moscow says the joint exercises with belarus are defensive. nato believes russia is testing its ability. hanging on for dear life. dw news follows a family fleeing violence in myanmar. they are facing a new struggle to survive. we are there. donald trump promises help to the people of florida as he hands out food to survivors of hurricane irma. britain begins a public inquiry into the tower fire that killed 80 people in june. three months after the disaster, we talked to activists seeking justice. ♪ >> it is good to have you with us. we begin with the russian word that means west. that is the codename that russia is giving its latest wargames, its biggest in four years. moscow says the exercises are defensive, but neighboring countries are unnerved by what they see as russia testing its ability to wage war. around 12,700 troops are involved. western experts believe those numbers may be as high as 100,000. the drills are taking place in western russia, belarus, and in the russian enclave there. the baltic republic and further south, this is w

a joint initiative between russia and belarus. speaking in minsk the aid to belarus's defense minister insisted neighboring countries hope looking up fear you still us euphemistically two used cucina. is up on the upcoming joint strategy drills apart twenty seventeen is purely defensive and does not pose any threat to neither the european community as a whole. no in particular to the neighboring countries you just listed next ground justice. nato officials say they are watching operations upon with calm and confident. but some neighboring states are urging nato to take more preemptive action russia use becoming and. conventional. because so that turned me to needs we have the will just move for show the adjustments to this news creation. was so their name neighbor of commercial didn't. the fear the drill could yet cover on the kremlin is planning to permanently stationed troops into belarus or even launch an offensive against nato states. nato size it will be running a few loki exercises during the pod. including an annual sniper

russians plans military drills in belarus cause uproar among western politicians will look at whether there's any basis to the widespread panic. and amnesty international make use of bahrain of months torture and a crackdown against its government critics the human rights group also blames the u.s. and the u.k. for ignoring the problem. is r.t. international broadcasting to you live from the russian capital and karen good to have you with us. the u.s. state department has been facing a grilling over the seizure of the russian consulate in san francisco as it appears our t.v. is becoming synonymous with uncomfortable questions during its media briefings. people writing programs are what's your name let's move on move on to something else if you still consider that sovereign russian property or were those properties searched because there was a concern that they were being used for intelligence purposes which would be like a different issue i'm just not going to get into that let's let's move let's move on to something else their election or any other country us missions that. could hav

russian forces are deployed to belarus to help crush that rebellion. we asked a bbc russian reporter to tell us more about the purpose of these games. this is a huge military exercise which takes place every four years. the last time we have seen exercises called the zapad in the west in 2013, it was a different world than, before the russian alex asian of crimea and before the conflict with ukraine had started. so the annexation of crimea. these are usual and unusual at the same time. during those yea rs, at the same time. during those years, russia has made a significant reform of its armed forces. they have moved to a completely different type of operation, so that's why they need to practice it all. and they need to practice it all. and they are quite eager, actually, to show how strong their military is. you know, how is that for by reforms were. because it's very important to show for them that they are prepared, they are prepared to show force, and that is exactly what they do here both during the e exercises, and for example in syria, where rus

we've got a real double standard here russia and belarus allies they are carrying out these exercises they're very transparent there are international observers there and russia and belarus of both got very good reasons to be to be carrying out these military exercises the nato critics are being very hypocritical we're living in a well again kind of propaganda framework at the moment where the countries who have done the attacking of other countries the countries that have posed a threat to world peace are pretending to be the countries under threat and but in actual fact it's russia which is acting here defensively with good cause because we've seen what nato has done in the destruction they've caused around the world. the european union's top courts has overruled italian law and a lot of farmer there too so a genetically modified crops no that is the spite every region in the country saying three against the controversial food source back in one thousand nine hundred eight the farmer in question was authorized by a european court to use specific seeds that reportedly had no adverse

these fictitious war games are taking place in and around belarus. part of a large—scale joint military exercise by russia and belarus, it's one of russia's biggest military exercises since it annexed crimea from ukraine in 2014. the bbc‘s steve rosenberg is in northern russia. here in northern russia, the russian army is under attack from so—called illegal armed groups and the russians are hitting back with all they've got with the air force, with artillery and with infantry. this is artillery and with infantry. this is a huge military exercise, code—named zapad twiggy 17. a huge military exercise, code—named za pad twiggy 17. that a huge military exercise, code—named zapad twiggy17. that means west. it is an exercise which happens every four years, a joint manoeuvre between russia and belarus. vladimir putin attended the exercise and he has been monitoring the war came from the command post. now, russia insists that this exercise is all about defence are not attack, and not april you'd to an invasion of europe. but with russia and nato

