welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. our top stories: donald trump's travel ban comes into force. a supreme court ruling partially allows travel restrictions on six mainly—muslim countries. under siege in raqqa. the extremist group that calls itself islamic state is fighting to survive in syria. forces backed by the us now surround the capital of the so—called caliphate. the us urges china to respect freedom and civil liberties in hong kong, as president xi makes his highly symbolic visit marking 20 years of reunification. and a potentially perilous day on the fairway. an elk gives this swedish golfer a run for his money. hello.

president trump's temporary ban on refugees and travellers from six mainly—muslim countries is now officially in effect. the us supreme court has allowed a watered—down version of it, after a five—month battle with human rights groups. the trump administration says the ban is necessary to block terrorists from entering the united states. many have argued that, unconstitutionally, it singles out muslims. this from neda tawfik. these were the scenes at airports gci’oss these were the scenes at airports across the country when the original travel ban was imposed without warning in january. travel ban was imposed without warning injanuary. it was called unconstitutional, a ban on muslims, and despite months of legal challenges, president trump once

again has his travel ban, at least parts of it, in place after a victory at the supreme court. this has been one of the president's top issues. he has talked consistently about how he believes the united states needs to do more to enhance oui’ states needs to do more to enhance our screening besiegers and to take a better look at people who will be coming into the united states, because the safety and security of americans comes first. from thursday, those travelling from six predominantly muslim countries could be barred from entering the united states for 90 days, and refugees for 120 days. on monday the supreme court offered broad guidelines on who could be exempt from president trump's ban, saying visa applicants had to prove a bona fide relationship with the us person or entity. the trump administration has narrowly interpreted that to say that those with a parent or college qualify, so to anyone with a

business or educational tie to the united states, but the relationship must be formal and documented, not made up to have the executive order. the extended family such as a grandparent, grandchild or aunt and uncle will be denied visas. the ban also means refugees, even those working with a resettling agency, will face the same restrictions. civil rights and immigration activists have vowed lawsuits, saying it is arbitrary and the scrivener tory, and many rushed to the airports. the world is watching the airports. the world is watching the united states of america, and what they are saying is we thought that that was the country for opportunity and justice for all. but it does not seem that way. opportunity and justice for all. but it does not seem that waylj opportunity and justice for all. but it does not seem that way. i mean, this administration is redefining what a family is. i was raised by my grandparents, so the idea of grandparents, so the idea of grandparents not being part of the family is very foreign to me. already the state of hawaii has challenged the administration in

court, arguing the federal government is violating the supreme court by excluding people with an extended family relationship to the united states. earlier i spoke to khaled beydoun, an associate professor of law at the university of detroit, about what the ban means for the millions of people who will be affected by the ban. well, i think it's important to frame it really broadly. obviously it's goingto impact immigrants, refugees are brought in these restricted states. it is also going to impact millions of americans stateside who are families of individuals barred from entering the states, whether it's grandparents, grandchildren, cousins and so on. so the scope of individuals to be impacted is quite broad. last time we saw chaos at the borders. do you expect to see the same? i think so, i think we have a situation where in the next four months, until the supreme court takes this

and makes a final resolution, there's going to be considerable protests in response to the ban. there's going to be considerable confusion at airports, because border officials are essentially interpreting and assessing who qualifies as a bona fide family member. so chaos on both sides. the state of hawaii in challenging what constitutes close family? it is, and this narrow definition of family conflicts with existing definitions that the supreme court has rendered before, which are broad in nature, which include many classifications which these executive orders have restricted. so it actually conflicts with existing definitions of family on the books. the supreme court will make a ruling in october. what do you expect from that? there's a lot of things can happen in the interim, whether it is turnover on the court,

whether it is another attack, national security interests and so on to be bolstered. so a lot in happen. if nothing changes, my hunch, in line with the court, is it will be stricken down on free exercise or establishment clause grounds. lastly, what do you make of it, will it do what the trump administration wants to do? i don't think so. it has a disproportionate and broad impact on individuals fleeing war, refugees and so on. i think it could have a counter—effect, to be frank with you. it feeds into the propaganda of terror networks like isis, perpetuating this idea that we are this clash of spheres, civilisations, context, so it has a detrimental effect. hong kong is officially marking 20 years since the end of british colonial rule.

