welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines: in a further erosion of women's rights in afghanistan, the taliban government bans women from university education. mr zelensky goes to washington. us media reports the ukrainian president is to pay an official trip to america. a sea of celebration: hundreds of thousands take to the streets to welcome home argentina's world cup winners. and china announces it's changing the way it counts covid deaths amid growing scepticism over government figures.

lab from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it is newsday. welcome to the programme. we'll begin with some breaking news. they've spent hours debating it, but a short while ago the us house ways and means committee has voted to release former president donald trump's tax returns. which trump's tax returns. he has tried to keep secret. it could end up shedding light on why he has resisted releasing his tax documents for so long. we can speak to our correspondent who has been following this for us. he joins me from los angeles. i know this has only come out in the last few minutes so thank you so much forjoining us at the committee has been deliberating over this for a while. how significant is this outcome? this is very significant because this is something about

donald trump has been objecting to for many years now. it goes back to 2016 when he first stood for the presidency. he did not reveal his tax returns then, as many other presidential candidates have done over the years, and he has continued to refuse to do that, and in more recent months he has said this has been part of a political witch—hunt that he said the democratically controlled committee, this is the ways and means committee in the ways and means committee in the house of representatives had been politically motivated to have those made public and we are in the final few weeks of democratic control of that committee, and the decision at the end of the day was made, it seems, along party lines. so, with the democrats in that committee voting to make public donald trump's tax returns from the six years that they had requested. the republicans have been objecting to this,

insisting that this could in future be used as, they have put it, a political weapon against other politicians. so, what it means is in the next few days, and it could take a few days, and it could take a few days, and it could take a few days, those tax returns will be released with some reductions. in other words they will be certain areas that will be blacked out to hide any personal, confidential information of mr trump but by and large most of the information will be made public for accountants across this country to analyse and figure out and answer the question you posed! why has donald trump been so strongly opposed to the release of these returns?- release of these returns? peter bos, release of these returns? peter bos. thank _ release of these returns? peter bos. thank you _ release of these returns? peter bos, thank you so _ release of these returns? peter bos, thank you so much - release of these returns? peter bos, thank you so much for - bos, thank you so much for joining us on that breaking story. we will have more on that story as it develops and as well as peter was saying lots for the people to look at over the tax returns that will be released over the coming days.

the taliban government of afghanistan has ordered an indefinite ban on university education for women. the order was signed by the minister of higher education, further restricting women's access to formal education, three months after thousands of girls and women sat university entrance exams across the country. i've been speaking with the bbc�*s yalda hakim, who's reported extensively from afghanistan. she told me she she's not surprised that this has happened. the taliban warned me this was going to happen. and then silence for a period of time. so we knew it was coming. afghan girls and women expected it. but i suppose in many ways there was hope against hope that they wouldn't go this far, that they would have some kind of fear that they would become an even greater pariah state if they went down this path. so, as you say, for a58 days, girls over the age of 12 have been banned from school since the taliban swept to power. and yet, because girls were going to university,

because some of the women were going to private universities, there was a feeling that some day the taliban would overturn this policy of girls not going to school because the universities remain open. and here we are today. yes, indeed, and just to say, as you point out, you've met the taliban repeatedly, our colleagues as well, all of you pressing them on their position when it comes to women's rights, particularly around education for girls. what's their position on this? their position is what it was in the �*90s. although the taliban, before they swept to power and even the last years as you say, myself and my colleagues have pressed them on a number of occasions and interviews when it comes to the education and basic rights of women and girls. they have continued to say that once the situation gets better in afghanistan they will allow women to go back to work and girls to go back to school.

