:00:16. > :00:21.From here in the BBC Newsroom, we send out correspondents to bring
:00:22. > :00:23.you the best stories from across the globe.
:00:24. > :00:31.Orla Guerin joins Kurdish forces as they try to retake the last major
:00:32. > :00:35.stronghold of so-called Islamic state in Iraq.
:00:36. > :00:40.We're now at a distance of about 300 metres
:00:41. > :00:48.But this is really just the first stage of what is expected
:00:49. > :01:06.Almost a year after losing his wife in the Paris attacks,
:01:07. > :01:08.survivor Antoine Leiris finds a means of escape
:01:09. > :01:29.The long-awaited siege of Mosul began this week as thousands
:01:30. > :01:31.of Iraqi and Kurdish forces attacked the last major stronghold controlled
:01:32. > :01:36.The assault got underway more than two years after IS forces took
:01:37. > :01:40.The Iraqi Prime Minister said the hour of victory had arrived.
:01:41. > :01:43.But there were concerns for many thousands of civilians fleeing
:01:44. > :01:45.the fighting with no safe routes out of the city.
:01:46. > :01:48.Orla Guerin was with Kurdish forces, the peshmerga, north-east
:01:49. > :01:51.of Mosul as the first wave of attacks began.
:01:52. > :01:56.At first light, the advance on so-called Islamic State.
:01:57. > :02:00.Zero-hour had finally come, bringing an offensive that
:02:01. > :02:04.could decide the fate of the extremists and,
:02:05. > :02:11.We joined Peshmerga fighters from the autonomous Kurdish region.
:02:12. > :02:16.Their name means "those who face death", and they were ready
:02:17. > :02:28.Well, the offensive is now well under way.
:02:29. > :02:32.The Kurdish forces have been moving forwards steadily, and we've been
:02:33. > :02:38.We're now at a distance of about 300 metres
:02:39. > :02:44.But this is really just the first stage of what is expected
:02:45. > :02:49.It could take months to drive the IS fighters from the city
:02:50. > :02:57.First, they have to be flushed out of the villages up ahead.
:02:58. > :03:00.There were only a handful of IS remaining, but the Peshmerga
:03:01. > :03:09.Here's what happened when one attacker approached
:03:10. > :03:30.Before he could reach them, his vehicle exploded.
:03:31. > :03:36.IS attempted at least three more suicide and truck bomb attacks
:03:37. > :03:40.but the Kurds pressed on, with help from air strikes
:03:41. > :03:47.The Peshmerga say they are fighting a global battle.
:03:48. > :03:55.They are not just fighting the Kurds or the Shia", says this Colonel.
:03:56. > :04:03.We want to defeat them for everyone's sake."
:04:04. > :04:05.And this is the territory they took from the enemy today,
:04:06. > :04:10.Any civilians were already long gone.
:04:11. > :04:13.There was little enough resistance here, but it will be a very
:04:14. > :04:22.The Kurds are supposed to clear a path to the city,
:04:23. > :04:29.But as they drive out IS, they've been adding to their territory
:04:30. > :04:33.and what they've captured they intend to keep.
:04:34. > :04:36.Just one of the ways in which the battle for Mosul
:04:37. > :05:20.It was a day the Nigerian people thought they might never see. The
:05:21. > :05:27.Boko Haram girls who were kidnapped... After two-and-a-half
:05:28. > :05:32.years, they're free at last. Daughters reunited with their
:05:33. > :05:41.parents. It was a time for celebration. But also reflection.
:05:42. > :05:47.Praise the Lord. TRANSLATION: We are so excited. They
:05:48. > :05:52.never told us they'd come. These girls were among the 276 students
:05:53. > :05:57.abducted by the Islamic group Boko Haram. Speaking at an event to mark
:05:58. > :06:04.their release, one girl describes the horrors they endured.