defend belarus. and that was before the scenario escalated. an airborne operation dropped tanks 20 miles from nato-meber estonia's border, preventing a hypothetical incursion by nato troops. 10 russian ships set to sea to escape hypothetical incoming nato cruise missile strikes. and witnessing it all, russian commander in chief and president vladimir putin, whose allies say they genuinely fear nato launching this kind of war. >> nato now is after russia's regime change, and therefore we have to defend ourselves, so it is a defensive exercise. but really it is not just really about military deterrence. it's about political survival as well. >> reporter: andrei tsygankov is a russian politics professor at san francisco state university. he echoes the russian establishment when he says nato's support of revolutions in previously soviet states and satellites, and nato's expansion to russia's borders, convince russia nato's an existential threat. zapad provides necessary deterrence. >> nato is not merely

russia's upcoming military drills where the belarus are aligning its neighbors and eastern europe despite assurances from moscow that there purely for defensive purposes rushed. and bell the roots are to hold joint military training exercises this month i was planning to be real serious about this but hey how can i resist when the reactions pouring in are just so colorful what washington thinks russia does or about to do an exercise in be able rouge russia that's going to tail up to one hundred thousand russian troops moving into into that country the great concern is they're not going to leave and that's you know that's not paranoia oh and did you get that one hundred thousand troops that's just the russians not counting the forces and bella ruse i mean that's probably enough to storm europe and yes they are concerned what europe thinks russia does it is undisputed that we have seen a demonstration of the capabilities and power of the russians and one who does that has only to look at the high number of forces participation in this exercise more than one hundred so that it doesn't end th

launchedd belarus have a large-scale joint military exercise. you're watching in fact, "bbc world news america." for 13 years of has been sending home some of the most remarkable image of saturn. missiontoday, cassini came to an end when the page plunged the space probe into the atmosphere. it documented extraordinary discoveries. russia and belarus have launched a large-scale military exercise. nearby nato -- countries very nervous. it is one of russia's biggest military exercises since it was - -it annexed crimea. here is more. reporter: we have been invited on a surveillance late, traveling with the top nato commander. that russia begins its west military exercises just across the border. latvia, whofrom have already asked for and received nato support. this flight is more assuring. >> 0211533 -- reporter: once the sensors are switched on, the crew compares the air space with the exercises taken place across belarus and western russia. deputye, too, for nato's supreme commander to see what russia is up to. worry about the lack of trust but an

they're very transparent there are international observers there and russia and belarus of both got very good reasons to be to be carrying out these military exercises the nato critics are being very hypocritical we're living in an orwellian kind of propaganda framework at the moment where the countries who have done the attacking of other countries the countries that have posed a threat to world peace are pretending to be the countries under threat and but in actual fact it's russia which is acting here defensively with good cause because we've seen what nato has done and the destruction they've caused around the world. next to this morning the story of an afghan asylum seeker who faced taliban death threats and is now back in britain again after the u.k. government lost a lengthy court case over his plea for safety that's one of the twenty two year old sam in biggs was threatened by the taliban because of his contacts with the afghan government and american military and he fled in twenty fifteen he was detained this july after britain's home office dismissed his asylum claim he wa

russia and belarus are holding large scale military exercises osco says december thirteen thousand personnel have been participating through western and the western observers rather believe the number is far higher it's the first exercises are being held since russia annexed crimea in two thousand and fourteen and nato eastern members are concerned but as our correspondent rory chalons reports some in belarus are on easy as well. it takes some noise to overpower the din of military jets but weeks of political arguing over joints russian better russian exercises have come close nato countries and allies are spooked particularly the baltics two thousand and seventeen stretches right across russia and better reeses western borderlands europe's doorstep russia's been accused by western political and military leaders of preparing for a big war thievin of using the drills as possible cover for an invasion but foreign observers watching it's a training ground in battery seems comma quite impressive we have seen some defense systems and some like firing we. would miss arms and we've got good explana