and yet everything they are doing is against that, and it can only reinforce the fact that their ideology remains the same, they perhaps fought for 20 years — and this is something that i've asked the taliban on multiple occasions — did you fight for 20 years so you could take on 12—year—old girls, so you could take on teenagers and girls at university and prevent them from gaining their basic human rights? us media is reporting that ukraine's president zelensky is due to visit washington on wednesday, which would be the ukrainian leader's first visit abroad since the war began in february. the bbc�*s barbara plett usher in washington told me what we could expect from a potential visit. the us media is reporting that if mr zelensky does come he would meet congressional leadership and national security chiefs from both parties and meet president biden at the white house. we have heard from the house representative who co—chairs the congressional ukrainian

caucus and she said there have been ongoing efforts to bring him to the capital to address a joint session of congress. and we know the house speaker nancy pelosi has written to her colleagues saying there will be a special session on wednesday night, although she didn't say what that session would be about. if president zelensky does address congress it will be the second time. he did so weeks after the russian invasion in february, remotely, as he has legislators, many other legislators including the one in the united kingdom. we have to stress that this has not been officially confirmed and that security concerns might change any plans that are already under way because if mr zelensky does come to washington that would be his first outside of ukraine since the war started, and so it is a sensitive issue. amid growing scepticism over china's official covid figures, chinese officials have clarified that only people who die from respiratory illnesses are counted in their covid death toll.

just two weeks after the most severe covid restrictions were lifted, cases are reported to be surging, but authorities have only acknowledged seven deaths. what is going on? let's cross to hong kong now speak with ben cowling, chair professor of epidemiology at the school of public health at the university of hong kong. great to get you on the programme, part professor. from a public health standpoint, help reliable is that you can't covid deaths the way that chinese authorities are doing? there is a debate around the world about how we count covid deaths because in some places if someone gets covid and gets hit by a bus the next day it is mild but is considered a death because it is within 28 days of testing positive. in china, they have gone to the other extreme and only count the covid death if they test positive and die of respiratory failure, so not something else

triggered by the infection. so, it is going from one extreme in some places where it is early death within 28 days of testing positive to another extreme way they will cut the minority of deaths specifically with respiratory failure. play that out for us. what _ respiratory failure. play that out for us. what are - respiratory failure. play that out for us. what are the - out for us. what are the consequences of this? surely that means that a lot of deaths are not being accounted for. that's right but i think there is a bigger issue in china and that as there is not much pcr testing being done. 0ne that as there is not much pcr testing being done. one month ago, two months ago, entire cities were being tested by pcr every day, picking up all the infections that were causing a lot of asymptomatic cases. now there is very little pcr testing being done so i would say within the last few days there is a handful of deaths being reported. whether china use their definition of the definition used in other places, death within 28 days of covid, i think it would be a small number of covid deaths because the testing is at a low

level right now and that is an issue because we do not have the full picture of what is going on. the full picture of what is going on— the full picture of what is going on-_ the full picture of what is going on— the full picture of what is auoin on. ., �* ., ., going on. so, we don't have a full picture — going on. so, we don't have a full picture of _ going on. so, we don't have a full picture of what _ going on. so, we don't have a full picture of what is - going on. so, we don't have a full picture of what is going i full picture of what is going on, and how important is it for a country like china with this massive population, with a0%, i think, of the over 80s i'm completely vaccinated and boosted, to get an accurate picture of what is going on? what happens if you don't have that accurate picture?— that accurate picture? around the world _ that accurate picture? around the world in — that accurate picture? around the world in the last - that accurate picture? around the world in the last three - the world in the last three years we have been pretty good at tracking covid. we know when case numbers are on the rights, when they are coming down again and when they are coming up, thatis and when they are coming up, that is the time to act with recommendations, maybe people should wear masks. maybe they should wear masks. maybe they should be other things in the community. when case numbers are coming down that is when you can think about relaxing the measures. in china that is very little situational awareness. it is unclear whether the epidemic in beijing has peaked which it may have or whether the numbers are still

going up. in other cities it seems likely case are going up but it is going to be difficult to tell when there is a peak and more testing will help without situational awareness. it is something that has been done very well around the world in the last three years, but for various reasons, i guess, there is not much testing being donein there is not much testing being done in this week.— done in this week. yes. i don't want to be _ done in this week. yes. i don't want to be alarmist _ done in this week. yes. i don't want to be alarmist but - done in this week. yes. i don't want to be alarmist but what l done in this week. yes. i don't| want to be alarmist but what is the possibility or potential from variants of the virus emerging from this lack of testing, lack of accountability? it testing, lack of accountability? testing, lack of accountabili ? , , accountability? it is very likely that _ accountability? it is very likely that they - accountability? it is very likely that they will - accountability? it is very likely that they will be . likely that they will be hundreds of millions of infections in china within the next 1— two months. most likely the majority of the population will be infected in it this way because there is almost no previous infections in the population but if you look at other parts of the world, in europe, north america, elsewhere, there is also a lot of infections occurring right now. right now hundreds of

