this is the briefing — i'm ben bland. our top story: the us says it will impose new sanctions on russia in response to the poisoning of a former spy in his daughter in britain. wildfires continue to burn out of control in portugal's most popular tourist region. hundreds of people evacuate their homes. the family of a murdered maltese journalist launch a formal request urging the government to properly investigate her death. the united states and japan meet for talks aimed at salvaging their $200 billion trading relationship. and ikea is opening its first store in india. i'll be speaking to yogita limaye who's at the opening in hyderabad. a warm welcome to the programme —

briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. and you can be part of the conversation too. later we'll be talking about a study in the us — it found people who do 45 minutes of exercise at least 3 times a week had better mental health than those who don't. so i want to know — what are your fitness secrets? what do you enjoy most? and how do you motivate yourself to exercise when you really can't be bothered? let me know what you think — just use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing the united states will impose new sanctions on russia, in response to the nerve agent attack in britain in march. that's when the former russian spy, sergei skripal, and his daughter yulia were poisoned. the state department and the cia say that the russian government broke us and international law by using chemical or biological

weapons. moscow denies any involvement in the attack. let's get more from our correspondent in washington, chris buckler. the us state department has been in touch with the russian government to say that the sanctions will come in two weeks time on august 22. this was a somewhat delayed decision. there were due to make the assessment months ago and politicians here in washington have been putting on the pressure to try and geta been putting on the pressure to try and get a realist what happened amid concerns about russia to dig certainly the suggestion that they used a chemical weapon on foreign soil. an attack in the middle of england continues to have consequences for international relationships. and in imposing sanctions, america makes clear that it believes russia used novichok in an attempted assassination here on the streets of salisbury.

in the aftermath of the poisoning of the former russian double agent sergei skripal and his daughter yulia, the united states was one of many countries that did take action. it expelled dozens of russian diplomats from the us, including many from its embassy in washington. and since then, members of congress have been pushing for the state department to make a definitive statement that russia had broken international law by using a chemical or biological weapons. in making that determination, sanctions are being automatically imposed that will prevent the sale of some electronics and sensitive technology to russia. that could put a strain on relationships at a time when donald trump appears to be trying to reach out to vladimir putin, especially as the second wave of harsher sanctions will follow the first unless moscow provides reassurance that it will not use chemical weapons again and opens up some sites to inspectors within 90 days. the kremlin is likely to resist. it continues to deny it was involved in the intended murder of sergei skripal and this daughter.

however, the us isjust one of more than 20 countries who have taken formal action against russia and the british government has welcomed what it called a strong international response. here in the united states it is increasingly obvious that there is a divide in the way his the administration and the president treat russia. 0ver administration and the president treat russia. over the last week we had a grand hall, a friend of donald trump, go to meet vladimir putin along with the letter of introduction from the us president himself. at the same time in the last week we also had a line of senior intelligence officials line up senior intelligence officials line up within the white house to say they are still deeply can send that russia is involved in cyber attacks and that the russians continued to interfere in elections. is a

difference between donald trump and those who speak within his administration. at the same time, however, they will need to get themselves onto the same page going forward because a decision on whether to impose the second wave of sanctions needs to be made within the next three months. wildfires have been burning now for five days in the algarve — a region in southern portugal that's a popular holiday spot. temperatures reached around 45 degrees celsius — almost a record high — and that's made it difficult to put out the fires. 0livia crellin reports. carrying their loved ones to safety — children, pets, the elderly, the sick. police evacuated residents of portugul‘s historic town, silves, as fires but for the fifth day in the region of the algarve. authorities make sure that even those reluctant to leave got out as the clouds of smoke towered overhead, the line of fire steadily

advancing over the hillside. more than 1,400 firefighters and soldiers battled the fire by land and by air as it encroached on the mountain spa town of monchique. most tourists have already been evacuated. remaining residents can only watch on. while no—one has died yet, the fire has injured more than 30 people and forced hundreds from their homes. they're becoming an increasingly common and sometimes deadly feature of the portuguese summer landscape. last year, 114 people died. the government had taken extra precautions after last year, but with near—record temperatures in the region, the difficulty in putting out these fires has raised doubts over their effectiveness. translation: see all the planes flying? and yet it continues and it gets worse every time. in 2003, we already experienced the same thing,

and it's happening again. as you see, it's a disaster. it's really miserable, don't you think? it's really sad, very sad to see our country as it is. prime minister antonio costa has warned that it could burn for days before being brought under control. already the fire has charred thousands of acres, turning portuguese countryside to dust. 0livia crellin, bbc news. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. the palestinian authorities say a woman and her eighteen—month—old child have been killed in a series of israeli airstrikes on the gaza strip. the israeli army said it was targeting what it called terror sites in the palestinian territory, in response to rockets being fired into israel. two rockets struck the town of sderot, injuring sixteen people. hundreds of farm labourers in southern italy, mostly african migrants, have gone on strike. they're protesting over the deaths

