this is bbc news. very good to have your company. i'm rich preston with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the new york times says it has obtained president trump's tax records dating back two decades — which it says reveal chronic losses and years of tax avoidance. it is totally fake news. fake. we went to the same stories, you can ask me the same questions four years ago, how to litigate and talk about it. totally fa ke to litigate and talk about it. totally fake news. fighting breaks out between armenia and azerbaijan in the disputed region of nagorno—karabakh, with casualties on both sides. tear gas and mass arrests as tens of thousands march in belarus against president lukashenko. and an overnight curfew in melbourne has been lifted

almost two months after it was imposed following surging coronavirus cases. the new york times says it's obtained president trump's tax records stretching back more than two decades, which it says reveal chronic losses and years of tax avoidance. the newspaper reports that mr trump paid only $750 in federal income taxes in the year he won the presidency and paid no income tax at all in 10 of the previous 15 years. in the last couple of hours, president trump was asked about the story at a white house news conference. it is totally fake news. fake. we went through the same stories, you could have asked me the same questions four yea rs me the same questions four years ago, how to litigate this and talk about it. totally fake

news. no, actually, i pay tax. but you will see that as soon as my tax returns are... it is under audit. they have been under audit. they have been under ordered for a long time. the irs does not treat me well. the irs does not treat me well. the did me like bd party, like they treated the tea party, and they treated the tea party, and they don't fit me well. they fit me very badly. you have people in the irs that treat me very, very badly. but they are under audit. and if they were not i would be proud to show, but that is just fake news. the new york timesjust but that is just fake news. the new york times just want to create a little bit of a story. they do anything they can. you know, that is the least of it. the stories that i read are so they, they are so fake. —— they are so they, they are so fake. —— they are so fake. joining me now is our north america correspondent peter bowes, who is in los angeles. various groups have been trying to get their hands on president trump's tax returns for many yea rs trump's tax returns for many years now. what do these documents show? it is certainly a persistent story. the new york times says it has managed

to get hold of data of the president's tax affairs dating back decades, not only of his personal tax returns but the many businesses that make up the trump organisation, and perhaps crucially the first two yea rs perhaps crucially the first two years during his time in the white house. according to the paper, they say it shows that he paid just $750 in taxes, personal taxes, income taxes, the year he was elected. another $750 in his first year in office, and no taxes at over ten of the 15 years before he was elected. the story because into some detail. it is he managed to do that because quite simply his losses were greater than his gains, than his profits, during that time. it talks about a hollowness but also a wizardry involved in how the president carried out his affairs that made him the billionaire businessman with that image that he certainly had when he entered the white

house. one of the elements the article goes into his mr trump was ‘s foreign earnings and investments, even during his role as president. yes. i think there will be a lot of focus on that. that is way i say crucially, those first two yea rs crucially, those first two years during his time in the white house. and of course presidents are subjected to strict rules and regulations in terms of what they can do while in office, as it applies to business ventures. both at home and overseas. so, a lot of scrutiny there. and i think of course the other aspect of the scrutiny of this entire story is the timing as the election moves into its final phase, we arejust a day moves into its final phase, we are just a day or two away from the first debate with joe biden, and a lot of the, well, that's a critics of the new york times are saying is the president himself has reflected that this is just an attempt to smear the president in these final, crucial weeks. smear the president in these final, crucialweeks. and in that press conference,

president trump deriding this as fake news, phony news? once again using that phrase we hear so again using that phrase we hear so often from the president, whether focusing on the so often from the president, whetherfocusing on the new york times or many other media organisations that he doesn't like. because this fake news. interestingly, he said he would be proud to reveal his tax returns when the audit, that he talked about them and we have heard about many times again, from this president, the audit from this president, the audit from the tax authorities in the united states. he says when thatis united states. he says when that is over he would be proud to reveal his tax returns. peter bowes, thank you for joining us. peter bowes in los angeles. staying in the us, and the democratic presidential candidate, joe biden, has called on republican senators not to rush to confirm donald trump's supreme court nominee before november's presidential election, saying president trump wants to fill the vacant supreme court seat with the conservative judge amy coney barrett before the vote. at a news conference, mr biden urged republican senators to, as he put it, step back from the brink. our us editor, jon sopel

