In iraq a fresh battle is brewing over the strategic city of rammedy which Islamic State militants captured a week ago in a major setback for baghdad. I. S. Is now reinforcing its positions as iran backed shiite militias sad vance on the city from the east and the south. The u. S. Has criticized iraqi troops for lacking the will to fight i. S. Dismissing that though the iraq priments said rammedy would be captured within days. Thousands of yeemings are fleeing the air thousands of refugees are fleeing the area. Thousands of refugees surge across this bridge over the euphrates river. Many are carrying as much as they can with them while others have left everything behind in rammedy. Weve suffered so much. All our property and our animals were destroyed. We dont know whats happened to our families. Iraqi authorities kept the bridge closed for days amid fears i. S. Fighters may be hiding among the refugees. Now those who cross are individually registered, only those who can prove they have family or friends to stay with in baghdad are allowed through. Baghdad operations just cant let hundreds of thousands of families swarm through. All wed have would be chaos. The process of entry for displaced families should be done in a systematic way. A little over a week ago Islamic State forces overran ramadi the capital of Anbar Province lying just 100 kilometers from baghdad. The pentagon has accused the iraqi army of surrendering ramadi too easily and lacking the will to fight i. S. The government rejects that. It says its getting ready to launch a counteroffensive. But among iraqs International Partners doubts are growing that baghdad is up to the task of stopping i. S. Okay. On the line now our correspondent monitoring the situation for us in northern iraq. Thanks for joining us. The iraqi Prime Minister is being quite bold. He said ramadi will be recaptured within days. How realistic is that . I think its not very realistic. If you look to an earlier operation for instance tikrit it took the iraqi forces more than one month to creep back. So it is very unlikely that they can take ramadi back so quickly. Does that have anything to do with morale within the iraqi army both the u. S. And canada have questioned the attitude of the iraqi armed forces. Well one of the problems is that the change of command the chain of command broke down and a number of Security Forces were there which made coordination very difficult in the fight against isis. This was also the problem with sunni tribal fighters, suggesting they were not receiving weapons enough from baghdad and they had to buy their own ammunition. Its very difficult to reinstitute Security Forces to retake ramadi but it is still possible. It is indeed a very complex situation. The forces that are now advancing on ramadi are quite diverse. Iraqi soldiers of course but also iranbacked shiite militias and the locally recruited sunni tribal fighters you just mentioned. Is that a model for success or is it causing tension . Its possible those forces can take back ramadi as what happened in tikrit but it is not very good for reconciliation between the sunnis and the baghdad government because what happened in tikrit that the whole city is basically depopulated and we have seen several human rights issues against sunnis so it is just predominantly shiite fighters as it looks more it could result in more tensions. Thanks for that. 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 69yearold 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. Thats the conclusion most commentators are drawing after sundays president ial 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. 43yearold 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 morning commuters and gave autographs. Many were impressed. I am very happy. He is my president. I want to live and work in a country with a president like this. Frpblts at last something is changing. He is much younger. I am very happy. For the first time i see a young president thanking voters. Young and dynamic but also an old pro at politics. Duda already announced he is leaving the conservative law and justice party. His aim he said was to be a president for all poles. I want to thank everyone who voted whether for me or not. And i thank my supporters for their efforts. Many poles hope his election marks a turning point. He campaigned on making social changes like an earlier retirement age and more money for families. Now attention is turning to the next campaign. Octobers parliamentary elections. The governing central right party linked to the outgoing president Bronislaw Komorowski will likely face stiff challenge from the conservatives. The picture may change with duda in office who is known to have a more skeptical approach to the e. U. For more on polands president elect weve been talking to the warsaw correspondent of britains Daily Telegraph newspaper matthew day. What kind of politician we asked him is andrzej duda . Well, mr. Duda has come as a surprise to many in poland. He wasnt really known at all before he was elected as candidate for law and justice. And so now hes president elect and it will be interesting to see how he performs. As a man he sort of is showing verydaybreak characteristics of law and justice. He is quite nationalistic or patriotic if you want to use another word. He is socially conservative. He is very proud of being a devout catholic. He wants to stand up for polands rights, which could set him on a collision course a, with the current British Government and also, b, with polands e. U. Partners. The con polish government has also tried to promote the consensus and make poland a very enthusiastic e. U. Player. Now mr. Duda may say, look. This is polands rights. This what is poland is going to stand up for. And its going to be a far more skeptical polish president than komorowski. Matthew day there from the Daily Telegraph talking to us earlier. Moving next door to the ukraine its been one year since the