ng to rebuild itself but there are many obstacles in the way. political instability from multieththc populations come and russia's heavy hand. >> "revisited," on "france 24" and france 24.com.

claire: welcome to the program. i am claire pryde. the situation in mosul is terrifying, as iraqi forces close in on the city. the pentagon is saying civilians are being used as human shields. berlin prepares to host talks on syria amid a lull in airstrikes on aleppo. and sanctions against russia for bombing the city are an option. europe hopes to wipe away the disappointment of 2003's eagle 2 lander by making its first successful touchdown on mars in the coming hours. claire: it is day 3 of the

offensive to retake mosul from the islamic state group, and the u.n. continues to work on creating new refugee sites outside iraq second-largest city. backed a international airstrikes, government troops, nearing basel from the south with a kurdish system in the east, many villages must be recaptured before the northern city's outskirts are reached. james andre is in iraqi kurdistan, and he joins me now. james, you have been south of mosul. what is the latest on the progress made by iraqi forces? james: indeed we were at the base and we followed one of these operations to liberate villages. the objective was to liberate two villages, and they managed to liberate one. it is a very slow and difficult progression. they have 18 villages to liberate before they reach the outskirts of mosul.

there is a lot of artillery where a column of vehicles approaches. these are small cities or small villages. basically when they arrived in the village that was liberated the people of the islamic state organization had already left their positionon and fled north toward mosul. it is going to get more difficult as they advanced to the city, but there are operations like that one every day on the southern front. there is still a lot of distance to cover. the iraqi army and the iraqi forces, the iraqi police are still around 45 to 50 kilometers around the city, and they have a lot of work to do yet. claire: what about the peshmerga forces? james: they are making a lot of progress at the moment. we were told they retook 20 cities yesterday. there's also the golden brigade,

the anti-terror forces, attacking from the east. they have made important progress because they are retaking a city that is the largest christian city that was ever held by islamic state around 50,000 people living there before he was captured by the jihadist group. they are advancing inside that city. they have retaken some of the neighborhoods, but there is still resistance. with a bit of luck, they should be up to liberate it completely in the hours to come. it is a difficult progression with a lot of car bombs being used, as well as shelling from the islamic state position. it is true that they are a lot closer to the city on this side the eastern front, than they are from the south. claire: what is the latest your hearing on the humanitarian front? james: as far as the humanitarian front is concerned

there are great worries about the liberation of mosul itself. the military cannot just go into a city that is still home to roughly one million inhabitants with heavy weaponry. it is very difficult, necessary to make sure that these civilians are indeed safe when this attack takes place. we did drive past a couple refugee camps as we were coming this way. there were already some people in one of them. i can also tell you that in the villages, we did witness the iraqi military trying to find out if there was still people from the islamic state organization in these villages. we saw them speak to the residents, compare their idea -- compare their id with lists they had from an iraqi intelligence and all skiing -- and also asking as a group who collaborated with the islamic state organization, in order to

arrest those who had collaborated with the jihadists. claire: thank you for bringing us up to date. james andre reporting from iraqi kurdistan. vladimir putin is due in berlin later for talks on ukraine and syria. the meeting coming after moscow says russian and syrian warplanes have stopped bombing rebel held parts of aleppo ahead of what it calls a humanitarian pause on thursday. airstrikes intensified in recent days. until tuesday, angela merkel said sanctions against russia for its actions are an option. here is knotty amassing in --nadia massey in beirut. >> they do not really believe that there will be sustained relief for people trapped in the city. about eight hours for humanitarian forces is nowhere

near enough. it is not appear to be a clause in this russian proposal to allow for it as well. they would like to address those concerns directly with russian representatives until a much larger force is needed. russia is saying it wants to -- the only way for a meaningful cease-fire is -- for forces holed up in eastern aleppo to surrender. i think there is going to be very high-level diplomacy on these issues further exodus. it is unlikely there will be a breakthrough on any major issue. claire: it is now just a matter of hours before a three-day cease-fire starts in yemen. houthi rebels seized it does go

years ago. since then, thousands of civilians have been killed millions displaced. andrew hillier reports. andrew: there is not much optimism on the streets of son these days -- of sanaa these days. since 2015, these people have lives under constant fear of coalition airstrikes. but now with less than a day to go until the cease-fire residents of human's r gary to hope that an end could be insight. >> we are hoping for a permanent truce and national reconciliation. we hope the countries supporting the cease-fire will put major pressure on all parties. >> what we need is an end to the war. we want an end to the war. not a three-they cease-fire. >> so far yemen's warring factions have agreed to respect their truce. rebels through their backing behind the deal and demanded an

end to saudi-led coalition strikes. international observers hope the truce could act as a springboard for peace talks. but with so many players involved, finding a way forward will not be easy. >> a deal depends on the real attentions -- the real intentions inside and outside. this war has been a disaster for everyone. it is impossible to solve militarily, so there needs to be reconciliation within the society and the region itself. andrew: 4000 civilians have been killed already since the war broke out in 2014. the alternative to piece is this. more bloodshed in the arab world's poorest country. claire: moving on to an anti-u.s. protests in the philippines, turning very violent.

