this is utopia news live from berlin tonight's no longer in a coma the russian opposition leader alexina vonnie has regained consciousness and is responsive doctors treating the volley here in berlin say they have taken him out of the induced coma he's been in since becoming ill more than 2 weeks ago the german government says not only was poisoned with the nerve agent nobody choked also coming up tonight to crack down on the bill ruse opposition leader maria. has reportedly been abducted in broad daylight and it comes after hundreds of

protesters were arrested at the latest rally against the president's leadership. and 5 years ago germany welcomed hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers tonight we talked to volunteers who stepped up to help the new arrivals find their way in a new country. i bring golf to our viewers on p.b.s. in the united states and all around the world welcome he is awake and responses a brillant hospital says russian opposition leader alexina of all he has been taken out of an induced coma doctors treating him at the charity hospital here in berlin say his condition is now improving after he was possibly poisoned with a nerve agent know. the case is being treated as an assassination attempt on the

valmiki he was one of russian president vladimir putin's harshest critics western leaders are calling on moscow to cooperate with an international investigation the kremlin denies any involvement. so those are even more now i'm joined by do political correspondent huns bronte do you hons so what is the hospital saying tonight they've been saying that not only has been taken out of the coma that was artificially induced in other words they have left and wake off a lot of to wake up that he is responding to order to receiving those as the form is the way that they put it in other words if he's spoken to he is responding we don't know whether he is able to speak yet because he was also being helped with his breathing he had to chew on his throat and that is also slowly being reduced we don't know whether the troops have been complete removed so we don't know whether he's able to speak it and the hospital is also adding that we do not know yet what the long term effects of this poison will be on objects and as only you do we know

what is next for novotny as he continues his recovery we don't know how long this recovery will take i imagine it can take weeks if not months that all you can read and some of the literature that after such a poisoning it is possible for the person that has been poisoned is to recover almost completely but it is also possible that this person because it is an attack on. will lose permanently lose some of the functions of his nerves and i imagine that could affect any part of his body and there are even reports of some people that have been poisoned who was thinking as slowing down so we don't know if to what extent of on the will recover and we do not know of course what the aspects that regard to security will be possible it is possible that he might be taken to a safe place and even disappear from public view for quite a while this is a story where the medical has quickly become political germany is pressuring moscow

to give answers about snowball knees poisoning has there been any progress. not really there's been a very bitter exchange of words between russia and germany in the vast couple of weeks not very diplomatic one has to say and at the moment the germans are saying to russia well here is a russian citizen poisoned by a russian. agent developed in russia in russia on russian soil it is russian responsibility to investigate this use of a nerve agent which is in fact prohibited internationally the dispute has become so acrimonious that there is not talk about severe possibilities of sanctions against russia and in focus there is a project that links russia to join of in north stream gas pipelines to the public baltic sea this is almost completed and in recent days and in fact today both the german foreign minister and the government spokesman say that this project could be

threatened let's listen to what they said about this offer types and what i would also consider roam the halls for now would be to deny from the stances that much current events could have any impact once and on this project because the chancellor shares the remarks made by the foreign minister over the weekend. in that we know that there is bipartisan opposition in the united states congress to north stream to it's been that way for quite a while it could just be it was moscow over the know boni poisoning could it end up eventually killing this pipeline. that's certainly within the realm of possibility as we can hear from the statements made by a government spokesman here in germany today germany has been defending this profit and building it having it built for many many years and even today the government spokesman said that it is not really a german project that the investors are from russia from the netherlands from korea

and from germany in other words it's an international project and that gas is being fed into the european gas and it would so it's going to be in the end in some sense a european decision a decision that will be taken i imagine on the level of the european union and that's likely to take weeks rather than days. with the latest tonight here in berlin thank you for tonight germany and britain are expressing their concern over the reported abduction of an opposition leader in bel ruth and witnesses say maria kalashnikov was pushed into a vehicle by men in black clothing and then suddenly driven away it followed another mass protest in the capital minsk on sunday and which more than 600 people were arrested germany has demanded clarity over kolesnik hoboes whereabouts and the release of all political prisoners in belgium it's. are the state does not argue