the chinese president, xijinping, is visiting the territory for the first time since he became leader in 2013. he inspected the people's liberation army barracks just a short while ago. across hong kong there is extra security to curtail pro—democracy protesters, who feel there is little to celebrate. 0ur china editor carrie gracie has been meeting some of those born in the year of the handover. hong kong's patriots greet their president and first lady. flags, but no umbrellas allowed, because umbrellas are the symbol of protest here. he said he had come to support hong kong. protesters chant. that is not how democracy activists see it, occupying a monument that china presented to hong kong for the handover. hours earlier, she had illustrated her feelings about the chinese communist state. a hong kong flag in mourning. a veteran protester at 20.

but she is no longer optimistic about what protest can achieve. another hong konger born in the year of the handover, coffee shop barista and freestyle footballer lai cu nyin, busks to make ends meet. in one of the world's most unaffordable cities, he resents the people from mainland china who he says are pricing him out. to find a 20—year—old who is celebrating this week,

it is best to look for a mainlander. sunny tan is a student here, but she grew up in china, and from an early age was taught to be proud of her country. free liu xiaobo! some celebrate, and others mourn. this vigil, calling for the release of a political dissident, would be impossible anywhere else in china. 0nly hong kong has the freedom to protest, which is what makes it so special, but what also makes it a thorn in china's side. carrie gracie, bbc news, hong kong. let's take a look at some of the other stories making

the news: the governor of new york, andrew cuomo, has declared a state of emergency on the city's subway. he says its dismal performance is wholly unacceptable. two days ago a subway train derailed in northern manhattan, injuring dozens and raising concerns about public safety. the governor has announced an extra $1 billion to improve the subway. venus williams has been accused of causing a car crash that led to the death of a passenger in another vehicle, according to a police report. the former world tennis number one was driving her car in florida when the accident happened at a crossroad. a 78—year—old man suffered injuries, and died two weeks later. venus williams was not hurt. in venezuela, protestors have returned to the streets, continuing three months of anti—government demonstrations. the attorney—general‘s office says there is evidence of the excessive use of force against demonstrators, and has called the former head of the national guard for questioning. almost 80 people have died during protests. forces opposed to the islamic state group have made significant advances

against strongholds in both syria and iraq. in syria, kurdish and arab troops supported by the us have the city of raqqa completely surrounded. raqqa was captured by is militants over three years ago. 0ur correspondent gabriel gatehouse, who is north of raqqa, sent this report. the battle for raqqa is still farfrom won, but already they are looking to a future post—caliphate. here to meet local leaders in waiting, the us envoy. the american presence here has been growing, quietly. there is tremendous challenges ahead. look, the united states is committed to defeating daesh. that's why we're here. we're going to defeat daesh. and we want to make sure whatever comes after daesh is stable. and, if you look at the record to date, we have now

coalition—backed operations in iraq and syria, have cleared out about 60,000 square kilometres of territory. we've liberated over 4 million people. as the coalition advances into raqqa, families are fleeing. many end up in this camp. all lived under the harsh rule of the group that calls itself islamic state, not all against their will. 0ne corner of the camp is reserved for the wives and children of is fighters. this woman left lebanon for raqqa two years ago tojoin her husband, a jihadi. when he was killed she married a tunisian, and so shejoined the ranks of a relatively privileged group — the wives of foreign fighters. there seems little sympathy here for the treatment of sex slaves at the hands of their captors. the caliphate may be weakened, but its mentality persists.

if and when raqqa falls, it will be thanks in large part to the american military and their allies, including britain. this is their main logistics hub, an airstrip cut discreetly into a hillside somewhere north of raqqa. from this base, they support their own forces, and arm the sdf, the coalition of arabs and kurds who are leading the assault on raqqa. well, all of this infrastructure has gone up in a really short space of time, and it has coincided with rapid advances by the anti—is coalition. but the question is, what happens when the caliphate falls? because, as we know from afghanistan and iraq, it is always easier to get in than it is to get out.

american troops in syria number in the hundreds. they won't say exactly how many. their special forces are involved in the fighting on the ground. their planes are bombing raqqa from the air. isis is certainly not defeated. when mosul is liberated or raqqa is liberated, there's a lot of hard work left to do. do you know where abu bakr al—baghdadi is? man, i was hoping you knew! if you know, please tell me, and we will kill him, forthright. at least once a month we have someone claiming to kill baghdadi, and the latest one has been made by the russians. i wish them well. i hope that they did. i'll be happy to hear the news if they did. i suspect they did not. for now, russia and the us share a common enemy. but once the islamic state is gone, two big powers will be left backing

different sides in an unfinished war. the potential for confrontation is real. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: just days before the tour de france, we take a spin through the history of the bicycle. china marked its first day of rule in hong kong, with a series of spectacular celebrations. a huge firework display was held in the former colony. the chinese president, jiang zemin, said unification was the start of a new era for hong kong. the world's first clone has been produced of an adult mammal. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly that was cloned in a laboratory using a cell from another sheep. for the first time in 20 years, russian and american spacecraft have docked in orbit at the start of a new era of cooperation in space. challenger powered past