reports from washington. yes, we can! among these demonstrators, there's a real fear that policies they fought for for years — abortion, immigration, gay rights, healthcare — could be rolled back by a supreme court with a marked conservative majority. we will come back here again and again to these steps every single day. though protesters here would disagree, the choice of amy coney barrett as donald trump's pick for the supreme court is a shrewd one. she is eminently well—qualified, comes from a strong conservative intellectual tradition, she's already been vetted. but do not think her appointment is going to be uncontroversial. it won't be. at the white house last night, she vowed that she would uphold the constitution of the united states. i would assume this role to serve you. i would discharge the judicial oath, which requires me to administerjustice without respect to persons, do equal right to the poor

and rich, and faithfully and impartially discharge my duties under the united states constitution. the confirmation of donald trump's last supreme court pick became an absolute firestorm. this will be smoother, he says. well, maybe. this should be straightforward and prompt, confirmation — should be very easy. good luck. it's going to be very quick. i'm sure it will be extremely non—controversial. four years ago, barack 0bama chose this man, merrick garland, to fill a vacant seat on the court, but republicans blocked him, saying as a matter of principle a newjustice should never be chosen in an election year. it is this apparent hypocrisy today that has so enraged democrats. the senate has to stand strong for our democracy. they must not act on this nomination until the american people finish the process they've already begun, selecting their president and their congress.

anonymous until yesterday, amy coney barrett's confirmation hearings will be centre stage in the final weeks of the 2020 campaign. and if the result of the presidential election is contested, then she is confirmed, herfirst act could be to help shape the future direction of american democracy. jon sopel, bbc news, at the supreme court. you can keep up on the your selection on the bbc news website. let's go to the caucasus now, where there's been continued fighting between armenia and azerbaijan, in the disputed territory of nagorno—kara bakh. armenia's prime minister, nikol pashinyan, has warned of the risk of full—scale war after clashes with azerbaijani troops. officials in the breakaway region, which is controlled by ethnic armenians, say 16 soldiers have been killed. azerbaijan has also reported deaths. both nations have now declared martial law and accuse each other of starting the fighting.

0ur correspondent rayhan demytrie reports. sunday morning in nagorno—karabakh. heavy fighting using tanks, artillery, drones and helicopters broke over this territory disputed by azerbaijan and armenia for more than 30 years. both countries accused each other of reigniting the conflict. both sides reported casualties, including civilians. translation: it is no secret that the first fire, including artillery fire, was opened by armenia. and the first to die were azerbaijani servicemen. azerbaijan gave a decent response to the enemy and the enemy could not move an inch. the armenian prime minister urged the world community not to stay silent. translation: the outbreak of a large—scale war in the south caucasus, the brink of which we are standing now, could have the most unpredictable consequences.

it could go out of the region's borders and take wider volumes and threaten international security and stability. turkey expressed its solidarity with azerbaijan. russia called for an immediate ceasefire. the mountainous kara bakh was an autonomous region within soviet azerbaijan, populated largely by ethnic armenians. the two countries fought a war there in the early 1990s. armenia gained control over the territory and a number of adjacent azerbaijani districts following a 1994 ceasefire. azerbaijan has repeatedly expressed its frustration with a lack of progress in the decades—long peace process. it is now resorting to a military solution to regain its territories. tens of thousands of opposition supporters in belarus have taken to the streets

for the seventh consecutive sunday in protest at president alexander lu kashenko's disputed re—election last month. police say they've detained around 200 people. the protests centred on the capital, minsk, where the main event was a rally near the hero city monument. jonah fisher reports from minsk. seven weeks after the disputed election, belarus' protests now have a certain rhythm. each sunday there's a big march, and today there were once again tens of thousands on the streets of the capital, minsk. with the passing weeks, the protesters' outfits have evolved, as have the jokes and the insults. why do you put a rat on a cross? it's our president. alexander lu kashenko claimed victory but is widely thought to have lost august's vote to the housewife svetlana tikhanovskaya. chanting