respond an economy he joins me from men's can even say you nick so witness is a political that was was bundled into a van what do you know about what exactly happened to her. through this extraordinary thing brant in an age of smartphones where everyone seemingly is filming everything and images a sad almost instantaneously on social media there are no pictures released in the open of this disappearance today happened in broad daylight at 10 in the morning in the center near me and i think of his home she was actually on the way to the post office to pick up papers from the judiciary she has various proceedings running again by the authorities and there she was grabbed as this eyewitness tells in broad daylight and put into this van the witness says she wasn't willing to kill herself a fear of being arrested herself and since then there's been no contact with her sources here in minsk denying any involvement and they say this is the government's

strategy of attempted deniability not sending out the police in uniform to do these kind of things but instead sent out security agents in plain clothes it's a very disturbing development what does this mean then for the movements in delegates. what definitely a chilling symbol a sign to the opposition here from the government they're willing to clamp down and willing to do these kind of things in broad daylight afaik probably was to be expected in minneapolis we had talked about threats in the past and had refused to leave earlier on we spoke to mike seems not one of her closest colleagues here's what he had to say. well i don't think that it will change anything in the protest movement it can only make it. more massive because my last was not a leader or coordinator on this broadcast she was more like a symbol of this broader. process where the centralized

so i don't think it will have any input on that process and it's not there. on that we're all the nation council so if you consider what he just said then tell me what's the atmosphere there in minsk where you are there are still protests taking place. well definitely the protesters who came out yesterday in their tens of thousands didn't seem deterred by the threat of this kind of clampdown when you talk to people in the streets yesterday and even today they tell you over and over again there are just too many of us they count put us away but certainly this is a sign that the regime is trying to clamp down and has had enough all week after week of protests growing protests they reaching almost as far as the presidential palace how this is going to go on no one can tell there is no wrote about this this is uncharted territory for a country that had no politics for a quarter of

a century where one man was in charge of everything and now you can see his strategy is either to force people into exile. or put them behind bars tonight there are only 2 members of the opposition council still 3 maxime's not who we just spoke to and sit on that experience the nobel laureate writer to people to you from that place is still at large and that is the situation here and you have to wonder what will happen to them in the near future as well the economy reporting tonight from ins nic thank you phyllis have a look now at some of the other stories that are making headlines around the world at least 5 people are missing after a powerful typhoon swept across parts of japan and south korea. was the 2nd time food to hit the 2 countries in as many weeks prompting mass evacuations and knocking out power to thousands of homes. a saudi corps has given long prison terms to 8 people over the murder of journalist so the court overturned 5 earlier death

sentences and instead handed down sentences of between 7 and 20 years to show he was killed at the soul of the embassy in stamboul in 2080. the west african regional bloc eco was is urging mali to make a swift transition to civilian rule following a military coup in august sanctions were imposed on the country after the government was overthrown the block is also calling for fresh elections within the next 12 months. here in europe the e.u. commission president earlier from the lion is warning the u.k. to respect its withdrawal agreement with europe or risk any future trade partnership her tweet comes after british prime minister boris johnson set an october 15th deadline for a deal saying either wants a deal or he will pull the u.k. out of negotiations reports also say that his government is preparing legislation

that would override parts of the withdrawal deal that was agreed to last year and that would mean a dramatic reversal after years of negotiations. it's not 12 months since british prime minister boris johnson shuts down unlikely deal from the jaws of defeat after long negotiations with the unit p n union. i do think that this deal represents a very good deal both for the e.u. and for the u.k. in interviews heat praise on his hard work you have is a fantastic deal for all of the u.k. at heart the deal would prevent an in town no border in ireland no his government has found fault with the details and is reportedly planning to tear up parts of it a move that could see borders return jeopardizing peace in the region ireland's

foreign minister said unilaterally reneging on a treaty would be a very unwise way to proceed. coming at the start of a crunch week for trade talks the e.u.'s chief negotiator told french radio he was can sound good but you. know what can i say today i remain worried it's not the last round of brakes at negotiations that is starting this week we have other runs in late september and october i went to london again last week so these are difficult negotiations because the british want the best of to wear out in a way. that the u.k.'s health minister insisted a deal was still achievable the question is whether we can whether we can land a long term future trade agreement and i'm confident that we can. johnson won reelection last december on a promise that he could build goes his way to break that a strategy that proved popular at home but me yet undermined britain standing

