this is bbc news. the headlines: people in hong kong are voting in local elections for the first time since pro—democracy protests began. activists opposed to chief executive carrie lam have encouraged voters to turn out in large numbers — and there are long queues of people waiting to vote at many polling stations. both houses of bolivia's parliament have now approved a bill calling for a new general election. no date for the poll was set. the interim president is meeting opposition groups to try to end four weeks of violence that's followed the last election, which international monitors said was fixed. president trump's lawyer and close ally, rudy giuliani, has said he's not afraid of being indicted in connection with the impeachment inquiry. speaking on fox news, he attacked those who've accused him of pressing ukraine to make investigations into the family of presidential rivaljoe biden.

gps have voted to reduce visits to patients‘ homes, saying they "no longer have the capacity" to offer them. doctors supported the proposal at a meeting of english local medical committees on friday. but the health secretary, matt hancock, said the idea of taking home visits out of gps‘ contracts was a "complete non—starter". jenny kumah reports. family doctors say their workload is on the rise, and this, coupled with falling gp numbers, mean something has to give. in his surgery in leeds, dr richard vautrey is well aware of the challenges facing surgeries like his. one of the daily pressures that gp practices are under is the obligation to do home visits. what would be much better is if we had a dedicated home visiting team, with people with the time to be able to do this throughout the day, rather than gps having to squeeze it in. under the proposals, home visits would not be scrapped completely, but delivered by a separate service, similar to the way out—of—hours care

has been contracted out. sometimes a gp has to go and see someone, and they might be too frail to travel. and that's always been part of the vocation of being a gp, and it will continue. so these proposals won't go any further, but what we will do is train, fund, and recruit more gps. they're saying, as a point of desperation, they can no longer continue those home visits. i think this is a siren call to all of us, a siren call that the funding of the nhs has to be increased so that gps can undertake those home visits. doctors say they recognise that vulnerable, complex, and end—of—life patients will need home visits. theyjust want to see a change of policy to ensure patients get a suitable service. jenny kumah, bbc news. now on bbc news — our world. russia faces a deadly epidemic of domestic violence.

for years it has been hidden from view, but now a new generation of women are fighting back. lucy ash meets the families whose extraordinary stories have sparked a national debate and the politicians who are campaigning for changes in the law and better protection for those at risk. it contains discussion of domestic violence which some viewers may find upsetting. russia can be a dangerous place for women. it has a deadly culture of domestic violence. across the country, hundreds of women are killed every year by partners and relatives.

but now, some russian women are fighting back, with a new wave of activism. this year, russian society was rocked by a big court case. three sisters accused of murdering their father injuly

2018 were found to have been physically and sexually abused by him for years. krestina, angelina and maria confessed to attacking their sleeping father, mikhail khachaturyan, with a hunting knife and a hammer. they face up to 20 years in prison. mikhail khachaturyan‘s body was found in the third—floor landing of this block, where he lived with his daughters. after a public outcry, the sisters have been released from prison and are leading relatively normal lives, with some restrictions while awaiting trial. i can't speak to the sisters while the case is being investigated, but i can talk to their mother.

aurelia dunduk was herself a victim of constant abuse from her husband, mikhail, for many years. at first, she tried going to police, but that only made matters worse. eventually, he kicked her out.

this high—profile case has shone a powerful light on the scourge of domestic violence.

hundreds of thousands have signed a petition calling for the sisters‘ release. activists at weekly pickets blame russia's legal system for turning a blind eye and forcing the teenagers to defend themselves. russia's most famous opposition punk band, pussy riot, performed at a concert fundraiser for the sisters. this is a theatre performance which tells the story of the khachaturyan sisters, but the actors also tell the audience about their own experiences.

domestic abuse is still relatively taboo here. many believe the state shouldn't poke its nose into private, family business. but the khachaturyan case sparked a kind of russia me too movement.

today, women battling the culture of domestic abuse have finally started to gain a voice. anna rivina has opened a walk—in help centre in moscow called no to violence, where women can get legal and psychological support. the centre is also raising awareness through slick social media campaigns, including this one, where famous russian men say it is uncool to hit women. one of the main problems is why

domestic violence still exists. it is the generations. there is connection with generations, and of course, if a young boy or girl grows up in a family where they see it, day by day, for them, it'sjust a normal thing. they just cannot understand why it's not ok. and for us, it's the main thing, is not only to protect or to prevent, but to explain that this is violence, this is not ok. i can say that there is a big difference since then, 2015, when i started this work. now, it's much easier. now, it's more obvious for people that this problem exists, and now it's much more obvious for people that it's not about women. it's about human rights.

and of course, a few years ago,, we had decriminalisation of domestic violence, as people's first time. anna rivina is referring to a controversial law passed in 2017 which scrapped prison sentences for first—time abusers. beatings which didn't require hospital treatment were classed as administrative offences, not crimes. some say this has led to an upsurge in violence. one of the biggest problems in tackling domestic violence is the lack of reliable statistics. police registered more than 13,000 assaults against wives by husbands last year. but that figure only

includes married women, and the true figure is likely to be much higher. 26—year—olds margarita gracheva, a mother—of—two, was initially a victim of so—called minor harm. her husband had hit her and threatened her with a knife. but, when she went to the police, they said the investigation would take 20 days. then they dropped the case. one month later, her husband took her into the woods and chopped off her hands. the doctors were able to save one of them, but not the other. a crowdfunding campaign paid for a prosthetic hand, and margarita has resolved to stay strong for her children. margarita has just published a book about her recovery. she is now able to look after her children on her own, in her apartment, and is keen

to go back to work. like the khachaturian case, margarita's story has become a media sensation. it has focused attention on the toxic masculinity, weak laws and official indifference which endanger millions of russian women.