they chant for her, but a crackdown has destroyed the opposition leadership. this tractor factory worker and trade unionist is pretty much the only leader who's neither injail or in exile. and he's worried. while we're with him, his wife calls twice to make sure he hasn't been picked up. "at the moment, there is no organised opposition inside belarus", he tells me. "but if you call the people of belarus the opposition, then the opposition is stronger and more united than ever." the opposition‘s problem is that despite the protests, president lukashenko's security forces remain solidly behind him. so this is what we have seen repeatedly here in belarus. excuse me, sir. basically, these masked guys,

nothing on them which says who they are, disrupting demonstrations... ..detaining people, taking them into vans. where are you taking these people? woman screams this was a women's march on saturday. what's happening to you? she says she was just standing outside a cafe. what's your name? we've showed you our name. no name. no name? why not? no name, no face. why don't you show your face? yeah, i am afraid. 0n europe's eastern flank, the men in masks are still very much in charge. jonah fisher, bbc news, minsk. let's get some of the day's other news.

president emmanuel macron of france says he's ashamed of lebanon's politicians forfailing to agree a new government. after last month's devastating explosion in beirut, mr macron led international efforts to persuade the ruling elite to quickly form a new administration. india's president has signed three agriculture bills into law despite large—scale protests by farmers. the laws will open up the indian farming industry to the private sector, a move the government says is much needed. but many farmers say the reforms remove support and protection, such as minimum prices for their produce. and countries that account for more than a quarter of the world's economic activity are to commit to reducing the global loss of plants and animals within the next ten years. 64 countries and the european union will launch the leaders' pledge for nature on monday. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: high—rise

feeding in bolivia, how one woman eased her lockdown loneliness by befriending a trio of visiting birds of prey. in all russia's turmoil, it has never come to this. president yeltsin said that they would the nation's destiny. the nightmare that so many people have had for so long as playing at its final act has. russians are killing russians in front ofa are killing russians in front of a grandstand audience. are killing russians in front of a grandstand audiencem was his humility which produced affection from catholic throughout the world but his departure is a tragedy for the catholic church. this man visited the religious compound, that started the trouble. he wants israel alone to have sovereignty over the holy sites, an idea that is unthinkable to palestinians.

after 45 years of division, germany is won. in berlin, 1 million germans celebrate the rebirth of europe's biggest and richest nation. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the new york times says it has obtained president trump's tax records stretching back two decades, which it says reveal chronic financial losses and years of tax avoidance. the united states hasjoined russia and the un in calling for an end to the worst violence in years in nagorno—kara bakh, the disputed region between armenia and azerbaijan. firefighters in california are battling a new wildfire that broke out in the state this weekend called the glass fire. the fire began early on sunday morning. the napa county sheriff's office issued an evacuation orderfor some parts

of the area. cal fire said the blaze had a dangerous rate of speed. the national weather service said low humidity, dry fuel and winds are causing significant fire—weather concerns. we can now speak to rob mayeda who's a meteorologist for nbc bay area. thank you very much forjoining us. thank you very much forjoining us. we've seen the last few weeks, devastating wildfires across california, some of the west and the state's history, and now the warning after being able to get some of those under control but they may be coming back? we are seeing a lot of those existing players take on life while this critical fire danger, what is known here as red flag warnings across most of northern california including the bay area and this is wherewith it is very hot temperatures, gusty dry winds and you can see what is doing to the fire behaviour, fires that are burning extremely quickly, the smoke and the embers staying low to the ground stopping at the extreme rate of spread, you mentioned

the glass fire there to the north of napa, to give you a reference that is part of the one country, north of the san francisco bay area and notice how the wind is keeping those plumes very low to the ground. those gusty winds, very low humidity at times, 13% and air temperatures in the mid— 90s fahrenheit, roughly 35 celsius, these are the extreme conditions we were worried about developing this weekend and we could also see even hotter temperatures and u nfortu nately hotter temperatures and unfortunately more air pollution problems as these new fires erupts coming back into the bay area. that is the two front concern for both wildfires and air quality issues we are going through against light evacuation orders issued covering hundreds of people, is it likely those will be broadened? quite possible, we have been watching the temperatures very closely today, we have sent temperature is that were near record highs today and in some cases, tomorrow we are going to be trending even warmer at the