abroad. fold staying in london the founder of wiki leaks julian assange on has resumed his court battle to avoid extradition to the united states the u.s. government wants to bring a songe to trial over wiki leaks publication of secret military documents one decade ago. julian assigns arrive to supportive crowds on the 1st day of his hearing. but it didn't take long for the odds to turn against him i'm very disappointed with the forces so far at all well that it's only been 2 hour . early on the judge rejected a request by a songes lawyers to delay the hearing until january they were hoping for more time to respond to new allegations brought by the us new indictment that was filled in smuggled it a few weeks ago. there this argued they would have not had enough time to be clear

on the basis of that new version which contains a lot of allegations songes accused of conspiring to hack government computers and faces 18 charges under the u.s. espionage act those charges stem from his release of 500000 secret military files a decade ago if convicted he could be jailed for life i'm fighting for his life. he won't survive that would estimate its way to. the extradition hearings he needs on whether songes actions are considered journalism doing that is that the publisher of the publication is written to philip journals its own oppression of journalism and free prayers to everywhere in the western world while the u.s. will be looking to poke as many holes as they can in the defense's case they will be saying that this is a straightforward case of espionage but in particular the new indictment that's

been issued relates to a systems that mr sanders alleged to have given to chelsea manning in hacking top secret information from u.s. government computers and they will say this isn't about journalism this isn't about freedom of expression this is about a crime against national security and that none of the defenses arguments mean that he should be extradited the cases judge will run until early october but a verdict could. month long. well this week we are looking back at the events of the summer of 2015 when germany took an unprecedented number of migrants who were fleeing war people made their way across greece and the balkans along a long treacherous routes and in response german chancellor angela merkel declared an open door policy for refugees from syria and when early september more and more trains with migrants arrived in germany from eastern europe they were given a very rural welcome it for state stations across the country people cheered the

new arrivals handing them chocolates and other gives there was an atmosphere of solidarity people donating clothes and other essentials. many germans wanted to help the migrants start a new life here in germany and that includes a group of volunteers here in berlin who came together in those days and who continue to help like grants and refugees navigate a new country and a new culture. and volunteer diana henriques is doing have best to explain german bureaucracy to a migrant from yemen she's an expert in my creation and all but the neighborhood initiative she works fall was overwhelmed when thousands of refugees arrived but then back in 2015. my conscience felt like we were in a trance we take on everything that came our way but you can't see that we were ready for what happened it was an american city humanitarian emergency. the

refugees arrived with nothing and no way to know them nothing to eat and spoke for actually no german. cristiana packman from the same neighborhood initiative set about trying to organize things. when the demo men were here i knew that i couldn't just walk away people who were hungry one day were going to be hungry the next women who were pregnant one day would also be pregnant the next i knew that from the start. both the volunteers worked full time at the community center which depends on donations some of those who arrived in 2015 are also involved helping to ensure that today's asylum seekers have an easier time of it. most fled from syria 5 years ago after his hand was blown off by a bomb now he works as an interpreter. it doesn't matter where you live

people need help i used to get messed about because i didn't speak the language. that's why i became a translator. i decided i had to improve my german help others. and the mission and . it's not been an easy transition and the plight of the refugees has had an emotional impact on the volunteers. when on the photo for nancy to see if a mother may have lost 4 children at sea in the mediterranean sea telling her story over and over again and a mother who wants to help may not be able to cope emotionally despite counseling and the other alternatives available that it's important to stop and pass on the baton to someone else it did stuff is stop vita. most of the volunteers do carry on although that already challenging work he's increasingly made even more

difficult by interference from outside. or joy and euphoria soon pass when you're threatened by extreme right wingers we often get threats sent to us by letter or email or on the phone it's exhausting and quite honestly the job is no fun anymore. but the volunteers say giving up is not an option their work has not yet finished well here in berlin activists and local political leaders are drawing attention to the plight of migrants with a protest outside of the german parliament building they've set of 13000 shares on the lawn in front of their christ taught each share represents a migrant living in the maria camp in greece the organizers say the message they want to send is that some german towns are willing to take in more refugees and offer they say that the german government continues to ignore. earlier we

