event like winning the lottery. what is 1st more unique stored september 18th on d w. this is g w news coming to you live from berlin reports this morning that in the ducted belarusians opposition leader has crossed the border into ukraine germany has pushed the federal government for answers over her disappearance and called for the release of other prisoners arrested during crackdown on anti-government protests also coming up united in outrage but how to respond to european countries blame russia for the

alleged nerve agent attack on russian business alexina bonnie but do they have enough evidence and political will to get tough with small scale. plus california is a play as wildfires sweep through the state the latest reportedly calls by fireworks and fans by record temperatures. so i'm terry martin good to have you with us 3 belarusians opposition politicians who disappeared on monday have crossed the border between belarus and ukraine that's according to an official from the border guard service the group includes maria kolesnikov a who's been leading mass protests against president alexander lukashenko witnesses in minsk said kolesnikov a one. was pushed into

a vehicle by men in black clothing and driven away paul and another mass protest in the capital on sunday at which more than 600 people were arrested germany has demanded clarity over kolesnikov his whereabouts and is pushing for the release of all political prisoners in a us. for more now let's cross over to our correspondent nick conley he's in the belarussian capital minsk nick is it clear that maria kolesnikov and a number of other opposition figures have crossed into ukraine. good morning terry nothing is clear right now we have the message these recent updates from state media claiming that this it happened but no one from the opposition is being in touch with many a critical no one is the most in duck session yesterday morning here in. north of the ukrainian border guards confirmed that they crossed the border into ukraine from baton rouge some of the analysts here in could think this could be an attempt

by the government to explain why medically through war in their hands how she. to explain where she had to end up having been basically disappeared for the best 24 hours of the statement here saying that she has been detained for an illegal attempt at crossing the border that the other 2 they say crossed illegally and talking to ukraine was meticulous because they say i tried to cross illegally it's a very fascinating situation where we don't have much detail yet but me and expects developments one though that makes sense in the wider picture where the government has been trying to force opposition figures out they've basically been given the choice of either going to detention some people already in detention for months now or to then be sent into exile to. the opposition candidate at the election and being in literally now for some weeks other people in poland so this fits into the bigger picture but very little clarity right now about what actually is happening

to me because. if kolesnikov it is out of a rose what does this mean for the opposition movement. well it's definitely a sign the government is making good on its promise to clamp down political or had spoken the part about these threats and said she was not interested in leaving the country that she would not take the hint if it were for security of the country it's a sign the government is willing to put extraordinary pressure on people to disappear people are forced into doing so but i don't think it will mean and these protests these protests why does this is not just opportunism politics now this become a wider social movement people who cannot in themselves without a kind of clear political structure student people even looking districts organizing themselves who can i think local protests so i think that what makes this so difficult now for the government is that by arresting 10152100 opposition figures you can put an end to this because people are organizing themselves without an order without a current command structure from above and putting you're putting that back in the

bottle will be much harder for i did on election day than just arresting for position because. nick thank you very much is nick conley there in minsk european countries are grappling with how to respond to the alleged nerve agent attack on russian opposition leader alexina bani germany and the u.k. demanded answers from moscow the e.u. has raised the possibility of sanctions against russia and though the is beginning to recover in a berlin hospital his case appears to have put relations between russia and europe when life support. things look bad for russian activists alexina valmy over 2 weeks ago after boarding a flight in siberia he started to modern and scream in pain 3 days later he was in a medically induced coma and being flying to berlin to get treatment from berlin doctors in the i.c. thought you wouldn't they say it's beyond doubt that novella he was poisoned with

a highly toxic nerve agent know the chalk but on monday those doctors had some good needs he's a white. they say he's responding to verbal communication and has been gradually taken off mechanical ventilation doctors stressed it's too early to judge if there's been any long term effects from the severe poisoning. as novelli begins his precarious recovery the political fallout from the poisoning has spread to the new completed nord stream to pipeline designed to transport russian gas to europe by germany skipped a few for good reasons to have the pipeline otherwise this project would not exist . but what i think would be wrong would be to rule out from the beginning. that what is happening right now could have an impact on the project. this sentiment is echoed by chancellor merkel spokesperson. chancellor agrees it's wrong to rule anything out. the kremlin has denied any involvement in the poisoning of no

felony and says that the german government is stalling on providing russian authorities with details about the case. of the very latest now i'm joined by the political correspondent curler 1st of all what's the hospital in berlin saying about alexina bonnie's condition. the hospital said that they have been taken out of his coma it was a medically induced coma which was meant to help him along with the treatment and recovery the doctors stated in their 5th medical bulletin that he's responding to speech he's reacting but that doesn't mean that he himself can speak and can communicate he has been on mechanical ventilation as well and to take