a protester says several people had to be taken to the hospital after a police van -- it was repeatedly rammed into protesters. hundreds of people had gathered outside the american embassy in manila to call for the withdrawal of u.s. troops from the south of the country. more than 20 protesters were arrested. in haiti, help has yet to reach many people affected by hurricane matthew, which hit the caribbean nation two weeks ago. over the weekend angry haitians looted aid trucks. only a fraction of the $12 million the u.n. appealed for has been raised. >> forcing their way to the front of the queue in a desperate bid to get their hands on supplies, these are just some of the 1.4 million haitians in need of urgent assistance. after hurricane matthew battered the country two weeks ago.

eight deliveries -- aid deliveries have been slow to hit the hardest -- to reach the hardest hit areas of southwestern haiti. 175,000 people have lost their homes. >> i cannot save anything. friends have had to donate clothing to me and my children and where sleeping on the street. >> tensions have been burning among the local population, so much so that a ship carrying 35 tons of aid was forced to turn back over the weekend because of security concerns at the location port. meanwhile, there is anger among students who think having their education interrupted will be closed for the foreseeable future. >> things are very upsetting right now. as well as having no books, we have nowhere to stay and nothing to eat. everything was taken from us even our animals. >> it could take at least a decade for parts of the country to recover.

but there is still hope for haiti. the u.n. has launched an emergency appeal to raise $120 million of aid. claire: frayed nerves at the europeans agency as he gets ready to put a probe on mars after a journey of half a billion kilometers. a robot should touchdown in the coming hours. the plan is to do meteorological work for a few days, paving the way for a later mission to search the red prob planet for life. >> seven months after it landed, now 500 million kilometers from earth, the mars mission has reached its trickiest operation yet. landing. since sunday, the module has been coasting toward the red planet. the 21,000 -- as it enters mars' atmosphere, the lender will use a parachute and a new technique called aerobraking, to slow

down. it will release its front heatshield, then turn on radar to access its position above the surface. a minute later, having left behind its parachute and rear heatshield, the lander will activate its thrusters, slowing down to less than seven kilometers per hour. now two meters above the ground, the engines were cut, and scamper really real -- will drop to the surface once on the ground, the rover will have a few days of battery life to study the environment. a series of sensors will measure wind speed, pressure temperature, as well as the electric fields. the mothership going to mars is all to observe the atmosphere. european scientists are gathering things that may benefit organisms.

scamper-- the rover will land in the hope of finding out whether there really could be life on mars. claire: you are watching "live from paris." the situation inside mosul is terrifying state residents of the islamic state stronghold. the pentagon is saying civilians are being used as human shields. berlin prepares for talks on syria amid a low in airstrikes at aleppo. angela merkel has said that sanctions against russia for bombing the northern city are an option. and stop whining as donald trump and hillary clinton are set to clash in las vegas for the final presidential debate. it is time now for our "business news." i am joined by will hilderbrandt.

starting with first data on the chinese economy. >> the transition from double-digit growth to more sustainable growth -- the second-largest chart, at 6.7% for the third quarter in a row. that is good news in the figure that stems fears of them at sharper slowdown there were concerns on reports of the country's currency beijing's macroeconomic policy. we spoke earlier with duncan hewitt. duncan: there is still consumer growth. we are seeing wage growth, although it is less than before, but still something like 5.7% year on year. the one area where the government is itself keen to push is the move from value added manufacturing to high-tech. so there is emphasis on

creativity. rnd wants to become a global r&d center within the next decade. they are prepared to spend billions of dollars to make this happen. there are clearly companies coming up which are being quite innovative, but there is still a concern nevertheless that there is a worry about china's education system, whether that encourages creativity, and also worries about things like controls on the internet. have the paint commerce in beijing. expressing concerns that that damage the ability to do -- for the ability for site assists to get the information they need to be innovative. there are still worries, but china is trying to make this transition work. claire: how are the markets reacting to that data on china? >> this was expected. forecasts were saying 6.7%.

the other has not been too much of a shock to the market. european stocks are below the flatline. the french cac -- currently selling that the estimate. for the most part, investors are seeing data out of china has been encouraging. claire: many cities in europe have been trying to attract british businesses, including the french capital. the french are using -- they are not really known for their sense of humor. >> they might be better known for their sense of style, but they do have a sense of humor. a new campaign unveiled by paris to recruit some of the best british businesses to the business district in france. delon of desousa reports. dellano: this is the

campaign harris has unveiled as it tries to attract businesses from europe's financial capital. >> for those who understand english, is very amusing. convincing them to set up in france is quite funny. >> across the channel in london, billboards have been put up at heathrow airport and the eurostar train station. though the message is lighthearted, there is an element of competition. >> brexit is leading many companies to reconsider their location in europe, having access to the european market. this is a very good opportunity for paris. harris has the largest european business district. >> paris, frankfurt, and dublin are all hoping to woo businesses . campaigners in the french