spoke to one of the organizers of that. from the activist group. she explained what they hope to achieve. because the situation is worsening every day that means we don't have any time to do this and we think it's important to remember those people and to bring it up on the political again and again and to say and to demand the immediate evacuation of the people living in the moment. visit to asia has been ratified in february it's even worse now in the context of coronavirus you went to maria with a couple of mayors from german cities they have signaled their readiness to take in refugees and migrants why isn't that happening since 2 years actually already now in germany want to support it to use and cities say they're ready to take in more refugees but the governmental german government is doing nothing they took in like about 200 refugees we have much more space we have empty places where people could

be needed to live and we have cities to say they're ready that means we need more pressure on the government that they finally accept those people and that diminished capacity is actually taken more refugees the german government itself has said it wanted to take in a 1000 refugees including children why isn't it more happening at the moment what is stalling the progress i think the political will is the missing in a way because we have it from this civil society stand we had like hundreds of protests and we have the city saying they're ready but nothing is happening so for me that the political will is missing and we need to make make more pressure so this is finally going to happen and what are you hoping that will come out of this protest today a big discussion again and more pressure on the government so they finally you take in more refuges and save lives. that was the activist there speaking with us earlier let's take a look at some of the latest developments in the coronavirus pandemic india has

overtaken brazil on. the list of countries worst affected by the corona virus it now has the 2nd highest tally in the world with more than 4200000 cases the us has the highest france's place 7 more regions on high alert after a record the daily rise in infections the move affects major cities including live strong book and diesel and it allows authorities to impose local lockdowns to slow the virus australia says it will receive the 1st batches of a potential vaccine in january of next year the vaccine made by the pharmaceutical firm astra zeneca is currently undergoing late stage clinical trial. well it is back to school time for much of the world but the coronavirus has made returning to classes a challenge almost everywhere we asked our correspondents around the world to tell

us how school re openings are growing in their country. it was a mix of nerves and excitement and the kids at this east london high school headed back for the 1st time since march the teachers here tell me they're ready with stock at class times social distancing measures and one way systems but for the older students in particular the road back to the classroom hasn't been easy schools here are reeling from a series of chaotic government you tens which left many kids over the summer facing days of uncertainty about how their results will be awarded the canceled exams and this new school year isn't bringing back any more stability teachers here say many kids a month behind on the learning their warning that the knock on effects could take that toll for some time to come despite a new search of coronavirus case this strain every open in the states even if it doesn't look like it it's actually a nursery school behind me it's not ok to do the beautiful park and i was very

happy when we reformed some days ago that i was stunned at a place where the happiness the feeling of uncertainty the government came up with another measure and some days to go about haven't had any time to react to at least there's going to be a parent meeting and some days hopefully find out more about how our 1st days of school look like your independent students are back in school throughout the whole of china including mohan where the epidemic has started. students need to wear masks there are social distancing measures staggered schedules but otherwise calls are supposed to go back to their normal curricular schools colleges and other educational institutions funding you to remain shocking but the government has allowed the file back some of this by the end of this month but online classes and other related. competitive examinations take place in the country every country new to be conducted by protests by students.

in uganda capito schools remain closed what you see here is a reflection of what's happening across the country right from elementary level to uni. classes remain closed the government is not sure when to reopen schools now especially with the rising cases of 19 now many teachers of already lost their jobs while you're on the government tried to introduce lessons of radio and television but sustaining that became a challenge so many families have already described 2020 as they lost. their was our correspondents their schools back in session in the pandemic. well after a dramatic drop in visitor numbers due to the pandemic venice had shown the day can still draw a crowd hundreds of spectators lined the banks of the famous grand canal for the annual historical regatta to want to throw words in gondoliers have all the

waterways and historical cost of the event dates back to the 13th century it is billed as one of venice his most beautiful traditions reason enough for tourists and locals to turn out despite virus restrictions. it's good to see. this is the news after a short break i'll be back to take you through the day tonight poison in the pipeline until america olds rethink on russia will be right back.

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the truth the creation of our solar system with our planet is a bit like winning the lottery but there is little good. one earth where you need to start september 18th on d w. the russian dissident alexy in the vani who was poisoned in russia and brought to berlin for treatment woke from a coma today doctors say he's responsive and some point he'll ask what happened who was responsible were they punished questions russia refuses to answer and with that suddenly here in europe and in the u.s. sanctions against.