russia's plan military drills in belarus calls uproar among western politicians with some saying moscow is trying to increase its troop presence there take a look at closely those claims and rights groups national releases a new report documenting it deadly bahrain crackdown on government critics accuse britain and the u.s. of turning a blind eye to the big since. i welcome it's just turned six o'clock here in moscow you're watching the international now the u.s. state department has been facing a grilling over the seizure of the russian consulate in san francisco and even accuse journalists of sounding too much like. more people do that in programs are what's your name let's move on move on to something else if you still consider that sovereign russian property or were those property searched because there was a concern that they were being used for intelligence purposes which would be like a different issue and it's not going to get into that let it lead in this let's move on to something else here in russia or any other country where u.s. missions that have been deleted have been sea

stop making excuses whether our drills are defensive or not we have an army we have a join russia and belarus military formation in the west and while it exists which we did make a secret off we're going to train it how to fight just in case now let's take a look at the real numbers from the russian ministry of defense in fact it's thirteen thousand soldiers around a quarter of them arriving from russia plus three hundred military vehicles and twenty five aircraft doesn't sound like a blitzkrieg now does it. paul ingram from the british american security information council believes that russia's neighbors are overreacting to the drills with belarus i don't think there's any reason for the neighbors to be particularly concerned there's no rational reason why russia would be wanting to actively threaten those those particular neighbors so it's a classic case of. over concern on the on the part of those countries that are close every reason for russia to be to be exercising because otherwise what's the point of having a military but i think that this is particularly a storm in a teacup at the m

now russia and belarus are holding large scale military exercises moscow says just under thirteen thousand personnel have taken part their western observers believe the real number is far higher it's the first as a part exercises are being held since russia annexed crimea in twenty fourteen and nato is eastern members are concerned but as our correspondent really chalons explains some an uneasy as well. it takes some noise to overpower the din of military jets but weeks of political arguing over joints russian better russian exercises have come close nato countries and allies are spooked particularly the baltics zappa two thousand and seventeen stretches right across russia and better reeses western borderlands europe's doorstep russia's been accused by western political and military leaders of preparing for a big war even of using the drills as possible cover for an invasion but foreign observers watching it's a training ground in better routes seems comma quite impressive we have seen some defense systems and some like firing we. would miss arms and we've got good explanations all the ti

defenseto belarus's minister. we have joined strategy drills is purely defensive end is not pose any threat to the european community as a whole or the neighboring countries. >> officials say they are watching operations. is the kremlin is threatening into belarus or launching -- militarygainst exercises. >> thomas low is in moscow. he told us more about what russia's motives behind its military exercises might be. is great tvhiss pictures for our tv viewing country. a lot of people support vladimir putin to make russia's strongng agagain. c country with a very strong military and evil army. it's part of a show. a discussion with nato and the u.s.. it's a a very stronong warning o both nato and the u.s. pushing toward russian borders. it has said a number of times that it is very nervous about russia's intentionsns. if nato and the u.s. were ever russiated in invading would make sure the cost was very high indeed. venezuela after months of the deadly protests. it looks like talks between the government and the opp

exercise huge military and this is one that happens every four years between russia and belarus. vladimir putin attended the exercise and has been monitoring the wargame from his command post. now, russia insists that the exercise is all about defense and is not a prelude to an invasion. locked intoand nato a new cold war, in the west, there is a lot of suspicion about intentions and the government in the baltic states are concerned about these exercises and there is speculation that moscow might use them as cover to move equipment into belarus. the russians deny that. the russians insist there are no 13,000 taking part in this exercise and nato believes it is much higher. bbc news in northern russia. in 2007, deborah campbell traveled to damascus and met a refugee worker. she had fled her home after being released and she was seized again in syria and months were spent trying to find her. the story is now told in the new and she joined me recently to discuss it. >> thank you for coming in. this book is many things. one of these stories is the relationship with your fixer. why di

it will take place mostly in belarus. russia's loan remaining european ilife. where fighter jets have already begun training. the pentagon is concerned that russian troops might use the exercise to build up its forces in belarus and threatened nato including nervous baltic allies along russia's border. reports say as many as 100,000 russian troops could participate, but moscow insists in strewn numbers will stay below 13,000 to comply with the native agreement. the pentagon isn't buying it. in a statement of fox news, a spokesperson said "the official estimates provided by russia and belarus did not correspond with media reporting." russia isn't the only one moving forces into the region. u.s. cargo ship arrived yesterday in poland to begin offloading nearly 3500 u.s. army soldiers from the second armored brigade, part of the first infantry division. they are bringing over 1,000 armored vehicles including tanks, trucks, and self propelled artillery. since the height of the cold war, they were over 400,000 u.s. troops stationed in europe pretty today, that numbe

