military personnel from neighbouring china and mongolia are also taking part in the biggest exerciseits kind since the end of the soviet era. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. i'm chetan pathak: coming up in your thursday sport briefing, we look ahead to the final women's golf major of the year, to stage 18 of the veulta a espana, and we hear from the two men involved in boxing's fight of the year. the final women's golf major of the year, the evian championship, is getting underway in france. last year's winner anna nordqvist will be looking to become the first woman to successfully defend her title at the evian resort golf course.

very close allies such as ballo groups have been allowed to participate a small contingent from mongolia is also involved. as the drills got underway russian president vladimir putin greeted his chinese counterpart cheating playing at the economic forum in flat yvonne stark the two countries are closer now than at any other time in their history d. to western sanctions russia is looking to deepen its economic ties with china no other leader has met putin more often than she only three thousand chinese soldiers are involved in the joint exercise a tiny minority but the message this sends is significant even if russia and china are at odds on some foreign policy issues such as crimea or eastern ukraine militarily at least they're moving closer together. and now here's a view from outer space of hurricane florence it is speeding towards the east coast of the united states and as you can see this is a very big storm currently a category four hurricane florence is bringing winds of more than two hundred fifteen kilometers per hour authorities have warned that it will hit america's atlanta coa

only very close allies such as ballerinas have been allowed to participate a small contingent from mongolia is also involved as the drills got underway russian president vladimir putin greeted his chinese counterpart paying at the economic forum in flooded last uk the two countries are closer night than at any other time in their history due to western sanctions russia is looking to deepen its economic ties with china if no other leader has met putin more often than she only three thousand chinese soldiers are involved in the joint exercise a tiny minority but the message this sends a significant even if russia and china are at odds in some foreign policy issues such as crimea or eastern ukraine militarily at least they are moving closer together. and now to some of the other stories making news around the world at least forty five people were killed including several children after a bus carrying pilgrims plunged into a valley in southern india witnesses say the driver lost control of the bus which was transporting passengers from a hindu temple the country has one of the highest number of

china and mongolia are involved. what is the significance of that and what is the message there?cially when we are talking about china, the fact that chinese to —— troops will be taking pa rt chinese to —— troops will be taking part in the domestic russian military exercise and that reflects what moscow and beijing called their strategic partnership, co—operation but also economic cooperation and political copper —— corporation and the message from moscow is, russia is under pressure from the west, the west has sanctions on moscow, will find other friends and allies west has sanctions on moscow, will find otherfriends and allies in west has sanctions on moscow, will find other friends and allies in the east. he was quite far away, steve rosenberg, which might explain some of the delay. a new law criminalising sexual violence and harassment is coming into force in morocco. the legislation — which includes a ban on forced marriage — follows growing concern in recent years about levels of abuse against women. 0ne survey found that six in ten moroccan women had suffered some kind of

but what really stands out is that for the first time, troops from china, and mongolia will also takeports. these are military exercises on an epic scale. russia is claiming more than 30,000 tanks and other armoured vehicles are taking part, along with 300,000 troops. it is also claiming 1,000 aircraft are involved, and a large part of the navy. the kremlin has not put on a show of strength like this for more than 30 years, when the soviet union and the cold war both existed. and also taking part here at this command centre in eastern siberia are these chinese officers, a sign of the deepening relationship between the two countries. this major general describes the joint exercises as strategic, co—ordinated, real combat, demonstrating their cooperation. the chinese contingent of these exercises, although significant, is comparatively small, with around 3,000 soldiers taking part. but at the same time, president putin has been meeting with the chinese leader, xi jinping, at an economic forum also in the far east of russia, all this bolstering the sense the two countries are growing clo

