this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm nancy kacungira. doctors treating the russian opposition activist alexei navalny — who's in a coma — say he can be transported to germany. we'll speak live to another leading critic of the kremlin — and ask if she believes he was deliberately poisoned. another mad dash for british holiday—makers to get home ahead of new coronavirus quarantine rules, this time affecting croatia. we are both key workers in england, so we've had to pay an extra £400 for a flight home, which leaves in two hours‘ time, so we are heading there now. belarus opposition leader svetla na tikhanovskaya vows

to "stand till the end" in protests over disputed elections — she's been speaking exclusively to bbc news. we have no right to step back now because — if not now, we will be slaves. and, the uplifting tale of the pop star, the london student, and the $30,000 gift. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world — and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. we start in russia — where the opposition leader alexei navalny is being allowed to travel to germany for medical treatment. his supporters have accussed moscow of deliberately poisoning him. navalny has been confined to a coma,

in the siberian city of 0msk, after drinking tea at an airport cafe. a fierce critic of president putin, navalny has been instrumental in organising nationwide protests. but moscow denies any involvment in his hospitalisation. translation: the relatives of the patient have made multiple requests for him to be transported. they are relatives, family members, and they, like other people, have been given all the information about his condition, the diagnosis, and they are ready to accept the risk of transportation. we have, therefore, decided not to oppose transferring the patient to another clinic. it will be the one the relatives choose. applause. it will be the ones the relatives choose, once it is confirmed, it will accept the patient. it will not happen immediately, but it will happen today. sergei goryashko is in moscow for us and following

developments. there are questions why it took the whole day to make this decision to transport navalny to the hospital in germany and we are also unsure about when exactly this transportation will happen. now we've got information that's probably it will happen only early in the morning because there are some sort of things that need to be done in the hospital and then in the airport. so, his supporters and his family think that the problem was the kremlin, they didn't want navalny to be transported so soon into the facility in germany abroad because they didn't want foreign doctors to know which poison has affected navalny, what happened to him, and what caused such a major organ failure with him. so they think that doctors decided to take this time, to take this delay to make the poison disappear and only after that, they allowed navalny to be transported to a facility abroad.

let's speak to nadya tolokonnikova, founder of the punk rock group pussy riot. she is a longstanding critic of president putin and has previously spent solitary isolation in prison for her activism. we cannot say where she is for her own safety. thank you forjoining us. now, tell me what was your reaction when you heard about what had happened to alexi? welcome it was unbelievable, as a political figure, welcome it was unbelievable, as a politicalfigure, things welcome it was unbelievable, as a political figure, things like that couldn't happen with him, because vitamin food would fear immediate revolution, but it looks like in the light of recent events in belarus, vladimir putin has lost any rationale, so he's decided to poison navalny to intimidate everyone else, but also the same time, this

event my own past, my ex—husband was poison two years ago and i had to find a medical way to transport them toa find a medical way to transport them to a german clinic, and it is not a pleasa nt to a german clinic, and it is not a pleasant memory. welcome you seem to be quite sure that this was a poisoning and moscow was involved. why do you think that? because there is no other reason why navalny would fall ina is no other reason why navalny would fall in a coma all of a sudden. he didn't have any pre—existing conditions that could lead to what he's experiencing right now and also there is reasonable, the poisoning did happen with my ex—husband. there is reasonable, the poisoning did happen with my ex-husband. the doctors and rush are saying that they haven't found any traces of poison. yeah, well, navalny is still being held in russia. but german doctors told me after they didn't find traces of poison

in peter's blood, my ex—husband, the poison disappears from your blood in three days. russian doctors petered's transportation after holding him in a russian hospital. so they let the poison person go only after they are sure there is no traces of poison in their blood left. welcome a one question that people might ask is, given that navalny is so well—known in such popular positional figure, why would moscow poison him? because russian government has fear that navalny can take vladimir putin's play. but wouldn't it be too obvious? i believe that in the light of events in belarus, a putin has decided to change his policy, because belarus and lukashenko are the closest allies. so everyone who is thinking about

