this is bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories: a congressional committee in the united states has voted to release the tax returns of former president, donald trump. ukraine's president goes to washington. us media reports volodymyr zelensky is to pay an official trip to america. a 97—year—old german woman is found guilty for her part in the deaths of more than 10,000 people during the holocaust. in a further erosion of women's rights in afghanistan, the taliban government bans women from university education. a sea of celebration. hundreds of thousands take to the streets to welcome home argentina's world cup winners.

welcome to our viewers on pbs in the united states and around the world. ever since announcing his run for president, donald trump has refused to make his tax returns public. despite not being legally obliged to, for decades, it's been convention that presidential hopefuls are transparent on their earnings and how much of that but donald's trump's fight for privacy has now run out, with a us house committee ruling to release details of the former president's filings from 2015 to 2021, the years when he was running for president and serving in the white house. the republican congressman kevin brady told reporters the move could have worrying consequences. 0ur consequences. concern is that if taken, this 0ur concern is that if taken, this committee action will set

a terrible precedent, that unleashes a dangerous new global weapon that reaches far beyond the former president and overturns decades of privacy protections for average americans that have existed since the watergate reform. 0ur north america correspondent peter bowes has more on the significance of this decision. this is something that donald trump has been objecting to for many years now. it really 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 that 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 house of representatives, had been politically motivated to try to get those tax returns made public, and, of course, 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 on 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 — those tax returns will be released with some redactions. in other words there 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 read and to analyse and try to figure out and answer the question you posed — why has donald trump been so strongly opposed to the release of these returns?

media organisations in the us are reporting that ukraine's president, volodomyr zelensky, will visit washington on wednesday. the ukrainian leader is expected to meet president biden and congressional leaders in what would be his first overseas trip since russia invaded his country ten months ago. well, earlier, ispoke tojohn herbst, a former us ambassador to ukraine and asked how significant he felt this visit was. well, it will be zelensky�*s first trip outside of ukraine since moscow's february invasion, and, of course, ukraine has performed stunningly in defeating thus far putin's efforts to take large sections of the country and taking back sections that he did take, and that is because of strong american support, but strong more in quantity and less in quality. so, we are anticipating that president biden and president zelensky will be meeting to discuss issues around the war face—to—face.

do we know what each man might want to get out of that meeting? well, i think both agree that this is an opportunity to demonstrate strong coordination between the two countries, strong american support for ukraine in dealing with putin's aggression, but we know that what zelensky really wants are the longer—range artillery which the us has refused to provide which would make it easier for him to protect his soldiers and to stop russian offences and take more territory, and we know that president biden wants to show his support for ukraine, even as he seems reluctant to send those more advanced weapons. the us has given more than $18 billion in aid to ukraine since russia invaded. is it likely to promise any more? that is a lot of money. i think that we will see comparable assistance going forward. the administration understands it will be a great defeat for the west, for the united states, for democracy, if putin were to win

in ukraine, and considering the cost of the united states of such a russian victory, the cost of what we're paying right now with substantial aid is relatively small. the ukrainians have taken down a good part of russia's army, and that is very much of the security interest of the west and the united states. 0n the security front, in the last 2a hours, president zelensky has been in bakhmut — that a key target of russia's on the front line. now he is going to washington, and as you mentioned his first trip out of the country. is he confident that his country is winning this war? i think ukraine is winning the war, and again, american and western support, nato support, eu support, has been critical for ukraine in gaining the upper hand on the battlefield, but at the same time, his trip to bakhmut was a way to show russia and the the russian people that moscow that claimed it was going to take bakhmut by the end of september has failed to do so.

but again, zelensky could win this war faster, regain his territory faster, if we provided the tanks, the longer—range artillery, the jet fighters that ukraine desperately needs. what does the us get out of this? as the war in ukraine rages, across russia, towns and cities have been scaling back their new year celebrations, cancelling concerts and firework displays. at the same time, the russian authorities are using this festive season to promote patriotism and to glorify the armed forces. 0ur russia editor steve rosenberg travelled 3000 miles east of moscow to the siberian city of chita to see how they're marking the holidays as russia wages war in ukraine. horn blares. at first glance, siberia is a world away from the war in ukraine. but normality is an illusion, because war is changing russia. all of russia. pushing the country

in a darker direction. in chita, they're preparing for the ice festival. no santas with reindeers. this year, it's soldiers with kalashnikovs, a whole army of them. cold war to glorify the hot war russia's waging in ukraine. "we're fighting a war," tatyana says. "so it's right to have these ice soldiers here." ludmilla agrees. "we're defending our country from nazis," she tells me. "russia's being attacked on all fronts, including "with lg bt propaganda. we reject these alien values." russians never used to say these kind of things to me. kremlin messaging has convinced many here that russia is in an existential battle with the west. when it's 26 degrees below zero, as it is now,