very close allies such as baylor release of being allowed to participate a small contingent from mongolia is also involved as the drills got underway russian president vladimir putin greeted his chinese counterpart paying at the economic forum and vladivostok the two countries are closer now you than it any other time in their history to western sanctions russia is looking to deepen its economic ties with china if no other leader has met putin more often than she only three thousand chinese soldiers are involved in the joint exercise a tiny minority but the message this sends a significant even if russia and china are odds on some foreign policy issues such as crimea or eastern ukraine militarily at least they are moving closer together how should the world view the war games in russia short time ago i spoke with russia expert. laurie hoven he's head of the moscow office of the liberal foundation here's what he had to say. it's a signal of strength to shield science of the exercise and president in the last twenty years it is the biggest exercise since the eighty one exercise in eastern e

mongolia is also playing a part.sh, professor in comparative politics at the university of california, and i asked him why china and mongolia were getting together with russia in these military drills. this is largely a russian project. of course, these are russian war games and an attempt by the vladimir putin administration to pursue its main goal in the world, to raise its profile, increasing its glory. to that end russia is trying to pull chinese as a quasi— allied. in recent yea rs chinese as a quasi— allied. in recent years they have gotten on well and china wants to resist american influence in the pacific. and in the asia—pacific region itself. russia is intent is betraying itself as the great resistor to american homogenate. you say this is a russian message to the world. the biggest wargames since the 1980s. they have been described as on the scale of one of the large world war two battles. should the rest of the world have something to fear here must make do not think the rest of the world has anything to

top temperature in there as we head through friday will only be three degrees for some of us in mongolia we're also likely to see a fair amount of snow as you head further south the temperatures rise pretty regularly so by the time we get to beijing we're off at twenty five and for us in north korea pyongyang will be at around twenty two here for north and south korea the more in the way of cloud a few outbreaks of rain as well and then those showers will be pushing their way eastwards as we head into saturday so more rain for most of us really across parts of honshu does look like it should be quite a wet day for many of us here as we head down towards the southern parts of china here there's quite a mess of weather really plenty of cloud plenty of showers around but across the south coast is where we've got will dry weather so for homecoming it should be drawn out temperatures topping it around about thirty two degrees at the moment for the southeastern parts of asia all usual rash of sunshine and showers the philippines is seeing quite a few heavy showers at the moment more to come as

drills in various parts of the country and on the pacific ocean to be joined by troops from china and mongolia and the exercises will continue for a week russia's defense ministry says they'll involve some thirty six thousand vehicles one thousand planes and eighty warships nato says russia is preparing for what it calls a large scale conflict. well how should the world view the war games in russia a short time ago i spoke with russia expert hi todd funloving hopefully he's head of the moscow office of the liberal. foundation here's what he had to say it is the biggest exercise since the eighty one exercise in eastern europe but the big difference is that it's only in the asian pot and that would mean that there is also a possibility that it's not only appropriation to the european partners but it is more attention is. expected from the asian side so japan is very cautious you have that and for the u.s. of course it is a strategic threats in a way where if there is a massive exercise of this size happening and that was u.s. fried talk from lauren hope and from the fridge now on foundations spe

in maneuvers across the country in eastern siberia they're being joined by troops from china and mongolia these drills will continue for a week russia's defense ministry says they all involved. some thirty six thousand vehicles one thousand planes eighty warships nato says russia is preparing for a large scale conflict. so what's behind these maneuvers were the very latest let's cross over to moscow from dude our views yuri rachet ho yuri medo has contend these exercises as a problem to conflict why is russia along with china fielding some three hundred thousand troops this week well brian of course that the russian army is very large in terms of the number of soldiers and military technologists to moscow organize a such a war games every year on the other hand of course it's about showing military might especially against the nato russia doesn't see itself necessarily as an enemy of nato rather a competitor but a competitor it can get more and more problems with we can see these problems from time to time on the russian border with the nato countries in the air when russian jet fighters

