welcome to bbc news — i'm mike embley. our top stories: president trump's nominee to the us supreme court evades questions from senators, including vice—presidential candidate kamala harris, refusing to discuss laws on abortion or gay marriage. were you aware of president trump's statements committing to nominate judges who will strike down the affordable care act? as i am sitting here, i don't recall seeing those statements. president trump tries to shore up support in pennsylvania for his second campaign rally since his covid—19 diagnosis. europe scrambles to stop a second wave of coronavirus infections, with new restrictions announced in several countries. and the story behind this award—winning image from eastern russia that took months to capture.

a very warm welcome to you. president trump's nominee to the us supreme court has been meeting with lawmakers on capitol hill for the second day of her confirmation hearing. amy coney barrett spent a lot of the time telling senators she will not use a seat on the supreme court to impose her conservative views on american law. democrats spent a lot of time trying to prove she will. the democratic party's vice—presidential candidate, kamala harris, questioned judge coney barrett at thejudiciary committee hearing. this report from barbara plett usher. protesters rallied on the second day of hearings, but nothing's getting in the way of the republican rush to confirm the new supreme courtjustice. amy coney barrett came prepared for confrontation,

confident in her record and her memory. she spoke without notes, unlike many of the senators who were grilling her. my my sister megan and my sister... judge barrett got a softball start, asked to introduce herfamily. but questioning quickly pivoted to issues where democrats feared she would undermine existing rights, such as abortion. do you agree with justice scalia's view that roe was wrongly decided? i don't have an agenda, i have no agenda to try to overrule casey. i have an agenda to stick to the rule of law and decide cases as they come. well, that's really too bad because it is rather a fundamental point for large numbers of people, i think, in this country. judge barrett sidestepped specific questions on some matters that could come before the court. she said she would take a conservative approach but not an activist one. judges can'tjust wake up one day and say, i have an agenda, i like guns, i hate guns, i like abortion, i hate

abortion, and walk in like a royal queen and impose their will on the world. you have to wait for cases and controversies. democrats pressed her on an ongoing controversy over healthcare. they're worried that president trump's nominee might rule against obamacare when it's challenged in court next month. we on this side do not believe obamacare is the best way to provide quality healthcare over time. republicans have tried to defeat what is known as the affordable care act in congress, and judge barrett has criticised earlier rulings supporting it, but she insisted she didn't necessarily oppose it. i'm not hostile to the aca. i'm not hostile to any statute that you pass. i apply the law, i follow the law, you make the policy. the election was front and centre. mr trump has said he wants a supreme court justice confirmed in time to make sure that he gets a good hearing in any election dispute. butjudge barrett declined to say if she would step aside from an election—related case.

i have had no conversation with the president or any of his staff on how i might rule in that case. it would be a gross violation ofjudicial 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 is little doubt she'll get thejob. republicans almost certainly have the votes to cement a conservative majority on the supreme court for a generation. much of the questioning from the democrat's vice presidential candidate, kamala harris, focused on obamacare — the affordable care act. what weight would you give the fa ct what weight would you give the fact that 135 million americans with pre—existing conditions 110w with pre—existing conditions now depend on the protections of the affordable care act. as i mentioned before, they take reliance issues into account because it is about keeping

stability and the law. the law often takes into account reliance stability and the law. the law often takes into account reliance issues. stability and the law. the law often takes into account reliance issues. i stability and the law. the law often takes into account reliance issues. i can't stability and the law. the law often takes into account reliance issues. i can't really say sitting here how they would play in a way in this case because that is part of the legal calculus of the case. so i can't really give you the kind of commitment or precommitment that you are asking from me of howl precommitment that you are asking from me of how i would weigh factors or structure my decision—making process. weigh factors or structure my decision—making processlj would decision—making process.” would ask you to consider if you are confirmed on the court a credible benefit of the affordable care act and that a destruction of its protections would have a devastating impact on millions, hundreds of millions of americans. you get the flavour of that. we can now speak to ilya shapiro who's director at the robert a levy center for constitutional studies and publisher of the cato supreme court review at the cato institute. i know you know your supreme court, you have written a book on it indeed. there was never going to be a gotcha moment in

