♪ >> this is dw news. russia allows alexei navalny to be taken to germany for treatment. he has been fighting for his life in a siberian hospital after a suspected poisoningng. german medics will take him to berlin, after russian doctors said he was too ill to fly. also on the program, the belarusian government widens its crackdown on the opposition. retaining one of the leaders and

protesters with criminal charges . exiled opposition leader vows to return what is safe. also -- when is safe. joe biden accepts the nomination for the presidency, promising to end the season of darkness in america. >> it is a great honor and with humility i accept this nomination for president of the united states of america. >> the vice president urges americans to return to optimism. and a tale of heroism in the wreckage of beirut, a nurse holds newborn babies rescued from the porch explosion and tells dw what happened -- port explosion and tells dw what happened that day. ♪ i am phil gayle. welcome to the program. russian doctors will allow alexei navalny to be flown to

germany for treatment. this after he fell ill on a flight to moscow and was taken to a hospital in omsk where he is in a,. he is suspected to be poisoned. doctors initially said he was too ill to be moved, but they changed their minds after a german team deemed him fit to fly. he will leave in the next few hours. >> we took the decision not to oppose his transfer to another hospital. the one his relatives indicated to us. >> that was what his wife had been desperate to hear. she had been fighting since arriving at the hospital thursday, to get her husband's own dr. to see him, then to get the german medics in. >> we believe the doctors are deliberately delaying so the khamenei -- the chemical substance has time to disappear.

that is why they won't let him leave the hospital. his health situation is probably bad, so we don't believe the doctors in this hospital, and demand they hand my husband over. >> he will come here, the charite hospital in berlin. years ago they treated anotherer russiaian dissident who seemed o be poisoned. the group had flown him out, sent medics to go get the valley, -- navavalny anderer sie -- >> a profefessional medicall ret whwhich stated d he is able to y no matter and is s in critical condndition, unconscious and on ventilation. this was the most important breakthrough. >> has preparations are made to take him to germany, the question of what is was that turned alexei navalny from this thursday morning to this thursday evening remains

unanswered. phil: sergei magnitsky is a member of the greens and knows him personally. what went through your mind when you heard he had been taken ill? >> i know him quitete well, andf course it is a humanitarian tragedy. at the same time, and that is alreadady tragic enougugh, i hae expected something like this happening. many people who know the nature of the russian political system no - -- know the kind of work navalny has been doing, they knew this was a dangerous job. phil: there is no doubt in your mind who is behind this? >> definitely behind this are people who want to stick to their power and don't want their

corrupt schemes being uncovered. those are the two points navalny has confronted in hisis politicl work.. the power, the desire to stickck to power and have the ruling party monopoly and the president on one hand and on the other hand the mechanisms this powower isis being solidifified and consolidated. this is cororruption. this is a deadly, literally deadly combination for someone to challenge the ruler. phil: what do you make of the back and forth about whether he would be allowed to leave the country? >> i think this is again an frankly quite a dishonest gameme that wawas beig played here. we h heard by the press secretay

of the presisident those words again and again, , the kremlin does not oppose huhuman beings flown out, but everyone knows how the system in russia worksk. if t there is no tentativive or explicit or implicit decision on totop, the people down there wil be hesitant to decide. this i is a power based on angst and fear. even if therere is no c clear or not to do somethining, peoplelet n'n't do it withoutt someone authorizining it becauause theye afraid of being accused and doing something wrong afterwards. phil: how should berlin and brussels react if it is proven he was poioisoned? >> i think the main point here is to save his life. this is number one. number two, we hope his

conditions will allow -- condition will allow to have someme evidence for what causedd it. i don'ththink he wasas kept in russssia for lononger than necey , just to threaten his life. if they wanted, they would have eliminated him from many years ago. he was kept under those circumstances in order for the poisonous substance to dissolve itself in his b body. this will be the queuestion,n, l it be possiblble to determine wt kind of substance it was, because itit is important in tes of the treatment prorocedure. it is also important to investigate the reasons of this inhumane disaster we have seen. phil: if you subscriribe to the theory the kremlin was behind this, have they got what they

wanted, alexei navalny out of the country, no longer a thorn in their side? >> he has been out of the country repeatedly. if you remember, just recently, one of the first threats to his hehealth was the disinfection substance thrown into his eyes and he was in danger of being blinind. this was when the russian governmement has issued him a forereign passport even though e was not a allowed to travel ououtside. he returned after that. the same later when he was poisoned. i don't think they count on hihm nonot returning. this was another warning. maybe it was a an or coordinated -- an uncoordinated assault on him to stop them doing the work and to threaten even more.

i don't think ththe calculatiois he will not return backck to the country. they would have used this opportunity again and again in the past. phil:: thank you for that. a member of the european parliament. >> thank you. phil: in belarus authorities have detained one of the leaders of striking factory workers and threatened demonstrators with criminal charges area this comes on the 13th day of protests calling for alexander lukukasheo to s step down following the rerecent presidedential electio. protesters have been jojoined by strikes at state owned factorirs fueled by that linus fitchett kia -- switching across geyer. -- despite the protests president lukashenko said he will settle the crisis in the coming days.