millions of infections or whether there is a chance of a new variant emerging in china or other parts of the world is difficult to say, but certainly the wall opportunities the virus gets that is every chance for the virus to move in a new direction, a sub variant or a new variant. fingers crossed up on not happen. what we need to do was monitor the virus so that as soon as possible we know the situation, we know if there is anything you coming out. hopefully that won't be the case but unless we look we won't know. the case but unless we look we won't know— won't know. fingers crossed indeed. professor— won't know. fingers crossed indeed. professor ben - won't know. fingers crossed i indeed. professor ben cowling, chair professor of epidemiology at the university of hong kong, thank you so much forjoining us with your thoughts on newsday. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: finally brought to justice. the 97—year—old woman found guilty for her part in the deaths of more than 10,000 people. the world of music has been paying tribute

to george michael, who's died from suspected heart failure at the age of 53. he sold well over 100 million albums in a career spanning more than three decades. the united states' troops have been trying to overthrow the dictatorship of general manuel noriega. the pentagon says it's failed in its principle objective to capture noriega and take him to the united states to face drugs charges. the hammer and sickle was hastily taken away. in its place, the russian flag was hoisted over what is now no longer the soviet union, but the commonwealth of independent states. day broke slowly over - lockerbie, over the cockpit of pan am's maid of the seas, nose down in the soft earth. l you could see what happens when a plane eight storeys i high, a football pitch wide, falls from 30,000 feet. i christmas has returned to albania after a communist ban lasting more than 20 years. thousands went to midnight mass in the town of shkoder, where there were anti—communist riots ten days ago.

this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. 0ur headlines: a congressional committee in the united states is voted to release the tax returns of former president donald trump. australia's foreign minister has arrived in beijing, where she is set to meet her counterpart later — in what is the first visit to china by an australian minister since 2019. there has been friction between beijing and canberra in recent years over various issues including the origin of covid—19 which has resulted in china imposing trade sanctions. marina zhang, is associate professor in australia—china relations at the university of technology in sydney, i asked her if she was surprised that the visit is going head. it's not surprise. i think it is a concrete step materialising, the talks

between the two heads of the nations, the two nations, in bali last month. but re— stabilising the relationship is not a simple task in my view because australia— china relationship is never a 1—dimensional issue, it sits in the china and us relationships and increasingly in the framework in the pacific security dialogue stop so not surprised. security dialogue stop so not surprised-— surprised. indeed, in terms of what each _ surprised. indeed, in terms of what each side _ surprised. indeed, in terms of what each side is _ surprised. indeed, in terms of what each side is hoping - surprised. indeed, in terms of what each side is hoping to i surprised. indeed, in terms of| what each side is hoping to get out of this,, it's not an easy thing to do to ease this relationship, it's an important relationship, it's an important relationship but what does beijing and what does canberra want out of this? canberra wants to — want out of this? canberra wants to restore _ want out of this? canberra wants to restore its - want out of this? canberra wants to restore its trade | wants to restore its trade partnership with china to better terms in the past few years. the reality is,

australian exports to china account for 40% of australia's total exports, and the trade surplus to china accounts for almost 90% so that is substantial but on the other hand, australia's relationship with the us is a cornerstone of its security and the national policies, diplomat policies so to maintain such a balance between its ally and its trade partner, was ok during the good terms between us and china but is getting increasingly challenging when the us and china are engaged in strategic competition and confrontation so how to maintain such a balance is a real test to the government into foreign affairs minister. in germany, a former secretary

who worked for the commander of a nazi concentration camp, has been convicted of complicity in the murders of more than 10 thousand people. irmgard furchner who's now 97, was employed as a typist at stutthof camp from 1943 to 19115. she's the first woman to be tried for nazi crimes in decades and was given a two—year suspended jail sentence. caroline hawley reports. wheeled in to hear the verdict against her in what could be one of the very last holocaust trials, irmgard furchner, her face blurred by order of the court, a blanket over her lap. almost eight decades ago she was a typist, a secretary to the camp commandant. but the judge rejected her lawyer's

