Joe biden promises to lead america out of what he calls its season of darkness as he formally accepts the Democratic Party president ial nomination. Hello and welcome if you re watching in the uk or around the world 7 and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. The mystery over the condition of leading russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny has deepened. The fierce and outspoken critic of president putin collapsed while on a flight to moscow and is now in a coma in hospital. His supporters claim he was poisoned via a substance added to his tea but one of the doctors in charge of his care has this morning said that so far no traces of poison have been in his system. Mr navalnys aides have insisted he be transferred to germany for treatment, but the russian hospital chief says hes too ill to be moved. The hopsital say they have a diagnosis, which they have yet to reveal. They gave this update a little earlier. Translation today, from the tests we have done so far, no poison or trace of poison has been found in his blood or youre in stopso poison is still in the back of our mind but we dont think the patient has been poisoned. Our correspondent Sarah Rainsford is live in moscow. And itjust and it just becomes and itjust becomes more confusing . It does. There has been some very emotional and strong messages coming from the family and friends of Alexei Navalny on the ground in omsk at the hospital where he is being treated. They essentially allege a cover up. They believe mr navalny has been poisoned and they believe the police, doctors and authorities there are doing Everything Possible to hide and conceal that. But as we have heard from the doctors, the deputy chief doctor came out to say there has been no trace of any poison found in any of the tests they have done on mr navalny, and there is nothing to be found. Whilst there is nothing to be found. Whilst the doctor said the possibility that he may have been poisoned remains as a theory on the back of his mind, as he put it, officially speaking they are he put it, officially speaking they a re pretty he put it, officially speaking they are pretty much ruling that out. They say there is a diagnosis, we havent heard what it is yet. But we are told the family have been informed. You would think they would wa nt to informed. You would think they would want to announce their diagnosis very quickly to dispel if they can the suspicions of poisoning. Possibly. They are saying this is an issue of patient confidentiality, so perhaps we will have to wait and see whether mr navalnys wife will come out to say what she has been told. I suspect she will. All the while there is a plane, an air ambulance standing by in omsk ready to transport mr navalny to germany as soon as the doctors will release him. There is a big fight going on over that at the moment with the family saying the doctors claim mr navalny is not stable enough to be transported is again an attempt to stop him leaving the country. They say they want to make sure that he can have independent medical treatment, that he can have independent toxicology testing done and get the best possible care to ensure he pulls through this. The doctors are saying he is not fit to travel and as soon as he is fit he will be released. But the team surrounding mr navalny believe this is all part of an attempt to hide what has actually happened to him. You mentioned the team surrounding mr navalny. Are they physically surrounding him there, his wife, his aides, are they bearing a hospital in omsk or is this being done to a degree from a distance . They are at the hospital but i understand that so far only the hospital but i understand that so faronly mr the hospital but i understand that so far only mr navalnys wife and brother have been allowed physically into his presence, to his bedside. But around them there is a whole group of people, particularly his aides travelling with him, and another member of his Anti Corruption another member of his anti corru ption investigation team. He has a huge team of people, not just in moscow but across the country who work as part of his campaign, both political activism and Anti Corruption campaign, both political activism and anti corru ption investigations. There are always a number of people who speak on behalf of that team. At the moment it is primarily his aide who was on the flight with mr navalny when they took off from siberia, intending to fly back to moscow, but he fell sick very suddenly. She has been the main person passing on information, particularly these very deep concerns that mr navalnys friends and family have over what has really happened to him. I know you will keep us up to speed with developments in this fast developing story. Lets get the thoughts of sir tony brenton British Ambassador to russia from 2004 . 2008. Thank you for talking to us. Your reflections at this rather confusing moment . I have to say, the russian medical profession on the whole are pretty professional and pretty cautious was that this is the first i heard on your show that the hospital have now said it is unlikely to be poisoning. Listening to the account, if they wanted to dismiss the story completely then they would have done so. Instead of which they carefully said, we are keeping the possibility open but there is no trace at the moment so i am rather inclined to believe what the hospital is saying, firstly that there is no evidence so far but they will carry on looking, and secondly that navalny is too sick to travel. That then creates a problem for everybody, i suppose, that then creates a problem for everybody, isuppose, because that then creates a problem for everybody, i suppose, because there is so little trust between mr navalnys team and his family, and then the russian authorities, given all the history that his care inside russia is a problem for everybody, i guess. You have two parties here who dont trust each other, dont like each other. Navalnys team have very good reasons to mistrust and detest the russian authorities. Navalny has had a very tough time in the past with the russian authorities and you fully understand why they are as worked up as they are. On the other hand, and as i have said in the last couple of days, if you look at what the russian governmental interest in all of this is, the last thing they wa nt all of this is, the last thing they want is for navalny to die because if that happens they are facing a huge eruption of domestic and international protest, at precisely the time when russian domestic morale is very low because of the virus and other things, Economic Growth has