20/09/2014 Reporters


20/09/2014

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Welcome. I am Philippa Thomas, from here in the newsroom we send

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correspondence to bring you the best stories from around the globe. This

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week... On the front line against Islamic State. Jim Muir joins the

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Kurdish forces advancing against Islamic State in Iraq. Regaining

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ground they lost so swiftly last month is proving hard. Protests to

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the Russian authorities after the BBC Moscow team investigating the

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story in Ukraine or attacked and their equipment tampered with.

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Someone cleaned the hard drive on my computer. Is this the source of the

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deadly virus? We travel to Saudi Arabia, where the authorities or

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trying to stop a new outbreak. There is believed to be a strong link

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between camels and the virus but little is known about how it jumps

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from camels to humans and that is worrying. They are the front line on

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the ground against what is called the biggest terrorist threat facing

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the world. As US planes attacked Islamic State positions in Northern

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Iraq and are Baghdad, Kurdish ground troops are pushing to retake the

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plane of Mosul, seized by forces last month. BBC Jean village held by

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the group on main highway. Jim Muir has been to both fronts, and he sent

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this report on the battle. Cutting through the skies of Northern Iraq

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at dawn, American jets providing air cover for the latest offensive

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against IS positions. Below, it is Kurdish forces preparing for action.

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American drones were also up there, but this time both they and the Jets

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were just giving much. `` keeping watch. On the ground, the fire park

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was coming from the Kurds. `` firepower. This is the objective,

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this village leading to Mosul beyond the horizon. The area seized by IS

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militants last month. Kurdish ground forces have advanced beyond their

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old lives, preparing to move in on the village after the bombardment.

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`` lines. From this position you can clearly see how it works, Americans

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in the sky providing reconnaissance and possibly air strikes and Kurdish

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forces on the ground, on barring with tanks and so one but despite

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all of that, and the ground forces preparing to move him, regaining the

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ground they lost swiftly to IS last month is proving a very hard job.

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Far`away, on the other side of Mosul, Kurdish forces have been

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pressing forward on another front. They recaptured nearby Mosul dam

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nearly one month ago. But pushing further has been painfully slow. The

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militants have a good technique, he says. They disappear and then launch

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surprise attacks and leave many arms behind so we must be very careful.

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It takes a lot of information and planning to drive them out. Back on

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the front, the Kurds keep up the attack but the progress they have

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made illustrates just how hard it will be to eliminate the militants

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in the rest of Iraq and Syria. The official line from Moscow is that no

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Russian servicemen are involved in the conflict in Ukraine, unless they

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go on holiday or in their spare time. But when the BBC when to speak

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to the sister of a Russian soldier killed near the Ukraine border, the

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team was attacked, the cameraman beating up on his camera smashed. It

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is not clear who was behind the attack but the BBC has lodged a

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formal protest with the authorities. The team is now safe and back in

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Moscow, from where Steve Rosenberg reports. Oksana tells me about the

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brothers she calls a Russian hero. Constant time fought in Chechnya and

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Georgia. This summer he performed his final mission. TRANSLATION: When

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he called to say he was going away, he sounded scared. He said, I will

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be heading south west, and I didn't understand. South West Ukraine, he

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said. I thought perhaps he meant the Ukrainian border, stay safe I told

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him. Three weeks later, her brother was dead, killed by an artillery

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shell from Ukraine, one official said. Another claimed he died during

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military exercises. TRANSLATION: I asked that official, do you believe

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the words you are telling me? No, he said. So we say this? I just want to

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understand how my brother was killed. Perhaps not everyone is so

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keen on the truth. Later that day we were attacked by at least three men

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as we were getting into the car. They hit the cameraman, smashed the

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camera and drove off with it. We did not expect the day to end here in

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the hospital and we are here because the cameraman is having x`rays and

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is being checked out after this attack. Someone clearly did not want

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this mature real broadcast. After four hours of questioning at the

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police station, back in the car, we realised our equipment had been

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tampered with. Someone cleaned the hard drive on my computer. Luckily,

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we made copies of the mature real. State`controlled media admits that

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Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine but Russian television

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portrays them as volunteers who have taken leave of absence to fight.

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Those independent Russian journalists brave enough to conduct

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their own investigations faced threats and intimidation.

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TRANSLATION: They say there is no war, they say that our soldiers are

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not involved. So who is to blame for his death? How did this happen? I am

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tortured by this question. It is a simple question. All she wants is an

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answer. It is a mystery virus with no known cure. Middle East rest

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retreat system has killed thousands of people since been detected in

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Saudi Arabia three years ago and it is spreading fast. Well a cases have

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been confirmed in Jordan, Qatar, and the US. Usually after travel to

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Saudi Arabia. Saudi officials are doing all they can to avoid an

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outbreak of the disease at next month's Mecca, where 2 million

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people are expected to attend. Is this the key source of the deadly

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MUIRS virus? Camels are prime suspect for passing this disease to

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humans. Which is why health officials are taking samples from

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these prized animals. There is believed to be a very strong link

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between camels and this virus is still very little is known about how

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it jumps from animal to human and that is worrying scientists. The

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virus is fairly harmless in the animals but in humans it can cause

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pneumonia and kidney failure. Killing more than one third of those

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infected. But the real problem began when patients ended up here. Poor

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infection control measures and hospitals like this one meant that

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when a patient arrives, the virus can spread fast. Doctors admit that

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staff were not washing their hands between patients or wearing masks

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properly, which means they were helping pass it on. It was not until

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1.5 years into this outbreak when the king sectors Health Minister

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over his handling of the crisis that things started to change. Now,

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hundreds of hospital staff are trained in infection control and the

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number of MUIRS patients has fallen dramatically, from hundreds in the

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spring to very sporadic cases now. Deep breathing for one minute. Add

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these hired by the Security labs, scientists are trying to figure out

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where this came from. Particularly in the run`up to haj, when 2 million

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people will descend on Mecca. Being transmittable from human to human is

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a very big concern for haj. We have intense overcrowding and this is an

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excellent media for this infection to spread. But the government is

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reassuring pilgrims. MERS is not any more an issue in Saudi. We will do

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our best to ensure we can continue to do all that we can do to have a

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safe haj for all of our guests and pilgrims. The outbreak might be

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under control for now, but the World Health Organisation says the

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situation continues to be a public health concern. And that is all from

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us this week. Goodbye. Some of us have had a great few days

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and others have had a very warm, thundery time but were nearly in the

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same boat tomorrow. Some sunshine and feeling fresher as well. The

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cool start to the day will mean the odd shower close to eastern includes

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the areas but with time they will fade

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