russia is launching its largest military exercises since one thousand nine hundred one china and mongolia are taking part as well but as more of reports some see the drills as a rehearsal for a global war. there's never been the like a bit in modern russia that is huge to hundreds of thousands of thousands of at the top of the multiple countries. all stock which means in russia will test hundreds of divisions regiments the system wide stretch that's basically the clear rules weaknesses cracks will lead to this new russian military elf i doubt. you how great how day russia do this it must be preparing for a new rule. when they need to war to invade nato in a new world will usually be a moment which is notably absent when others carry out military exercises and despite me to observers being invited to attend maneuvers are not directed against other countries not consistent with the military doctrine which is defensive hysterics aside this promises to be a spectacle to remember and will be there in brussels with the latest greatest from boston two thousand and eighteen. u.s. prosecutors have

siberia, on land and sea, with 300,000 russian soldiers involved, as well as troops from china, and mongolia. chinese president xijinping has stressed the importance of his country's relationship with russia. brazil's jailed former president, lula da silva, has obeyed a court order and stepped aside before next month's presidential election. the head of his worker's party announced the decision to crowds of supporters outside the police headquarters where lula is serving a 12—year sentence for corruption. welcome to hardtalk, i am stephen sackur and today, i am at the ambrosetti forum which is the gathering of the italian political lea k gathering of the italian political leak on the shores of lake como. there is no doubt who the dominant figure is here. all the guests are waiting for him and he is my guest today, matteo salvini, the deputy prime minister and interior minister and arguably the most powerful populist politician in europe today. he rose to power —— to power on the back of the anti immigrant, anti— eu message so what mean for italy and for europe? deputy prime minister matteo s

president vladimir putin with 300 troops from russia, mongolia and china. >>> most of the tension in the tropics focused on hurricane florence. parts of the caribbean braced for the storm. dominican republic hunkering down as tropical storm isaac takes it aim. more news in two minutes. ad li .dublin. mike will have a look at your traffic coming up in a bit. >>> donald trump jr. and his girlfriend, kimberly guilfoyle flew united from new jersey to sfo. a lot of people are talking about the fact they flew coach. according to blogger trump junior ordered a soda and was recently heckled. guilfoyle is the ex-wife of gavin newsom and host at fox news. >>> with california's open enrollment set to begin this fall, a new report shows an historic amount of californians have health insurance. the uninsured rate dropped 10%, the largest decline in the country by far. more than 3.7 million people have duaned health insurance coverage in california over the past four years. >>> colin kaepernick is making headlines again, but there is nothing controversy about the latest news. >> being inducted int

>> yes, the north central part of china, a province called inner mongolia. >> let me bring up the slide now. it should be a map of china. if you can see up in the yellow and the top. >> yes, that is where i was born, right in the middle of the yellow part. and northwest of beijing. >> and you grew up there, and you are born into a catholic family? >> yes, i was born into a catholic family, even though at the time the church was all closed and we did not have priests or anyone serving us. but my family held onto the faith and i was brought up as a true catholic. some training and discovered your vocation as a priest by the aid of the divine word society? >> yes, from very young, because my mom is a very faithful catholic, she wanted us to be priests, i have six siblings and she educated us in that way. when i was very young, my mother already asked me to pray for my vocation, my late mother as she passed away my two years ago. that is where i got my vocation. i prayed for it. and when i grew up i had the opportunity to get to no some missionaries in china. so i joined the wide world of m

where weather comes together me and they kind of has been changed and it's generations have checked mongolia's through to bring that back i want to make a place where i could get my head that i was the give me one day of my neighborhood and i couldn't find a place for us so although you know what we'll push right here at this mall this mall was it you know i was here and i stood here with a thirty thousand dollars business by myself like three months ago when he came in there one day. go to war over the next we're going to have three books and we're going ever since you kind of sort of divide friends this this big favorite phrases believe b.m. and actually. i was blessed to you know have someone instead of my work in film production. of the movie this me who for years i cared about my people my situation is to be the best example possible me so you know what among all complain about not have the obvious appeal will pull one in so i went to bob college bob's license. of a tame a barber teacher's license so i will but i was stuck there and on the bubble chicago for a t.v. show you almost got for

