welcome to bbc news. i'm mike embley. our top stories: hong kong heads into a day of disturbance. thousands take to the streets over plans to allow extradition to china. trump and biden trade barbs, as they host campaign events for the 2020 election. a rare move by moscow, as mounting pressure from the media sees a reporter released. the tariff war with china leaves a sour taste for california winemakers as business dries up.

in hong kong people are gathering in large numbers for more demonstrations against a controversial extradition law. thousands have already held a vigil overnight. atjust after 10 in the morning local time, this is the scene live outside the legislative council in hong kong — where the bill is due for a second round of debate shortly. the legco is very pro—beijing, and it is likely to pass the bill allowing extradition to mainland china. there were huge protests last sunday too, but the government has said it will push on with the proposed law. so how likely is it that the government will back down? claudio mo is a legislator and democracy advocate in hong kong. carrie lam has been conducting her business rather like a little puppet of the beijing government. she just does what beijing

tells her to do. it is a very sad scenario. she is really approaching this governance crisis in hong kong and she has completely lost any credibility amongst the people here. she seems to fail to understand people's profound distrust of this lack of rule of law in china. they have already changed rules and things at the local legislature to try to speed up the procedures to have this very controversial bill passed by next week, by next thursday at the latest. we have been telling this hong kong government that, please, just scrap this bill for the time being, and listen to the people because the exclusion of china from hong kong's extradition arrangements was done purposefully,

back in 1997, because of people's fear of china lack of fair trial and humane punishments. you can'tjust push something through it like that and this thing is notjust going to affect hong kong people alone. anyone living orjust passing through hong kong could face some, i don't know, trumped up charges or packaged crimes. this is just fear they are trying to instill into hong kong. let's go back to the live scene outside the legislative council. that is how it is looking right now, these are the largest rallies against this law that the territory

has seen since it was handed back to china by the british in 1997. the government as you were hearing something about their has promised legally binding human rights safeguards and other measures, it says it should alleviate concerns but many people frankly do not believe those assurances. people are concerned about the use of torture, arbitrary detentions and false confessions in the chinese judicial system. the government has said it will continue to assure the slaughter go through and it does seem very likely, given how pro— beijing the temple on mac is, that it will go through. the decisive vote is not likely to be until thursday next week. various segments of society speaking out against the law in recent days including schools, lawyers, businesses, hundreds of petitions and circulating in a number of businesses and workers announced they will go on strike. there has been word from some powerful business lobbies saying they fear plans will damage hong kong's competitiveness as a base of operations. well as this protest develops,

we have much more about what's happening in hong kong on our website. including this report, looking at the success and accomplishments of past protest movements in the city. just log on to bbc.com/news to read this and much more. president donald trump has branded his leading democratic opponentjoe biden a "dummy". mr biden, the front—runner for the democratic candidacy in next year's election, accused the president of damaging the reputation of the united states. both men have been holding campaign events in iowa, let's get a flavour of what they have been saying. joe biden is a dummy. the way he calls people the names he calls them. well, i heard biden was a loser. no president has done something like that, for god's sake! i called him 1%joe, because until obama came along, he didn't do very well. as we used to stay in the business, "my friend, donald trump. " i'd rather run against, i think, biden than anybody. i think he's the weakest mentally.

i thinkjoe is the weakest up here. this is a guy who does everything to separate and frighten people. when a man has to mention my name 76 times in a speech, that means he's in trouble. it's about fear and loathing. i have to tell you, he's a different guy, he looks different than he used to, he acts different than he used to, he is even slower than he used to be. i mean, it's bizarre and it's damaging, and so i think he is genuinely a threat to our core values. so, i don't know, but when he mentions my name that many times, i guess i should be complimented. quite likely much more of that to come. what does it mean, what is a demand to, what does it mean for 2020? our north america correspondent, david willis, told us what all this name—calling might mean for the election in 2020. this is the first time that these two candidates have campaigned in the same state on the same day, that in the rural state of iowa.

but even before the main campaign events got under way, the gloves came off. joe biden in a leaked extract from his main speech calling donald trump an "existential threat to america." that prompting that rather robust response from donald trump in which he called the former vice president a "dummy" and a "loser. " i think that despite the rather crowded democratic field, donald trump clearly believes that it's going to come down to a race between him and the former vice president. and given his experience and his name recognition, joe biden could actually constitute a threat to donald trump, particularly amongst the blue—collar workers, whom trump so successfully wooed and won back in 2016. there is a new poll out, mike, i should tell you, which shows thatjoe biden is 13 points ahead of donald trump at the moment. polling very well amongst black voters and female voters.