stop making excuses whether our drills are defensive or not we have an army we have a join russia and belarus military formation in the west and while it exists which we did make a secret off we're going to train it how to fight just in case now let's take a look at the real numbers from the russian ministry. defense in fact it's thirteen thousand soldiers around a quarter of them arriving from russia plus three hundred military vehicles and twenty five aircraft doesn't sound like a blitzkrieg now does it. one of islamic states most prominent commanders called marotta cullom of is believed to be among the forty i'm still fighters killed as a result of a russian airstrike in the syrian city of d.s. or that's according to the russian defense ministry color march was a commander to take us down special unit security forces he moved to syria in two thousand and fifteen and became an ice the warmest i'm a month after caliber of disappeared he appeared in this video. another i still remember confirmed dead in the strike is abu mohammed ali he's of saudi arabian origin and was i saw as finance chief

taken their protests to the streets of the capital means they want no russian military presence here belarus had taken a few steps toward opening to the west now they see this as a giant step backwards. we're not protesting against russia here. nor against the russians. we have protesting against our government. it's irresponsible policies and dragging us into a military conflict and in danger in our future. going up. the russian defense ministry disagrees saying zappa twenty seventeen is an exercise by two allies in the interests of the security of both countries. the exercise is absolutely peaceful and it's defensive in nature we're not planning any intrusion into neighboring countries. experts take a different view the current war games remind many of russia's last major exercises in twenty fourteen on the frontier with ukraine they ended with russia's unrecognized annexation of crimea. from the crisis in ukraine began in february three years ago. back then russia stationed its troops on the ukrainian border under the pretext of military exercises. bearing this president in mind you can u

stop making excuses whether our drills are defensive or not we have an army we have a join russia and belarus military formation in the west and while it exists which we did make a secret off we're going to train it how to fight just in case now let's take a look at the real numbers from the russian ministry of defense in fact it's thirteen thousand soldiers around a quarter of them arriving from russia plus three hundred military vehicles and twenty five aircraft doesn't sound like a blitzkrieg now does it. still ahead. refuses to shake the hand of a no waging politician during a t.v. debate is cause a bit of a stink we'll have a look at the details after the break. telling you on the idea that dropping bombs brings police to the chicken hawks forcing you to fight the battle. for new socks for the tell you that celebrity gossip the tabloids by itself of the most important. telling you on the cool enough to fight. the hawks that we along. with one. called the future we go through. every the world. and you get. the old according to just. come along for the. i. welcome back now the leader of a

taken their protests to the streets of the capital means they want no russian military presence here belarus had taken a few steps toward opening to the west now they see this as a giant step backwards. which is the world. where not protesting against russia here. nor against the russians. we have protesting against our government. it's irresponsible policies and dragging us into a military conflict and in danger in our future. is going up. the russian defense ministry disagrees saying zoppot twenty seventeen is an exercise by two allies in the interests of the security of both countries. the exercise is absolutely peaceful and it's defensive in nature and we're not planning any intrusion into neighboring countries. experts take a different view the current war games remind many of russia's last major exercises in twenty fourteen on the frontier with ukraine they ended with russia's unrecognised an extension of crimea. with your. view of the crisis in ukraine began in february three years ago. back then russia stationed its troops on the ukrainian border under the pretext of military exercis

five pm this monday afternoon here in moscow welcome back joint military drills between russia and belarus are well underway scores of planes helicopters tanks combat ships are involved in defensive maneuvers the first stage of the drills simulated country in direct threats to belarus on repealing foreign fighters. well the drills which officially end on whedon's they have led some western officials to express concern over what they see a direct threat to european security reporting more on that. in my ads so we finally made our way to keep probably going to lose secure range here in north western russia that's where the military says they will have the main stage of the drills with valorous it's been raining cats and dogs for called day but the military spokesperson promised us a great performance. the joint exercises between russia. and the into the states and well have an invasion of europe so far as i can tell but concerts media expectations perhaps the drills very sitting huge media attention long before the even worse than the us have been a little more resolved in that but just a li

