Cooling trade winds, and the crystal blue caribbean sea. Nonstop flights are available from most major airports. More information for your vacation planning is available at aruba. Com. And now, bbc world news america. Katty this is a special edition of bbc world news america. Reporting from charlotte, North Carolina, i am katty kay. Iraqi forces meet mosul and get fierce resistance from Islamic State. Our correspondent is with them. Reporter this is stretch is laced with ieds and illustrates how hard and difficult this final stage of the battle is going to be. Just day one inside mosul. Katty only one week to go before America Votes in one of the most extraordinary elections in history, and states like North Carolina are getting a lot of attention. It may the hard to believe, but elections used to be something to celebrate. At one bakery they are dusting off an old recipe to revive the tradition. Katty welcome to world news america. 2 years after being driven out by socalled Islamic State, the first iraqi forces have reentered mosul and tonight they are within the city limits. The assault, now in its third week, involves hundreds of troops in heavily armed vehicles. But there are concerns for more than one million civilians who are thought to be trapped inside mosul. Our correspondent and cameraman are the First Western broadcast team to enter the city. They sent us this report. Reporter slowly and relentlessly, the territory of the socalled caliphate is being taken back. It is all two and a half years since militants swept across these planes with ease. Today it is the turn of Iraqi Special forces. Close to the city of mosul. We have heard a whizzing sound overhead. It is the sound of sniper fire coming from Islamic State. They are trying to respond and stop the shooting coming in. Few expected they would advance this far, this fast. But the closer they get to mosul, the resistance only grows. We are now literally just a few hundred meters from the outskirts of mosul with Counterterrorism Forces. They have come up against significant we stiffer resistance than we have seen the last couple days. Were hearing the sounds of grounds coming in and rocket propelled grenades as well as automatic weapon fire. They have brought in tanks, heavy weapons, they are targeting a number of buildings where they think Islamic State is based before it is safe for them to move into mosul itself. There are reported to be more than one Million People trapped between the warring parties. With nothing but a white flag for defense. Many fear a mass civilian exit civilian exodus may lie ahead. It is hard to exaggerate how dangerous this was. Islamic state fighters on the skylines barely seem to care that the troops are advancing. That doesnt mean they are not prepared to defend the city or fight to the death. The Counterterrorism Forces have been moving through mosul, the outskirts only, for the last few hours, and is made incredibly stiff resistance. I have met incredibly stiff resistance. With a number of crisis isis fighters carrying rocket propelled grenades. There have been incoming attacks. And a lot of gunfire. The ground is treacherous. It is laced with ieds. It illustrates how hard and difficult this final stage of the battle is going to be. This is just a day one inside mosul. This is the road the troops must now take. It leads to the center of the city. A dark and dangerous route into the heart of the caliphate of the Islamic State. Ian pannell, bbc news mosul. , katty the battle is tough but they are making advances. It is almost impossible for people trapped inside mosul with the Islamic State banning satellite dishes and mobile phones. Some people are managing to communicate with the outside world and orla guerin reports from northern iraq. Orla a snapshot of mosul. Silent, besieged, braced for the assault. See how i. S. Have hidden an antiaircraft gun under a bridge. A Resistance Group called the mosul brigade secretly recorded these images recently. Others are resisting by daring to speak. The airwaves of a Radio Station are open to colors from inside callers from inside mosul. We cannot say where it is located or identify the staff. They have received Death Threats from the jihadis. We joined a presenter in the studio as listeners found in to answer our questions. Orla callers say they are in danger not just from i. S. For the airstrikes from the u. S. And its allies. Orla another caller told us many in the city were waiting for the chance to take revenge on the jihadis. He said life is unbearable and he had to speak out whatever the risk. God forbid they discovered you making this call. What would happen, do you think . Orla the station says these days it is getting more calls from mosul, a sign that the cap that the captive city is recovering its voice. Northern iraq. Katty the battle for most so. The battle for mosul a week from today americans will cast their ballots in the president ial election. Where we are in North Carolina it could be critical. No republican since eisenhower has won the white house without winning this state. Hillary clinton and donald trump will be here this weekend polls show the race is tightening not tightening across america. That means every last vote counts. North america editor jon sopel has the latest on the campaign trail. Jon donald trump and hillary both launched their campaigns in june, june 2015, that is. They have been going at it nonstop ever since. Today, donald trump is in pennsylvania. Hillary clinton is now on her way to florida for a busy day campaigning. Now there is just one week to go. This is where the marathon turns into a sprint as the