berlin. tonight, leaders of the opposition in belarus. are thehey trying to flee o or g forced to leave? a drama played out earlier today atat a border post between belas and ukraraine. a leader was either trying to leave or resisting her own deportation. her whereabouts tonight are unknown. also coming up. >> this operation could only have been carried out with the approval of vladimir putin.

>> a russian dissident tells dw news the order to poison alexey navalny came straight from the top. other activists say poison is just one tactic the kremlin uses against its enemimies. sudan declaring a state of emergency because of floods. more than 100 people have died and thousands are homeless. the rising nile river is also threatening ancient royal pyramid's. -- royal pyramids. ♪ >> to our viewers any the u.s. on pbs interviewers around the world, welcome. we start tonight in belarus. some dramatic developments in the mystery about what has happened to the leading opposition figure. she went missing on monday, sparking intense speculation about her whereabouts. belarusian authorities released

these pictures. they said they detained her while she was trying to escape across the border into ukraine. now, two opposition members who were with her in the same car have spoken out, providing some dramatic new details. for those details, i am joined by a journalist in the belarusian capital of minsk. she has more on that. so what did these associates of her -- what did t they say? whatat happened? >> well,l, the execucutive secry and the press secretary, they told the story of how they were forced to go to the ukraine and they told that maria was also forced to go. she resisted to go. on the border, she tore herr passport show -- so she could

not be in another country and just walked away. after that, two men, they just went to the ukraine. they say she w was probably detained. brent: we are looking at pictures from the presess conference of those two associates of hers. do we have any inforormation abt the whereabouts of maria tonight? >> this is very complicated. the border committee has said they confirmed thehey detained r on the border but they denieiedo give any other informatition abt her location or reasonon of detention. press secretary of -- - said thy have i information t that she cd be at the border division near the town of motion or, which is

close to thehe u ukrainian bord. brent: we know that a number of opposition activists have been forced to leave the country or they have simply disappeared. is this weakening the opposition movement in belarus? >> well, you need to understand the protests are not organanized by m maria kolesnikova or anyone else. the opposition politicians, they take part in this demonstrations. they are not clear political leaders. the people -- the protests will go on just like that. brent: the consequences of this -- is there concern these protests will continue and reach a point where the president will

then ask russia to send in its military?? >> well, there is no such fear here.. the protesters only w want lukakashenkoko too go.o. lego on thihis -- they go on the streets and that is all they want. brent: joining us tonight witith e latestst from minsk. thank you. >> thank you. brent: for the past four weeks, the belarusian capital has seen mass protest demanding president lukashenko resign. last weekend, around 600 people were arrested as police continued their crackdown on dissent. two victims spoke to dw news about what they have experienced. >> peaceful protesters call on the police to join them. right officers react with a torrent of violence.

scenes that have played out almost nightly in belarus's fiery summer of revolt. arthur has seen and experienced the worst of it. too graphic for us to show. they saw the belarus court of arms and blows rained on me. they started to beat me right here. the coat of arms has become a potent symbol ofof the uprising that has seen thousands arrested. hundreds kicked, punched and tortured. even threats of rape. >> the policeman turned my head so i could see them. he begun theatrically putting a condom on a baton.

while doing it, he told me i have five seconds to say my password for my phone. >> human rights groups say there are at least 500 active complaints of police torture. among them, that of a computer programmer. >> i asked to call my lawawr and another policeman suddenly kicked me in t the belly w withs knee. i was stananding in half positin so i felt it in my belly very well.. then i notot -- then i got anotr five kicks. >> justice for the victims is unlikely. throughout these protests, belarus's president has praised state security forces. brent: now to the case of the russian opposition leader,

alexey navalny. today, moscow summoned the german ambassador over by the german government about the poisoning of navalny. on monday, he awoke from a medically induced, at a hospital in berlin. his doctors say there is unequivocal evidence he was poisoned by a soviet era nerve agent. the german chancellor has called the poisoning attempted murder. the navalny case has ignited a debate in the german parliament about how the government should respond. one suggestion should be -- suggestion has been to halt the construction of the pipeline that is to bring russian natural gas to europe if russia fails to investigate the case. two members of the foreign affairs committee are opposed to that. they favor a european response instead. the explained their positions to dw news. >> the main question is not,

should we pursue the nordstrom two. the main question is, how should we tackle russia. in russia, there is an atmosphere crated by the government where people feel motivated to kill oppositions or people who are against the government. so if we need a response, this response must be unanimous from the european union so we need a european answer. also to show that we are closely aligned with the international role-based order, which was severely violated by this event in russia. >> stopping nordstrom to would not mean russia would have no income from exporting oil or gas. americans and europeans import billions of dollars from russia even though it has not been completed. i am in favor of the e.u.

introducing a stank -- a sanction measure that punishes people for human rights violations. that would hurt the clique around putin. brent: the case of alexey navalny has parallels with that of another russian opposition figure who was poisoned two years ago. he says the use of the nerve agent tells us that navalny's poisoning goes all the way to the top in moscow. dw's moscow correspondent reports. >> he is fighting for. two years ago, the activist was fighting for his life, struck down by a poison. his situation was similar to that of alexey navalny. unlike navalny, there were no signs of the nerve agent. >> my poisoning was not as bad

as his. i was able to recover more quickly. i was already able to speak in the second week of recovery but novichok is an extremely strong poison. does not make a difference if you want to hurt someone or kill them. novichok is perfect for committing murder. >> like a navalny, he was treated at a berlin hospital. no one can confidently identify the substance that had been given to him. his symptoms prompted the doctors to suspect poisoning. with navalny he says, there is no doubt. >> the fact that novichok was used clearly points to the russian president. one thing is clear. only secret agents have access to this specific poison. this operation could only have been carried out with the approval of vladimir putin.