stalled. They have some hideous political disruptions. Problem is that if navalny dies will come, the kremlin are probably thinking in this particular case, and their responsibility is probably unlikely. You can understand why people might jump to unlikely. You can understand why people mightjump to the conclusion because there is so much form in terms of unfortunate events befalling critics of the regime. Thats absolutely right. I was the ambassador at the time Alexander Litvinenko was murdered, so i went through it and saw the evidence in that particular case and it was a slam dunk, the russians certainly killed him. They certainly made the attack on the skripals. They are certainly more astute when they are dealing with their own domestic opposition. A friend of mine, opposition, who was killed outside the kremlin a few years ago, the world deduced it was the kremlin that did it, but the evidence is now pretty strong that it was done by the rather nasty boss of chechnya against whom a dossier was being prepared. No valley is the most serious opponents that the kremlin faces but the opposition is not a serious threat. Navalny is. Vladimir putin hasjust serious threat. Navalny is. Vladimir putin has just won a referendum that effectively makes an president for life if he wants it. The bulk of the russian people behind him and they have the Security Apparatus to suppress those who are not. People like navalny are an irritant but they become much more of a challenge and threat if they become martyrs, and if they are killed. The kremlin interest is in him being around, in him making noise, but not becoming a martyr. Going back to the difficultjudgment calls for those inside the hospital in omsk, a german air ambulances waiting, and arguably if he was and when he is fit to they might want to put him on there. Absolutely, if they can make him fit to travel, they can make him fit to travel, they would be delighted for him to go off somewhere. Frankly, they want him cured. Sorry, my phonejust went off. They do want him cured, because annoying though he is as an opponent, he would be much more problematic for them if he became a martyr. We will leave it there and thank you forjoining us. People arriving in the uk from portugal will no longer need to quarantine for two weeks. But travellers returning from croatia, austria and Trinidad And Tobago will have to self isolate. The changes apply to anyone arriving after 4am on saturday. Simonjones reports. The beaches in portugal look set to get a whole lot busier. The country has been added to the uks safe travel list as coronavirus cases there fall. Last year it attracted 2. 5 million british tourists. Portugals Prime Minister tweeted. But holiday firms are warning, it wont be enough to save the summer. Its going to be too late for the peak season. Its a very blunt instrument to use quarantine in the way that it has been used. And people have been extremely nervous of travelling anyway during august. And from 4am tomorrow morning, anyone visiting croatia, austria and Trinidad And Tobago will now have to quarantine for 14 days when they reach the uk. It follows a rise in the rate of Coronavirus Infections in those countries. Theyjoin other holiday destinations including spain and france to which the Foreign Office advises against all nonessential travel. In croatia, there is sun, sea and now stress for those aiming to get home before the deadline. I should have been going to france last weekend and due to the quarantine on france, i changed my flight to croatia. My daughters fiance and his family all live here. But she booked me a flight home tomorrow in case this did happen. Many of the 20,000 british tourists in croatia will also be heading to the airport. Others, though, are resigned to isolation when they return to the uk. I think welljust stay and then go back and then have to quarantine. And with the British Government prepared to add or remove countries from its list of travel corridors at short notice, its not the easiest time for those looking to get away from it all. Simon jones, bbc news. Earlier i spoke to darija reic the uk representative of the Croatia National tourist board. She says the uk should take a more regional approach to travel restrictions. The uk government to, if it was willing to look at our separate regions according to those numbers, then we would have been in a much better position because the majority of our coasts, most of the regions, are actually doing pretty well, so to say overall that croatian numbers are very high is not actually correct. The majority of the coast is still very, very safe. Our political correspondent, helen catt has been explaining why the uk government has made its latest decision to impose quarantine restrictions tourists arriving from croatia, austria and Trinidad And Tobago. We have now seen this pattern in recent weeks of more and more of those countries coming off the list of exemptions, so france, spain, belgium and the netherlands, all of those now needing to quarantine if you come back from there. The decision to lift restrictions on quarantine from portugal, though, is the most significant in terms of tourism from the uk, in terms of going the other way, that we have seen so far, but it has come right at the end of the Summer Season so you heard questions in simons report about the timing. Thinking back to the point of these policies, the point of the quarantine policy was to stop importing infections from abroad now the rate in the uk is lower. The realisation was that if you make everyone who goes anywhere quarantine for 14 days then that would effectively scupper the travel industry so the point of bringing in a list of exemptions was to boost the travel industry to some extent. We have seen the volatility of how things can change quickly and transport secretary grant shapps reinforced in a tweet last night that you must be content to be able to quarantine for 14 days if you go anywhere. There has been pressure on the government to look at other alternatives to that and one of the things that comes up a lot is the idea of testing at the airport. Transport secretary grant shapps said they are looking at that, they are interested in it, but its not as simple as it sounds. You can test somebody on day one when they come into the country, it may only find and these figures are of course debated and disputed by scientists and medical experts but it may only find 7 of people who are asymptomatic, in other words, people who dont know they have coronavirus and if you have it you shouldnt be travelling anyway, of course. So its not very helpful on day one. You