it's difficult to speak, let alone to think. and in many ways, the pro—kremlin propaganda that russians are exposed to in the state media here acts like —26. it prevents many people from thinking rationally about what is happening here, and why. comfort and joy are in short supply. but there's patriotism aplenty. from siberian snowmen flying the flag to the letter z, the symbol of the military operation. and chita tv showed schoolchildren writing letters not to father christmas, but to russian troops in ukraine. but some russians see patriotism differently. ivan losev is against the war. 0n social media recently, he shared a dream he'd had in which he met president zelensky of ukraine.

for that post and others, he was taken to court and fined for discrediting the russian army. translation: the closer you get to the downfall of an empire, the more stupid the laws become. patriotism is loving your country, but criticising it to bring change. patriotism is wanting to make your own city better so that people want to live there, and live well. but russia's patriotism is about bombing ukraine to pieces. 0ur leaders don't want our country to be better. they just want people in another country to live worse. a year that changed russia — and the world — is nearing its end. one thing russians won't be celebrating is peace on earth. steve rosenberg, bbc news, chita, siberia.

the taliban government in afghanistan has ordered an indefinite ban on university education for women. the order was signed by the minister of higher education, demanding universities "suspend education of females until further notice." it marks a further blow to women's right to education under the taliban. three months ago, thousands of women appeared for university entrance exams but there were restrictions on the kind of subjects they could study. yalda royan is the afghan lead for the womens rights group voice, having advised the world bank and a range of government departments and ngos on gender based issues, before being evacuated from kabul in 2021 by the us. talk us through how women's rights in afghanistan have been degraded in the last couple of years? degraded in the last couple of ears? ., ., , ., years? so, tilamarne started sto -|n~ years? so, tilamarne started stepping women _ years? so, tilamarne started stopping women from - years? so, tilamarne started

stopping women from going l years? so, tilamarne started. stopping women from going to work as soon as they took the country of afghanistan, and this continued by removing stopping women from access to education, secondary education, stopping them from going to school at grade six, and continuing to remove women from all aspects of public life, by issuing more than a0 edex, decrees and decisions, that are stopping them from taking part in any social, political, economic or educational activities in the country. in this last decision that came this last decision that came this morning, actually this afternoon, was on two hands, surprising for everyone and shocking for everyone, because we knew that this was going to happen, as long as the taliban

continue what they are doing the international community is not holding them accountable for those atrocities in afghanistan they will continue and this will not be the last decision they are making from taking women from taking part in the society.— in the society. what you think the will in the society. what you think they will do — in the society. what you think they will do next _ in the society. what you think they will do next to _ in the society. what you think they will do next to curtail - they will do next to curtail women's participation in australian society? already they have _ australian society? already they have left _ australian society? already they have left the - australian society? already they have left the decision | australian society? already i they have left the decision of they have left the decision of the personal and private lives of women under the control of men, and i think that next time they werejust killed men, and i think that next time they were just killed women and not let them leave anymore. in the research we recentlyjustin september, we conducted with a of human rights defenders in afghanistan, the human rights defenders said they are not feeling safe inside their families even, because of the decrease in sentiment towards the taliban, and because of the

fear of being persecuted by the taliban, they are imposing different kinds of violence on women inside their homes to keep them in compliance with the taliban and what they are saying. the taliban and what they are sa inc. ~ ., saying. we will leave it there, thank you _ saying. we will leave it there, thank you very _ saying. we will leave it there, thank you very much - saying. we will leave it there, thank you very much for - saying. we will leave it there, l thank you very much forjoining us. stay with us on bbc news. still to come — don't cry for me, argentina. and why would they, when they're celebrating a world cup victory? 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 i 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. you could see what happens when a plane eight storeys high, a football pitch wide, falls from 30,000 feet. 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 bbc world news. the latest headlines — a congressional committee in the united states has voted to release the tax returns of former president, donald trump. us media is reporting