:06:05. > :06:10.TRANSLATION: I never thought I would see you again. There was a day when
:06:11. > :06:15.a bomb dropped close to where we were. It was only by God's grace we
:06:16. > :06:19.survived. Today's worked out good for yet we are here. The parents
:06:20. > :06:22.wanted their daughters to get an education, but it was a choice they
:06:23. > :06:28.thought had cost them their children.
:06:29. > :06:33.TRANSLATION: I said to her, are you really alive and she replied "yes, I
:06:34. > :06:38.am" we both burst into tears. What did she tell you about her time in
:06:39. > :06:42.captivity? TRANSLATION: They were told their
:06:43. > :06:47.parents were no longer alive, that they'd been killed. All they did was
:06:48. > :06:55.cry. They never imagined that they would see us again. Fishes say
:06:56. > :07:05.negotiations are continuing, but dozens of students reportedly don't
:07:06. > :07:09.want to come home after marrying fighters -- officials say. For now
:07:10. > :07:12.these girls are celebrating their freedom but recovering from their
:07:13. > :07:17.kidnapping won't be easy, especially when most of their school mates are
:07:18. > :07:23.still being held. Martin Patience, BBC News, Abuja.
:07:24. > :07:40.Next month marks a year since the deadly attacks on Paris where
:07:41. > :07:44.Now, 130 people were killed next month marks a year
:07:45. > :07:47.where 130 people were killed, among them was Helene Muyal-Leiris.
:07:48. > :07:49.She was in the Bataclan music Theatre.
:07:50. > :07:51.You may remember at the time her husband, Antoine,
:07:52. > :07:55.wrote a very moving tribute to his wife.
:07:56. > :07:57.Well, a year later he has been telling his story
:07:58. > :08:00.On Friday night you stole away the life of an exceptional being.
:08:01. > :08:03.The love of my life, the mother of my son.
:08:04. > :08:07.I do not know who you are and I don't want to know.
:08:08. > :08:11.Today, Antoine Leiris remains defiant, dignified,
:08:12. > :08:15.For me it's the only way to not fall in craziness.
:08:16. > :08:26.Yes, sometimes it's difficult, sometimes hate comes and knocks
:08:27. > :08:29.on my door and says, "Hey, I'm there, I'm simple,
:08:30. > :08:37.You can go with me, it will be easier for you."
:08:38. > :08:40.But I just let her out of our house and, yes, I think it was
:08:41. > :08:51.His new book is an intimate diary, how he dealt with the loss
:08:52. > :08:58.When you close a dead person's eyes, you give them back a little
:08:59. > :09:05.She looks like the woman I watch wake up each morning.
:09:06. > :09:09.I want to lie next to her languorous body, warm her up, tell her she's
:09:10. > :09:17.It was like the walls of my room when I was alone were about to fall
:09:18. > :09:27.But writing was an open door to learn freedom.
:09:28. > :09:30.So writing has been Antoine's escape.
:09:31. > :09:39.Imagined to her from their two-year-old son, Melvin.
:09:40. > :09:43.Papa promised me that we would come to see you tomorrow, the two of us.
:09:44. > :09:56.OK, well, I can't wait to see you tomorrow and the day
:09:57. > :09:58.after tomorrow and all the days after that.
:09:59. > :10:05.I miss you, mama, I love you. Melvin.
:10:06. > :10:09.And while he holds no hate for his wife's killers,
:10:10. > :10:12.there is one thing Antoine has refused to relinquish, his grief.
:10:13. > :10:25.Because it's a connection to your wife?
:10:26. > :10:29.like, even a physical testimony, you know.
:10:30. > :10:32.You felt it inside you, very strongly.
:10:33. > :10:35.It's a testimony of how I loved Helene.
:10:36. > :10:38.Damian Grammaticas, BBC News, Paris.
:10:39. > :10:41.Antoine Leiris, a year after the Paris attacks.
:10:42. > :10:44.And that's it from Reporters this week.
:10:45. > :10:48.From me, David Eades, goodbye for now.