mongolia as i said also taking part. the chinese contribution relative to the people's army is relatively small, but it is symbolically significant. it is russia and china teaming up at a tense moment. russia also being defiant and saying your sanctitions and aggresessive to the west is not hurting anything. here is what we can get back. u.n.xt now to what the says could be the worst humanitarian catastrophe this century. that is the growing g crisis in the syrian region of it live. syrian -- of idlib. heavy airstrikes and bombings have pushed 30,000 people to flee in 11 days. white helmemet workers clear away the d damage of the latest regime bombing in the idlib province. task and onenting they're likely to repeat over and over. bashar al-assad's f fces have stepped up their bombi campaign in preparation for a major ground offensive. >> we were sitting and heard a helicopter so we entered the hohouse. we had barely got inside when the barrel bomb fell. it struck here and completely destroyed the car and the property. t

and of course sharing the stage tomorrow with the leaders of japan mongolia and south korea looking forward to that ok for now though. thanks for that. also in russia three hundred thousand soldiers and thirty six thousand military vehicles are now rumbling through the largest military drills seen in decades. right about so for now thanks for checking in with us a few news this hour kevin i was here to update you in just over half an hour. i. i. i. i. i. thank you. so what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have it's crazy. let it be an arms race. spearing dramatic development only mostly i'm going to resist i don't see how that strategy will be successful ready. to sit down and talk. they put themselves on the line they did accept the reject. so when you want to be president. want to. have to be right to be close it's like that before in the morning. can't be good that i'm interested in the lawyers in the . first suit. my body told me that i belong with the boys but my thoughts my mind with that along with the girls. dental surgery starts to be of any particular. person's doct

only very close allies such as bell arutz have been allowed to participate a small contingent from mongolias also involved. as the drills got underway russian president vladimir putin greeted his chinese counterpart cheating paying at the economic forum in flat advance talk the two countries are closer now than at any other time in their history to you to western sanctions russia is looking to deepen its economic ties with china no other leader has met putin more often than she only three thousand chinese soldiers are involved in the joint exercise a tiny minority but the message this sends is significant even if russia and china are at odds on some foreign policy issues such as crimea or eastern ukraine militarily at least they're moving closer together. saudi arabia has arrested an egyptian man after the video well thor's is just scribe as offensive when far away from the man's crime i mean breakfast with a woman but rick a budget from t w social media is here with welcome federica so what is so offensive about this video well i think in many other countries people would say nothing but n

and russia's joint war games with china and mongolia showcase the country's best military hardware while also attracting a lot.

this way i want to express special gratitude to the soldiers of the people's republic of china and mongolia our duty to russia i am referring now to russian servicemen our duty to the homeland as did ready to defend the sovereignty the security and the national interests of our country. it's a huge show of force from the modernized russian military boosted by increased funding and the crucial battle experience it's gained in syria the chinese involvement in russia's drills has raised particular concerns in the west it's a sign the two eurasian powers are overcoming historical animosities to forge a strengthening partnership they want to show that if the united states asserts itself in the korean peninsula if they move against iran that they're likely to come up against a unified front from beijing and russia so it's really about showing solidarity and showing that that's an alignment of interests. putin said russia is a peace loving state that does not and cannot have aggressive plans but nato has condemned the drills as rehearsal for a large scale conflict the north atlantic alliance has a

hundreds of thousands of russian troops have been joined in eastern siberia by soldiers from china and mongolianato says the exercises show that russia preparing for a large-scale conflict.. reporter: military equipment from all over the country deploys for the largest drill since the fall of the soviet union. a demonstration of military strength, the like of which has never been seen before in the russian federation. acaccording to the defefense ministry, 300,000 soldiers are involved. that's a third of the country's troops. 36,000 military vehicles and tanks are e reported to o be tag part, as r russia tries out its latest technology. and for the first time, china's joining the wargames. until now, only very close allies such as belarus have been allowed to participate. a small contingent from mongoloa is also involved. as the drills got underway, russian president vladimir putin greeted his chinese counterpart xi jinping at the economic forum. the two countries are closer now than at any other time in their history. due to western sanctions, russia is looking to deepen its economic ties with

