Chinese, Russian militaries hold drills in northwest China

Chinese and Russian military forces are engaged in joint exercises in northwestern China as ties grow between the two autocratic states amid uncertainty over instability in Afghanistan. The exercises involving ground troops and air forces are due to continue through Friday in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous region. The region borders on Xinjiang, where China has detained more than 1 million Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minorities in what it calls a campaign against terrorism and extremism.