reporting from northern iraq. now, former israeli prime minister has been sentenced to eight months in jail for corruption. the prison term was handed down following a verdict in march that found he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from an american businessman while serving as trade minister. his lawyers say they will lodge an appeal of the supreme court. the 69-year-old was sentenced to eight years in prison in a separate corruption case back in 2014. that case has also gone to appeal. poland has voted for change. that's the conclusion most commentators are drawing after sunday's presidential election which saw the challenger andrzej duda oust the incumbent sen terrorist bronislaw komorowski. >> the vote has been closely monitored because it is seen as a crucial indicator of who may win parliamentary elections later this year. >> a selfie with the future president. 43-year-old andrzej duda out mixing with the people one day after the election. in warsaw he handed out coffee in front of a subway stop to m

is advancing through syria and iraq. control the areas marked here in red. they recently took control of ramadi. that took them to within about 100 kilometers from the iraqi capital, baghdad. the iraqi army is pulling tanks and artillery into position on the outskirts of ramadi, gearing up for an attempt to retake the city. the iraqi military part of a sunni government, has teamed up with shia militias to fight i.s. it's a new move, but for the moment, the conflict between sunnis and shia has been set aside, at least for the time being. these are the victims -- civilians, the elderly women children, and men. they flee not knowing where they're going, and often finding their way blocked. the military refuses them passage, afraid that i.s. fighters may be hiding among them. >> once more, we find ourselves asking the question -- can i.s. the stop? we're joined by an expert on i.s. welcome to the program. you spend a lot of time in iraq and syria, and you're extremely familiar with i.s. why is it so powerful? your research shows it has very professional field an

. >> iraq launches a broad offensive to retake and bar province from islamic state militants -- retake anbar province. and ireland's yes vote on gay marriage puts pressure on the german government to follow suit. pro-government forces in iraq have launched an offensive against islamic state militants in the country's anbar province. the focus is the provincial capital ramadi which i.s. fighters captured 10 days ago. >> its let the government scrambling to reverse its largest military setback in nearly a year. prime minister has vowed to recapture the city within days. >> government troops are now reported to be closing in on ramadi with heaviest support from iranian-backed shia militias. >> a rack's army is backed by shia paramilitary forces to retake the heavily sunni and bar province despite fears of sunni-shiite tensions. fighting and airstrikes are now under way, spokesmen say. at 5:00 this morning, a convoy of heroes departed to announce the start of the operation through the barrels of their rifles. the spokesman says operation forces have moved in from the north to surround and

islamic state consolidates gains in syria as the last border crossing with iraq falls. >> the eu's eastern partnership summit wraps up with a loan of almost 2 billion euros to help ukraine revive its economy. >> and do or die -- bundesliga fans get ready for one of the most exciting showdowns in years. welcome to the program. american-led horses have conducted 15 airstrikes against islamic state elections in iraq concentrating on targets near ramadi, which fell to the jihadists just days ago. there were also airstrikes across the border is area. >> that has not stopped i is from advancing. the militants now have almost complete command over the border. >> the group has also released video of its conquest of the historic syrian desert town, palmyra. >> islamic state's advance across syria continues accompanied by haunting propaganda like this. the any of o'meara -- the city of palmyra deserted after they took control. they have seized the last border crossing in government hands. in the north they took formerly a government stronghold, and a thursday -- thursday palmyra with its ancient rui

an analyst who works for the jamestown foundation and is based in northern iraq joins us. thanks for joining us. these iranian-backed shiite militias have chosen an openly sectarian name for the opposition that is underweight a name that no doubt in furious the sunnis. what sort of tension is this causing? >> well, the sunnis already have a lot of distrust in the iraqi government in baghdad, but the fact is that mostly shia militias will take part in this operation. it will cause a lot of fear and distrust for the shia fighters and it could also heighten support or the islamic state. >> isn't this all a bit embarrassing for the government in baghdad? >> i think it's more embarrassing or the americans because they always try to keep the shia militias out of the right and wanted to focus on the+ iraqi army and iraqi police, but now everyone realizes that the only way to defeat isis is to use shia militias. >> these shia militias have been quite vocal over the last few hours, saying they are taking the lead in this operation. how much control does the prime minister in baghda

is as vast as it ever was because the capital of the province -- on bar is the biggest province in iraq and a lot of people say this is the revenge of tikrit, because they lost tikrit two months ago and now they took ramadi. it's like a ping-pong game. you lose tikrit, you take ramadi. brian: in this ping-pong game, the rainy and's are playing a key role. how significant is the political support they have in the fight against irs -- i.s.? reporter: it is significant because they were the first ones helping iraqis, sending experts trainers, and even the commander of the national guard, of the republican guard came to iraqi and commanded the brigade which is a militia, a shia militia trained in iran. and they are said to be the most professional -- much more professional than the iraqi army's. so iran plays a significant role in this fight. brian: ok, a respondent from baghdad, live as the ukrainian army marches on monday. thanks for that. we're taking a very short break. stay with us. we will be looking at the lessons learned from the ebola crisis. peter: on a very different note, we wil

state executes civilians in the ancient syrian city of palmyra in its relentless advance in syria and iraq. and u.s. television star david letterman has entered retirement after hosting his last edition of "the lakeshow -- the late show." >> the white house is coming under increasing pressure for its policy on iraq and syria as islamic state makes increasing inroads in both countries. >> after seizing the strategic iraqi city of ramadi, i.s. has taken palmyra in syria. >> on mideast analyst will be on set to talk about the political significance for all the warring sides. first, we have this report. >> islamic state militants posted a video of their assault on palmeiro. on twitter, the group said it is now in complete control of the city. this amateur footage is said to show the fight for the ancient city as islamic state troops took over. palmyra is strategically located on it desert junction between homs and damascus. syrian forces are now cut off from the capital. syrian state television confirmed army forces withdrew from palmyra but only after ensuring most civilians have left. other

. >> there have been some fast-moving developments in iraq as the country musters forces to regain ramadi which has been lost to islamic state fighters. >> the white house has said it will back a multi-sectarian forced to retake the city, which means it has accepted the use of a led shia militia in that effort. ramadi is 100 kilometers from the capital baghdad. the loss with a major blow to the government. >> authorities have agreed to allow thousands of families fleeing the islamic state into the capital. security forces had been keeping them out, fearing militants might infiltrate baghdad. >> ramadi is deserted after the islamic state seized control of the city. a black flag flies over the town's main square. some iraqi troops only got out by helicopter in the very last moment. months of fighting have left their mark on the city. the fall of ramadi is a significant setback for the iraqi army. >> it threatens the security situation in the capital and the southern provinces. >> thousands of people have fled fearing for thei thunited nations is ruggling to look after th iraq's government h

anchor: the iraq ministry has released this video, showing a coalition airstrike. that is where he was set to be meeting with militants. washington said it did not strike the mosque. the islamic state leader is -- leader was allegedly injured in the airstrike in march. brian: this is even lower than the average of 0.4 percent. anchor: it may indicate weakness in the europe's economy. export -- export growth was disappointing. that same data showed gdp figures from friends and in delay -- and italy are giving a boost to the market. reporter: the day started off quite well despite disappointing figures on the german economic growth. the reason was france where the economy seems to be recovering quite well with a growth of 0.6% higher than expected. that came in the afternoon after retail safety test until figures were published. the economy was recovering slower than expected since the retail sales figures remain unchanged during the month of april. the u.s. dollar was made weaker and the dollar stronger. the german exporting companies lose in their shares since the