around 300,000 personnel are involved in thejoint training with china and mongolia, along with eightyt. a kremlin spokesman said the drills were justified given "aggressive and unfriendly" attitudes towards his country. authorities in egypt say e.coli was a factor in deaths of a british couple at a holiday resort last month. john and susan cooper died within hours of each other. their daughter has described the egyptian report as "absolute rubbish". the home office has instructed a further post—mortem to be carried out on the couple here in the uk. the russian protest group, pussy riot, says one of its members is in a critical condition in hospital. they fear he's been poisoned. pyotr verzilov fell ill after a court hearing on tuesday, reportedly losing his sight, speech and ability to walk. he'd been one of a number of protestors arrested for invading the pitch at the world cup final in moscow. here, people found guilty of assaulting emergency services workers are to face tougher sentences. the new law, which will come in to effect from november, will double the amount of time for wh

and russia's joint war games with china and mongolia showcase the country's best military hardware while also attracting a lot of attention in the west. good morning from moscow it's thursday the thirteenth of september the world news from the international this hour first up for you donald trump has signed off on moves to tackle foreign interference in the u.s. elections which he describes as a national emergency the president issued an executive order which refers to any attempt by individuals or countries to influence or alter the vote results trucks move comes ahead of crucial midterm elections this november in the event that any meddling is proven sanctions would be imposed targeting us sectors of strategic importance like finance or defense of washington correspondent samir account taking a closer look. the order will authorize sanctions against the entities charged with election meddling this applies to a company's organizations and even individuals the term entity means a partnership association trust a joint venture corporation groups group or other organization now if they impo

place where weather comes together me and they kind of has been changing the generations of change mongolia's through to bring that back i want to make a place where i could get my head that i was the give me one day of my neighborhood and i couldn't find a place for us so of like you know what a push away he had a small small was if you know what i was here and i stood here with thirty thousand dollars business by myself like three months ago when he came in there one day i got to watch as they were going to have three books and we were going ever since kind of sort of going to find friends gifts this big time favorite thing. does believe b.m. imagine i was blessed to you know have some money instead of my work in film production. of live in this neighborhood for years i care about my people my situation is to be the best example to me so you know what i'm an all complain about not having a barber shop am a poor one so i went to bob a college game bob's license that stuck with me. of a tame a barber teacher's license so i was stuck there and on the bubble chicago for a t.v. show you almost g

only very close allies such as bella bruce have been allowed to participate a small contingent from mongoliais also involved. as the drills got underway russian president vladimir putin greeted his chinese counterpart is eating paying at the economic forum in flat yvonne stark the two countries are closer. now than at any other time in their history to you to western sanctions russia is looking to deepen its economic ties with china no other leader has met putin more often than she only three thousand chinese soldiers are involved in the joint exercise a tiny minority but the message this sends is significant even if russia and china are at odds on some foreign policy issues such as crimea or eastern ukraine militarily at least they're moving closer together. well i'm joined tonight by gustav grethel from the european council of foreign relations he has written extensively on military affairs missile defense and arms proliferation mr greste it's good to have you back here on the on the show what message is russia cindy in with these war games in to whom is this message addressed well predomi

is launching its largest military exercises since one thousand nine hundred eighty one china and mongolia are taking part but as morocco's the of reports some see the drills as a rehearsal for a global war. there's never been the like of it in modern russia it is huge in school hundreds of thousands of troops thousands of cruft entire fleets multiple countries. all stock which means east in russian will test hundreds of divisions regiments fleets system wide stress test basically if there are weaknesses cracks laziness in the russian military they'll find out. outrage how day russia do this it must be preparing for a new world war or to invade nato or to invade nato in a new world war the usual fear mongering which is notably absent when others carry out military exercises and despite the need to observe is being invited to attend maneuvers are not directed against other countries not consistent with our military doctrine which is defensive is there it's the side this promises to be a spectacle to remember and we'll be there in russia's far east with the latest and greatest from voss talk