candidates go to key swing states that will determine the election. What are the key swing states . Florida and North Carolina in the south, and ohio and pennsylvania in the industrial north. For donald trump to have a path to victory, he needs to win all 4. Successive polls suggest Hillary Clinton has comfortable leads in North Carolina and pennsylvania. That is why in the battle for the keys to this place, the fbi may have given donald trump momentum. It has not shifted the race. Hillary clinton is still winning where she needs to. I was calling to see if you still have your support for Hillary Clinton. Jon you also need a ground game, and here, too, in commercial terms, Hillary Clinton is better placed. This is her team working in nevada. She has far more staff and money. Remember that donald trump didnt have the infrastructure and that did not seem to matter in the race to become the republican nominee. It is worth underlining in many states that early voting has already started, either by postal ballots or polling stations opening early. It is estimated that 24 million americans have already voted. On the nationwide average, that is around 20 of the likely turn out in the election. But that number is obsolete far higher in early voting states, many of them key battlegrounds. The figures of registered republicans and registered democrats going to vote shows a slight edge for Hillary Clinton. American political pundits have started using the phrase of a british Prime Minister from the 1960s, Harold Wilsons comment that a week is a long time in politics. In this helterskelter, White Knuckle ride, indeed it is, and who knows what is going to happen next . Jon sopel, bbc news, washington. Katty it feels like a long time. We are in North Carolina. Today, campaigns converge on North Carolina. Veryone is here bill clinton, Hillary Clinton, donald trump, barack obama. What really do this time around . For more in the state of the race i spoke with the democratic mayor of charlotte, jennifer roberts. I asked about the focus on her state. We see it up close and personal. We have numerous visits from the president , first lady, we are paying close attention. It looks like Hillary Clinton carolina, but a lot of the polls are close. It depends on a lot of things. It depends on turnout, with the weather is like, whether people are determined from the polls, if there are problems at the polls. Katty democrat or republican, we dont know which way it will go. We have a state with a lot of diversity, including rural and urban counties. The cities are largely democratic with democratic mayors. In the rural communities, they tend to be republican. It is almost evenly divided in North Carolina. The registration is almost 5050. A lot of it is what motivates voters. It depends on the top issues and how people feel in their pocketbooks. Katty lets talk about charlotte. A lot of construction going on. This is a city that is doing well. In september when a black man was shot by police officer, it exploded in race riots. What does that say about Race Relations in your community . Charlotte is a microcosm of the community as a whole about race. We have a history of not being equal. There have been laws that have restricted africanamericans access. This is still a part of who we are. In charlotte, we are working to eliminate the gap and work to bring opportunities to every corner of the city, including minorities, women, small and large businesses. We know that it is still an aspect of our city. Katty we have heard a lot about division. Probably too little about what the country can come together about. I met one local pastor who is trying to change that by welcoming all races and Political Parties and his congregation. For those of us who have been christians for a long time, why does jesus save us . Democratic he opened the church on super bowl sunday. Youre telling your congregation you are not voting either way. That makes some people mad. In america we have idolized politics. Particularly with the religious right in the 1980s that a phenomenal job of shaping that republicanism is equivalent to following jesus. Katty the pastor knows the trials of being black in North Carolina. 2 years ago he was full over by police with his son in the car. A policeman got behind us and put on his high beams for over a mile and then pulled us over and asked us, what are you doing here . Now, i a grown man with grown children. You dont ask a grown man what he is doing. Im an american citizen who paid taxes for your job on the freeway i am driving. You dont ask me what im doing. Im driving home after preaching. But we fit a particular profile and the sad part is, i have to look my 13yearold son in the eyes and say put your hands on the back of the driversside seat. Do not move fast. Look him in the eyes yes, sir, no, sir. I didnt respond with what was in my heart. I responded to make sure we got home. Katty he opened his Church Specifically to get different races together. That makes it exceptional here. A lot of christians in the south in the primaries voted for donald trump and are supporting him. Yeah, that is the great thing about these United States of america, that we are free to vote our conscience. For those in the congregation wearing trump shirts, i highfived because what brings us together is greater than what divides us. Katty his office is a tribute to his 2 passions, god and football. No Pastoral Office is complete without a football. Retake the claims of the bible we take the claims of the bible true. Katty North Carolina is changing fast, with newcomers shaping up traditional racial lines. It makes for a