these hearings was that and in any case, the judge's these hearings was that and in any case, thejudge's is these hearings was that and in any case, the judge's is a pretty well—established in her previousjudgements and pretty well—established in her previous judgements and in statements, advertisements she signed? everyone is playing their assigned role. two days of hearings down, i don't think i have learnt a single thing, not really anything that you couldn't have gotten from her writings from the political papers of the senators asking the questions. and indeed, the questioning by, the harris that you just played was much more ofa you just played was much more of a political statement. she is running for vice president after all, than it was really trying to make a hit ofjudge barrett. there is really no chance for the democrats to stop the nomination going ahead, it's really about making ahead, it's really about making a point to voters. i think that is exactly right and that is why they are running on the affordable care act which seems to, in focus groups, political operatives say it is edging towards the democrat's benefit. making this an important on abortion i suppose. she should

go through. unless there is a black swan event like half the senate coming down with covid so senate coming down with covid so there is no quorum or something outlandish like that. but barring that, i think she will be confirmed right before the election. you would have this far better than me but there is an issue whether the judge follows the law, the exact words that the founding fathers set down in the constitution, or whether those words should be interpreted in the light of modern day developments — things the founding fathers couldn't have foreseen. and in the case of the affordable care act, there's a real concern there that if it is struck down millions of people would lose their healthcare in the middle ofa their healthcare in the middle of a pandemic with no help carry alternative in place? first of all, there is no chance that it will be. this is a different case than what came down eight years ago when the chiefjustice rewrote the law in order to save it. that is a bit of ancient history at the moment. it is a different legal point. beyond that, there are diverse and legal theories and judges are not supposed to do the same thing that legislators do and vote based on what they

consider to be the best policy. that is why we have these big cataclysmic fights over the vacancies that arrive in the supreme court because of these very different views which now map onto part of the notification at a time when the parties are more archaeologically separated and they have been at least since they have been at least since the civil war. there is really no way to compromise. to be clear, judge amy can barrett, like her mental, judge anthony scalia, is very much for the letter of the law is they are down, not a modern interpretation. that is right, she is an original list. that means determining the original constitution by its meaning and attached trellis, looking at the plain meaning of the text and not trying to define legislative intent or purpose from that. grace to talk to you, thank you. thank you. across europe, many countries are imposing more extreme measures to fight the second wave

the czech republic has a new three—week state of emergency — schools are shut down. the dutch prime minister mark rutte has announced a partial lockdown, which will mean the complete closure of restaurants, hotels and cafes. infection rates — has now imposed 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. from there our correspondent jean mckenzie 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's 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. the netherlands has become the latest country to tighten coronavirus restrictions, as a second wave rages through europe. the prime minister mark rutte has announced a partial lockdown for the next four weeks. our correspondent anna holligan is in the hague. some holligan is in the hague. people here in the hague are some people here in the hague are taking the opportunity to do something that will be off—limits at wednesday on 10pm local time. bars and restau ra nts rig ht across local time. bars and restaurants right across the country will be closed for at least four weeks after a fortnight. the dutch government will look at the impact of these latest measures to determine whether or not they need to go even further than this partial lockdown. shops selling alcohol will be banned from selling it after 8pm in an effort to deter house parties. but these restrictions are very

targeted, very focused on the hospitality industry. the dutch prime minister mark rutte said there wouldn't be any changes that alter education because it was considered too important. in terms of public transport, people are being asked to make essential journeys people are being asked to make essentialjourneys only. people who can work from home are being asked to do so once again. takea being asked to do so once again. take a ways are allowed, coffee shops will also be closed from 10pm. and there was really little choice for the governments given at the rate of infection. the netherlands now has one of the worst rapidly rising infection rates in europe. and so these measures are considered essential. so as you can see here in the hague, there are still some concerns they have gone too far. society is very much divided among those who are concerned about the restrictions to their civil liberties, and others who think

actually the rules should go even further in an effort to prevent further spread and contain the virus. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the portuguese football star, cristiano ronaldo has gone into self—isolation after testing positive for coronavirus. 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, they are more conscious than ever of how much has been destroyed. in the 19 years since he was last here, he has gone from being a little—known revolutionary to an experienced and successful diplomatic operator. it was a 20—pound bomb which exploded on the fifth floor of the grand hotel, ripping a hole in the front 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 of earthly honours. this catholic nation

held its breath for the men they called the 33. and then... bell tolls. ..bells tolled nationwide to announce the first rescue and chile let out an almighty roar. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: president trump's nominee to the us supreme court has evaded questions from senators, including vice—presidential candidate kamala harris, refusing to discuss laws on abortion or gay marriage. pennsylvania is a key