in the capital of minsk, people have gathered to support the newly formed coordination council after authorities were accused of attempting to seize power. we go to minsk where we join nick connolly. the president says he can dissolve this crisis in the coming days. what do we think he means? >> it sounds like a crackdown. i am sending -- standing in front of the kgb building and these are staying largely loyal to the regime. you have not felt a lot of fear. the protests have been in the main square where thousands gathered for the nightly protest ahead of sunday's bigger protest that is being called the march of millions. whether they get one million people together is questionable, but it is set to be as big as

last week's protests. we heard from opposition leaders they are trying to engage, trying to convince them not to use force against protesters. we heard from the government saying they will go after ordinary protesters, that taking part in a protest will be deemed criminal. there is no clear path forward. no one can tell where this is going. there is no roadmap, but the sense is this is not the end and it is getting going. phil: we heard from the former presidential candidate who has called for more strikes. how much impact are these strikes having? >> it a different picture across this country. in minsk, some of the strikes seem to have quieted down. but on the western border, though strikes are holding up.

i think it is not the only thing to look for. the protests against a quarter century of alexander lukashenko in power have taken different forms. i was at a part of town where there was a chain of people holding hands, waving flags and the protesters dispersed as fast as they came together. part of that is security services, this is kind of a wildcat form of protest, not just in minsk but a across the country.y. this is unprecedented territory for the country that has seen authoritarian control for the last quarter of a century, and no one knows how this can go. one thing that will be difficult to turn back from is to get people to stop voicing their opinions. they are enjoying being able to voice their opinion out in the

open, and given the numbers are so big, the regime can't put everyone in prison, and that is safety in numbers. phil: thank you. now we will look at some of the other stories making news around the world. the czech republic is marking the anniversary of the innovation by czechoslovakia by soviet led troops. this ended the 1968 prague spring, liberalization in the communist country. 100 people were killed and 500 injured when the troops went in. six people have been killed by wildfires sweeping across parts of california. most of the buyers are in the san francisco bay area. thousands of firefighters are tackling the blazes. most of the fires were started by thousands of lightning strikes. in the united states, joe biden has accepted the democratic party's nomination for the

presidency. he promised leadership that is radically different from that of republican incumbent donald trump. >> the final night of the virtual democratic national convention rololled out a show f unity and support for the presidential candidates. former rivals praised joe biden's leadership and compassion. democrats have billed the choice in november as one between donald trump's chaos and joe widen's empathy -- joe biden's empathy. >> this is a life-changing election. it will determine what america is going to look like for a long time. character is on the ballot. decency, science, democracy, they are all on the ballot. >> his empathy was underscored by a boy who bonded with the former vice president on the trail with former struggles with

stuttering. biden said he would heal a country torn by crises and contempt. >> the current president has cloaked america in darkness for too long. too much anger, fear, division. here and now i give you my word. if you entrust me with the presidency, i will draw on the best of us, not the worst. they -- i will be an ally of the light. it is time for us to come together. make no mistake. united we can and will overcome the season of darkness in america. >> darkness dominated the picture at a rally held by trump hours before the speech, evoking sceneses of recent unrest. he had a warning. >> if you want a vision of your life under a biden presidency, think of the smoldering ruins in

minneapolis, the violent anarchy of portland, the blood stained sidewalks of chicago. imagine the mayhem coming to your town and every single town in america. you will not have law and order. >> biden countered that mood with themes of hope and unity. he now goes to the general election campaign with a clearar and steady l lead in the polls over trump. after the carefully scripted invention, the coming weeks will mark a far less predictable time for joe biden and his democratic party. phil: let's get more on this from the u.s. correspondent oliver sallet. how convincing was this convention given it was ritual? oliver: it was quite a different experience. all of the confetti, thousands of delegates cheering to the

candidates, none of that took place since the very virtual nature of this convention, so it felt artificial. there was no direct response. politicians stating vague with policy ideas and speeches were shorter area that was an advantage not so much for kamala harris, the first african-american female vice can -- vice presidential candidate. much more for joe biden who can consider himself fairly lucky he did not have to speak in front of a big crowd. he didn't stumble, not have any blank outs, delivering the strongest speech of his campaign so far. thank you to the virtual format which seems to be working well for the democrats. phil: it was strong but also very bland, talking about reunitig the country, bringing

light in times of darkness. will that be enough to convince voters? >> biden tried to paint himself as the anti-trump. this was how he wanted to show himself on stage, appealing to all americans. americans tend to vote for president's who are contrasting the outgoing or sitting president. we saw that after the conservative george w. bush was followed by the first black american president in history, after obama came someone appealing to white americans which is joe biden -- which of course was donald trump. joe biden could be the empathic candidates following someone who didn't listen to all americans. is that enough? perhaps not, but the situation the country is in with the pandemic out of control and the economic suffering, joe biden has a good chance to win if the