argument that she didn't know about the killings and ruled she was complicit in the mass murder of more than 10,000 people. translation: it is easy to say she wasjust a secretary, - but a secretary had an important role in the bureaucracy of a concentration camp. in all, over the course of the second world war, an estimated 65,000 prisoners died in the stuthoff camp in nazi—occupied poland in horrific circumstances. they were killed in its gas chamber, hanged and shot or succumbed to starvation and disease. irmgard furchner, seen here as a young woman, was only 18 and 19 at the time, so, despite her age, was tried in a special juvenile court. manfred goldberg, who's now 92 years old, was held in stuthoff camp for several months as a young teenager. he told me he wouldn't want an elderly woman sent to jail, but... a two—year suspended sentence is what you might expect for perhaps severe shoplifting or an amateur burglar who didn't commit any serious offence, but not for someone who was found to be complicit in the murder of more than 10,000 inmates.

it sounds incredibly insufficient. irmgard furchner had tried to evade any kind ofjustice, calling a cab from her care home at the start of her trial and going on the run. but she was arrested and eventually attended court. international lawyers say her case sends a signal to anyone who commits war crimes anywhere. you need to be aware that forever, for the rest of your natural life, there is a possibility of the tap on the shoulder, an investigation and if necessary, a prosecution, and that applies for example equally in relation to the crimes that are plainly being committed today on the territory of ukraine. i'm thinking of bucha. the young soldiers who were involved in that and the decision—makers know that for the rest of their lives they are exposed to the risk of a tap on the shoulder. modern germany is still grappling with the darkness of its past.

the public prosecutor said this was a trial of outstanding historical importance. at a time when holocaust denial is on the rise, survivors hope it will make it harder for the world to forget the unimaginable horrors which they endured. caroline hawley, bbc news. much more on the bbc website. the argentina government has declared tuesday a public holiday after their victorious team arrives back home. argentina's champions are home, to much fanfare and excitement. thousands waited up to greet them in the early hours, not wanting to miss this chance to see the megastars. argentina's never seen anything like it, an estimated 4 million people came out onto the streets of the capital, the country's biggest party in its history. in true argentinian style, the steaks and sausages were slapped on the barbecue from early in the morning.

people dressed in messi's number ten shirt. this world cup has made him a national hero, standing alongside diego maradona in argentine footballing fame. translation: it's amazing, it's amazing. i don't think any country has lived through what we are living now. nobody is partying like we are right now, nobody! it is something that i will talk with my sons and grandsons for ever. the team made its way towards the centre slowly but had to change route because of the sheer number of fans. the players abandoned coming to the 0belisk, which has been the focal point of celebrations during the tournament. they ended up having to do a flyover in a helicopter instead. the celebrations on sunday after the final were massive but today has been even bigger. no—one can deny how much the argentinians wanted this

trophy to come home but i think the outpouring of pride has even surprised the authorities here. while messi is, of course, an inspiration, the whole team is being celebrated. batista is alexis mac allister�*s godfather and former coach, proud of the brighton & hove albion player coming home with the trophy. translation: he started playing here at the age of six. _ today english football is the greatest in the world, where the best players are, and thankfully clubs have been coming for argentinian footballers and that is wonderful because it opens the door to other players. back to the party of extraordinary proportions. a country battered by economic crisis, this has been a world cup to remember, allowing argentinians to park their worries and really celebrate success. katy watson, bbc news,

in buenos aires. the moroccan national football team have arrived back from doha to a massive welcome after their fourth place finish at the world cup in qatar. thousands of fans lined the streets to welcome the atlas lions who exceeded all expectations and set a new benchmark for african teams at the world's top football tournament. many felt they had won the hearts and minds of football fans around the world. it's just a few days now until christmas — the first since the war in ukraine began. for the people of that country — normal celebrations must seem out of the question. but they're trying their best — both those still in ukraine — and those who have left. the bbc�*s tim allman explains. this family is just one of so many families trying to enjoy the best christmas they can. vasil, marina, lilya and yuri live in this flat in prague. they fled their home in kyiv in

