US News Roundup: Biden to weigh in on fight over Trump's next Supreme Court nomination; U.S. Supreme Court's Ginsburg, a liberal dynamo and more

Trailblazing U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg dies; succession battle looms Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a stalwart liberal on the U.S. Supreme Court since 1993, died on Friday at age 87, giving President Donald Trump a chance to expand its conservative majority with a third appointment at a time of deep divisions in America with a presidential election looming.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Supreme Court fight after Ginsburg's death energizes women voters on both sides

Waiting for President Donald Trump to speak at a campaign rally in North Carolina on Saturday, Paulette Fittshur was quick to express her sympathy for the family of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Still, she viewed Ginsburg's passing as divine providence. "It was God's perfect timing in this election," said Fittshur, 59, a resident of Leland, North Carolina who plans to vote for Trump. "It's a golden opportunity for conservatives."

U.S. Supreme Court's Ginsburg, a liberal dynamo, championed women's rights

Ruth Bader Ginsburg became a heroine to the American left after overcoming entrenched sexism in the legal profession to ascend to the U.S. Supreme Court, where she championed gender equality and other liberal causes during 27 years on the bench. Ginsburg, who died on Friday at age 87 of complications from pancreatic cancer, was a fierce advocate for women's rights - winning major gender-discrimination cases before the Supreme Court - before being appointed to the top U.S. judicial body by Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1993. The diminutive dynamo became the court's leading liberal voice.

Trailblazing U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg dies; succession battle looms

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a stalwart liberal on the U.S. Supreme Court since 1993, died on Friday at age 87, giving President Donald Trump a chance to expand its conservative majority with a third appointment at a time of deep divisions in America with a presidential election looming. Ginsburg, a champion of women's rights who became an icon for American liberals, died at her home in Washington of complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer, the court said in a statement. She was surrounded by her family, it said.

Firefighters in U.S. northwest aided by weather, as winds drive California blaze

Firefighters in the Pacific Northwest got a helping hand from cooler, damp weather in their battle against an array of deadly wildfires on Saturday, even as uncooperative winds in Southern California spread another landscape-scorching blaze. The weather shift, which followed intermittently heavy showers on Friday, helped more than 9,000 personnel fight 29 wildfires across Washington and Oregon, including the Riverside Fire southeast of Portland, the U.S. Forestry Service said.

Ginsburg's death on Rosh Hashanah especially significant for some Jewish Americans

Just as many Jews in the United States were sitting down to a post-sunset Rosh Hashanah dinner on Friday, preparing to dip apples in honey to signal the sweetness of the year to come, news came of Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death. Ginsburg, the first female Jewish member of the U.S. Supreme Court, died on one of the holiest days in Judaism, as many of the country's nearly six million Jews welcomed the new year 5781, based on the Hebrew calendar.

Biden to weigh in on fight over Trump's next Supreme Court nomination

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will speak in Philadelphia on Sunday about his rival President Donald Trump's plan to name a third justice to the Supreme Court, a move that would cement a 6-3 conservative majority. Trump on Saturday said he will make his nomination this week and named Amy Coney Barrett of the Chicago-based 7th Circuit and Barbara Lagoa of the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit as possible candidates to fill the vacancy created by Friday's death of liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Death of U.S. Supreme Court's Ginsburg raises stakes in battle for Senate control

The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has raised the stakes in the struggle for control of the U.S. Senate, forcing embattled Republican incumbents to choose between trying to appeal to moderate voters or hoping to fire up a conservative base. President Donald Trump on Saturday said he would quickly nominate a successor to the liberal icon. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has promised a vote, giving the pair a chance to cement a 6-3 conservative majority on the court while their party holds both the White House and a 53-47 Senate majority.

Envelope with deadly poison ricin addressed to White House intercepted

An envelope addressed to the White House and intercepted by U.S. authorities contained a substance identified as ricin, a deadly poison that appeared to have been sent from Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said on Saturday. An RCMP spokesman confirmed "it has received a request for assistance from the FBI in connection with a suspicious letter sent to the White House."

Fate of Supreme Court nominee should hinge on presidential race, says Senator Collins

Republican U.S. Senator Susan Collins said on Saturday the U.S. Senate should not fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court until after the Nov. 3 presidential election, and the winner of that race should pick the nominee. Collins, who is in a tough re-election battle in Maine, said in a statement that "in fairness to the American people, who will either be re-electing the president or selecting a new one, the decision on a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court should be made by the president who is elected on November 3."

If U.S. election winds up in Supreme Court, Ginsburg's death will loom large

The death of liberal Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday could spell bad news for Democrats if a legal battle over the results of the Nov. 3 presidential election reaches the high court, as it did in 2000. If President Donald Trump, a Republican, is able to install a conservative replacement in time, the new justice could help resolve any dispute in favor of the president - an outcome that would deepen the country's partisan divide and threaten the court's reputation as an independent arbiter, some legal experts said.