union leaders in the uk urge the prime minister to intervene in the dispute about healthcare pay. the biggest week of strikes in the history of the national health service is due to start on monday. the us continues to search for the wreckage of a chinese balloon suspected of being used for spying which was brought down by an american fighterjet yesterday. hello and welcome to bbc world news. iran s supreme leader is pardoning a large number of prisoners, including some of those arrested during the past months of protests. the pardon by ayatollah khamenei comes on the eve of the anniversary of the islamic revolution in 1979, a date on which he regularly offers an amnesty to some prisoners. but the iranian state media says it excludes those facing charges of spying for foreign agencies, murder and bodily harm, as well as the destruction or arson of state property. taraneh stone, from the bbc s persian service, says those freed have several conditions attached to their release.
Welcome to bbc news. The Iraqi Government said today that the city of mosul has been liberated from so called Islamic State, three years after it was first occupied by the extremists. The second largest city in iraq was where is declared its caliphate in 2014. Since then, its grip on territory seen here in red has been gradually reduced in iraq and in syria. In the last nine months its been targeted in mosul by the iraqi army, backed by us and Coalition Air strikes and has lost Ground Street By street. Tonight, the defence secretary sir Michael Fallon congratulated the iraqis and highlighted the role played by the raf. But as our defence correspondent Jonathan Beale has seen in mosul, victory has come at a cost, with an estimated 800,000 civilians driven from their homes. What was once a beautiful old city is now mostly rubble. Every building deeply scarred or destroyed by months of war. We joined the Search And Rescue teams looking for survivors. But more often, they are just recoveri
Welcome to bbc news. The Iraqi Government said today that the city of mosul has been liberated from so called Islamic State, three years after it was first occupied by the extremists. The second largest city in iraq was where is declared its caliphate in 2014. Since then, its grip on territory seen here in red has been gradually reduced in iraq and in syria. In the last nine months its been targeted in mosul by the iraqi army, backed by us and Coalition Air strikes and has lost Ground Street By street. Tonight, the defence secretary sir Michael Fallon congratulated the iraqis and highlighted the role played by the raf. But as our defence correspondent Jonathan Beale has seen in mosul, victory has come at a cost, with an estimated 800,000 civilians driven from their homes. What was once a beautiful old city is now mostly rubble. Every building deeply scarred or destroyed by months of war. We joined the Search And Rescue teams looking for survivors. But more often, they are just recoveri
Welcome to bbc news. The Iraqi Government said today that the city of mosul has been liberated from so called Islamic State, three years after it was first occupied by the extremists. The second largest city in iraq was where is declared its caliphate in 2014. Since then, its grip on territory seen here in red has been gradually reduced in iraq and in syria. In the last nine months its been targeted in mosul by the iraqi army, backed by us and Coalition Air strikes and has lost Ground Street By street. Tonight, the defence secretary sir Michael Fallon congratulated the iraqis and highlighted the role played by the raf. But as our defence correspondent Jonathan Beale has seen in mosul, victory has come at a cost, with an estimated 800,000 civilians driven from their homes. What was once a beautiful old city is now mostly rubble. Every building deeply scarred or destroyed by months of war. We joined the Search And Rescue teams looking for survivors. But more often, they are just recoveri