of the annual forum for the prime ministers of japan and south korea as well as the presidents of mongolia and china the main focus of russia's attention. we should strengthen trust for the sake of peace and stability in the region even complex changes underway in the international situation the politics of force unilateral approaches and protectionism are rearing their heads that was clearly a dig at u.s. trade policy but the americans have allies here the japanese prime minister spoke up for the u.s. president's approach to north korea. president donald trump engaged in confidence building with chairman kim jong il you also shared with him the broad future that would emerge through denuclearization and urged him to take action and doing so he dumped a new approach that no one else had tried before with russia and japan have a seventy year old dispute over the korea that's prevented them formally ending the second world war but saying the idea had just occurred to him putin suggested turning the disagreement on its head that would lead sign a peace treaty not now but before the end of the

with a tree branch said he called his jets as well as troops from multiple countries to china from mongolia from russia and in such a confined and small area of course the exercise is simulated but the difficulties faced deal will translate it's a real combat experience. now that the beaches speed here's a hypothetical mines here come the big boys that's literally a big marine ship translation from russian and it's about to discourage it's contingent to take the beach in force. don't expect a show like this every year it's tremendously expensive both in money and effort but the experience knowledge gained is invaluable. donald trump moves to prevent foreign interference in the upcoming u.s. mid-term so have the story for you after this break. two thirds of american households do not have five hundred dollars emergency cash. as crazy. population doesn't have money and you burning money maintaining thirteen aircraft carriers around the world why why don't you change your policies and do something that is good for the legacy. and good for america in the long run. donald trump has announced pla

this way i want to express special gratitude to the soldiers of the people's republic of china and mongolia our duty to russia i am referring now to russian servicemen our duty to the homeland as did ready to defend the sovereignty the security and the national interests of our country. it's a huge show of force from the modernized russian military boosted by increased funding and the crucial battle experience it's gained in syria the chinese involvement in russia's drills has raised particular concerns in the west it's a sign the two eurasian powers are overcoming historical animosities to forge a strengthening partnership. they want to show that if the united states asserts itself in the korean peninsula if they move against iran that they're likely to come up against a unified front from beijing and russia so it's really about showing solidarity and showing that that's an alignment of interests putin said russia is a peace loving state that does not and cannot have aggressive plans but nato has condemned the drills as rehearsal for a large scale conflict the north atlantic alliance has a

all, this part of the hugejoint military exercises between russia, china and mongolia. and is biggest military exercise since the fall of the soviet union. i've been speaking to angela mancini from consultancy company control risks about the growing relationship between russia and china. their relationships have been strengthening in the past few years. what's interesting is their relationships with each other are almost directly correlated with the state of relationships with the us, and as we know they are both under pressure. china from the trade tension standpoint, and russia from the sanctions standpoint, for a myriad of activities, including incursion into eastern ukraine. people are asking why it is happening now, and we would say, why not? the impetus is the economic forum that xi is attending in russia, their relationships have been strengthening in the last few years. this is a friendship of convenience. we don't expect long—term alliance or axis, as it were. as you say, the timing is quite interesting. but you talked about what they want to get out of it brie

the annual forum with the prime ministers of japan and south korea as well as the presidents of mongolia and china the main focus of russia's attention. we should strengthen trust for the sake of peace and stability in the region even complex changes underway in the international situation the politics of force unilateral approaches and protectionism are rearing their heads that was clearly a dig at u.s. trade policy but the americans have allies here the japanese prime minister spoke up for the u.s. president's approach to north korea. president donald trump in gauge the confidence building with chairman kim jong un you also shared with him the broad future that would emerge through denuclearization and urged him to take action and doing so he dumps a new approach that no one else had tried before with russia and japan have a seventy year old dispute over the korea islands that's prevented them formally ending the second world war but saying the idea had just occurred to him putin suggested turning the disagreement on its head let's sign a peace treaty not now but before the end of the