>> other opposition figures have been targeted with less deadly means. among them is the independent politician, dimitri. one year ago, he was barred from standing in the moscow city council elections and jailed for 36 days. another is an independent local politician and a prominent figure in the mass protest in moscow one year ago. she still faces charges for participating in demonstrations. >> we live in an authoritarian country in a dictatorship. this began when vladimir putin was voted into office. >> human rights are not part of the equation here. freedom and justice do not exist. here, you can be jailed every time you call for people to join a protest. >> in the face of f intimidatio, he refuses to stay silent. since his recovery, he has

become politically active in moscow again. that despite the fact he has a young daughter. >> i want my friends, my family and my daughter to live in a wonderful country without putin and his disgusting system. i am sure we can achieve this goal. >> until then, he will not let his daughter go out alone at night. every morning, he is by her side on the walk to school. brent: two australian journalists have returned home from china after being caught in five day diplomatic standoff. michael smith of the australian financial review and bill bartels from public broadcaster abc were forced to take shelter in australian diplomatic missions in china after their homes were rated. before they left china, they were questioned by chinese authorities about an australian tv anchor working for chinese state tv. with smith and burtel

s'departure, there are no australian journalist reporting in china. earlier, we spoke to one of the two australian journalists who left china. we asked him to outline for us the events that led to him returning to australia. >> this was a pretty u unexpectd situation. jujust as i was preparing to brk the story of the australian last mondnday, my bosses s in sydney received a call from australia's foreign affairs department saying we e have good reason to think i and a another j journalt in shanghai need to geget out quicklkly. for the first couple of dayays,t was s pretty hard d to getlights with covid.. while a arrangementnts were beig made, we were also questioning wherere this advice was cocoming from. being journalists, we are cynical and we went details.. on wednesday night, it becamee clear at midninight w when sixie

secucurity p police plus a translator t turned up on my doorstep. the most curious thing was they were not there to detain me. they were there to tell me i am involved in national securitity case and i am not allowed to leave the country. i said -- t they said you still have freedom of movement. you are still free to do your business. bubut they said we will call you the next day and we need to chat. this sparked a diplomatic sisituation where i went to the australian embassy and said, what is s your advice? they said we think you should stay here for your safety. brent: that was the australian journalist speaking with us earlier. let's take a look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world. israel and the united arab emirates are expected to sign an agreement to normalize relations between the two next w week. israeli prime minister and minette yahoo! will join the

uae's foreign minister in washington next tuesday. the uae will be the first golf state to have diplomatic ties with israel. firefighters are tackling a second blaze on an oil tanker off the sri lankan coast. days after the first was extinguished. the vessel is carrying nearly 2 million barrels of crude oil. officials have warned of a potentially massive environmental damage if there is a leak or if the ship explodes. tension is escalating between india and china over there disputed order in the himalayas. beijing has accused indian soldiers of illegally crossing and firing warning shotsts. that violates an agreement barring the use of firearms. india says chinese guards fired into the air. a border clash in june left 20 indian soldiers dead. wildfires are continuing to rage through parts of california. authorities believe one blaze

was stararted by fireworks at ta private party. temperatures in the state e have reached extreme highs of 49 degrees celsius, hampering efforts to control the flames. one month ago, a massive explosion rocked the lebanese capital beirut, killing more than 100 people and injuring many more. the city is still reeling from the destruction. the effects are partiticularly hard on children who can devevep long-term problems if their trauma is not treated soon. dw's reporter met the family of one girl was still suffering from the aftershocks. >> this girl is just four years old but she is suffering from posttraumatic stress. despite her apparent good mood, she is eagerly triggered. today for example, we wanted to go to hospital for her

treatment, but we could not because she was too scared. when we drive, she sees broken glass. it brings back memories and and she gets scared. when she sleeps, she sometimes wakes up with a start when she hears a noise. when she sleeps alone, she screams. we tried to calm her down. the trauma of the port explosion is on view across the city. an unrelenting reminder of how fast lives can be ripped apart. child psychologists -- this child psychologist as part of a red cross team that tends to the youngest and most fragile to help repair their emotional damage. she is trainined in methods t to help survivors o of wars and torture rebuild their lives. >> the aftermath of this huge shock on chihiren has an impact on their daily functioning but also on their life. this is why with the intervention that the e icrc dos is to help contain the wholole