stop making excuses whether our drills are defensive or not we have an army we have a join russia and belarus military formation in the west and while it exists which we did make a secret off we're going to train it how to fight just in case now let's take a look at the real numbers from the russian ministry of. defense in fact it's thirteen thousand soldiers around a quarter of them arriving from russia plus three hundred military vehicles and twenty five aircraft doesn't sound like a blitzkrieg now does it. one of islamic states most prominent commanders committed at home office believed to be among forty eisel fighters killed as a result of russian airstrike near the syrian city of deer is all that's according to the russian defense ministry wholly morph was a commander of to tajikistan special unit security forces who moved to syria in twenty fifteen it became an ice cold war minister a month after halim of disappeared he paid in this i saw video this you are so loyal a politician thirty but it is she was a lawyer. there's a lot of cool. black what's up another i still member confirmed de

they are concerned russia may use this exercise to mass forces and belarus and threatened nearby nato allies. russia says they're keeping the number of troops at less than 13,000. if they had more than that, international observers could monitor in certain ways, but nato and the united states a rush as far more participating, like in the range of 100,000. the pentagon says "the official estimates provided by russia and belarus do not correspond with media reporting." the kremlin claims the west is "whipping up hysteria on all this with the war games ongoing." u.s. and nato allies would point to some concerns in some of russia's behavior in the past, the seizure of crimea, the invasion in georgia, other interventions russia has had in syria and ukraine. there is some concern from the u.s. and allies. among the baltic states, this is happening right in their backyard. >> trace: a bit of an honesty problem. rich edson at the state department. president trump at the white house after visiting florida for an update on hurricane relief and recovery. millions of people that are still living

stop making excuses whether our drills are defensive or not we have an army we have a join russia and belarus military formation in the west and while it exists which we did make a secret off we're going to train it how to fight just in case now let's take a look at the real numbers from the russian ministry of defense in fact it's thirteen thousand soldiers around a quarter of them arriving from russia plus three hundred military vehicles and twenty five aircraft doesn't sound like a blitzkrieg now does it. still to come for you this hour a muslim leader refuses to shake the hand of a norwegian politician during a t.v. debate and it's caused a bit of a stink we'll have a look at it in a couple minutes. according to. the leader of a muslim organization in norway has found himself in the headlines after refusing to shake hands with the country's immigration minister because she's a woman the man on the left here who leads a group called islam net did offer the minister a bunch of flowers at the beginning of a t.v. debate instead we got reaction from the case from the ramadan foundation and als

are taking part in it and there is a demonstrative preparation for war with the west now russia and belarus are allowing three nato observers to monitor the exercise even though the alliance thinks that is not enough but hey there are supposed to be a hundred thousand troops yet at the same time nato secretary general mr stoltenberg says there is no i quote imminent threat to any of its allies confusing right and how this bell or see the upcoming drills here we should just stop making excuses whether our drills are defensive or not we have an army we have a join russia and belarus military formation in the west and while it exists which we did make a secret off we're going to train it how to fight just in case now let's take a look at the real numbers from the russian ministry of defense in fact it's thirteen thousand soldiers around a quarter of them arriving from russia plus three hundred military vehicles and twenty five aircraft doesn't sound like a blitzkrieg now does it. one of his army state's most prominent commanders mood at home off is believed to be among forty eisel fighters kil

these pictures are very large—scale war games that belarus and russia are taking part in. their neighbours are not too happy about them. if you want to get in touch, them. if you want to get in touch, the hashtag is bbc os.

maneuvers regularly taking place right outside your door that's what people in the small villages along belarus as western border must contend with and much to their dismay. people from the neighboring baltics and poland are worried that exercises some of the biggest since the cold war may prove to be just a warm up for an invasion and that these war games could become real. and ambush on a country road it may look real but it is and it's part of a russian scenario where western sponsored separatists infiltrate neighboring bellicose. it's part of the zappa twenty seventeen strategic military exercises being held in the west of bellows. do you. normally this is a tranquil area for one week it's all cute by by foreign troops russian forces here conducting war games in conjunction with fellow russian troops. the border with nation and of poland is just a few kilometers away there the exercises are only exacerbated fears that it could become a reality. nearly everyone in the belorussian border region has polish roots and he is to the catholic faith many here also worry that the joint exercises with