politics there are making these conclusions that if revolution has almost happened in belarus, then they would be able to get rid of putin and put some abettor and placed him in the first figure that comes to everyone's mind is navalny, so it's a recent development that vladimir putin has decided that it's ok to poison navalny. the reason why me and my collea g u es navalny. the reason why me and my colleagues believe that putin was involved in the decision is because something like that that creates such a big uproar onto in an international scale does not happen without the involvement of putin himself. you have mentioned your own experience with your husband, are you in touch at all with mr navalny‘s family, with his wife? you in touch at all with mr navalny's family, with his wife?” am in touch with him and with his brother. what sort of conversations are you having with them? well, i'm sending out them all my love

and support and really hope that navalny is going to get better. and this commutes that, brought back a lot of bad memories for you. it definitely did. it brought back unpleasant flashbacks, when it happened with my ex—husbands, i just cried flashbacks, when it happened with my ex—husbands, ijust cried for three daysin ex—husbands, ijust cried for three days in a row because we are still very close friends with him, we have a daughter together. for three days, ididn't a daughter together. for three days, i didn't know if he was going to survive, and it was a big hit to my worldview because peter is as navalny is one of the strongest human beings i know, and to see them in sucha human beings i know, and to see them in such a vulnerable condition, fighting for their lives, it makes me feel really uncomfortable, and brings a lot of pain. so, how would

you some of the political situation in russia at the moment? well, protesters are growing and the belarussian people protesters are growing and the bela russian people experienced... protesters are growing and the belarussian people experienced... it totally disappeared and russians realise that putin is bringing them more problems than solutions. and don't get me wrong, i wasn't one of those who were happy about the annexation of crimea, but a lot of russian people supported that's, so that euphoria totally evaporated, and protests are growing, not only in big cities like moscow, it's in st petersburg, even in smaller cities, including my own city where i'm from, in the way north of siberia, it's an industrial city, evenin siberia, it's an industrial city, even in that city, and i'm in touch

with some people there, loads of discontent are growing, people are unhappy with the politics of their world as of late. thank you for your time today. thank you. you can find much more background to this story on our website, including this profile of alexei navalny — looking at some of the reasons he seems to keep falling foul of the kremlin. just log on to bbc.com/news for the second successive week, thousands of british holiday—makers are scrambling to return home, before coronavirus quarantine restrictions come into force. from 4am uk—time on saturday, anyone returning from croatia, austria and trinidad and tobago, will have to self—isolate for two weeks, because of a rise in infections in those countries. new cases in croatia have increased in the last week, to 47.2 per 100,000 people with travellers from a number of other european countries already

having to self—isolate, like france with 51.0 cases per100,000, and spain, with 145 cases per 100,000 people. by contrast the uk has 21.2 cases per 100,000. 0ur correspondent, gavin lee is in croatia for us in the city of split, a major tourism hotspot, on dalmatian coast. this is split, croatia's second city and its seaside party capital. there are motorists here from the uk than from any other country. —— there are more toursits here from the uk than from any other country. 56,000 british holiday—makers have chosen a post lockdown break along the dalmatian coast since the start of august. 17,000 are still in the country and many of them are scrambling to leave before the mandatory quarantine rules kick in. just getting into a taxi. lawrence manning is on holiday with his partner in dubrovnik. they were due to fly back on saturday but they are rushing to the airport this evening.

