Madeleine Albright, first female US secretary of state, dies at 84 – as it happened

Former secretary of state Madeleine Albright speaks at a reception celebrating the completion of the US Diplomacy Center Pavilion at the state department in Washington, in January 2017. Photograph: Sait Serkan Gurbuz/AP

9.05pm GMT

Evening summary

It has been a very busy news day in Washington. Here’s where things stand.

• Joe Biden has arrived in Brussels, where he will meet with Nato and European leaders to discuss their response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine before traveling to Warsaw, Poland. The administration will announce a new sanctions regime on Thursday targeting Russian political leaders and oligarchs, according to national security advisor Jake Sullivan.
• Madeleine Albright, the first female US secretary of state, died of cancer on Wednesday. She was 84.
• Ketanji Brown Jackson is still taking questions from senators on the Judiciary Committee, where she has defended herself against attacks by Republicans that she is soft on crime. The committee is expected to finish questioning Jackson later tonight and hopes to hold a vote on her nomination early next month. For updates throughout the evening, read the full news story here.
• The supreme court threw out Wisconsin’s new state legislative maps on Wednesday, in a “ruling that boosts Republicans and takes aim again at one of the last remaining provisions to protect voting discrimination.”
• The Alabama Republican congressman Mo Brooks said on Tuesday Donald Trump asked him to “rescind” the 2020 election after Trump un-endorsed Brooks in the Alabama Senate race.
  

For more updates on the war in Ukraine, please follow our global live blog here.

Updated at 9.06pm GMT

8.47pm GMT

In a statement, former president Barack Obama, hailed her “trailblazing career”.

As the first woman to serve as America’s top diplomat, Madeleine Albright was a champion for democratic values. Michelle and I send our thoughts to the Albright family and everyone who knew and served with a truly remarkable woman. pic.twitter.com/8jj3GYZXbB

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) March 23, 2022

In a joint statement, former president Bill and secretary Hillary Clinton said her death was an “immense loss to the world in a time when we need the lessons of her life the most.”

I will always be deeply grateful for the wonderful friendship Bill and I shared with @madeleine and the unfailingly wise counsel she gave us over so many years.

So many people around the world are alive and living better lives because of her service. https://t.co/aw8HK71sbt

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 23, 2022