russia does not have a national domestic violence law but inside the parliament, one woman is working hard to introduce one. 0ksana pushkina is the deputy head of the parliamentary committee for women and children. she was one of the very few mps to take a strong stance against the decriminalisation law in 2017. that takes some guts, because she is affiliated with the political party loyal to president vladimir putin, which passed the law.

in russia, tackling domestic abuse has never been a priority for lawmakers. but this recent debate in the parliament is a sign that the government is beginning to take the problem more seriously. here, 0ksana pushkina is pushing to introduce restraining orders to keep violent partners away from victims.

she says the recent increase in russian domestic violence cases in the european court of human rights has embarrassed the government. but pushkina is facing a lot of opposition, and her critics jump to some odd conclusions.

earlier this year, an archpriest of the russian orthodox church told a radio station that women are more submissive and generally less intelligent than men. smart women, he said, are rare.

those are the words of a man who heads the commission on the protection of women, children and families. and it's attitudes like these that help to explain why tackling domestic violence is still not very high up on the agenda in this country. that same archpriest has also stated that even the term ‘domestic violence‘ is linked to radical western feminism and is incompatible with russian family values. anton sorvachev is a family lawyer. twice divorced himself, he specialises in defending the interests of men in family break—ups and he believes the status quo is in favour of women. he also has his own show on youtube with overtly misogynist views, and he is outraged by the idea of restraining orders.

you think it is the woman who should leave the family home in the case of domestic violence? but all too often, the police don‘t take the necessary action to protect the victims of domestic abuse.

anna‘s 29—year—old daughter alyona was brutally murdered by her husband in this very apartment. he stabbed her 57 times and then left for work. in the morning, their 7—year—old son nikita went into his mother‘s bedroom and found her body.

although former police captain sergei gustyatnikov was convicted of murder, he has not been stripped of his parental rights. anna and her grandson can only hope for a change in russia‘s legal system. the appalling cases in this film might have been prevented if only the right measures been in place.

russia desperately needs a domestic violence law but those who are fighting for change have many tough battles ahead. hello. after a very wet day across parts of the uk on saturday, sunday promises to be a drier day, albeit with a lot of cloud and some misty, murky conditions. but, briefly, we have a weak ridge of high pressure extending across the uk. still some rain to talk about at first on sunday, particularly for eastern scotland, still on the heavy side.

slowly that heavy rain pushes its way across northern scotland, and eventually becomes confined to the northern isles through the day. quite wet and windy here. but elsewhere, turning dry across scotland, largely dry across northern ireland, england and wales, but with a lot of cloud and some mist, some patchy fog through the morning. that will be slow to clear, poor visibility in places, so any brightness really at a premium on sunday. but away from the northern isles, it‘s mainly dry, mild, 9—12 celsius the top temperature. and then our attention turns to the south—west, our next area of rain pushing into south—west england and south wales through the evening and overnight, not getting much further north and eastwards. further north and east, mainly dry, mild, temperatures not much lower than five or six celsius. but generally, the theme in the week ahead is for more rain. this is the set—up as we go into monday. an area of low pressure, frontal systems pushing their way north and eastwards. looks like the heaviest of the rain on monday is probably going to be across england and wales. as it tracks its way north and eastwards through the day, it starts to become a little bit patchier.

northern scotland probably escaping, mainly dry. some brightness and sunshine following on behind the rain across wales and south—west england, but also a few showers. but it is another mild day, 9—13 celsius. now, one area of low pressure pulls away into the north sea. here‘s our next one arriving as we go into tuesday. this has the remnants of what was tropical storm sebastien, so it‘s going to pep up the rain, strengthen the wind. the timings of this rain may well change as we go into tuesday, so keep an eye on the forecast if you can over the next 24—48 hours. but it looks like we‘ll see another spell of quite heavy rain at times, strong winds as well, particularly across wales and south—west england. some spells of sunshine following on behind the rain, but also some heavy showers. so, all in all, it‘s a really unsettled and often quite windy day on tuesday. still mild, 10—13 celsius. bear in mind there are some warnings in place for the rain on both monday and tuesday. all the details are on the website. it looks like, as the week goes on, things do eventually turn drier, but also colder again. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. welcome if you‘re watching here in the uk or around the globe. i‘m simon pusey. our top stories: voting is under way in hong kong‘s local elections — it‘s a big test of support for embattled chief executive carrie lam. donald trump‘s personal lawyer says he doesn‘t fear being indicted — despite claims he was at the centre of white house efforts to pressure ukraine. i did the right thing. i represented my client in a very, very effective way. in france, tens of thousands march against shocking levels of domestic violence towards women. translation: the government must do something to help us. we get punched, we get humiliated, insulted, raped. jubilation in rio —

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