the early days of war. the children bake biscuits as the parents put up decorations. it's all very modest, but heartfelt. ~ ,, ~ ~ , heartfelt. translation: as refugees. — heartfelt. translation: as refugees. we _ heartfelt. translation: as refugees, we didn't - heartfelt. translation: as refugees, we didn't have - heartfelt. translation: as l refugees, we didn't have many choices. we had to think if we can afford to buy a christmas tree or not, which is why we decided just to use some branches for the decoration because it looks good and it makes the children happy. in the eastern ukrainian city of kramotorsk, the children are waiting for saint nicholas. he is not coming on a slave, but rather on a train. this is part of a project organised by unicef to bring christmas presents two areas of the country most affected by russia's invasion. �* . �* russia's invasion. translation: in order russia's invasion. translation: in order for _ russia's invasion. translation: in order for the _ russia's invasion. translation: in order for the children - russia's invasion. translation: in order for the children to - in order for the children to grow up properly, we should make sure they have some fun, not spend all the time in the basement being afraid. we came here today despite the airstrikes but we are still

frightened.— airstrikes but we are still frirhtened. �* , frightened. and in kyiv, the christmas _ frightened. and in kyiv, the christmas decorations - frightened. and in kyiv, the christmas decorations are l christmas decorations are looking a little unusual. these giant concrete locks were previously used for building barricades. now they are colourful works of festive art, brightening up the city streets. as one local put it, the people of kyiv confined the positive in everything. tim allman, bbc news. let's go back to the breaking story this hour:a short while ago the us congressional committee, has voted to release former president donald trump's tax returns, which he has sought to keep secret. it could end up shedding light on why he has resisted releasing his tax documents for so long. since 2015 and his election campaign there've been questions about how much tax donald trump has paid. for years he has claimed, falsely, that he could not release them while under "routine audit" by the irs. even launching law suits agains those who tried to obtain them. but the house ways and means committee was given the documents after court action which forced

donald trump to hand them over. and today they voted to make the documents public. it's remaining unsettled over the next few days. certainly for the rest of this week, low pressure will be in charge. and we've seen quite a lot of rainfall recently across the south and that's led to flood warnings being issued for south wales and south west england. so a wet next few days for some of us. there will be a bit of sunshine around with our air source coming in from the south west and it'll stay on the mild side. so we've had low pressure with this through tuesday. as we move through wednesday, it will be to the north of the uk. another ripple brings wet weather to the south of the country on thursday and then this area of low pressure will bring some substantial wet weather to the country during

the course of friday. now we start wednesday off on a wet note for the south east of england, east anglia. that rain will clear away quite quickly. then its bright for much of england and wales. few showers into the south west later for the far north of england, scotland, northern ireland, it's going to be blustery with sunny spells, scattered showers and temperatures range from around 7 to 11 degrees across the uk. as we move through wednesday night, it stays blustery across the north of the uk, close to the centre of the low few showers. england, wales will start drying them. we'll see areas of rain and cloud pushing in from the south west and it'll stay quite breezy, particularly across southern and western coast. another mild nights come in the south, further north, 3 to five celsius. we'll start off with some sunshine across the north of the uk on thursday. stay breezy in the far north with a few showers here. but for the rest of england and wales it looks like it'll turn cloudier through the days. more rain pushes in from the south west. some of this again could be quite heavy across southern england, south wales. that'll exacerbate already saturated ground here with flooding issues. a milder day to come in the south, a bit cooler further north. then we look to friday. this area of low pressure will bring a band of rain into southern areas. it'll slowly push northwards

through the course of the day. so some areas here really could be quite wet and they'll stay windy in the south and mild here through friday. but notice across the north, we'll start to see this blue, this cold air starting to push south. so we'll be in a battleground, i think, through friday with cold air in the north, mild air in the south. but it does look like as we move through the christmas period, certainly in the north, it'll turn colder with some wintry showers, notjust hills, even down to lower levels at times. there will be a little bit of sunshine, too, but a very christmassy feeling there. some of the cold air will start to get in towards england and wales as well as we move through the christmas period. so it will be turning colder with the risk of some wintry showers.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. this week — computer, draw me a picture of a lizard drinking coffee. nice! yes! we're looking at the light

and dark side of ai art. oh, dear. oh, that is peculiar.