that the ukrainian president, volodymyr zelensky, is to pay an official visit to america. in germany, a 97—year—old woman has been convicted of complicity in the murder of more than 10,500 people during the holocaust. irmgard furchner worked as a secretary at the stutthof camp in what is now poland. she was given a two—year suspended jail sentence. caroline hawley reports. wheeled in to hear the verdict against her, the end of what could be one of the very last holocaust trials, irmgard furchner, herface 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. joining me now live from washington dc is daniel s mariaschin, ceo of b'nai b'rith international. thank you forjoining us on the programme. what is your reaction to today's news? well, i think it is _ reaction to today's news? well, i think it is an _ reaction to today's news? well, i think it is an important - i think it is an important development, simply because those who carried out these acts showed no mercy at the time to babies, to 18—year—olds, to 19—year—olds. this was a terrible place of barbarity, so notwithstanding the passage of time, there is no shelf life here, there is no statute of limitations on crimes of genocide, and so

justice being served, even at this late hour, to this woman was an extremely important message being sent. beyond the messaue, message being sent. beyond the message. a _ message being sent. beyond the message, a two-year _ message being sent. beyond the message, a two-year suspended j message, a two—year suspended sentence, does that feel like justice to you, and many other jewish people?— jewish people? well, as the gentleman _ jewish people? well, as the gentleman said _ jewish people? well, as the gentleman said in _ jewish people? well, as the gentleman said in your- jewish people? well, as the i gentleman said in your report, for the crimes that were carried out, and she was complicit in the killing of over 10,000 people, clearly the crime of murder. that's what occurred there, would have demanded a far more severe sentence. but, in looking at it, the trial, the repetition of the crimes that were committed, the educative value of this trial, and the message sent for those who engage in war crimes, i think, sent for those who engage in warcrimes, ithink, is,

sent for those who engage in war crimes, ithink, is, yes, is an important statement. whether or not they should have been a harsher sentence, i suppose yes, but the court has spoken and i think the lessons to be learned here are quite clear. ~ , . , . ~ to be learned here are quite clear. ~ , .,~ ., clear. why has it taken so long for people _ clear. why has it taken so long for people like _ clear. why has it taken so long for people like this _ clear. why has it taken so long for people like this woman - clear. why has it taken so long for people like this woman to i for people like this woman to be brought before a court? well, the investigations into these crimes are extensive, and have been going on for many years, but so many people were involved in these crimes at various levels. she was the secretary to the commandant, but there were so many others, the guards, others who carried out other kinds of acts inside the camps. there were many, many people involved, and history passes, many people kind of melted into the woodwork, and it has taken time for many to be discovered, for

the charges to be brought, and for these trials to happen, and as was pointed out in your report, this may be among the last of these trials because of the age of those who have been charged. but look, again, there is no shelf life here. no one should be able to leave this earth without being brought before a court ofjustice for having carried out these terrible crimes, these barbaric crimes against the inmates in these camps. we crimes against the inmates in these camps-— these camps. we will leave it there. thank _ these camps. we will leave it there. thank you _ these camps. we will leave it there. thank you very - these camps. we will leave it there. thank you very much i these camps. we will leave it i there. thank you very much for making the time for us.- making the time for us. thank ou for making the time for us. thank you for having _ making the time for us. thank you for having me. _ there's been a heroes' welcome in argentina for the country's victorious world cup football team. the team arrived back in the capital, buenos aires, to huge crowds. 0ur south america correspondent, katy watson was among them. 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 a 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 no 10 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 and forever. 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 authorities here. while messi is, of course, an inspiration, the whole team is being celebrated. bocha batista is alexis mac allister�*s godfather and former coach, proud of the brighton and 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. meanwhile, morocco's national four team has also arrived back to a massive welcome. thousands lined the street to work on the atlas lions. they set a new benchmark for african teams of the world cup. many felt they had won the hearts and minds of football fans around the world. there is much more on all those stories on the bbc news website. that is it from me for now and

in deed until the new year, so if you celebrate, wishing you a very happy christmas and a relaxing, peaceful break. i'll see you soon. goodbye. hello, there. 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 us 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 it's bright for much of england and wales, a 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, a few showers here. england and wales will start dry and then 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 night to come in the south, further north, 3 to 5 degrees celsius. we'll start off with some sunshine across the north of the uk on thursday. it'll 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, as 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 colder 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. the headlines: a congressional committee in the united states has voted to release a summary of the tax returns of the former president, donald trump, who has long fought to keep them secret. the documents are likely to be released in the coming days after sensitive information is removed. us media say the ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky is expected to visit washington on wednesday. it would be his first trip abroad since the war in ukraine began. reports say the white house is preparing for his visit. he will also meet congressional leaders at the capitol. a 97—year—old german woman has been given a two—year suspended sentence for complicity in the murders of more than 10,000 people during the holocaust. irmgard furchner had worked as a secretary at a concentration camp.

it was one of germany's last trials of criminals