this way i want to express special gratitude to the soldiers of the people's republic of china and mongolia our duty to russia i am referring now to russian servicemen our duty to the homeland as did ready to defend the sovereignty the security and the national interests of our country. it's a huge show of force from the modernized russian military boosted by increased funding and the crucial battle experience it's gained in syria but chinese involvement in russia's drills has raised particular concerns in the west it's a sign the two eurasian powers are overcoming historical animosities to forge a strengthening partnership they want to show that if the united states asserts itself in the korean peninsula if they move against iran that they're likely to come up against a unified front from beijing and russia so it's really about showing solidarity and showing that that's an alignment of interests. putin said russia is a peace loving state that does not and cannot have aggressive plans but nato has condemned the drills as rehearsal for a large scale conflict the north atlantic alliance has a

what really stands out is that for the first time, troops from neighbouring china and mongolia will alsoestern countries. our correspondence steve rosenberg said this update from eastern russia. these are military exercises on an epic scale. russia is claiming more than 30,000 tanks and other armoured vehicles are taking part, along with 300,000 troops. just under 300,000 russian soldiers, which is about one third of the entire russian armed forces. some military observers have suggested those figures are inflated, exaggerated but even so, if that is the case, the fact that these are the case, the fact that these are the numbers being officially quoted here, that says a lot. they send a message that moscow wants to send. that message is that russia is a military superpower, it is well equipped and well trained and ready to mobilise and when you consider the growing tension right now between moscow and the united states, between russia and nato, that message is designed primarily for the west, for western governments. the chinese troops will be taking part in the domestic russian military

mongolia is also playing a part.of the world make of it? the bbc‘s stephen mcdonelljoins us now from beijing. tell us a little bit more about the scale of these drills, because they're being described as being as large as some of the major battles in world war two. yes, absolutely. as you mentioned, hundreds of thousands of troops, imagine tens of thousands of troops, imagine tens of thousands of troops, imagine tens of thousands of vehicles. two russian navys involved. thousands of aircraft, tanks. but what will have intelligence agencies really poring over the footage will be to see how the people's liberation army from china interacts with the russian military. now, this is the first timea military. now, this is the first time a non—soviet bloc, a non—former soviet bloc nation has been involved in these exercises, and if you consider in the past when russia has held these huge wargames, it's been with a purpose of preparing to attack china. you can imagine then what a huge change it is to be involving china in the

in various parts of the country and on the pacific ocean and the joined by troops from china and mongolia the exercises will continue for a week russia's defense ministry says will involve some thirty six thousand vehicles one thousand planes and eighty warships nato says russia is preparing for what it calls a large scale conflict. well for more on this i'm joined by dr i just found loring hole phone he's a russian expert and head of the moscow office of the liberal friedrich nauman foundation thanks so much for joining us today so these war games are taking place at a time of heightened tensions between nato and russia so just what kind of signal is moscow trying to send to the western military alliance i mean oh of course at first it's a signal of strength the sheer size of the exercise. president in the last twenty years it is the biggest exercise since the eighty one exists in eastern europe but the big difference is that it's only in the asian pot and that would mean that there is also a possibility that it's not only appropriation to the european part but it is more inches. expecte

military personnel from neighbouring china and mongolia are also taking part in the biggest exercisee to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. i'm chetan pathak: coming up in your thursday sport briefing, we look ahead to the final women's golf major of the year, to stage 18 of the veulta a espana, and we hear from the two men involved in boxing's fight of the year. the final women's golf major of the year, the evian championship, is getting underway in france. last year's winner anna nordqvist will be looking to become the first woman to successfully defend her title at the evian resort golf course. meanwhile britain's georgia hall is aiming to make it back to back major victories after winning the british open just last month. it's a day for the sprinters at the vuelta a espana. the man who leads those standings is alejandro valverde, he's also second in the overall race so might fancy his chances of gaining some more time on the leader simon yates. the spaniard took eight seconds out of the british rider's lead on wednesday's mountainous stage through the basque country,