beautiful mixture but with a mixture there is always conflict, which requires humility, which requires love, requires standing in the shoes of the other. Katty doing what he can to doing what he can. You are watching bbc world news america. We go to japan where all as on the the potential impact of the election. s most powerful earthquake since 1980 left thousands homeless. More than 4000 have been moved into hostels with 10,000 in emergency centers. The anxious journey back to what they left behind. Every so often they have to stop for someone to clear the road. Eventually, they find what they are looking for. The italian farmers reunited with the livestock that is their livelihood. Back, butse his heard not his home. A week ago. E herd there were sheep. Hill. An go behind the they can go over there. The area is enormous. There is no one left. I have no choice. Italys most powerful earthquake since 1980 has left 15,000 people homeless. Local sports halls have been turned into temporary shelters. It is estimated to cost 9 billion to rebuild the towns and villages. The damage includes the medieval basilica of saint bit addict which stood for more than 600 years. It is our coulter and story. It is our roots. Seeing the basilica collapse was sad, like ending a story. Reporter the sun may continue to shine, but winter is coming. They will need more than tents. Shipping containers will be brought in by christmas with temporary wooden homes by a. The challenge in the longterm is rejecting the towns and villages that have proved vulnerable to devastation. Bbc news. Katty selections have a big impact because they affect so many around the world. Japan is watching for Security Alliance that has been in place since world war ii. That could change under donald trump. Rupert wingfieldhayes has more. Reporter f15 fighter jets from the u. S. Air force roar into the sky over the japanese island of okinawa. For 70 years from this Little Island in the far south of japan has been americas Aircraft Carrier in asia. I am now standing on the southwest coast of okinawa, and this beside me here is the east china sea. If we take the drone up that off west there is the giant dena airbase. On top of the hill to the north is the Futenma Marine corps base. The marine corps presence in okinawa is enormous. As donald Trump Reminds us, it is extremely expensive. There are nearly 50,000 u. S. Personnel based in japan, and another 25,000 japanese working on these u. S. Bases. In the first president ial debate, mr. Trump said they should be paying us because we are providing Tremendous Service and we are losing a fortune. Is that true . This man is chairman of the okinawa garrison forces labor union. Does he think that his members are getting a free ride on the u. S. Taxpayer . Has no clue. The japanese government is u. S. G for these areas the military uses. They also pay the salary of all of the japanese working on u. S. Bases in okinawa, even electricity and water bills. Japan pays 2 billion u. S. Dollars per year to keep an American Forces here. A lot of okinawans want that to stop. These protesters are blocking a truck from getting to a construction site for a new u. S. Base. They say the burden of hosting so many u. S. Troops here is just too high. Does that mean they support donald trump . Mr. Trump makes lots of radical comments and talks about removing old u. S. Bases from okinawa, so im a bit hopeful, but at the same time, he will be trouble if he becomes u. S. President. I guess its a good thing, but when you listen to what he says, i have Big Questions about him. I am worried he might violate human rights, i worried if you will make the right decisions as a human being. Reporter these people might want the u. S. To go. That does not mean they want donald trump to be president. If japan had a vote, it would go to Hillary Clinton. American president ial elections used to be festive. In North Carolina one bakery is thatg to carry on tradition. Baking and booze used to go hand in hand. Here is a look at how the tradition is carried on today. Election an election cake is a colonial era cake, celebratory cake once attached to voting places and polling sites in the early republic. In some of the original recipes we found, there would have been 30 quarts of flour, so you can imagine this entire bowl filled with flour. That wouldve been one of the components to this cake. Election cake was intended to feed a lot of people, the masses. This is our sourdough you our sourdough culture. You want to make sure it is very bubbly and active. Make sure you beat the butter well. Very add the eggs one at a time while you beat the butter and sugar. We reduce the mixture lows be until it does not overmix the flour. We want to avoid getting a cupcake. This is the final step. Carefully folding it. Andboozesoaked fruit sherry. Mmm. Smells like christmas, doesnt it . The most important part of baking is to really be present. You want to attend to every process. It is a cake that take at least a day, sometimes 2 days, to make, so you can give at the proper time it needs. A really beautiful, beguiling cake. Ours is a femaleowned and led business, and we thought it was , since it was once baked by women who could not float, it was an interesting way to show the way gender dynamic has shifted over time. The electoral process is something celebrated. A lot of bad feelings around this election, and we forget how lucky we are to live in a country where there are presumably peaceful elections. Katty the Great American bake off. That is what we need to make this more fun. One week to go. That brings this program to a close purity can find up mo