polls say the way they are. phil: a big issue is going to be the economy, hundreds of thousands of people have lost their jobs. we will have a listen to what president trump has been saying about the democrats and the economy. >> n never let you down, and thy will let you down. first of all, the country will be let down because you will see it crashed l like you have never seen before. as good as the stock rockets are, there is a headwind -- deked market -- the market is going to crash. phil: what is joe biden saying about his approach to the economy, and how big an issue was it in the convention? oliver: that is one of the points you could criticize, joe biden did not deliver a detailed plan on how to improve the situation for middle-class families that are suffering the

most from the pandemic. he mentioned some policy goals, job creation being one, but he fell short on explaining how he wants to reach them. but also economy was not a big topic on the convention. biden blamed trump for the economic downturn. that was one of the points he made. he said trump and the administration did not act quickly enough when it became clear the coronavirus pandemic is an increasing threat to the world, and the world economy. he vowed to act differently and suggested a nationwide mask mandate. as soon as the numbers would go down, arguing this would improve the situation of the u.s. economy. phil: thank you. now a story about elderly women banished from their communities

in ghana. -- forced to flee to safety. such cases are common in the northern part of the country which has a different culture to the south. our reporter traveled to the area andnd spoke to women living in a camp. >> she is one of the women seeking refuge in this camp. her neighbor accused her of using witchcraft to dedestroy hr business. helpless and unable to prove her innocence, she was nearly leached. those wounds are a constant reminder of the ordeal. >> i was abused years ago. i still w want abusers want to justice to sererve as a deterre. they causesed me so much pain.n. if they arare not punished, soon all l derly women in my vilillae will face a sisimilar fate and t banished.

>> she strugglgles to survive on her own. but she is not alone. this person arrived here weeks ago. she was attacked with a machete after being accusesed of using witchcraft to cause the death of someone in her villllage. >> when i was attackeked with a machete, i thought i was dead. iouldn't read. my head aches, and i feel pain all over. i went thrhrough pain and i wisi was dead. here i am m still alive. >> moree than 100 elderly women who live in this camp have similar ststories of abuse and humiliation. some have lived h here for more than three decades in terrible conditions.

some -- initiatives set up by the presbyterian church inin ghana. the team tries to support these women with their daily needs. >> in the camp we have decided they should not just stay here like that.t. let's learn them a skill. so they are beat making. -- bead making. all of that to keep them going. >> they believe -- the belief of witchcraft exists in many ghanaianan societies. but this is more endemic in the north. this man who c claims he exercis -- exorcises evil spirits says the women'n's anger is to blame. >> those who say they are not a witch --

temper, temper. not this woman -- the young man drive them away. >> the r recent lynching of a 90-year-r-old womoman has reignd calls for the practice to end. groups sucuch as amnesty international want the rights of elderly women better protected by the state. >> these women a a protected by the law and givenenhe services they need d we will not have issues of people abusing them as they are at the e moment. >> for n now this is home, home women like these with no power to change their lives. phil: as beirut continues to clear the rubble from the deadly explosions that devastated the lebanese capital, we are hearing stories of heroes and. you can see a nurse link three newport babies she rescued after

rushing into the cononfusion. dw has been speaking with them. >> this is the inside of the st. george hospital. it seems miraculous it is still standing at all. >> when the blast happened, it was aery nmal day. we were about to finish our shift. at 6:31 heard a loud noise and the floor shook underneath us and everything came crumbling down. i was able t to removee myself m undernea t the rubblanand went to seeee t babies. saw m my nursing colleagues bleeding. they had cuts everywhere. they were not responding. when i reached here, i could not find the babies. the incubators were misplaced and everything was on the floor. glass everywhere. i had toto remove the schulz frm

the incubators and pick up the babies, hold the three of them and get back to safety. >> she kept her cool during the harrowing scene. >> i was really y afraid. i was holdining the babies, afrd they would not make it. or that i might slip and they would fall from my hands. i found myself alone holding these three babies, screaming everywywhere, people g getting sutured with no anesthesia, no electricity. >> finally she made her way outside but her journey was far from over. >> people started asking me, h w do we help you? they saw me carrying these three babies. i said give me something t to cover the babies. they started to take their t-shirts off. i walked around five kilometers. >> the babies made it t and p pa

has s become a sococial media ho and an i inspiration. >> when i see this picture, i fefeel hopeful. i am happy these kids survived. i hope they have a better future. phil: this is dw news live from berlin. more at the top of the hour, stay tuned for a look at the events next in the day. you can get the latest news on the website. dw.com. have a good day. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪

they begann the day at two eighty k. russian doctors have given the green light for alexey navalny to be flown to germany the kremlin critic is currently in hospital in siberian city of omsk this after suspected poisoning doctors had previously said he was too ill to be flown out of the country. would replace a lot of the top of the bullets and- in belarus russian our human chains while they're on strike action are just some of the ongoing demonstrations of protest against. alexander lukashenko two weeks after contested election results. at there are also demonstrations in its favor on friday in the southwest all