the bishop rock lighthouse at almost 50 knots, shattering a record that had stood for 3h years. and there was no hiding the sheer elation of richard branson and his crew. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: parts of president trump's ban on travellers from six mainly muslim countries have come into force, but legal wrangling continues. forces opposed to the islamic state group have made significant advances against strongholds in both syria and iraq. in syria, kurdish and arab troops have the city of raqqa completely surrounded. congress has a lot on its plate right now, particularly as it struggles to pass major changes to healthcare reform.

you might think the white house would be focusing on that. but instead republicans have been answering questions about the president's morning tweets, insulting two tv anchors — a particularly personal attack. a number of republican senators spoke publicly of their dismay, saying it was beneath the dignity of the office of the president. this is what the speaker of the house had to say. obviously i don't see that as an appropriate comment. what we are trying to do around here is improve the tone and the civility of the debate. this obviously doesn't help do that. the white house wasn't backing down. the official line: the president didn't go too far and this

is the kind of thing his supporters voted for. the president has been attacked mercilessly on personal accounts by members on that programme and i think he has been very clear that when he gets attacked he is going to hit back. the american people elected someone tough, smart and who is a fighter, and that is donald trump. i don't think it is a surprise to anybody that he fights fire with fire. scientists have released the findings of a major new study into the effects of pesticides on bees. the investigation focused on the impact of chemicals used all around the world and found they were harmful to bee colonies. 0ur science correspondent rebecca morelle has more. the tour de france starts this weekend, with riders starting out from germany for the first time since 1987. and that seems fitting because the bicycle has its roots

in that country, dating back around 200 years. at the time the cost of feeding horses was on the rise, and people needed a cheap, efficient way to get around. the bike has come a long way since then, as our correspondent david eades reports. if you imagine these were the early days of the bicycle, the penny farthings, the bonesha kers, you would be nearly 50 years out. because this is the first verifiable bike. the velocipede, or a dandy horse, recreated to mark 200 years since its invention in 1817. uniform optional, no pedals, not much saddle and banned for being dangerous to pedestrians. ultimately, here to stay. in sweltering heat, the 110 mile first leg has begun. by the time the tour de france was up and running... averaging 28 miles an hour on the first day... ..the bicycle was a feature of everyday life and sport.

as a tool for self punishment, that it drove riders from alcohol and ether to amphetamines and epo. it has a lot to answer for. bicycle polo is almost as popular as the game before it. 0thers tried to expand the portfolio of the bike, but lacked universal acclaim. there has been the odd niche market, perhaps, but buses and trains have proved more popular for mass transport. these days, cycling isjust about the way to get about. it is healthy, environmentally friendly and can be quite cheap. it can be high—tech as well. you can get disc brakes, electronic gear shifting, carbon fibre frames, you name it. but get this — when the first velocipede was demonstrated 200 years ago, he clocked up 15 kilometres an hour. that is slightly faster than the average speed for driving around london in a car today. we're used to seeing emergency

aid delivered by air but a new experiment in malawi should see aid delivered by drones. in one of the poorest countries in the world, flying may be the only way to get supplies and information where they're needed. bill hayton reports. small beginnings, but could drone technology save lives in malawi? in villages like this, help can be a long way away down a dirt track, and, when floods come, as they do almost every year, those tracks become rivers. the government hopes to deliver aid by drone instead. these drones will be very, very helpful in reaching out to people that are affected by those disasters and can bring feedback in terms of what government would want to do to help those people or those areas

affected by those disasters. this isn't the first time drones have been used in malawi. last year the un children's fund began flying blood samples from remote clinics to central laboratories to test for hiv and aids. now the government's let unicef open up part of the country so people with other ideas for using drones can test them to see if they work. this is a corridor that has 5000 square kilometres, so, basically, it's a dedicated space where, for one year, private sector, research institutions, non—for—profits can really test what drones can do for good. around half malawi's people live in poverty and the country is near the bottom of most measures of development. on their own drones won't fix that but this experiment will test whether they could be a part the solution. german

