Sandra Day O’Connor, first woman on US Supreme Court, is dead

Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman on the US Supreme Court, a rancher’s daughter who wielded great power over American law from her seat at the centre of the court’s ideological spectrum, died on Friday in Phoenix. She was 93.

The Supreme Court announced her death in a statement, saying the cause was complications of dementia. She grew up in Arizona and lived there most of her life.