this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. russian opposition leader alexei navalny is receiving treatment in berlin after being airlifted out of russia, where he fell seriously ill. hundreds of thousands of people in north west england are told not to socialise with anyone outside their household to stem coronavirus infections. the coronavirus pandemic could be over in less than two years — that's the prediction from the head of the world health organization. more large protests expected in belarus — as reports emerge of torture and abuse in detention centres. and the manchester united captain, harry maguire, is expected to appear in a greek court — in connection with an alleged altercation with police.

treatment at a hospital in berlin. mr navalny is in a coma after a suspected poisoning. he was flown to germany after initially being treated at a siberian hospital. his supporters and wife say he was intentionally poisoned, but russian doctors said no suspicious substance was found. let's get more on this from berlin with our correspondent damien mcguinness. what do we know about mr navalny‘s condition? according to an ngo based

in berlin which organise the logistics for this flight, he is in a stable condition. that is what they say. it seems he is still in they say. it seems he is still in the coma and i think we will not know for quite awhile what caused this because he will treated by german doctors at a hospital around the corner from here. german doctors at a hospital around the cornerfrom here. doctors have indicated they will not breach any confidentiality with patient doctor agreements and they will also be very careful what they say to the press because this is an explosive issue. on the one hand, we have the supporters of mr navalny who say he is poisoned and on the other we have the russian authorities who say there is no evidence of poison. that is not something german officials will want to turn into a political i’ow. will want to turn into a political row. what german doctors so far have

said is he was fit to fly and that now they will be doing tests to find out exactly what that hit —— what the cause of his condition is so without more from german officials, we do not know the cause behind this. the difficulty is for the german government is that they do not want to be drawn into a row over how opposition activists are being oppressed in russia. the german government is going to be cautious about expressing opinion. give us some context. there may be never firm answers, when we look at the last case of our suspected poisoning victim who was treated at the same hospital but no firm diagnosis was given at the end? yes, that was two yea rs given at the end? yes, that was two years ago. the man in question there, a member of the opposition

punk group punk riot said this case reminds him of what happened to yea rs reminds him of what happened to years ago. we neverfound out what exactly happened. opposition forces said that was a case of poison two yea rs said that was a case of poison two years ago, he was treated at hospital and brought back to health but it was never fully proven what happened to him so it is a very difficult situation. so far officials in germany and angela merkel have said they are shocked about what happened to mr navalny. they have offered medical help to mr navalny. one to politicians here who are critical of russia have expressed outrage. they have said it looks like poison but the official line will be more cautious. it is likely to say we will never know exactly what happened. the organisation which organised this is a private ngo so the german

government was not directly involved. they are expressing the same opinions as you're hearing from france and other countries, support for france and other countries, support foer france and other countries, support for mr navalny and hope he will go bet —— will get better without making assumptions or even accusing anyone of having cause that. the last thing anyone in germany wants is for this to blow up into a huge political row. thank you very much. let's hear now from misha glenny who covered central and eastern europe for many years on the bbc, and is the author of the best—selling ‘mcmafia.’ thank you forjoining us, obviously a lot of this is opaque at the moment but what is your assessment? it looks to me very sadly like a poisoning, until there is actual proof of this, we cannot be definitive but this is something that there is a pattern of over many

yea rs. that there is a pattern of over many years. i remember in 2004, the journalist anna pollard scoffs kaya, when she was covering the atrocity in beslan, she was poisoned on an aeroplane, a very similar event to what happened to mr navalny. then we have the case of alexander litvinenko here in london who was poisoned with polonium and of course this groupval case in 2018. this is something which is clearly in the arsenal of the security services in russia and it has been deployed. it is shocking that mr navalny has been chosen as a target, if this is true, because he really has been the single most important figure in russian opposition over the past ten yea rs. russian opposition over the past ten years. so it is setting out a real sign to president putin's opponents.

we can see reasons why the family and supporters of mr navalny would not trust the russian government, but what about the hospital in siberia, is the medical service in russia under the political thumb so the decision is made they can be doubted on political grounds?” would not say it would be on political grounds specifically, i would say it would be on grounds of fair. -- would say it would be on grounds of fair. —— grounds of fear. ifeel very sorry for the staff at the hospital because they will be fully aware just how tense this whole situation is and how important mr navalny is and how important the case is. so i think, someone may have had a word in their here but i think it was probably sheer panic that made them be as noncommittal as