battleground state — that president trump already visited five times in september alone. this time he took to the stage straight after his supreme court nominee amy coney barrat, was questioned by democratic vice presidential candidate kamala harris. take a listen. biden has made a corrupt party exchange, had it controlled the socialist and marxist extremists, like his vice presidential candidate, that is a great one, isn't it? booing. ijust a great one, isn't it? booing. i just watched are a great one, isn't it? booing. ijust watched are coming in, on air force one because we have more televisions, they are in closets, on the floors and ceilings and i watched her and compared her to amy, great future supreme court justice. and i will tell you, amy has made a great impression. fill that seat! fill that seat! fill that seat! fill that seat! fill

that seat!. well president trump's opponentjoe biden spent the day campaigning in the key battleground state of florida — here he was speaking at a campaign event in miramar, nearmiami. folks, donald trump was my chaotic and divisive leadership has cost us far too much. 215,000 dead from covid—19 and rising. experts say we will lose more unless we fundamentally change course. i hope at least to come out of it. what is it done. he'sjust doubled down on the misinformation he did before and making it worse. so many lives lost because this president has more about the stock market than he does about the well—being of seniors. to tell us more about the situation on the ground is pennsylvania radio host scott lamar.

i know you've been waiting a while to talk to us, thank you very much indeed. we've spoken to you before. the state of the polls now has brought president thompson states he would not expect to see a president scrambling for votes. georgia, for instance. pennsylvania, that was always going to be hardfought. the polls in 2016 had hillary clinton leading president trump, then candidate trump, by about the same margin asjoe biden trump, by about the same margin as joe biden leads trump, by about the same margin asjoe biden leads the president now but things are different on the ground. you get the feeling that it's just not the same thing. the one thing, job biden is a much more popular candidate and hillary clinton was in the president has pretty much stayed around that 40- 45% has pretty much stayed around that 40— 45% approval rating here in pennsylvania. our a nalysts here in pennsylvania. our analysts suggesting polls were misleading in 2016 perhaps

because there were more undecided voters and they broke quite late in the campaign for president trump which was a surprise for many people. this time there seem to be many fewer people undecided.” time there seem to be many fewer people undecided. i would say probably the least percentage of undecided voters that i've ever seen in a presidential election. i saw one pole tonight that said 1.5% of voters are undecided. that seems all for low to me with three weeks to go but i can tell you that all the polls show there are very few undecided voters right now. most voters have made up their mind or president trump orjoe biden. you are in central pennsylvania which has always been trump country. what you think is going to make the difference? you could say turnout would be the difference in any election. i think this year more so than ever because of the coronavirus pandemic.

the number of people that get out to vote will make the difference and it depends on where they are. i think the trump supporters will definitely be all in getting out to vote, whether it is by mail or in person. where the big difference will be is in philadelphia, the philadelphia suburbs in pittsburgh. if democrats come out to vote in high numbers, then i think the president is in trouble in pennsylvania. if there is a lot of postal voting, there is a lot of challenges. we could see the election go way past november three. that's true, andi november three. that's true, and i think that's one thing that so many people here in pennsylvania are dreading. this is the first presidential election in which voters are able to vote by mail. as most eve ryo ne able to vote by mail. as most everyone who's followed president trump knows, he has tried to so a lot of doubt on

mail in balloting. i think it's had an impact. i've talked to a lot of people have said they've changed their mind, rather than mailing in their ballots, they are going to vote in person. we will set records as far as the number of people will be voting. pennsylvania state government has gone out of their way trying to think of every different situation to make sure the mail imbalance, the ballots are counted, there is no fraud, and that this election will be fair and honest and there won't be security problems. as far as challenges afterwards, i think most people are expecting that. thank you so much. cristiano ronaldo has tested positive for the coronavirus — the portuguese football star has gone into self isolation and will not play for portugal

in their nations league group game against sweden on wednesday. aruna iyengar has this report. five times world player of the year cristiano ronaldo seen training with the portugal national team is doing well, without systems for —— symptoms but in isolation. translation: i spoke to him. no, he is isolated in the room. from the moment he was tested positive, he went to the room and complied with all the rules of the general directorate of health and is in his room. obviously he knows we are here. he is in his room and screams down here. we posted this picture on social media and gave the thumbs up while watching his team from a hotel balcony but it's a big blow for portugal. rinaldo is the national team captain. he was also the european latest 100 international goals when his side beat sweden in their previous nation's league fixture in september. obviously

