:00:18. > :00:25.Welcome. I am Philippa Thomas, from here in the newsroom we send
:00:26. > :00:32.correspondence to bring you the best stories from around the globe. This
:00:33. > :00:37.week... On the front line against Islamic State. Jim Muir joins the
:00:38. > :00:42.Kurdish forces advancing against Islamic State in Iraq. Regaining
:00:43. > :00:49.ground they lost so swiftly last month is proving hard. Protests to
:00:50. > :00:53.the Russian authorities after the BBC Moscow team investigating the
:00:54. > :00:58.story in Ukraine or attacked and their equipment tampered with.
:00:59. > :01:07.Someone cleaned the hard drive on my computer. Is this the source of the
:01:08. > :01:12.deadly virus? We travel to Saudi Arabia, where the authorities or
:01:13. > :01:17.trying to stop a new outbreak. There is believed to be a strong link
:01:18. > :01:20.between camels and the virus but little is known about how it jumps
:01:21. > :01:28.from camels to humans and that is worrying. They are the front line on
:01:29. > :01:32.the ground against what is called the biggest terrorist threat facing
:01:33. > :01:36.the world. As US planes attacked Islamic State positions in Northern
:01:37. > :01:41.Iraq and are Baghdad, Kurdish ground troops are pushing to retake the
:01:42. > :01:46.plane of Mosul, seized by forces last month. BBC Jean village held by
:01:47. > :01:55.the group on main highway. Jim Muir has been to both fronts, and he sent
:01:56. > :02:00.this report on the battle. Cutting through the skies of Northern Iraq
:02:01. > :02:06.at dawn, American jets providing air cover for the latest offensive
:02:07. > :02:12.against IS positions. Below, it is Kurdish forces preparing for action.
:02:13. > :02:18.American drones were also up there, but this time both they and the Jets
:02:19. > :02:31.were just giving much. `` keeping watch. On the ground, the fire park
:02:32. > :02:37.was coming from the Kurds. `` firepower. This is the objective,
:02:38. > :02:45.this village leading to Mosul beyond the horizon. The area seized by IS
:02:46. > :02:48.militants last month. Kurdish ground forces have advanced beyond their
:02:49. > :02:57.old lives, preparing to move in on the village after the bombardment.
:02:58. > :03:00.`` lines. From this position you can clearly see how it works, Americans
:03:01. > :03:05.in the sky providing reconnaissance and possibly air strikes and Kurdish
:03:06. > :03:10.forces on the ground, on barring with tanks and so one but despite
:03:11. > :03:14.all of that, and the ground forces preparing to move him, regaining the
:03:15. > :03:20.ground they lost swiftly to IS last month is proving a very hard job.
:03:21. > :03:23.Far`away, on the other side of Mosul, Kurdish forces have been
:03:24. > :03:29.pressing forward on another front. They recaptured nearby Mosul dam
:03:30. > :03:36.nearly one month ago. But pushing further has been painfully slow. The
:03:37. > :03:41.militants have a good technique, he says. They disappear and then launch
:03:42. > :03:45.surprise attacks and leave many arms behind so we must be very careful.
:03:46. > :03:54.It takes a lot of information and planning to drive them out. Back on
:03:55. > :03:57.the front, the Kurds keep up the attack but the progress they have
:03:58. > :04:06.made illustrates just how hard it will be to eliminate the militants
:04:07. > :04:09.in the rest of Iraq and Syria. The official line from Moscow is that no
:04:10. > :04:13.Russian servicemen are involved in the conflict in Ukraine, unless they
:04:14. > :04:18.go on holiday or in their spare time. But when the BBC when to speak
:04:19. > :04:23.to the sister of a Russian soldier killed near the Ukraine border, the
:04:24. > :04:27.team was attacked, the cameraman beating up on his camera smashed. It
:04:28. > :04:30.is not clear who was behind the attack but the BBC has lodged a
:04:31. > :04:34.formal protest with the authorities. The team is now safe and back in
:04:35. > :04:41.Moscow, from where Steve Rosenberg reports. Oksana tells me about the
:04:42. > :04:46.brothers she calls a Russian hero. Constant time fought in Chechnya and
:04:47. > :04:53.Georgia. This summer he performed his final mission. TRANSLATION: When
:04:54. > :04:58.he called to say he was going away, he sounded scared. He said, I will
:04:59. > :05:04.be heading south west, and I didn't understand. South West Ukraine, he
:05:05. > :05:11.said. I thought perhaps he meant the Ukrainian border, stay safe I told
:05:12. > :05:14.him. Three weeks later, her brother was dead, killed by an artillery
:05:15. > :05:21.shell from Ukraine, one official said. Another claimed he died during
:05:22. > :05:25.military exercises. TRANSLATION: I asked that official, do you believe
:05:26. > :05:31.the words you are telling me? No, he said. So we say this? I just want to
:05:32. > :05:39.understand how my brother was killed. Perhaps not everyone is so
:05:40. > :05:44.keen on the truth. Later that day we were attacked by at least three men
:05:45. > :05:49.as we were getting into the car. They hit the cameraman, smashed the
:05:50. > :05:52.camera and drove off with it. We did not expect the day to end here in
:05:53. > :05:58.the hospital and we are here because the cameraman is having x`rays and
:05:59. > :06:03.is being checked out after this attack. Someone clearly did not want
:06:04. > :06:08.this mature real broadcast. After four hours of questioning at the
:06:09. > :06:12.police station, back in the car, we realised our equipment had been
:06:13. > :06:21.tampered with. Someone cleaned the hard drive on my computer. Luckily,
:06:22. > :06:24.we made copies of the mature real. State`controlled media admits that
:06:25. > :06:28.Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine but Russian television
:06:29. > :06:37.portrays them as volunteers who have taken leave of absence to fight.
