked like an oil painting, it is a photograph of an endangered female amur tiger. it was caught by a camera trap that was triggered by the movement of the animal herself. and here, i have been inspired... like so many 2020 events, the ceremony for the wildlife photographer of the year was held online, and the duchess of cambridge announced the winner. so it is with great pleasure that i can announce this year's wildlife photographer of the year is... sergey gorshkov for his image, the embrace. many congratulations to you, sergey, and thanks to all of those who entered for showing us the magic of the natural world. the awards acknowledged photographers who had

shown the impact of our exploitation of wildlife. but primarily, they celebrated some of the most captivating images of the natural world taken in the last, very tumultuous year. while we can all ponder on the photographic prowess, patience and skill, this winning image, quite simply, captures one beautiful moment. victoria gill, bbc news. fantastic picture. if you were watching yesterday, you may remember this — brace yourselves for the biggest world war ii bomb ever found in poland exploding underwater. that huge plume of water coming up. navy divers had been trying to defuse it, more than 750 people were evacuated from the area. where the british royal air force bomb was found, there was a 50—50 chance of it going

off before being diffused, and it did. there you go. from me and the team, see you soon. hello, good evening. today was a pretty cool day for just about all of us but in terms of the look of the weather, there were some quite big variations. this was the scene in hastings through the afternoon. grey, gloomy conditions with some outbreaks of rain. brighter skies for this weather watcher in somerset, although there are some big shower clouds in the background. so, we've had some wet weather, some dry weather. i think over the next few days, we're going to see increasing amounts of dry weather. still some showers to contend with through the night into the early hours of wednesday. some showery rain across parts of southern and south—eastern scotland. if you showers down towards the south, maybe into northern ireland as well. 5—8 degrees covers it for most of us, but some spots in the far north of scotland will get very close to freezing. so, into tomorrow, we've got high pressure to the north,

low pressure to the south. that's feeding an easterly or north—easterly wind across the british isles. a pretty brisk breeze actually which will make it feel rather chilly. showery rain to start off with a southern scotland, also maybe some of that clipping into northern ireland. and then through the day, we see some further showers marching in from the north sea across eastern england into the midlands, perhaps getting into parts of east wales through the day as well. between showers there will be some spells of sunshine. quite windy for most of us, a bit windier than it was today across the south. equally not quite as windy as it was today in the north. and those differences, well, if anything a little bit higher than they have been today. but i think the strength of the wind will still feel rather cool. and then into thursday, it's another cool day, quite cloudy i think. the wind coming in from the north sea picking up a lot of cloud. maybe the odd spot of rain but most places dry. the best of the sunshine in the west but a very cool field to the weather. and a similar story for friday. large slabs of cloud in the sky.

the thickest of that producing the odd light shower. some brighter spells here and there, but those temperatures are struggling a little bit between 11—13 degrees. and then as we head into the weekend, well, high pressure is broadly speaking going to be in charge. it looks as if this high willjust be strong enough to fend off the advances of this deep low which will be spending down to the south—west. so as far as the weekend itself is concerned, it's looking dry for the most part but rather cloudy and rather chilly. but it's big changes next week. that low pressure will win out, it will turn wet and windy but also milder.

hello you are watching the bbc news with me tim willcox. president trump on—site supreme court nominee amy coney barrett has asked whether she would vote to overturn us law on abortion and gay marriage. during the second day of her confirmation hearing, she said she would not pronounce any judgements. the netherlands has become the latest country to chain coronavirus restrictions as a second wave rages through europe. there will be a partial lockdown and bars and hotels and partial lockdown and bars and hotels a nd restau ra nts partial lockdown and bars and hotels and restaurants will be close. and the united nations in afghanistan say that 35,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in helmand.