then need to potentially test on day eight to get a very high percentage. You then need the results and by then you could be in a position where you have taken up quite a lot of time in quarantine. So its not quite as simple as it is sometimes presented. However, its something we are very interested in and we are working on, on how that can be delivered reliably. Another idea that has been suggested as having what could be called Regional Travel corridors, so bits of a country with a lower rate of infection could be exempted. Grant shapps said there are serious difficulties with that because people move around but he said the government is looking at that to see if it could be done perhaps for islands. This came up when quarantine was reimposed on spain because infection rates were much lower in the Balearic Islands and canaries. So these things are being looked at and i think the pressure will stay on the government to look at other alternatives to quarantine. We can speak now to emma irvine, a british student stuck outside dubrovnik. And herfriend rebecca machie, who works two jobs and is worried about what will happen. Iam i am sorry you are stuck, when were you hoping to come home . On sunday. And when they announced last night we tried to book flights but couldnt get anything direct into Northern Ireland any sooner, or anywhere else in the uk so we have resigned ourselves we are staying here and well have to quarantine. What will the impact be because you will get back after 4am tomorrow, so you will have to quarantine. Emma, what are the imprecations of that for you . I am meant to be starting back at university, starting my final year of medical school on friday. Im moving into new accommodation so i wont be able to do that so i am in contact with the university to try to make arrangements to start a bit later but i am not sure what impact it will have on the rest of the year. In terms of your studies, will it make an impact or will it have been virtual anyway . Can you do thatjust as well from quarantine . Some will be virtual but some was ward placements and hospital placements and given quarantine guidelines i will not be able to do that, so i will not be able to do that, so i will have to probably make that up at some point in the next couple of months, i would assume. At some point in the next couple of months, iwould assume. Rebecca, at some point in the next couple of months, i would assume. Rebecca, you work in retail, in a supermarket, and you also work in a nursery. Yes, i work and you also work in a nursery. Yes, iwork in and you also work in a nursery. Yes, i work in a tesco a few hours a week andl i work in a tesco a few hours a week and i also work in a summer scheme looking after children from 4 11. If i have to isolate then it will make doing that a lot more difficult because its a Small Business and with the child issues, it will affect other people who need time off and childcare. Yourself isolation carries significant implications for your work, because both of those jobs you cant do in isolation. No. I know the government isolation. No. I know the government is asking employers to be understanding of travellers who are caught out by new quarantine restrictions. Do you know that your employers will be understanding and have you been able to talk to them . Yeah, i feel both my employers have been really understanding. It was something we anticipated. We kept an eye out and thought it would be safe enough here but it has obviously happens now. It will put a bit more stress on the business but it will not cripple it. I willjust have to make upa not cripple it. I willjust have to make up a few extra hours. You both look very chilled out and philosophical. The sun is shining. Do you feel, so be it, this is what has happened, or do you feel irritated by the suddenness of the rules . Irritated by the suddenness of the rules . Whats the feeling today questionnaire we thought we might have had it extended to sunday or monday because there are just a few flights out of croatia, but we understand why they are doing it and we wa nt understand why they are doing it and we want the uk to be in a good position so we are willing to take the quarantine. We decided to comment so we will now enjoy the rest of our holiday. We cant get back so we might as well enjoy the sunshine and time we have left. Rebecca, you are not worried about the rising caseload in croatia, youre not worried about catching virus there . It is always a worry, but the region we are in is actually pretty safe. Most of the cases are not here, and everyone is really safe, everyone wearing masks, every place you go into, there is hand sanitiser everywhere. Sometimes i feel safer here than i would in some places in the uk because they are very safe here. Thank you to you both for speaking to us and enjoy your last couple of days and have a safe isolation when you come home. Thank you. As the risk of a second wave of coronavirus grows countrys across the globe have been setting out their own travel rules and restrictions. So how do they compare with the uk . Germany s sixteen federal states have the final say on lockdown measures and testing at airports is now compulsory for all people coming from high risk countries. In france travellers with symptoms of the virus or those who cannot prove the results of a virology test will be required to quarantine. People from many nations outside europe are also subject to compulsory quarantine. Any person who enters canada by air, sea or land is required to self isolate for fourteen days whether or not they have symptoms of the virus. The United States has barred entry of all foreign nationals who had visited china, iran and a group of European Countries during the previous fourteen days. People entering new zealand are required to quarantine for at least fourteen days in an approved facility they will also need to return a negative test before they can travel around the country. France has reported a sharp rise in the number of coronavirus cases, up by a thousand since wednesday. It is the first time more than 4,000 daily cases have been seen since may. Meanwhile spain, germany and italy have also recorded their highest numbers of cases since late april or may. The uk registered a further 1182 cases on thursday. Officials in birmingham are concerned that the city could face tougher restrictions or a local lockdown. Its after a steep rise in Coronavirus Infections, which have doubled since the start of the month. The leader of Birmingham City council described the increase as extremely con
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