so i think that what we're going to see is the president adopting the same sort of tactic that he adopted back in 2016, by basically questioning the mental and physical health of his rival, as he did, of course, against hillary clinton. and of course, it's fertile ground, perhaps, because joe biden is 76 years of age and if elected, he will be the oldest person to take residence in the white house. that said, of course, donald trump himself turns 73 on friday. the world health organisation says the current outbreak of ebola in eastern congo has spread to neighbouring uganda. the first patient outside the democratic republic of congo is a five—year—old congolese boy who had travelled across the border into western uganda. so far, more than two thousand cases have been reported in eastern congo. a rapid response team is being deployed to deal

with the spread of the disease. courts in the southern african nation of botswana have ruled in favour of decriminalising homosexuality. judges said the the laws, in place for over 50 years, were oppressive and unconstitutional. today's decision was watched closely by campaigners across africa, as milton nkosi reports, from johannesburg. cheers ofjubilation in botswa na's capital, gaborone. today in the country's high court, three judges unanimously overturned laws banning homosexuality that have been in place since the ‘60s, saying they were in conflict with the country's constitution and it was a matter of human dignity. outside the court, campaigners gathered to celebrate the landmark ruling they have been fighting for. we are here to support ourselves and to rejoice after winning the case.

that's why we are here today, and we say now we are making the history, so that people may know who they are and express their feelings and express that love, because god talks about love. i feel like right now this is actually like the first step. this will have to be done now, so that people like, get to feel the change, see the change and be part of the change. this landmark ruling in botswana has been closely followed right across the african continent. particularly right here in south africa. the question is, will it have a domino effect? activists welcomed the decision and said that it is a significant step for gay rights on the african continent. as part of the judgement which is now, in fact, law in botswana, thejudges spoke about the need for a more inclusive society and why it is more important for society to become more inclusive and why it is to the benefit of everyone. they spoke about the fact that the law was colonial era, and that there was no place for it in modern societies, and i think that it's quite important that the judges

did notjust make the decision based on law, but also spoke about justice. homosexuality is legal in some african countries, with angola, mozambique, and the seychelles all having scrapped anti—gay laws in recent years. many others still think being gay is un—african. we said as the evangelical fellowship of botswana, we are totally against homosexuality and lesbians. and our argument is based on the word of god because the bible says, homosexuality is sin. today's landmark ruling in botswana is the final hurdle for lgbt people in the country. after years of campaigning, they can now live and love freely. stay with us on bbc news.

we will take you back five to the protest in hong kong and could eating insects get the royal seal of approval? the dutch king opens a new bug farm. the day the british liberated the falklands. and by tonight, british troops had begun the task of disarming the enemy. in the heart of the west german capital, this was gorby—mania at its height. the crowd packed to see the man who for them, has raised great hopes for an end to the division of europe. michaeljackson was not guilty on all charges. the screams of the crowd, a testament to his popularity and their faith in his innocence. as long as they'll pay to go see me, i'll get out there and kick 'em

down the hill. what does it feel like to be the first man to go across the channel by your own power? it feels pretty neat. feels marvellous, really. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: thousands are gathering in hong kong to protest against plans to allow extradition to china we will take you to our correspondence there if we can soon. —— correspondent. people with their umbrellas there evoking memories of the umbrella movement. police have

put up barricades, to keep people the main thoroughfares. the people have been using those barriers to put a barrier between themselves and the authorities. it seems likely, given the pro— beijing base of the legislative coalition —— bias, seems this could become law in just a week. martin yet is on the scene. martin, tell us more —— yip. week. martin yet is on the scene. martin, tell us more -- yip. what we can see now is there has been a bit of yelling right at the junction, near the roundabout. thousands of young people right here gathering outside the council. apparently there's been some harm to the silent protesters, i' m there's been some harm to the silent protesters, i'm not sure if they are preparing themselves for any proper

rates from police, but on the other side, just outside the legislative council building, you can see the police in riot gear. they are holding on to the barrier, but there haven't yet been any clashes. we heard the police are urging people to disperse and threatening force if necessary? yes, police have been trying to ask for the people to disperse. we can't be sure if the crowd is moving from where i am, but as far as we can see, they have been here from quite early this morning and there is only 45 minutes until the legislative council meets to discuss this extradition bill amendment. so far we understand that

they will carry on with the meeting, but a different meeting was cancelled, blamed for the protesters disrupt thing the area around the building —— disrupting. disrupt thing the area around the building -- disrupting. your connection is breaking up a little bit, but let's stay with it if we can. a second reading debate today, the decisive vote would be thursday, next week, that is when we would know for sure? the second reading, yes, if it all goes well in 45 minutes time it will begin. if something goes wrong it would... this whole bill line by line and thatis this whole bill line by line and that is over 100, so we have quite a few days to debated. according to