order of 20 degrees hotter, that of course and fahrenheit, about 10 celsius higher than that images we would see this time of year so unfortunately with the hot weather, that really inflates these fire rates of spread, we see fires moving twice or three times as fast and just to give you a reference, so far this year, five of the six largest buyers in california's history all have occurred in 2020 and you will notice that most of these have actually occurred in just the last four weeks here in california. and tell us about this glass fire which seems to be particularly bad ? this glass fire which seems to be particularly bad? the glass fire we are seeing right now, one of the most impacted areas via this red flag warning on the critical fire danger is around this glass fire zone which is off to the north of napa, againa which is off to the north of napa, again a lot of wineries in the san francisco bay area flank those hills around the north bay, the soil they're great for the vineyards but at the same time it can act as miniature canyons once these winds get going and really push those fires down into the

valleys. right now, right now we have great visibility so a lot of editing attacks during the day to add more retardant lines of the winds could pick up lines of the winds could pick up again so those evacuation orders likely not going away as these conditions are likely to continue for another 24 hours. thank you very much for being with us. to australia now, and melbourne has awoken to eased coronavirus restrictions as the number of covid—19 cases continues to fall. the premier of the state of victoria, daniel andrews, announced the next stage in the plan to ease the city's strict lockdown measures on sunday, with the dusk till dawn curfew now lifted. the eased measures will also see more than 120,000 people able to return to work, while primary school students will return to the classroom from october 12. for more, i'm joined by our sydney correspondent, phil mercer. what conditions had people in melbourne been living under and what are the new rules? the city of melbourne as australia's second most

populous city, it has been living under some of the world's strictest coronavirus lockdown measures and melburnians, there are 5 million of them, are now tasting some of the freedoms that they have not had since the city went back into lockdown in early july. the city went back into lockdown in earlyjuly. that nighttime curfew is now over, tens of thousands of people will be allowed back to work and as you say, all primary schools will be reopened in a couple of weeks time. still, there are restrictions in melbourne, you have two have one of four reasons to leave your house including work and study and caregiving, and also there are restrictions on gatherings too but the authorities and victoria say that the number of daily new coronavirus cases have fallen so coronavirus cases have fallen so much that more restrictions could be eased well ahead of schedule. the aim, a covid—19 normal christmas according to the government. you are in syd ney the government. you are in sydney in new south wales, what's the situation there? on

sunday, no new cases of covid—19 reported here in new south wales, australia's most populous state, for the first time in quite a few months, so the situation here seems to be stabilising. elsewhere across australia, the other jurisdictions, australia is made up of six states and two main mainland territories. most of those other jurisdictions have managed to contain their coronavirus outbreak. the epicentre of australia's covid—19 crisis has well and truly been in the state of victoria, accounting for 75% of all known cases and the vast majority of fatalities, so from today the people of melbourne enjoying some of the freedoms that have been taken away from them in the name of public health. thanks very much for being with us. let's get some of the day's coronavirus news. the french health minister says hospitals in the paris and marseille regions, have to now delay some

scheduled operations, to free up space for covid—19 patients. the government maintains there are no plans for a nationwide lockdown, but all bars and restaurants in marseille must stay closed this week, while in paris, they need to close by 10pm. residents of poorer districts of the spanish capital madrid, have been protesting what they say are discriminatory coronavirus lock down rules. the regional government says certain areas are seeing higher infection rates. other parts of madrid face tighter restrictions from monday, with local officials resisting calls from the national government for a city—wide lockdown. the number of coronavirus infections in argentina has topped 700,000 and its daily infections and deaths has made it the fifth worst country globally. argentina was among the first countries in latin america to implement a strict quarantine. but a gradual loosening over time and the spread of cases from the capital, buenos aires to the provinces have seen cases increase rapidly. american football icon,