family so thatat the parents fel safe and reassured in order for them to reassure their children . >> b but she lives in a countnty that already had many problems for the explosion. ththat making back to normal evn more complicated. >> we cannot continue to live like this in this country. i am concerned about my daughter because e there is n neither security nor stability. i would like to take my son, daughter and wife with me and leave the country. >> it is too e early to to with her,r,- to tell l with h her, bt the p psychologist says thereres reason for hope. >> we know childldren are veryy stability -- are v very resilit. with proper carere andnd intervrvention, most of the childrenen hopefully w will ovee this trauma and will not develop further symptoms and further

mental health difficulties. >> recovery and overcoming trauma, a complex task for her and the city she called home. brent: floods in sudan are continuing to threaten communities and important historical sites as the nile river swells to record levels. authorities are pumping the water out to save the ancient ruins, two of sudan's most important archaeological sites. the flooding has killed more than 100 people and left thousasands homeless. authorities have declared a three-month state of emergency. for more e on the humanitarian situation there. , i am joined by john in nairobi. it is good to have you on the program. give us an idea of how bad it is. is the worst still to come?

> yes,, thank you we have ben monitotoring this. sisince eararly junune when thee forecast were looking quite bad. i think our worst fears are coming to fruit.. theree has been n heavy rain sie july. recently, 16 out of 18 states are acted. from pictures -- are effffected. you cacawatch anywherere. there is masass water everywher. this is impacting peoplee, houss are destroyed, infrastructure is destroyed and visible impact on people's livelihoods. . it is only unfolding. the figures that you use -- we fear they are going to come much hihigher as inforormation is beg gathereded. we havee teaeams a assessing. we thinknk --- if you have 16 ot of 18 states, -- justst to bring the contetext, this is a a couny in transitioion.

you need to understanand what is happening. a transititional goverernmentt h massive humanitarian needs confronted with an ongoing economic crisis, internal conflict and on top of it, covid-19 pandemic. our fears are it will get worse as traditionally with floods, even on a smaller scale, usually when the waters recede, then you have possible health epidemics such as cholera. brent: let me just ask you -- thesese pictures w we are seein- itit is hard to access the peope who need help the momost right now?w? > obviously now in many of te parts where the water -- yes, it is difficult. we work through ththnational bobody. we arere a membershipp organization. international red cross. we are one of the biggest,

largest humanitarian networks in the world. we bring i in support f from everywhere. we r rely on our r firstesponde, which are ththe volununteers whe on the froront lines. you can imagine they are already exhausting. they have been working on months already dealing with the covid pandemic where they have been doing risk communication trying to work with their communities in keeping them safe. this situation now where they have to evacuate and provide shelter, temporary shelter in very new world we all live in where we have to provide social distancing, with the scale and numbers we are talking about. yes, the numbers are notot the realistic numbers that are being portrayed. brent: o ok, john. we certainly appreciate e your time u updating us on the sisituation in sudanan. ththank you. >> thank you. brent: a bleak morning for

european football clubs. the man responsible for protecting their interests says clubs are still in crisis management mode as they continue to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. the chair of the european club association says the effects could last for years. >> the light at the end of the tunnel for football clubs could still be some way off. games played in empty stadiums and a massive hit from broadcasters and sponsors. the coronavirus pandemic has already washshed away hundreds f millions of euros in revenue. a cash crisis with worse to come according to the manage charge of representing european clubs. >> we are looking at top revenue decrease of approximately 4 billion euros in the next two years. i have the fear that some of the

big clubs will probably suffer losses that are bigger than federations, one individual club and the confederations will lose. >> although this year's champions league was completed in lisbon, -- a knock on effect for clubs. some suggest his gloom -- his doom and gloom message is a ploy to get a better deal for the top clubs with the president striking a more up town -- upbeat tone. >> football is strong and we can be optimistic. even if we know the problems will last for a while. our next challenge is to bring the most important part of our game, the fans, back into our stadium. >> one of the steps will be in budapest. 20,000 fans be able to attend the super cup match here later

this month. brent: in athletics, -- has lost her latest appeal on the rules that seek to control testosterone levels in athletes. she took her case to switzerland's supreme court. she will not be able to defend her limbic title unless she takes testosterone reducing drugs. lord athletics says the rules are necessary to ensure a level playing field. she has vowed to continue to fight for the human rights of female athletes. here is a reminder of the top stories we are following. belarusian authorities say protest leader maria kolesnikova has been detained while attempting to cross into ukraine. ukraine's interior minister says she was resisting forced deportation. kolesnikova's whereabouts remain

unknown tonight. in the alexey navalny case, russia has summoned the german ambassador over statements made by berlin about the poisoning of the opposition leader. germany has warned and could end at support for a crucial gas pipeline if it fails to investigate. you're watching dw news. after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day. tonight, detained or disappearing? the opposition in belarus. ♪

passion for the- and dr heritage. you are here home twenty four i'm from four don't call. yeah welcome to life from paris will be in our from from twenty. i'm marco in these the headlines the crucial head to head in. as brit admits brexit cites the is. the internet law. but only the very specific unlimited wayay system over separate brandon lewis would the provoked anger across paula and- a residedent. of civil servant.