the current line they are aiming for a vote on this whole bill by next thursday. all right, martin, thank you very much. the bbc‘s martin yip outside the legislative council in hong kong. we mentioned arts but earlier. —— the spat between president trump and joe biden. among the attacksjoe biden made on tuesday is that tariffs are having a devastating impact on american farmers and consumers. california's wine industry is one of those being hit hard. president trump says he's either going to make a great deal with china — or no deal at all. but california vineyards have seen their sales to china fall and many are worried about the future — as the bbc‘s sophie long reports. the lush landscape of california's wine country. across this fertile land, concern is growing, as family businesses feel the impact of the tension between the world's two biggest economies. right here you guys will see a sauvignon blanc block

planted in 1999. ijoined an eco tour at honig's vineyard. customers learn about their sustainable winemaking. it's a crucial source of income for the third generation producers. their business with china has collapsed completely. 0ur china business has gone to zero. the top year was 1,000 cases, and now we're back down to zero. so in ten, a little over ten years, it's gone up and then down. a bottle that used to cost $100 on the shelf at retail in china now costs $200 and that's not for any fault, anything different that we are doing. we've gone to china, we see the market is interested in our wine, and then you get one more round of these stupid tariffs, they're just impacting us for no reason. china is the fastest—growing and will likely soon become the largest wine market in the world. meanwhile, sales at home are declining, which is starting to rattle nerves. the older wine—loving

generation are retiring. millennials seem to prefer spirits or recently legalised marijuana. another layer of tariffs is another unwelcome challenge. the first time, it's like, oh, my god, what are we going to do? and the second time, i think we've been here. the third time, you know, it'sjust piling on. you can't get any deeper than that. you think the point that the chinese market is at, you've got a growing middle—class, people who are going to be buying wine who wouldn't have been before, that's the time you need to be there, right? exactly, now is the time we want to be there and be able to develop that and so, you know, i'll be going this fall and continue to bang the drum about california wines. the great hope here is that an agreement will be reached that will erase the tariffs that existed in the first place. then wine producers could end up the winners in this trade war. the wine institute says as californians, they think big and they're confident that will carry them through. it's just part of our nature to dream big, to be freethinkers. we apply that to wine

growing and winemaking, and what comes out of it is this incredibly rich and exciting wine industry. we rise to that challenge. and that's part of what keeps us going forward. president nixon helped put napa wine on the world map when he raised a glass of it in a toast to peace with china. those who work in the valley‘s vineyards hope that president trump will do similar, and soon. now to a very different kind of farm. the world is full of insects. by some estimates they outnumber us by a ratio of 200 million to one, and they are a vital part of the world's eco—system. now, a huge new insect farm has opened in the netherlands hoping to use them as a sustainable

source of protein. the bbc‘s tim allman has more. they fascinate some, they horrify others. but insects help make the world go round. so important are they that the dutch king came to open this new insect farm near the border with belgium. he was getting a little hands—on, examining close—up a potentially vital source of food. fish, chicken, layer hens, they all eat insects, and the new tehncology we bring to market and the new product we bring to market is entirely new to the world. some call it an alternative protein, we call it, actually, the original protein, because nature has actually defined it already. this facility could potentially churn out tons of insects ground into paste. if given the go—ahead by the european union, that paste could be used as a food source or as a type of fertiliser, potentially providing sustainable solutions.

by managing that whole process under one roof, we can upcycle food waste back into high—quality proteins. and this is our contribution to closing the food system into a circular food system in balance with nature. in effect, these little creatures could become a vital food source or sea life and livestock, something so small helping to solve a problem that's pretty big. tim allman, bbc news. a surprising development from russia, the russian authorities have released an investigative journalist less tha n released an investigative journalist less than a week after being put under house arrest on spurious drug charges. it a rare instance of the authorities backing down under public pressure. ramzan karmali reports. the moment ivan golunov became

a free man once again. the russian investigative journalist was released just days after drug dealing charges against him were dropped, following a public outcry. translation: thank you very much for all the support. i still hardly understand what is happening. i'm happy thatjustice has been served and the criminal case was dropped. i hope the investigation will continue and i hope no—one will find themself in the same situation that i did. mr golunov‘s employer, the latvian—based independent website, meduza, saluted the government for a rare climbdown and said it had "listened to the people". his detention last week provoked anger, with many saying he'd been framed because of his investigations into corruption. russian authorities were eventually forced into an embarrassing climbdown and suspended the officers involved. translation: there will be a check made on the legality of the actions of those police officers who have taken part in the detention of this person. they've been discharged from their duties for the period