0ur flights out to return was something like £350, and we just had to pay, just over £750 for two singles back. further up the coast at this harbour, a group of students from nottingham trent university say they need to be back for the start of term, but they can't afford the ticket prices. we obviously don't have that much money saved up to get a flight home, because of the inflation of prices we are just really stuck here. because we've all got part—time jobs as well it is slightly annoying because now we have to take time off work so we doubt get any money to save up for uni. just give a sense of the frustration you must feel right now. back in the uk, david collins tells me he has booked a week away in croatia for a group of ten on sunday. those plans are up in the air. we might be able to change the flight for an alternative, but to when? whether it be this year, next year, whether we can still go to the same destination, have we got to leave

from the same airport, these are questions we doubt know the answer to at the moment. —— don't know the answer to at the moment. so what has gone wrong in croatia? back in may and june this country of 5 million people barely registered a single case a day. in the past week, there has been a notable rise — 265 cases in the past 2a hours. the country's secretary of state for tourism claims it's a simple answer. it is true that we have several hotspots in croatia in recent days, but they are the result of noncompliance with epidemiological measures, mostly among younger people, in some night clubs and other gatherings. the uk isn't the only country to add croatia to the quarantine list. there are four other countries this week, and it is here in split when it is this concern that it is the epicentre, that people are not listening to social distancing advice, and that is why it has become a problem here. tonight, airport authorities say

they are working to put on extra flights out of the country to cope with the numbers trying to leave. gavin lee, bbc news, split, on the dalmatian meanwhile, here in the uk, tighter lockdown restrictions are being introduced for more people living in the north west of england, to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. from midnight on saturday, residents in 0ldham, along with those in parts of blackburn and the pendle district in lancashire, won't be able to socialise with anyone outside their own household, and they should avoid all but essentialjourneys on public transport. let's turn to the situation in belarus — and opposition leader svetlana tikhanovskaya has called on her supporters to step up their strikes at factories across the country to try to force new presidential elections. belarus is facing its biggest political crisis since the break—up of the soviet union, with tens of thousands of demonstrators saying veteran

leader alexander lu kashenko's re—election on the 9th of august was rigged. in herfirst interview since fleeing the country, the 0ppositon leader has spoken to the bbc‘s europe correspondent, jean mackenzie — take a listen. do you want to be a leader in this time? you know the answer to this question. i am not a leader by nature, and i've never been. so it's my mission now. i have to be, just... i'm like a symbol. they are shouting for their future, for their wish to live in a free country, they were shouting against the violence, they were shouting for their rights. but they voted for you. they voted for me not as forfuture president, butjust like a symbol of changes.

can you tell me anything about what happened in those election offices and what choice you were given? i'm sorry, but i can't. not now. do you fear for your husband, yourself, your children? it's notjust, you know, the topic we have to discuss now, because, you know, it's my own story and what is more important is that situation in belarus. how do you feel when you see the reports of violence that have come out of the country in the last week? you know, i was really shocked. i didn't tell anybody, but i couldn't find a place, i was just crying.

for a couple of hours, when we saw the first pictures, you know, i can't even believe that this police man who beat these people in belarus, because i can't imagine that terrible russian people can be so cruel. at the moment, lukashenko is digging in. it doesn't look like he's going anywhere. are you worried that the movement could fail? no, i'm not worried, because i believe in the belarussian people the same way they believed in me one day. and we have no right to step back now — because if not now, we will be slaves. and our people understand this, and i'm sure we will stand till the end. have you heard from anybody in the kremlin over the last week? have they reached out to you? no, no. no. do you want to go back to belarus?

absolutely, yes. it's my motherland and i adore my country, and i want to live there, and i will be back immediately when i feel safe there. meanwhile, in belarus itself, the government of president lukashenko has begun criminal proceedings against opposition groups and striking workers. they are accused of trying to seize power illegally. the industrial action and protests continue. this is a group of relatives and friends of people who have been detained since the disputed election, forming a human chain to theirjail, and calling for their 00:18:43,1000 --> 00:18:44,606 release. there have also been protests in support of president lukashenko — and our correspondent steve rosenberg went to see what was happening at one of them in minsk. i'm on victory square in the centre of minsk, and behind me, there is a rally taking place in support of alexander lukashenko. these rallies have been going on in the capital