concern among its western neighbors these pictures from russian television show troops somewhere in belarus russia says five and a half thousand troops are taking part together with just over seven thousand and emissions well there is still new estimates moscow could have sent up to one hundred thousand soldiers some nato members of the alliance have questioned his intentions. anyone and that they've deliberately chosen bases far away from the borders with ukraine poland lithuania and that here. talk more about this i'm joined now by an exposure of he's a risk analyst focusing on russia for the firm i.h.s. market by sort of coming into. thank you was this exercise different from previous russian military exercises well on paper it is much smaller. but if the stone in estimates are correct it could be the largest exercise in the end of the cold war and then the concern from the neighbors is that there was an exercise that was large before the invasion of crimea and they worried that something similar might happen yes there are concerns because the russian incursion into georgia in two thousa

david: russia's war games, why the name the kremlin has given to a week of combat exercises in belarus is making some of western europe very nervous. melissa: trying to make progress in our nation's capitol, how president trump is reaching across the aisle to make sure his agenda passes congress? ♪ it's a highly contagious disease that can be really serious... especially for my precious new grandchild. it's whooping cough. every family member, including those around new babies, should talk to their doctor or pharmacist about getting vaccinated. track tuned handling, and aggressive styling. the bold lexus is. lease the 2017 is turbo for $299 a month for 36 months. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. is everything ok?adt, i could hear crackling in the walls, and my mind went totally blank. all i remember saying was, "my boyfriend's beating me" and she took it from there. when a fire is going on, you're running around, you're not thinking clearly, so they called the fire department for us. and all of this occurred in four minutes or less. within five minutes. i am absolutely gratef

the leadership of belarus after crimea started to carry a new foreign policy position of neutral party between russia and ukraine and russia and the west these drills destroy the us image in a sense their own pleasant for the balor russian leadership and i'd like them to be wrapped up soon as possible further complicating better russian feedings had two thousand and seventeen scenario envisages russia helping to quell separatism in a fictitious breakaway region of batteries called noria but a russian which have since come up with a vision or in foreign ministry twitter account passports even the national anthem is a bit of a. box behind the humor this blog a says there are concerns that if russia could turn on ukraine the slavic countries shouldn't take anything for granted. when such large scale drills are held it's normal for people to feel tension disbelief and fear because after crimea you cannot guarantee anything one hundred percent no one could have predicted the crimean scenario so civil society in belarus is quite nervous for vladimir putin though it's just one of the years ma

they're third in group a but are three points behind sweden who beat belarus 4—0. france play luxembourg tonight. rory mcilroy says he is waiting for the season to end after missing the cut at the dell technologies championship in boston, the world numberfour championship in boston, the world number four has not won a tournament in 2017. he had a second round to forget with four bogeys and a double bogey, making 7a. he says his play has been sloppy, jon rahm of spain is top of the leaderboard at the halfway stage. england's lee slattery has thrown away a two—stroke lead to come second in the czech masters. slattery was the overnight leader but dropped shots on four holes. he finished on 11—under—par and was overta ken by south africa's haydn porteous who ended the tournament on 13 under. little bradley lowery was the six—year—old football fan whose battle against a rare form of cancer touched everyone's hearts. this afternoon more than twelve thousand people attended a celebrity football match at goodison park to raise money for a charity set up in his me

sweden thrashed belarus a—nil, while the netherlands kept their hopes of automatic qualification going with a 3—1 win over bulgaria. switzerland eased to their eighth straight win in qualifying, they won 3—0 away to bottom side latvia. the swiss have a maximum 2a points in group b, three ahead of portugal although they still have to visit the european champions for a showdown in lisbon in theirfinal game. portugal, who beat 10—man hungary 1—nil away, have a vastly superior goal difference. german coachjoachim loew has condemned the fans who sang nazi era chants during their win over the czech republic on friday. the chants came on the anniversary of germany's invasion of poland in 1939 that triggered world war ii. translation: i'm not upset or sad, but i am angry. this is maybe the best description of my feelings. i am really, really upset about what happened. the fact that some so—called fans used football and the stage of an international game to bring great shame and disgrace to our country with their behaviour, i think every single one of those people should not be allowe