of the investigation. on monday, in an unusual show of public support, three of russia's leading newspapers launched a synchronised defence of mr golunov. the european union is calling for a thorough investigation. and journalists in the country want action to be taken. translation: there has been, to say the least, a mistake, actually, a crime, and the people who organised this crime will be held accountable and victory will only be real when those people are behind bars. and ivan golunov has vowed to carry on his investigative work. translation: i will continue the work that i was doing and carry out investigations because i need to justify the trust in me that those who supported me have shown. this is fantastic. plans were being made for a demonstration in moscow on wednesday, it was clear to everyone, including the authorities, that this case was not going to go away quietly. ramzan karmali, bbc news.

just briefly, queen elizabeth's former home in malta has been put up former home in malta has been put up for sale. it's there if you have a spare 7 million dollars. it's on the outskirts of the capital, the only place outside the uk the queen has ever called home, she lived there between 1919 and 1951 in the early yea rs of between 1919 and 1951 in the early years of her marriage to prince philip. he had been stationed in malta as a neville officer at the time. there is much more for you wa nt time. there is much more for you want all the news —— on all the news on our website and on twitter. we will keep you up—to—date on what is happening in hong kong, some big protests going on there. thank you

for watching. some really miserable weather out there at the moment, pouring with rain across the north, but it's notjust here in the uk where we're getting the really unsettled weather. in fact, much of western europe, all the way down to spain and portugal are experiencing below average temperatures and quite changeable weather. now there's a big low pressure which is stuck across northern france, just around the channel here, and for as long as this low pressure is here, things aren't going to change. it will remain very, very unsettled. the winds are coming in from the north across western parts of europe but the winds will also have to swing back around again. and they're blowing out of the south across central and eastern parts of the continent where there's a relentless heatwave. temperatures in the mid—30s. so it's this sort of the yin and the yang of weather.

one side of europe is hot and sunny, the other side of europe is paying for it and it's cool and very, very wet. so here's the rain, early hours of wednesday morning across northern parts of england, wales as well. the low pressure, we've already established that, it's parked itself across this part of europe. so you can see spells of unsettled weather there also across parts of germany as well. and also we'll see some thunderstorms drifting out of the south and they will affect southern portions of the uk. now notice a bit of a lull in the intensity of the rain across the north, but that will get heavier later on wednesday. now these blobs here, these are showers. we'll see thunderstorms developing almost anywhere across the southern portion of the uk. there could be some really nasty downpours. now notice how this rain gets heavier as we go into the afternoon, quite menacing, threatening rain clouds there out in the north sea. and all of that's just going to come in and bring a real deluge to some parts of northern england, and the rain will be reaching eastern scotland and parts of north—eastern england as well. so a wet wednesday on the way. here's a look at thursday.

the weather front‘s still with us. and you can see the winds blowing around like so, that low pressure's parked itself across the uk. to the south, a few sunny spells, yes, but also some thunderstorms. the temperatures 1a, 15, 16 degrees, it's closer to end of april, may temperatures, really. so the low will wobble around the uk, bringing us again spells of rain and showers as we head towards the end of the week. improving a little bit acorss europe. but on balance, i think we'll just call it unsettled, really, as we head into the weekend. maybe later next week there's a sign that things will be warming up, but not just yet.

this is bbc news, the headlines: thousands of people are said to be on the streets of hong kong, protesting against a bill that would allow extradition to china. demonstrators have been barricading some government offices and two main roads have been blocked. hundreds of businesses have gone on strike as the controversial proposal has further readings in parliament. despite the disturbances, it's thought the law will pass on thursday. president trump and joe biden have traded barbs as they hosted campaign events ahead of the 2020 us election. donald trump labeled the front—runner for the democratic candidacy a "dummy", while mr biden said donald trump damaged the reputation of the us. in a rare move, a prominent russian journalist, ivan golunov, has been freed just days after being arrested on drugs charges.

mr golunov said he would continue looking into corruption, which many russians think was the real reason for his detention. now on bbc news, it's panorama. as for many people, social drinking has always been a big part of my life stop than last year, i took a ha rd life stop than last year, i took a hard look at quite how much i was putting away. yesterday i had four pints of guinness, plus four pints of beer before dinner. bloodied hell, that's eight times before wine. i had gone and damaged my health. this could lead to cirrhosis, is a liver disease and leads to liver