of sixteen workers killed in two separate road accidents earlier this week. the demonstartors walked out of the fields chanting ‘we are not slaves‘. new york is to become the first american city to limit the number of licences issued to ride—hailing services such as uber. the legislation also sets a minimum wage for drivers. new york is uber‘s largest american market, and its expansion has badly affected the yellow cab industry. swedish furniture giant ikea will open its first store in india. the mega retail and dining outlet will cover about 400,000 square feet, or 13 acres of space. while india is a huge market, will the build—it—yourself concept take off there? priya lakhani is founder and ceo of century tech — a uk based education technology platform and shejoins me now. good to see you. in some ways, given

the size of the population that, it is surprising that ikea has not done this before. and have been unable to. previously in india there were restrictions for new retailers to join the market without a local partner. they have been looking at this for over ten years. it has been long—awaited for ikea and it is necessary at a time when growth has plateaued in other countries. they have never closed a stall which is... that is great news for them in terms of the countries they have been in, but every company wants growth and india has the world ‘s fastest growing middle class. the aim now was to be able to serve about 6 million visitors a year in this high—tech city and then open ikea stores all over india and take advantage of the growing middle class. it very... it takes a while to get the furniture built itself.

it does take a while, that's from personal experience. and it takes a while for the concept to catch on. you think people will buy into this idea? i think they do because... i have spent a lot of time going back and forth with family in india and i think there will be impatient. they wa nt think there will be impatient. they want something quickly. in india, with furniture you either go to a local carpenter or you go to a single store where it can take quite a long time to get furniture. and if you are impatient you can go to ikea, builderfurniture you are impatient you can go to ikea, builder furniture and you are impatient you can go to ikea, builderfurniture and building yourself. they have found that indians may not want to build the furniture themselves so they have partnered with another company that has 150 staff members who will assemble it for you. a similar approach as task rabbit which is a

successful company based in silicon valley where you can hire someone to come build furniture. another thing i would like to find out later is whether they will sell the meatball and cheats? ai. chicken and vegetarian meatballs and they are offering a plate of rice. it is about a dollar 45 for an entire plate of theory i need —— of rice and $2 for the meatballs. so it is a great price point for india and i think it will be popular. we will talk more about that and other main stories in later when we see you later on. the family of the murdered maltese journalist daphne ca ruana galizia are formally requesting that the government properly investigates her death. for 30 years, she had held the rich and powerful in malta to account. but last october, she was killed by a bomb placed in her car. herfamily and human rights groups accuse the government of failing to solve the murder and will lodge their legal case at the maltese high commission in london later.

lyse doucet, our chief international correspondent, has been speaking to the journalist's son. for 30 years, she was a thorn in the side of malton‘s rich and powerful. facing dozens of libel suits and almost daily threats. dan, a bomb in her car killed her outside her home. there have been arrests and a criminal investigation. at accusations as well that authorities are not asking a crucial question. could her life have been saved. in london and her lawyers are submitting this document, can that are accusing mortar are failing to conduct an independent investigation. my mother, especially in the last five years, was reporting on serious corruption at the highest levels of maltese government. we ended up in this difficult situation where many of the people she investigated ended up

investigating her murder. that does make things difficult and that is in pa rt make things difficult and that is in part why we are calling for a public enquiry. it is important, in a personal way, because you feel that until you have a full and complete picture, until you can find this, and i've stop asking if anything could have been done differently, then you feel like you can not grieve. on this island, the smallest member state of the eu, and almost everybody read daphne's daily blog. and every day have family lived with the threats. there were arson attacks on the house. 0ur pet dogs we re attacks on the house. 0ur pet dogs were killed. three times. three times. poisoned, throat slit, poison again. we grew up with this. it was no secret that my mother received these threats. what do you expect to be the reaction of the maltese government to your request for aid

broader independent enquiry under article two of the european convention on human rights?” article two of the european convention on human rights? i hope that they share our concern that this is really important. i would like to think that we have a shared interest in this, that malta is a country has a shared interest in understanding what went wrong. 0bviously something went horribly wrong. since the shocking murder in malta, european politicians have also called for a broader enquiry. maltese officials deny they are not doing enough. now there is another charge to answer. we are currently waiting for a response from the maltese government to our interview with paul ca ruana galizia and to the submission of that legal document calling for a public inquiry into the death of his mother. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: good for the body and the mind — a new study sheds new light on the effect exercise has on our mental health.