a part the solution. mps are expected to vote to legalise german mps are expected to vote to legalise same—sex marriage days after the chancellor dropped her opposition, it would give game and marital rights and allow them to adopt children. at present same—sex couples are allowed civil unions. the chancellor said she would allow mps from her party to follow their conscience. now, golf may strike you as a fairly leisurely and sedate pastime. a pleasant stroll round a nice course with perhaps a drink at the 19th afterwards. but for one golfer in sweden, his day out was a little more perilous, as tim allman reports. beware a hazard in the rough. in sweden, a curious spectator wandering onto the fairway. at first, a golfer tries to shoot the animal away, but this is one determined elk. it is, for a few moments, distracted by his golf bag. unhappy with the choice of club, perhaps. but then the elk realises

it is the player, not his equipment, that has piqued his interest, and decides, for reasons known only to the animal itself, to chase him around the trees. all this being filmed by an amused friend on the other side of the fairway. the elk obviously deciding it might like a word with him, as well. so over they came, both of them at some speed. but by now the animal felt it had made its point, and wandered off. they say golf is a good walk spoiled. it is certainly true if elks have any say in the matter. just finally, watermelon. of course they are mostly round. but not all. this variety being unloaded at a warehouse in japan were first developed 45 years ago to fit neatly inside the fridge. but they weren't very sweet,

so they have become more ornamental. customers can pay hundreds of dollars for these designer fruits. farmers say they've got a good crop this year because there were plenty of clear days. a reminder of our top story: people from six mainly muslim countries and all refugees now face tougher us entry due to president trump's controversial travel ban. it means people without close family or business relationships in the us could be denied visas and barred entry. grandparents, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces are not considered to be "bona fide" relations. moments before the ban began, it emerged that the state of hawaii had asked a federal judge for clarification. thejudge has now said thejustice department must respond byjuly 3rd. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter, i'm @bbcmikeembley. thanks for watching. hi there.

june has been a pretty wacky weather month, with a number of records set. you'll remember last week it was hot and humid, temperatures up to 35 degrees, the highest temperature recorded for over a0 years, but this week it has been cloudy, cool and wet. now, we've had record rainfall across parts of eastern scotland. in edinburgh, 178 millimetres of rain has already fallen injune so far. that makes it the wettestjune on record and, yesterday, for a time roads were turned to rivers. now, looking at the forecast for today, low pressure is still with us, and we still have a lot of cloud left over with rain at the start of the day. but at least it is mild, with temperatures 12 to 1a degrees first thing in the morning. we will still have rain left over across parts of western wales. south—west england still with some fairly gusty wind here, so the rain heavy over the hills for a time. but moving further eastwards, breaks in the cloud coming in. so there will be some glimmers of sunshine first thing in the morning. through the peaks, pennines, eastern areas of scotland,

expect hill fog with low cloud. there will be further outbreaks of rain as well, but the rain won't be quite as heavy as it was yesterday. it will be a relatively mild start to the day, but those temperatures will struggle to rise much of the day goes by. we still see these northerly winds and the wind will continue to push cloud on to the hills with further bursts of rain. but overall, the rain gets a little bit lighter as the day goes by. yes, there could be a few isolated showers moving into south—east england, but equally, some sunny spells breaking through the cloud. still cool across the north and the west but we do see bright spells across parts of england, temperatures could reach as high as 23 towards south—east england. and then overnight our weather front, our band of rain, sinks southwards, taking the rain with it. at the same time, the rain eases across scotland. so here, the weather becomes a little bit dry overnight, and that is because we got a ridge of high—pressure moving in overnight across the north—west of the uk, before spreading in across england

and wales as we move on into saturday. it means, all in all, for this weekend, that the weather prospects are a little bit drier and a little bit brighter. most of us will see spells of sunshine. that said, there could be a little bit of rain left over for the night—time across with extreme south—east of england, clearing away. then comes the sunshine. in the afternoon, thick cloud into scotland and northern ireland with a band of rain pushing in here. the winds freshening, as well. should stay relatively cool, 15 to 17 degrees for the north—west. quite warm across south—east of england, with highs up to 24. sunday again most of us will have a dry day with sunny spells. a few showers across north—west, and similar kinds of temperatures. 16 to about 22. that is your weather. this is bbc news. the headlines: parts of president trump's controversial ban on travellers from six mainly—muslim countries have come into effect. on monday the us supreme court partially upheld the ban, which also covers all refugees. it means travellers without very close family or business relationships in the us could be barred from entry.

forces opposed to the extremist group that calls itself islamic state have made significant advances against strongholds in both syria and iraq. in syria, kurdish and arab troops supported by the us have the city of raqqa surrounded. raqqa was captured by is three years ago. the united states has urged china to respect freedom and civil liberties in hong kong, as president xi makes his symbolic visit marking 20 years of reunification. there will be more celebrations, and pro—democracy protests, this weekend. now on bbc news, time for hardtalk.