capital say that it is located within three hours of many european capitals. rent in the business district is also three times cheaper than it is in london. the french government has promised to unveil measures to boost the city's popularity. assistance in remake kidding employees. even offering to handle paperwork in english so even the jokes translate. claire: a bit of fun before you go, will. people in the u.s. joined a treasure hunt for, of all things, pennies. >> allie financial services has hill that has hid 100 in 10 u.s. cities, also said to be in plain sight. if you are lucky enough to find one, you can cash it in for thousand dollars the point of this marketing stunt is simply that every cent matters. claire: could look to those on

the treasure hunt. thank you very much, will, for taking us through the business news. now it is time or the press review. -- now it is time for the press review. join me now to take a look at the international headlines is florence villeminot. hello, florence. a lot of papers today are for -- are focusing on the battle to recapture mosul. flo: let's take a look at the front page of "the wall street journal," which says the pace of fighting has slowed down a little bit. but you can see they are talking about the tensions are starting to him -- are starting to merge particularly under the peshmerga kurdish fighters and under iraqi forces. this is pigot in a good cartoon in "the new york times -- this is particularly good in "the new york times."

also the allies -- talking in unison saying, "on my command," perhaps depicting that who is in charge is unclear for now. claire: the average language -- the arab miners press? flo: there are one point 5 million people living in mosul. this is a cartoon from a paper based in london. you can see the name of the city mosul, with a civilian calling for help through the middle letter there. another very good cartoon in a pen and paper based in london, we can see here a focus on what is happening in the towns that have been liberated, towns around mosul at that have been liberated from islamic state group. you can see these black bats flying away, unveiling this woman, pulling off a black veil from her face, revealing a more

colorful fail to you can see once again the name of the city written on her head veil. claire: in syria, the first later, asma al-assad has -- flo: this story is being focused on by the london times. you can see some of the elements from the interview in this headline. she lashed out against western media, saying it is biased and has an agenda. he also talked about having been offered asylum in other countries. it is a very interesting part of the interview. she said she was offered the opportunity to leave syria, or rather to run for syria. she said it was a deliberate attempt to shatter the public confidence in her husband, bush are all aside. this is the very first interview with international media since the beginning of the civil war in syria in 2011.

claire: julian assange is inadequate or's embassy for quite a few years. they restricted his internet access. flo: you can read all about it all over the world. i checked on an article from fox news because a lot of republicans are upset about this. yesterday, ecuador's foreign ministry acknowledged that it had cut is -- that they had cut it his internet access. he has been living there since 2012. why now? because recently a trove of emails was published, staffers working for hillary clinton, the candidate for the democratic party in the united states. these recent documents had a major impact on the u.s. campaign, the campaign for that presidential election, and they say as a country we do not interfere in foreign elections. that is why they decided to freeze internet access for julian assange. this is why republicans are very upset about this and why it is

getting a lot of attention on fox news, because they think this is an attempt to harsh criticism of hillary clinton. claire: meanwhile, donald trump continues to claim that the november election will be rigged . flo: he has been saying this for some days now. "the new york times" reports that he is going on his supporters to turn out in trove's on election day to monitor polling places. just yesterday he said voter fraud is all too comment. these comments have drawn a lot of criticism, particularly from the left. you have u.s. president barack obama, a president who told him to stop whining. it is an interesting article in "the washington post," which asked experts, can you rig a u.s. election. it is a difficult thing to do. experts say it is nearly impossible, given the way the voting system works in the

united states. every step of the way, there are checks and balances. every cent of the way, you have people from the democratic and republican parties monitoring every step of the election. if it were to be rigged and went to a national level, it would require cooperation between republicans and democrats, so this article says it is a highly unlikely. the truth of the matter is, this is the latest episode in what a lot of people say has been a very ugly campaign. there was a great cartoon i recommend in "china daily," which depicts clinton and donald trump. very ugly pumpkins, and must say. we are nearing hollow wean and you can see uncle sam there, the trick-or-treater, running away for life in the background. claire: we are going to look at some french papers. flo: this is a very important story to talk about today. you can read about it on the front page.

why are we talking about a? this woman in the photo is a popular tv host, and she has released a book called "solace," where she reveals for the first time that she was sexually abused at the age of 13 by a famous photographer. she is an important figure in france, kind of -- a life people have grown up watching her, so it is shocking that -- she says, "i wrote this. you do not dare to speak out because that is another issue that is addressed today. fortunately, -- unfortunately, rape continues to be a major problem here in france. whether it is out of the sea like a shame, or not knowing what the legal rights are. they're saying it is really time to break silence on rate. claire: it is always good to raise awareness. thank you very much, florence p check at our website 24.com."

time for a break. i will be back in a few minutes. with a full news rhonda. stay with us through the afternoon.

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