the question was whether we want to save our people, and japanese as well, and win the war, or whether we want to take a chance on being able to win the war by killing all our young men. the invasion began at 2am this morning. mr bush, like most other people, was clearly caught by surprise. we call for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all the iraqi forces. 100 years old and still full of vigor, vitality and enjoyment of life. no other king or queen in british history has lived so long, and the queen mother is said to be quietly very pleased indeed that she's achieved this landmark anniversary. this is a pivotal moment

for the church as an international movement. the question now is whether the american vote will lead to a split in the anglican community. you're watching the briefing. 0ur headlines: the us plans to slap new sanctions on russia, after deciding moscow was behind the nerve agent attack on ex—spy sergei skripal and his daughter. wildfires blaze out of control in portugal's most popular tourist region, as hundreds of people are evacuated. in the next few hours, argentina's senate will declare the result of voting on whether to legalise abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. the bill would make argentina the third latin american country to broadly legalise abortion, after cuba and uruguay. let's bring you some live pictures

now from buenos aires. it isa it is a debate that has sparked strong feelings on both sides, there have been protests, people demonstrating both in support of the deal and also against it. joining me from buenos aires is our correspondent, katy watson. any indication yet of how close the result is or not? well, the senators are still coming to the end of the arguments. they have not even started voting, but they have been talking for probably 11, i2 started voting, but they have been talking for probably 11, 12 hours now and about 38 out of 72 senators have made it clear that they intend to vote against the bill, and you can see that reflected on the streets behind me. the campaign for the legalisation of abortion, all of those campaigners have pretty much

gone home and the people are left on the streets are those who were against the idea of legalising abortion. they are having a bit of a party outside congress, as i stand. so it is not over, the vote is still yet to happen but the feeling he on the street is very much that this bill will not pass. and is interesting that when you sort of look at argentina, it is obviously a very strongly catholic country but in many ways, people will tour to sort of lead the way on human rights issues such as this in the region? it seems likely have lost the link there in buenos aires, butjust to recap, after months of strong debate and discussion, the senators in argentina and now making the final

speeches before they vote on whether to allow abortion during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. as you can see from those live pictures from the streets of buenos aires, people are at showing either their support for the opposition. many supporters on both sides of the debate. we will keep the cost developments in the argentinian senate and bring you the results of that vote as we get it. here's our briefing on some of the key events happening later. we begin injapan, where un secretary general antonio guterres will take part in a ceremony marking 73 years since the nagasaki atomic bombing. later in washington, there will be an update on the outlook for atlantic hurricanes from the national oceanic and atmospheric administration. and after that, the serbian town of guca will host its annual trumpet festival, with dozens of brass bands competing over four days of street parties. time now to get all the latest from the

bbc sports centre. hello there, i'm tulsen tollett. coming up in your thursday sport briefing: the us pga championship gets underway in missouri a few hours from now. the english transfer deadline window could throw up some surprises. while england and india head out in the second test at lord's. it's the final golf major of the year, and the us pga championship gets underway in just a few hours' time at the bellerive country club in missouri. this man here, justin thomas — the defending champion — is one of the favourites going in after winning the wgc event at firestone last weekend, while this man here, jordan spieth is looking to complete the career grand slam. and although he has such a strong pedigree at majors, he doesn't see himself as a favourite. i feel somewhat under the radar this year. i've kind of felt that way a lot this year. i don't mind it. but at the same time, this tournament will always be circled until i'm able to hopefully win it some day,

it'll always be circled to complete the career grand slam, which will ultimately, you know, achieve a lifelong goalfor me. a busy day ahead for english football clubs, as their transfer window closes at 16 gmt on thursday. there are plenty of big deals being done, with chelsea having signed kepa arriza balaga from athletic bilbao for a world record goalkeeper fee of $79 million to replace thibaut courtois, who's on his way to real madrid, with real‘s croatian midfielder mateo kovacic moving to stamford bridge on a season long loan from the spanish club. and after one of the best examples of test match cricket in recent years, both england and india are ready to do it all over again. england won the dramatic first test byjust 31 runs and will be looking to take a 2—0 series lead at lord's. 20—year—old 0lli pope is expected to make his debut and bat at number fourfor england. play gets underway at 10 gmt.

