this is the face of the new silk road. behind the stage make—up, buhalima is a muslim from a farming family. her people left behind by china's growth. here in xinjiang, the state fears radical islam. and ethnic unrest has kept many away. translation: tourists i met told me they heard xinjiang was unsafe, that they couldn't be sure to get out unharmed if they came here. some people did some bad things and it's affected all of us. china is trying to re—write the script. at this theatre, a grand narrative of ethnic unity and opportunities for all. there is a lot of ground to cover. the wealth gap between west china and the coast, a challenge as immense as the terrain. this economy is addicted to building but the coast now has as much road

and rail as it can absorb. so china's seeking new frontiers at home and abroad. first stop west china. to solve economic and security problems with one blow. the silk road was once unimaginably remote to most chinese. not any more. in less than a decade, china's built twice as much rail as the rest of the world combined and pushed it out to the far west, towards the fabled silk road oasis of dunhuang, a magnet for the biggest tourist force in the world. one government hopes will kick start growth and stabilise the region. heading west to troubled xinjiang, do they fear becoming targets of terror? translation: i'm not afraid.

there are people looking after our safety everywhere we go. translation: a small group of people are causing trouble but 99% are good. at xinjiang's grand theatre, they're spending $250 million on a silk road centre—piece but the more china invests, the more it has to protect. the ancient silk road story has moments of danger. and china's grand new narrative is fraught with peril. deliver on the spin of opportunities for all, or forever scan the crowd for the enemy within. carrie gracie, bbc news, xinjiang. and carrie continues herjourney tomorrow in kazakhstan,

where china is challenging russia's influence. newsnight is coming up on bbc two. tonight, we'll be delving deep into the trump e—mails, the disclosure today that one watergate prosecutor described as a smoking cannon. and we've an exclusive investigation into one work place, where staff have been paid the equivalent of one third of the minimum wage. join me now on bbc two. here on bbc one, it's time for the news where you are. hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm hugh ferris. carry on konta. the british number one is heading to the wimbledon semifinals after another three—set thriller on centre court. standing between konta and the wimbledon final — venus williams — the five—time champion — who becomes the oldest semi—finalist at the tournament in 23 years. avoiding pitfalls and potholes. novak djokovic reaches

the quarter—finals but is the latest to question the quality of the wimbledon courts. and a fourth stage win at the tour de france for germany's marcel kittel — chris froome retains the yellow jersey. another day, another moment of history forjohanna konta. she's become the first british woman to reach the wimbledon semi finals for 39 years. and in what is becoming something of a theme, she made the centre court crowd suffer. ben croucher watched the action. how is this for service? not every quarterfinalist brings muffins to the locker room butjohanna konta is not every wimbledon quarterfinalist,

she is a british one, the first woman to get this far in years. stepping into the unknown. she dropped her opening service game against simona halep but soon enough parity had been restored, as had a familiar weapon. her backhand baking something sweet on centre court. the first set ended with a bitter taste, falling short in the tie—break. victory would send halep to number one in the world and she seemed determined to reach that goal. no matter how many competitions konta tried, this —— no matter how many combinations konta tried. this was not even the point that won the second set. this was. most are standing. look at that. somehowjo

konta has forced a final set. by now she was used to breaking new ground and the crucial break in the decider secured. the crucial backhand still rock solid. aiming to be the first british woman in the semifinals since virginia wade in 1978. a crowd, a nation expected. just one more points. british tennis history is made. yammer conte is an wimbledon semifinalist. just the five—time champion venus williams next. -- you have a contact. i am humbled and excited to share the court with her again. we have had many great battles and hopefully we can create another great battle. she will be back on thursday. two more matches to put the icing on the cake. so konta then will play venus williams next. the 37—year—old, who has won the singles title five times, beat the french open champion

jelena ostapenko in straight sets. the latvian is 17 years younger than the american who's become the oldest semifinalist at the tournament in 23 years. garbine muguruza was a finalist at wimbledon two years ago and she's one step away from another after beating svetlana kuznetsova in straight sets to reach the semis. 6—3 6—4 the score. muguruza will play magdalena rybarikova, who has become the lowest ranked woman to make the women's semi—finals at wimbledon. the world number 87 shocked 24th seed coco wandeweghe, beating the american in straight sets. the first winner of the day was novak djokovic. his fourth round match was scheduled for yesterday. the delay didn't trouble the number two seed. djokovic beating adrian mannarino in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals where he'll play tomas berdych. now during the match djokovic complained of a hole

near the baseline and made his feelings known to the umpire. he's not the first player to raise the issue about the state of the courts at this year's championships. the courts honestly are not that great this year and many players feel the same. it is what it is. the weather also affects the grass. i am sure the grounds men know theirjob the best in the world that the grass is probably the most complex surface to maintain. it is not easy and they are trying their best. but, i have played better courts. elsewhere jamie murray and his partner martina hingis made progress in the mixed doubles. the top seeds beat the czech pair romanjebavy and lucie radecka in straight sets to reach the quarter—finals. so let's look ahead to what's in store for tomorrow. the weather's going to be much better. that's the first thing.