possible as to what this might not be. ——in theirear. i think that is the only response which is possible. we heard from damian grammaticas that it is a difficult situation for the german government who do not want to get drawn into around over this but from what you have described, it sounds like those two would wish to do harm to do critic —— to do harm to critics of the state and unofficial actors are acting with impunity with no meaningful sanction from the outside world? as i say, this is a big, big case but it coincides with what is going on in belarus at the moment with the protest movement, in fa ct moment with the protest movement, in fact more than a protest movement,

almost revolutionary movement against alexander lu kashenko almost revolutionary movement against alexander lukashenko in belarus. that is one of the reasons why germany is going to be very very relu cta nt to why germany is going to be very very reluctant to push too hard on anything to do with mr navalny right now. it is because there is real concern that russia might consider military intervention in belarus and i think the two things in the minds of diplomats and politicians are becoming intertwined. so there will becoming intertwined. so there will bea becoming intertwined. so there will be a certain result —— reluctance, publicly certainly on the part of the german government to get involved. behind—the—scenes, iam sure there is a lot going on and both angela merkel and president macron had spoken to president putin about belarus and i am sure they will be indicating their concern

about mr navalny as well directly to the russian president. thank you for joining us. people living in the english town of oldham — and parts of blackburn and pendle — will no longer be allowed to mix with anyone from outside their household from this weekend. the extra restrictions are to stem the spread of coronavirus — but workplaces, childcare facilities and businesses, including restaurants and pubs, will remain open. we can speak to our reporter yunus mulla, who's in oldham for us this morning. yunus, how have people there been reacting to these extra measures ? what people feared the most here was they could end up in the town with a full lockdown, similar to the lockdown imposed on leicester. that has not happened today. what they have got our restrictions mainly based around socialising and not

economic. so nonessential businesses have not been affected and that is a huge relief to people here, they can still go to work and still go shopping for example. the leader of oldham council shopping for example. the leader of old ham council has shopping for example. the leader of oldham council has warned it would be an economic catastrophe if nonessential businesses were included in this lockdown. there is a huge sigh of relief among people and business people. having said that, i have spoken to a number of people today who are quite weary about the constant changing of rules and are frustrated, they are also concerned some people might not stick to the new guidelines. the authorities here say the message is authorities here say the message is a lot clearer around who you can and cannot mix with. they have been working with the government to come up working with the government to come up with a local, targeted solution and they feel that is what they have now with these restrictions that are in place today. they have been doing

a lot of work in the communities, trying to get the message across, putting various campaigns on social media and over channels to try and get that message across. stacey. thank you very much. the head of the world health organization says he hopes the coronavirus crisis will be over in less than two years. tedros adhanom ghebreyesus said the spanish flu pandemic of 1918 took two years to come to an end, but covid—19 should be overcome more quickly. so we hope to finish this pandemic before — less than two years. especially if we can pull our efforts together and with national unity and with global solidarity, that's really key with utilising the available tools to the maximum and hoping that we can have additional tools like a vaccine, i think we can finish it in a shorter time than the 1918 flu.

that prediction from the world health organization came as the global death toll nears 800,000. international confirmed cases are close to 23 million, and in many countries, the situation is getting worse. alanna petroff has the latest. in this french park in bordeaux, it is difficult to see that a pandemic is raging. even as people lounge outside, france has been reporting than 4,500 daily cases for two consecutive days. cases have been accelerating since mid august. officials say the virus is circulating in major cities through the young, typically they do not

have sesrious symptoms. still it is important to mask up. teams of volunteers have been reminding young people to stay safe and keep a distance, even outside. in neighbouring spain, a top official at the health ministry said things are not going well. the country is reporting thousands of new daily cases. statistics show more young people are getting infected. officials worry if they pass it onto the older population, hospitalisation and deaths could soar again. in the capital madrid, authorities are now telling people in hotspot areas to remain at home. over in lebanon, the country is back in lockdown mode. on friday, it started two weeks of strong restrictions, including curfew. after the massive explosion in beirut which damaged hospitals, officials fear the health care system could not handle a further spike in covid cases. in south africa, the infection rate in the population has been declining,

but health workers are rising up. these unionised workers are protesting and singing in johannesburg, demanding better personal protective gear along with better pay. across the vast continent of africa, infection rates have been going down but it is not a uniform picture. in brazil, a rare positive update. the world health organization says infection rates are finally levelling off, the spread of covid—19 between people is slowing. still, brazil maintains the undesirable title of the country with the second—highest level of cases in the world. and the second—highest level of deaths, over 113,000. only the us surpasses brazil. the highest death toll, the most cases. new daily infections have been declining since latejuly though and in new york gyms

are starting to reopen. still with more than 45,000 new american cases a day, the virus is farfrom being under control. any further reopenings will have to proceed with caution. alanna petroff, bbc news. british holiday—makers are returning home to face new quarantine restrictions . an increase in covid—19 infection rates there and in austria and trinidad and tobago has led to a mandatory two week self—isolation period for returning travellers, as gavin lee reports. when you look at the figures for croatia, go back to may and june, they were barely registering any cases. they were registering about zero to six cases for a six—week period. in the last six weeks they have gone from 80 cases, 150 cases, in the last couple of days to 250 cases.

