New York Times reveals Trump tax returns
US president Donald Trump pays little or no personal income tax, oversees massive business losses and is involved in a drawn out internal audit with the IRS according to bombshell revelations published by The New York Times on Sunday. The paper has a useful timeline of Trump’s finances and The Guardian has six findings from the NYT report. Vox says that the documents, which suggest that the president claimed mysterious write-offs for consulting fees paid to daughter Ivanka, could be legally problematic for Trump.
Niece reveals Trump’s attempt to influence father’s will
Meanwhile, The Washington Post claims that Trump was threatened with personal bankruptcy in the 1990s and that he tried to exert influence over his soon to be ailing father over his will. The revelations come from the president’s niece, Mary Trump, who on Thursday filed suit against Trump and his siblings over their father’s estate.
Trump coy on Roe v. Wade
Donald Trump says that although it is possible that his pick for the supreme court, Amy Coney Barrett, could be “in that category” of justices who would seek to overturn a landmark abortion ruling, he had not spoken to her about Roe v. Wade. “It’s certainly possible. And maybe they do it in a different way. Maybe they’d give it back to the states. You just don’t know what’s going to happen,” he told Fox and Friends. Trump confirmed on Saturday that Barret would be his nomination to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg. CNN reports on Barrett’s association with a Christian group called People of Praise. Bloomberg says the nomination is unlikely to give Trump a boost in support from women.
Swiss vote to keep freedom of movement
Sunday’s referendum in Switzerland saw voters overwhelmingly reject a call to end freedom of movement and immigration from the EU. The final result saw 61.7% vote against the motion called by the Swiss People's Party, which claimed that an influx of EU citizens causes overpopulation, rising housing costs and puts a strain on the welfare system. Deutsche Welle and The Guardian report.
Trump calls for Biden to take drugs test
Ahead of Tuesday’s first televised election debate, US president Donald Trump on Sunday tweeted that he would be urging a drug test of his opponent Joe Biden. Trump claims that Biden’s debate performances “have been record setting UNEVEN, to put it mildly. Only drugs could have caused this discrepancy???”
TikTok ban rejected, for now
The Trump administration’s attempt to ban social media app TikTok from being downloaded from US app stores has been blocked by a judge, CNBC and The Wall Street Journal report. However, another move, set to come into force on 12 November, could effectively make TikTok unusable in the States.
Madrid defies Spanish government
Madrid’s regional government has rejected an appeal by Spain’s health minister, Salvador Illa, to lockdown the entire city, The Guardian reports. Over a third of Spain’s more than 700,000 cases have been found in and around the capital.
Armenia and Azerbaijan clash
Armenia has mobilised its military following armed clashes with Azerbaijan. Reports vary on the number of casualties, with both sides accusing the other of launching the first attack as the two countries ramp up their dispute over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The Guardian and Aljazeera have more.
Sports roundup
Formula 1: Valtteri Bottas won the Russian Grand Prix while his Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton finished third. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen placed second. The BBC has a report. Basketball: LeBron James helped the LA Lakers to beat the Denver Nuggets and reach the NBA finals. It will be his ninth appearance in the last 10 finals. The Lakers will face either Boston Celtics or Miami Heat. NBA.com has analysis. Football: Bayern Munich and Manchester City both suffered heavy shock defeats on Sunday to Hoffenheim and Leicester City respectively. In Luxembourg, Dudelange top the BGL Ligue after beating Rosport, while Wiltz are second following a 3-0 defeat of Niederkorn.
Yuko Takeuchi
Japanese actress Yuko Takeuchi has been found dead at her Tokyo home by her actor husband Taiki Nakabayashi, The Hollywood Reporter and the BBC report. The 40-year old actress was in the 1998 Japanese horror film “Ringu” and was best known for her title role in the HBO series “Miss Sherlock”.
Montana and wife save grandchild from kidnapping
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana and his wife Jennifer reportedly foiled the kidnapping of his granddaughter at his Malibu home over the weekend, CNN reports. The 64-year old 4-time Super Bowl winner tweeted about the incident.
Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Duncan Roberts