joe montana and his wife have rescued their nine month old grandchild from a kidnapping attempt. the los angeles county sheriff's department said the couple confronted a woman who entered their home and grabbed the child from a playpen. officials said the couple was able to retrieve the child after a tussle. the hall of fame quarterback took to twitter thanking everyone who has reached out and saying it was a scary situation but thankfully everybody is doing well. finally, one silver lining to being locked inside during this pandemic is that some of us have formed unlikely friendships with other people, or animals, or even birds. and one relationship in bolivia has ruffled a few feathers, as paul hawkins reports. waiting to be served. 18 floors up waiting to be served. 18 floors up in the bolivian capital la paz, this is the southern crested corinne char, a species

of falcon from south america, and thanks to lockdown, they have struck up a friendship with this woman and her son. translation: because of the pandemic, we paid more attention and we saw them more. for me, it was like a visit. i said, i have three lovely visitors because every time they come they bring us happiness. ifeel very they come they bring us happiness. i feel very happy to see them and with the issue of fires, with so many animals being lost and birds disappearing, i felt very useful to be saving these three. they are known as opportunistic raptors, so they don't miss a treat. this was the only restaurant that stayed open through lockdown, serving fruit and corn, but after a bit of internet research the family discovered their visitors were actually meat eaters. now, they get immense. translation: they come and we give them food, right to their beaks. there are three of them and they are a lwa ys three of them and they are always together stopping lately, it seems that since it is spring and mating season, a

couple forms and one comes along, but the three always,. threes a crowd, supposedly, but not in this case. and that it from me for now, you are with the bbc. good morning. some potentially turbulent weather on the way later in the week, and that's after what is a fairly placid but also pretty cold start. many of you starting the day with frost around, temperatures well below freezing through some parts of northern england and south—east scotland. it's in this zone where we saw the best of the sunshine yesterday from eastern scotland down through towards parts of say wiltshire, somerset. it's here where there'll be a frost the ground mainly over the countryside, but some of the suburbs as well. sunshine overhead to begin with, cloudy start in east anglia and the south—east again and cloud will be thicker across northern ireland. outbreaks of rain for the first part of the morning, brightening up from mid—morning onwards. that rain and cloud will spread into western scotland for the morning and during the afternoon to eastern scotland through wales and the western

fringes of england. many on either side of it all will see the sunshine and at long last, the winds ease as the sun comes out across east anglia and the south—east, and it will feel warmer than recent days. the bring about the change is this weather front which through monday into tuesday night, will push its way eastwards to take us into the start of tuesday. it may become confined across east anglia amd the south—east, producing some cloud, outbreaks of rain, but not the strong winds you saw through the weekend. elsewhere, a bit of patchy frost around, not as cold as monday morning, but it really a dry and sunny day for many. quite pleasant in the sunshine, temperatures on monday and tuesday around levels they should be for this stage in september. but then the first turn to something more turbulent. as we go to wednesday, deep low centred towards the south of iceland. more in the way of active weather fronts spreading their way in and stronger winds. winds could touch gale force with heavy rain across ireland and into the western fringes of the uk first thing, only slowly pushing its way eastwards. some eastern areas start the day dry and bright and some will stay dry through daylight hours, but rain will spread

through as we go into wednesday night. starting to feel that bit cooler of course with the cloud, the wind and the rain. a cooler feel still as we go into thursday, and then as a jet stream really fires up towards the end of the week, we start to see this develop, a potentially stormy area of low pressure. the position of that will be absolutely crucial to who sees the wettest and windiest conditions, but there is the risk that we'll see some disruption. after bright and frosty starts, it's cool through the week. that midweek spell of wind and rain and the potential for storms to watch out for as we head towards the weekend. bye for now.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the new york times says it's obtained president trump's tax records stretching back two decades, which it says reveal chronic financial losses and years of tax avoidance. the newspaper reports that mr trump paid only $750 in federal income taxes in the year he won the presidency. the president has dismissed the claims as "fake news". the united states hasjoined russia and the un in calling for an immediate ceasefire between armenia and azerbaijan in the disputed territory of nagorno—karabakh. sunday saw the worst clashes in the region for many years with deaths from both sides. and police say they've detained around 200 people following a seventh consecutive week of anti—government protests in belarus. tens of thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets of the capital, minsk, to oppose president alexander lukashenko.