compare that to germany, spain, france, who have seen up to 3000, 5000 cases a day and that might not look quite so big. in the uk they look at how many cases per 100,000. so for croatia it is 39 per 100,000 so that is a big rise the government acknowledge this. but the government say specifically on this island, split, the young people circulating together. also the nightclubs have not been enforcing the rules effectively. other european rules have said they have clusters of cases springing up from tourists returning back from croatia and that links in which is why the government has allowed 24 hours to go home. it was a bit of a scramble yesterday, the flights were full, they put on two additional flights. i am told 1,500 people attempted to make it. others could not afford it or the flights were full.

it is notjust the uk. other countries have announced quarantine regulations for those returning from croatia? yes, in the past few days you had slovenia, austria, italy, you also have germany. but germany has imposed a specific rhetoric restriction. for here from split and zagreb. grant shapps, the transport secretary said it would not work forjust specific regions, you needed a blanket system in place. the other issue is we are told re nightclubs there will be a government announcement in the next few days closing nightclubs in split. at the moment they can open until midnight. it is interesting to see that people are a lot closer together.

i have witnessed in spain and brussels, mask wearing is not mandatory here. a there is thought that could be imposed here next week. a there is thought that could be imposed here next week. in belarus, demonstrators are preparing for another major opposition rally this weekend. the use of force to crack down on protesters following the disputed presidential elections earlier this month has fueled anger and led to rallies across the country. there are reports of abuse and torture emerging, as people are released from detention centres. the bbc s abdujalil ab—dura—sulov visited a hospital in minsk to speak to some of the patients there. an undercover visit to a state hospital. the government of belarus does not want the public to see the patients here. this is a hospital in minsk where some of the protesters who were beaten up are being treated. i want to talk to them. these are the people who were detained when mass protests started in belarus. they were viciously beaten and tortured by police. this man says he was detained because he was wearing

a white bracelet, the opposition symbol. there were three rows of detainees lying on top of each other inside a police van. they were beaten with batons by officers. andre was walking on the street with friends went riot police arrived and started chasing them. he could not escape. translation: they tied my hands behind me and beat me up with a baton. they kicked my legs and backside. they hit my head and throat. they took him to a police station where beatings continued throughout the night. in the morning he was not able to stand and they sent him to hospital. this 74—year—old pensioner was standing in his courtyard when when riot police stormed

in and attacked him. they broke his nose and his teeth. president lukashenko claims the violence was provoked by protesters who were paid by foreign forces in order to create chaos in the country. police abuse continued in detention. officers called ambulance only in critical cases and even then doctors faced a number of restrictions. one ambulance worker was shocked by the scenes, people were on their knees in the detention centre, as officers beat them, there was blood everywhere and a lot of people needed medical help. officers however would not allow her to treat other patients. and intimidation and clamp—down on protesters are continuing. the question is will that crush the opposition or fuel new protests? the manchester united captain, harry maguire, is due to appear before a prosecutor in a greek court this morning in connection with an alleged altercation on the island of mykonos. the england defender, and two other britons,

were arrested by police following an apparent disturbance between them and another group outside a bar. harry maguire's lawyer said he denies the allegations against him. lets speak now to journalist ansee carasava who joins us from athens. what are the charges against harry maguire this morning? that is what we are waiting to hear from the prosecutor. he was brought in on a rash of allegations brought forward by police officers who say they were accosted, physically abused, beat up by harry maguire and also that he tried to bribe his way out of this arrest. so with the prosecutor is trying to do right now is assess what happens. he is hearing the testimony of harry maguire and it

remains to be seen what charges he will lay against him and what charges he will face. the charges, if all of them ramp up and the prosecutor decides to press charges for all of them, they may lead to a criminal investigation. if they are dismissed as misdemeanours, then we might seea dismissed as misdemeanours, then we might see a quick trial as sooner later on today and potentially see his release. but there are a lot of things happening. he was brought in in huge secrecy. resort him brought from the back and brought into the prosecutor's office with the other two britons who were arrested brought in from the front. we have not seen his greek lawyers attending the prosecutor hearing. there are