here from time to time. a couple of things strike me about it, the first thing is the numbers, it's much smaller than the antigovernment protests that we have been seeing here since the presidential election. the other thing, you don't hear at this reality is the sound of car horns, drivers sound in their car horns as they are driving past, because at the antigovernment rallies, there is a cacophony of car horns, drivers registering their support for those protesters. you don't hear that here. but a few minutes ago, a helicopter did a few circles overhead with a big belarussian flag to try to give moral support to these protesters. there have been reports that quite a few of these rallies in support of the president are very organised, have been organised by the authorities to try to give a feeling that mr lukashenko does enjoy a degree of support in the country. stay with us on

news, still to come: the man known as the "golden state killer" is sentenced to life in prison. we'll have the latest from los angeles. washington, the world's most political city, is today assessing the political health of the world's most powerful man. indeed, i did have a relationship with ms lewinsky that was not appropriate. in fact, it was wrong. in south africa, 97 people have been killed today in one of the worst days of violence between rival black groups. over the last ten days, 500 have died. chanting: czechoslovakia must be free! czechoslovakia must be free! russia is observing a national day of mourning for the 118 submariners who died on board the kursk. we are all with them now. they're within our hearts. the pope has celebrated mass before a congregation of more than 2.5 million people

in his hometown of krakow. "stay with us, stay with us", chanted this ocean of humanity. "well, well," joked the pope. "so, you want me to desert rome?" you're watching bbc news... now to a real—life story which seems to be straight out of the pages of an horrific crime novel. it centres on this man, 74—year—old joseph de angelo — otherwise known as the golden state killer — who murdered at least 13 people wihle working as a police officer in california in the 19705 and 1980s. he was only caught by a quirk of modern technology — and just a few hours ago, was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison, after a plea deal spared him the death penalty.

here with me now is our north america reporter regan morris. thank you forjoining me. i mean, what's a horrific case, and it has taken so long to catch them. tell us about what has happened today. well, he was sentenced today, and unusually, not in a courtroom, but they actually had the sentencing hearing ina they actually had the sentencing hearing in a university ballroom, that's to allow social distancing, but also because so many people were there, victims, survivors, victim's families, you know, prosecutors said the depths of his crimes were just staggering. he was sentenced for attacks in the 19705 and 805, many he admitted to many more though that are out of statute of limitations and could not be prosecuted, but they were factored into court, witnesses were able to give testimony, and over the last three days, he listened to his victims, listen to the pain he caused and

he didn't express much emotion. he was ina didn't express much emotion. he was in a wheelchair and courts, but, a p pa re ntly in a wheelchair and courts, but, apparently today, he took off his mess, stood up from his wheelchair and apologised, but the judge, mess, stood up from his wheelchair and apologised, but thejudge, you know, he is 7a years old, and that apology is not enough. he will die in prison. indeed, thank you very much forjoining us. the last few weeks have been uncertain for many school leavers hoping to get into university, but for one student her dream is a step closer, thanks to the kindness of a very special stranger. vitoria mario, who's 18 and from london, set up an online fundraising page to help pay for college accomodation and living costs. and guess who decided to chip in, none other than the us pop star, taylor swift. here's david sillito. i couldn't believe it. i feel like even now, i am still processing it. ijust can't believe it. it began with this text message. 18—year—old vitoria mario was in church and a friend wanted to let her know there had been a donation to her

university gofundme page. from taylor swift. 2a hours later, it is still rather difficult to process. i was overwhelmed, i was happy, of course, very happy. i was very grateful. i wanted to hug taylor swift, igas! i wanted to hug ——taylor swift, i guess! i want to say thank you, it's so amazing. i don't even know how to feel or how to handle my feelings. taylor swift had also left a message saying she had been inspired by vitoria story. she had arrived from portugal on her own at 1a. four years later, she has two a stars and a. you writing britain on your own, aged 14? you are not eligible for maintenance gra nts you are not eligible for maintenance grants because you arrived here in britain on your own at age 1a. you might yes, that's correct. speaking no english. no english at all. i learned mostly from