it is not good news. nobody wa nts it is not good news. nobody wants this to happen but in this new context, we are experiencing now, it's part of the game. unfortunately it is, so we need to deal with it. so we are prepared for whatever may happen. sweden and portugal are due to meet on the fourth round of nations league matches in lisbon on wednesday. translation: we are facing one of the world's best teams tomorrow and that is with all without rinaldo so we will play against a very powerful opponent and that won't change at all but it's also true that rinaldo decided the game in stockholm. so it could be positive for us to face portugal without stop as a result of this quarantine, ronal doe is also said to miss matches for his club juventus in the italian league and also in the italian league and also in the champions league. —year—old former manchester united and real madrid forward has played in both of portugal's matches so far an international break and in each

of his club ‘s appearances this season. the portuguese foot federation says everyone else in the team has tested negative ahead of wednesday's match. a photograph of a siberian tiger — one of the rarest creatures on earth — has been captured using a camera that was sitting waiting for months in the forests of russia's far east. and it's brought sergey gorshkov the prize for 2020 wildlife photographer of the year, from london's natural history museum. 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.

more on the bbc website and our twitter feeds. hello. some sunshine on the way for the majority of us today, albeit with some showers coming in from the east, as the day pans out. there will be quite a chilly breeze as well, again, coming in from the north—east and that is what will drive the showers a little bit further westwards through the course of the day. but overall, what we're looking at in terms of our weather pattern for the next few days is high pressure coming to dominate. though it will become increasingly quieter through the end of the week and into the weekend. first thing wednesday, a little bit more in the way of persistent rain and some stubborn cloud across southern scotland. it should get brighter here for the afternoon. but you can see the showers here, pushing into eastern england on the north—easterly breeze, even through the morning, and then they will get driven afar away westwards come the afternoon. that north—easterly breeze a notable feature to the weather. this is the sustained wind speed — gusts could reach up to 30mph at times

in some more exposed spots. best of the shelter in the west will give us the best of the temperatures — 15 or 16 degrees. in the east, 13 or 1a just about covers it. we tend to see those showers clearing though as we head overnight wednesday into the small hours of thursday. could be a few still lingering across east anglia and the south—east of england. some more general cloud speeding towards the north of scotland. overnight lows, 6—8 degrees. perhaps a little bit closer to freezing towards the far north of scotland. and then for thursday daytime, we're talking about an essentially dry day, as that high pressure establishes itself. i can't promise you though wall—to—wall sunshine. it looks like we will pull in quite a bit of cloud from the north sea, into some eastern and eventually central areas. temperatures, 12—13 degrees. stuck under the thicker cloud, it will feel chillier though with the effect of the breeze. and towards the end

of the week, some of the nights will start to get colder. that could leave us with some chilly starts and some stubborn fog by day. so, our temperatures widely on friday, 11—12 degrees, but in a few spots, if we do get lingering fog, they could struggle at the low—end single figures. and then that ridge of high pressure is going to stay with us all the way through the weekend. so, a very similar story for saturday and sunday to that of thursday and friday. it will take until the beginning of next week, i think, for us to see something a little bit wetter and more windy moving its way in from the atlantic. so, a lot of fine weather to come for the weekend, some on the chilly side for the time of year, and some rather stubborn cloud.

this is bbc news, the headlines: president trump's nominee to the us supreme court, amy coney barrett, has refused to say whether she would vote to overturn laws on abortion, healthcare, or gay marriage. the democrats' vice—presidential candidate, kamala harris, is among senators questioning judge barrett on day two of her confirmation hearings. president trump is trying to shore up support at a rally in pennsylvania — for his second campaign outing since his covid—19 diagnosis. it's an important state for mr trump, as he took pennsylvania in 2016 by less than one percentage point — to get to the white house. across europe, many countries are imposing more extreme measures to fight the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. with a state of emergency declared in madrid, police are patrolling the spanish

capital, trying to stop people leaving their neighbourhoods. now on bbc news — panorama. tonight, we investigate a covid death that shocked britain. belly mujinga's death sparked protests, after reports the transport worker had been spat at by a customer. the police say the man couldn't have infected her. but how could they be sure? i think the police have made a mistake here with, er, their interpretation of that evidence. we're really no better than tossing a coin. belly‘s employer says it did all it could to protect her.