reports that they may have resigned. he is being represented by someone from the manchester united team and he has denied all these accusations that have been put forward against him. we expect a public apology to be made by harry maguire later today. thank you very much. we know you will keep up—to—date for us. let s get some of the day s other news. the governor of california has appealed for assistance from canada and australia, as hundreds of wildfires continue to spread in searing summer heat. gavin newsom said dozens of blazes are stretching resources, despite the deployment of 12000 firefighters. other us states are sending fire trucks and planes to help. more than 100,000 people have been evacuated. the united states and

the european union have announced their first mutual trade tariff reductions in more than two decades. the deal will boost market access for hundreds of millions of dollars of us and eu exports —— ranging from american lobster products to european glassware. the south korean government says it will extend new coronavirus restrictions imposed on the capital seoul last week to the entire country. it's an attempt to control a growing resurgence of the virus. more than 300 new cases were reported today. let's take a look at some youngsters who are causing quite a stir at a wildlife park in china's shaanxi province. they are a group of siberian tigers — four siblings born earlier this year. a stir at a wildlife park in china's shaanxi province. they are a group of siberian tigers — four siblings born earlier this year. they've only recently been shown to the public, who seem rather keen on the animals. their keeper said the cubs were initially rather shy, but have now got used to being the centre of attention. a giant panda at the smithsonian national zoo in washington has set a new record, becoming the oldest panda in the us to give birth. this is mei xiang soon

after giving birth to her cub. there had been some concern that the baby may not survive because of mei's age — she's 22 years old. but all seems to be well — the zoo tweeted she was nursing her cub and cuddling it close." you are watching bbc news. emergency funding of more than £3 million is being made available to grassroots music venues across england which are facing closure because of the pandemic. the money is part of the goverment‘s £1.5 billion culture recovery fund, which was set up injuly. venues such as the troubadour in london and the deaf institute in manchester will benefit from the fund. one venue that was hoping to get funding but which has not been successful is the embassy theatre in skegness, and i'm joined now by the manager, pollyanne trapmore—shaw. thank you forjoining us and our

commiserations for losing out on the money. why did you lose out? good morning. i need to address this initially, the recovery fund we have applied for, the applications closed yesterday. ours is part of the cultural recovery fund, not grassroots, we found that was the best route for us to make. so you're still hopeful of getting rescue funds? yes, we are. the success is crucial to the damage limitation for this year and will ultimately decide, mothball until next spring to protect the future or if we can begin to start ourjourney of restoration within the new landscape of covid—19. restoration within the new landscape of covid-19. it is interesting you say mothball until next spring but your website looks like you're hoping to get performances up and running in february? that is

correct. we have everything across and we have to have faith and trust. we have been very fortunate with the loyalty of our customers so far. we took a conscious decision to reschedule all of our performances into 2021 and 60% of our loyal followers have followed us. they wa nt followers have followed us. they want the continuation of the service they were always entitled to and they were always entitled to and they always experienced at our theatre. the only way to do that is have a drastic reduction in the stringent measures of social distancing required or the complete removal of it and it is the latter that the theory to —— the theatre industry and stadiums want to see in the long—term. industry and stadiums want to see in the long-term. following your train of thought, if that does not happen, will you be able to put performances on in february if social distancing measures remain? this is the task

that we are really keen to undertake at the moment. i do not think there is any getting away from the fact we have to move into a new landscape. the reality is the large west end tours and very big productions which require a full audience to make it financially viable, they will not be the productions that can be put on and done with social distancing in mind. we need to look too different ways of working. we have an opportunity here actually to work with some of the bigger production houses in terms of looking at cinematic screening, looking at smaller performances. no one can deny the impact on the royal opera house, the national theatre deliveries straight into our houses recently. there are a myriad of catalogues that can be available through cinematic screening so this

is our plight at the moment, looking to our customers and local arts and culture locally to help us raise the funds to get that live streaming potential into the building. it is really a stop gap but also something which will really enrich our programme in this area going forward in the new covered —— post—covid—19 world. apologies, we have to leave it there, we wish all the best. now it's time for a look at the weather with tomasz. the weather is going to be a bit of a mixed bag for some of us this afternoon, but sunny spells, lengthy sunny spells, and also lighter winds. the temperatures today in the sunshine in the south will get up to around 23 in london and norwich, 19 in liverpool and around the high teens also in glasgow and edinburgh. plenty of showers from northern

ireland through the