it's men's quarterfinals day. andy murray's first up on centre with roger federer milos raonic to follow. on court one novak djokovic is back again for his last eight match after rafael nadal‘s conqueror gilles muller faces marin cilic. murray takes on sam querrey. the american 24th seed who knocked djokovic out last year. it's the defending champion‘s tenth straight wimbledon quarterfinal. and it'll start at 1pm. the longterm future of the british grand prix is in doubt tonight after silverstone's owner confirmed they've activated a break clause in their contract with formula one. it is to stop hosting the race after 2019. silverstone has been home to the race every year since 1987. however, the british racing drivers‘ club which owns the circuit, is struggling with the financial cost of running the event. we have lost £2.8 million in 2015

and 4.8 million in 2016 and we expect to lose a similar amount this year. we cannot go one sustaining and subsidising the british grand prix with the rest of the grass roots motorsport activities we run. we wa nt roots motorsport activities we run. we want to preserve the british grand prix at silverstone and think it isa grand prix at silverstone and think it is a terrific venue and the fans love it. we think the tv audience laughs silverstone. liberty wants to preserve it here and we do. we ought to be able to come to a solution. it will probably need compromises on each side. after yesterday's rest day the riders were back in action at the tour de france today and there was a familiar stage winner — with germany's marcel kittel winning for the fourth time in this year's race. there was also no change at the top with chris froome still in the yellowjersey. drew savage reports. stage ten of 21 and still over 1200 miles to go to paris. chris froome

and team sky pressing on without one possibly key man. geraint thomas. 13 we re possibly key man. geraint thomas. 13 were missing for the peloton including one of the biggest threats for chris froome, richie porte crashed out on sunday. two flat stages give most the chance to regroup but no rest for the sprinters. the contest for the sprinters‘ greenjersey sprinters. the contest for the sprinters‘ green jersey is also a few men short with men like cavendish eliminated. therefore marcel kittel is the man of the moment. nobody could get near him. four stage wins. favourite to wear green in paris. chris froome finish safely behind and collected another yellow jersey, his 50th. safely behind and collected another yellowjersey, his 50th. he still leads by 18 seconds with 11 stages to go. the international olympic committee has voted to award hosting rights for both the 2024 and 2028 olympics in september. the decision all but guarantees

paris and los angeles will stage the games as they‘re the only candidates. the french bid has been backed by new president emmanuel macron, who was in lausanne today for the vote. it‘s thought paris will be the more likely host in 2024 as it‘s the centenary of the first time they staged the games. the two cities must come to an agreement before an ioc meeting in peru or the hosts for seven years‘ time will be decided by another vote. that‘s all from sportsday. coming up in a moment, the papers. hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the the papers will be

bringing us tomorrow. with me are alison little, deputy political editor of the daily express, and the guardian columnist hugh muir. it is good to see you. the front pages. the i leads with the public inquiry into contaminated blood. the paper calls it the "worst scandal in nhs history". the news that president trump‘s son was keen to accept information on hillary clinton from a russian national, is the main headline in the ft. the telegraph has the same story, with the claim that trump junior could face a treason investigation. the express leads with the foreign secretary‘s suggestion, that the eu can "go whistle" if it makes "extortionate" demands during brexit negotiations. the times says a parliamentary report has concluded that a joint royal navy and eu mission to combat people smuggling in in the mediterranean has caused more migrants to die at sea.

the aristocrat found guilty over menacing facebook posts to the businesswoman gina miller, is the top story in the metro. the mail has details of report that claims conservative mps were targets of hate campaign to the election. and — ‘wade to gojo‘ is the sun‘s back page headline — as virginia wade celebrates johanna konta making it through to the semi finals of wimbledon. we will discuss that later. we will start with the disturbing story about the pm ordering an enquiry into nhs deaths after years of campaigning and finally the relatives of some of those who died from contaminated blood products in the 70s and 80s will get the enquiry

they have been after. it has been widely welcomed and there is cross— party widely welcomed and there is cross—party pressure for this enquiry, including the dup supporting theresa may. i do not know how significant that was in it. blood products given by the nhs to british haemophiliacs and other patients and it turned out a lot of