patients off this ventilation can take weeks in some cases the doctors also said that it is not clear what long term effects of the suspected poisoning would have this can be from a full recovery to some nerve damage of nerves which were possessed these bulletins by the way in accordance with these wife because they they assume that publishing these details is in the interest of novotny ok so he has begun a tentative recovery germany is pressuring moscow meanwhile by answers about his poisoning any sort of cooperation or. and there no there's old terry both sides accusing. the other off not cooperating fully and the german government threatens russia with sanctions but it is not clear which sort of sanctions this

should be they are striving for a coordinated european response and this could be economic sanctions targeted sanctions against russian individuals and here in germany it is widely discussed how to deal with a gas pipeline project north stream to which is almost finished but the general government won't rule out that project this whole tit what is the russian there for possibly stopping that north stream to pipeline project now shortly before completion is this all about punishing russia now it's not only about punishing russia this project has been controversial from the beginning on apart from germany and russia the netherlands and france in on the project a lot of jobs depend on it but not only this but also the. autonomy of

energy supply for europe and the alternative for the russian gas would be importing liquefied gas from you as american fracking which is why the u.s. is highly opposed to this project it was a political project from the beginning say look the other stories making headlines around the world is mourning official campaigning has begun in japan to replace as leader of the governing party. close chief cabinet secretary your shahid asuka is seen as a top candidate likely successor to lead the government 3 candidates will face off in an internal vote on september 14th. the last 2 journalists working for australian media in mainland china have left the country and returned to sydney reports say chinese police sought to interrogate michael smith of the australian financial review bill. public broadcaster the a.b.c.

in connection with the case unrelated to their work the journalists took shelter in australia diplomatic compounds while officials negotiated their return home. and chinese president xi jinping has defended his country's handling of the coronavirus outbreak saying beijing acted transparently in its response she was speaking of serve only honoring heroes in the fight against the virus he said china was bouncing back from the crisis and that nothing would stop the chinese people from achieving a better future. hundreds of people have joined a corps in colombia's couple bogota to protest the economic and social policies of president even even duke a the protest by trade unions was the 1st since columbia ended more than 5 months of coronavirus lockdowns the country has reported more than 600000. over 220000 deaths. in california fireworks at

a baby shower party or being blamed for igniting the latest blaze sweeping the u.s. state fire crews are struggling to contain the flames amid scorching temperatures and high winds authorities say a record amount of blood has burned this year and warned that the fire season is far from over. california is burning wildfires simply the state owns summer and there's new sign of. almost 15000 firefighters have been dispatched to tackle some 2 dozen large fires. shifting winds forced the exhausted firefighters to constantly adjust their efforts started pushing to the east and in north and big westerly wind shifts and then today was moved to the south or north winds been pretty dramatically in consist of. temperatures in california are at an all time high and the parched countryside is

highly flammable. the fire crews know that the battle is far from one. more number one priority for this fire is the protection of life property situation that we have right now. new life threatening situation with the weather forecast that we have for the next 3 days don't we have a red flag warning today and we have santa ana winds predicted for the next 2 days . as the flames spread more and more residents are being forced from their homes some have to be evacuated by helicopter. they leave behind a smoldering landscape with a record 2000000 acres scorched by wildfires in california this year this has become an increasingly common sight. so of course the messi has returned to training with barcelona for the 1st time since he tried to move away from the club

as he had to train away from the full squad because he still needs to pass a 2nd coronavirus test last week the star forward reversed his decision to leave saying he didn't want to get into a legal battle with the club as he had hoped to move on a free transfer while barcelona insisted on a 700000000 euro thien. french forward kilian has tested positive for the coronavirus 2 and will miss tuesday's nations league match against croatia. it was one of the stars france's 2018 world cup winning side sevens player from his club partly sunshine meant to contract the virus their french league match against the law lens on thursday could now be in doubt. just a reminder of the top story we're following for you this hour risen border officials have. said 3 opposition politicians have crossed into ukraine includes maria

kolesnik who was reportedly abducted on monday she had been leading mass protests against president alexander lukashenko. you're watching the news spent physically and that is up next with all the latest from business and of course you get all the latest news and information anytime you want on our web site called thanks for watching. beethoven in future is to do. any romance of stolen beethoven. course the sort.