in case you missed it, novak djokovic was among the early winners on day three of the toronto masters. the number nine seed is bidding to regain the title he won for a fourth time two years ago. the wimbledon champion eased into the third round with a straight sets victory over the canadian wildca rd, peter pola nsky. djokovic won 6—3, 6—3. in the women's singles in montreal, there was a shock defeat for the number four seed, angelique kerber. the wimbledon champion was beaten in straight sets by alize cornet of france, and she'll play australia's ashleigh barty next. no problems, though, for the number three seed sloane stephens, who's gearing up for the defence of her us open title later this month. she eased into the third round with a straight sets victory over the canadian wildcard, francoise abanda. stephens winning 6—0, 6—2. now if you've never heard of the harlem globetrotters, now‘s a good time to acquaint

yourself with them. the globetrotters are an exhibition basketball team that perform games meant to entertain, filled with a combination of comedy, stunts and athletic skill. one of their members, bull bullard, flew above wildwood in newjersey on wednesday and scored a shot into a basketball hoop on a runway below from inside the small airplane he was riding in. —— aeroplane. quite a feat and looks better every time and every angle you see it from. you can get all the latest sports news at our website. that's bbc.com/sport. but from me, tulsen tollett, and the rest of the sport team, that is your thursday sport briefing. are you one of those healthy types who exercise for 45 minutes, three to five times a week? a new study suggests that if so, you've also got better mental health than those who don't. that's according to a study of 1.2 million people in the us, published in the lancet

psychiatry journal. laura foster reports. it has long been known that exercise keeps the body healthy, and now we are keeps the body healthy, and now we a re really keeps the body healthy, and now we are really beginning to learn more about the effect it has on the minds. new research, which surveyed more than a million people, found that those who exercised said they suffered from poor mental health less often than those who didn't. is one of the reasons people come to this running cloud in didsbury. one of the reasons people come to this running cloud in didsburylj feel really good. if you push yourself, you know you're going to be happy at the of its top but exercising general is the best way by far the misty stress. -- exercising general. it gives me a lot of freedom and confidence and has helped me get over a lot of depression. the reduction in poor mental health was linked to how much time was spent exercising. the biggest reduction came when people

spent between half an hour and are 110w spent between half an hour and are now at a time exercising. if you exercise for an hour and a half, he would still see improvement that it will be smaller. being active for more than three hours a day was associated with worse mental health than not exercising at all. but does being inactive lead to poorer mental health, or does poorer mental health mean you are less likely to get active? at this point, experts cannot determine which one causes the other. i have been asking if your fitness secrets and how you motivate yourself. rachel from nebraska says i love working out at the gym and listening to my iphone. suzanne says if she is struggling to grow for a suzanne says if she is struggling to growfora run suzanne says if she is struggling to grow for a run and swimming, she just thinks about her post exercise treat. keep those coming in.

hello there. things are looking cooler and fresher now for the rest of this week, particularly across northern and western areas, with a mixture of sunshine and showers. some of the showers will continue to be quite heavy as well, maybe with the risk of thunder. the reason for the cooler air, an area of low pressure has driven out the heat into the near continent, introducing something cooler and fresher off the atlantic, and we'll maintain a west or south—westerly airflow. we start this morning on a fairly chilly note across parts of scotland and northern ireland. further south and northern ireland. further south and east, we are starting off with some cloud around this morning. 0utbreaks some cloud around this morning. outbreaks of rain should continue to move north—east would. showers will get going across scotland and northern ireland. across central areas, good sunshine. it looks like the rain could increase across western areas. winds will be quite

blustery across scotland and northern ireland, generally light for northern england and wales. with this low pressure across france and the low countries, it is likely to deepen and there is the chance it could be pretty wet for the evening rush year. limit of uncertainty to the westward extent of this rain. does look like that will push off towards the north sea as we head into friday, and an area of high pressure tries to build in. we also have an area of low pressure above the atlantic waiting to make its way into the weekend. 0n the atlantic waiting to make its way into the weekend. on friday, another day of sunshine and showers. some of them could be on the heavy side once again, a rumble of thunder. some areas staying dry with pleasant spells of sunshine. those winds fairly blustery again across the north—west. just in time for the weekend, this area of low pressure comes hurtling in. still a bit of uncertainty to exactly where most of the rain will be that the current thinking is it is more northern and

western areas which will bear the brunt of this area of low pressure in regards to the rain, whereas further south and east you are, potentially a little bit dry and warmer. for much of scotland and northern ireland, that rain could be quite heavy at times but blustery winds across western coast. the further south—east you are, rain to central areas but southern and south—eastern areas could be quite warm with some sunshine. this is the business briefing. i'm ben bland. the united states and japan meets for talks aimed at salvaging their $200 billion trading relationship. ikea opens its first, huge, store in india. but will they be able to sway shoppers who are not familiar with the diy approach? and on the markets, asian investors on thursday largely brushed off china's tit—for—tat response to donald trump's latest tariff threats, with most markets rising, but concerns about the impact of an all—out trade war are keeping optimism in check.