the netflix. i want till diet. you learned it watching netflix? watching with the subtitles so i can learn how to say it and learn how to write it. of course, this isn't the first pop charitable donation. ariana grande, rhianna and stormzy with his scholarship programme for black students, of all made large donations for those who are struggling. but taylor swift, who does have a new album out, has a track record of surprised gifts. but why goal‘s story touched her in particular is a mystery. but why victoria's story touched her in particular is a mystery. where are you a taylor swift fan? of course! you are a fan now. of course i know who she is, of course. i wouldn't say that i am a super fan, i don't say that i'm a super fan. i still don't know. david sillito, bbc news. that's a great use of fame and fortune for someone so deserving. don't forget you can get

in touch with me and some of the team on twitter — i'm @kacungira i look forward to hearing from you. stay with us here on bbc news. good evening. i'm sure many of you, just like me, were woken up by the strength of the wind first thing this morning, and it didn't let up throughout the day, did it? in fact, we've been literally awashed by weather watcher pictures showing the seas that have been whipped up into a frenzy, with gusts of winds in excess of 60 miles an hour along the coast. in fact, if we take a look at the gusts that we have throughout the day, quite widely, 60 miles an hour, but we did actually get a gust of wind recorded in the needles just over 70 miles an hour — unusual, really, for this time of year. now, that low pressure, well, it's going to gradually drift its way northwards, but we still keep the strong winds through the night. and we're still going to keep some showery outbreaks of rain. now, some of the rain's been really quite intense, fairly persistent through scotland

over the last few hours, and we are going to keep that going overnight. some sharper showers into northern england and northern ireland. so, there will be some showers driven in by some blustery winds through this evening and overnight. some clear skies. but because the wind direction is still coming from a south—westerly, not a particular cold night, temperatures holed up into the mid—teens. so, we start off on a mild note for saturday morning, quite a blustery one but the winds nowhere near as strong as today because the low is moving away, the isobars are going to open up. this little weather front here could enhance some showery outbreaks of rain into scotland and northern ireland to begin with. we could see some showers into northwest england and wales as well. but, really, if we draw a line from the bristol channel over to the wash, anywhere south and east of that, the showers should be fairly isolated throughout the day. a blustery afternoon, gusts of winds 30 to 35 mile an hour, but in terms of the feel of things, not quite as warm as the last couple of days. we should see highs of 22 degrees — that's 72 fahrenheit. a little bit cooler into the far north, the wind now coming

in off the sea here. now, on sunday, a better day for scotland. drier and eventually into northern ireland, as most of those showers tend to migrate a little bit further south and east on sunday. in terms of the feel of things, we're going to close out the weekend with highs of 21 degrees. now, let's take a look at what's in—store monday into tuesday. unfortunately, it doesn't make for great reading. it does look likely that it's going to stay wet at times and those temperatures a little bit disappointing for the final week of august.

this is bbc world news. the headlines: russian doctors of the opposition activist alexei navalny now say he can be airlifted to berlin for treatment. his supporters say he was poisoned. but the russian doctors say no trace of poison was found in his system. belarus opposition leader svetlana tikhanovskaya has called on her supporters to step up their strikes at factories across the country to try to force new presidential elections. the man known as the ‘golden state killer‘ has been sentenced to life in prison. joseph deangelo confessed to 13 murders in a plea deal that spared him the death penalty. and the us postmaster—general has issued a pledge that ballots

in november‘s presidential election will be delivered... securely and on time. now let‘s turn to the usa, where wildfires continue to sear through the state of california, forcing thousands out of their homes and taxing the state‘s firefighting capacity. over 10,000 fire—fighters are battling the blazes, which have claimed the lives of at least six people and destroyed hundreds of structures. it all comes amid a heatwave and the coronavirus pandemic in the state. with more than 650,000 coronavirus cases, california has the highest number of infections in the us, and some evacuees have said they are afraid to go to emergency shelters. speaking at a news conference, california‘s governor