:06:38. > :06:40.Those independent Russian journalists brave enough to conduct
:06:41. > :06:50.their own investigations faced threats and intimidation.
:06:51. > :06:54.TRANSLATION: They say there is no war, they say that our soldiers are
:06:55. > :07:00.not involved. So who is to blame for his death? How did this happen? I am
:07:01. > :07:09.tortured by this question. It is a simple question. All she wants is an
:07:10. > :07:17.answer. It is a mystery virus with no known cure. Middle East rest
:07:18. > :07:19.retreat system has killed thousands of people since been detected in
:07:20. > :07:27.Saudi Arabia three years ago and it is spreading fast. Well a cases have
:07:28. > :07:32.been confirmed in Jordan, Qatar, and the US. Usually after travel to
:07:33. > :07:38.Saudi Arabia. Saudi officials are doing all they can to avoid an
:07:39. > :07:45.outbreak of the disease at next month's Mecca, where 2 million
:07:46. > :07:52.people are expected to attend. Is this the key source of the deadly
:07:53. > :07:57.MUIRS virus? Camels are prime suspect for passing this disease to
:07:58. > :08:02.humans. Which is why health officials are taking samples from
:08:03. > :08:06.these prized animals. There is believed to be a very strong link
:08:07. > :08:09.between camels and this virus is still very little is known about how
:08:10. > :08:15.it jumps from animal to human and that is worrying scientists. The
:08:16. > :08:20.virus is fairly harmless in the animals but in humans it can cause
:08:21. > :08:26.pneumonia and kidney failure. Killing more than one third of those
:08:27. > :08:31.infected. But the real problem began when patients ended up here. Poor
:08:32. > :08:37.infection control measures and hospitals like this one meant that
:08:38. > :08:41.when a patient arrives, the virus can spread fast. Doctors admit that
:08:42. > :08:45.staff were not washing their hands between patients or wearing masks
:08:46. > :08:53.properly, which means they were helping pass it on. It was not until
:08:54. > :08:56.1.5 years into this outbreak when the king sectors Health Minister
:08:57. > :09:04.over his handling of the crisis that things started to change. Now,
:09:05. > :09:09.hundreds of hospital staff are trained in infection control and the
:09:10. > :09:17.number of MUIRS patients has fallen dramatically, from hundreds in the
:09:18. > :09:23.spring to very sporadic cases now. Deep breathing for one minute. Add
:09:24. > :09:26.these hired by the Security labs, scientists are trying to figure out
:09:27. > :09:36.where this came from. Particularly in the run`up to haj, when 2 million
:09:37. > :09:41.people will descend on Mecca. Being transmittable from human to human is
:09:42. > :09:46.a very big concern for haj. We have intense overcrowding and this is an
:09:47. > :09:53.excellent media for this infection to spread. But the government is
:09:54. > :09:58.reassuring pilgrims. MERS is not any more an issue in Saudi. We will do
:09:59. > :10:03.our best to ensure we can continue to do all that we can do to have a
:10:04. > :10:11.safe haj for all of our guests and pilgrims. The outbreak might be
:10:12. > :10:13.under control for now, but the World Health Organisation says the
:10:14. > :10:21.situation continues to be a public health concern. And that is all from
:10:22. > :10:46.us this week. Goodbye. Some of us have had a great few days
:10:47. > :10:51.and others have had a very warm, thundery time but were nearly in the
:10:52. > :10:56.same boat tomorrow. Some sunshine and feeling fresher as well. The
:10:57. > :10:59.cool start to the day will mean the odd shower close to eastern includes
:11:00. > :11:00.the areas but with time they will fade