entrepreneur petroshenko was elected president. The west gave him strong backing as a new face on ukraines political scene. Voters hoped he could end the fighting against pro russian separatists and boost the countrys disastrous economy. But those hopes have faded. Ukraine remains mired in recession. Despite the shaky cease fire, the conflict in the east continues. Weve been talking to our correspondent in kiev. What chance we asked him does the president have of turning things around . Well, there are many people in the ukraine who are disillusioned about his capability to help the ukrainian common man to recover at the moment. He himself is a business man and has promised a lot at the beginning. This comes together with talks about the ukrainian debts. Last week only the local parliament if the private investors are not going to move further toward a hair cut and that shows a lot about his capabilities his capabilities to deal with the economy in the western world. This is what many people are criticizing here. Reporting from kiev. Earlier in the day frank filed a report for us from the Ukraine Eastern region. Thats a region where poverty is entrenched and economic decline began well before the current conflict. It is often the weakest who are worst affected. Orphans for instance who are in crumbling institutions chronically short of cash. One orphanage however manages to survive with funding from the church and other independent sources. Its a rare refuge in a region plagued by conflict. Simple meals in a Childrens Home in Eastern Ukraine. The churchrun institution has to eekize the homes director depends on help from friends. They include ralph hoska from a German Lutheran Church in kiev. Hoska has provided a gas boiler for the Childrens Home, fighting in Eastern Ukraine has led to regular Power Outages and the previous device wasnt sufficient. It is constant stress. Last year we had no idea where to take the children. Whether the war would continue or our city would be attacked. This is the last major town on the ukrainian held side before the front line. The Childrens Home is providing refuge for dozens of children and young people. Christina is 18 and fled here on her own from the separatist stronghold. She came before the ceasefire in mid february when the fighting was at its worst. It was horrible. I cant really describe it. The windows shook. Grenades exploded not far from us. Just going outside shots were firing right above you. She left her Vocational School for the Childrens Home after reading about it online. Her parents couldnt provide for her but she was too old for staterun institutions. Homes like these reflect the areas economic and social decline. Many house the children of alcoholics or the longterm unemployed. That was true even before the conflict but the fighting is exacerbating the problems and the war is even creeping into the Childrens Homes. Kiev is using a refuge for chronically ill children northeast of the city to house some of its soldiers. They now have breakfast together with the children. Back in the orphanage alexi says he doesnt want things to go that far in his institution. He says there is already enough to worry about. Everything thats happened so far is a great tragedy for our country. Were all afraid this conflict will continue and no one will be able to stop this insanity. The february ceasefire was supposed to help end the conflict. But the fighting continues. A bad sign for the children who already faced enough problems before the war started. Some big news out of the world of soccer. Spanish Club Real Madrid have fired their coach Carlo Ancelotti after a season in which they failed to win a single major trophy. He led real for two seasons and became hugely popular with players and fans winning last seasons Champions League but his side only managed second in la liga this season and were knocked out of the Champions League in the semifinals. He said hell now take a break from coaching. Well take a short break as well. Coming up a massive heat wave is blanketing much of india leaving hundreds dead and temperatures exceeding 45 degrees celsius. Authorities are urging people to stay indoors. Thats coming up here on d. W. In berlin. Stay with us for that. Back in a minute. Welcome back. The scale of the gruesome discoveries being made in malaysia is slowly becoming clear. Police say they have found 139 graves at 29 abandoned camps set up by people trafficers. The finds were made in a remote region close to malaysias border with thailand. It is feared the number of dead could be considerable. Human remains recovered from one of the many graves in northern malaysia. Investigators carried them away in white bags. The operation to retrieve the first body from the dense rain foret lasts several hours. The body was found in a barn measuring 14 by 17 meters. The body had been separated nah three parts. Three items of clothing were found with it. Well send the body to the pathologist to determine the cause of death. 139 mass graves in abandoned micro detention camps were discovered in the northern province. Its just a short distance from where 26 bodies were found earlier this month over the border in thailand. They are believed to be the remains of refugees from myanmar and bangladesh. Refugees like these muslims are targeted by trafficers who use the dense forest as cover for illegal activities. There are hundreds who didnt make it. They could not walk. Some of them we know made it to malaysia in wheel barrows. Some made it on the backs of their friends. A lot of them, perhaps hundreds which is what were finding, are buried in the forests between thailand and malaysia. Officials fear some 500 refugees could be buried in these woods having died at the hands of people trafficers. In india extreme heat has killed more than 500 people. Temperatures in a number of regions have topped the 45 degree celsius mark leading to widespread cases of sun stroke and dehide ration. The heat wave looks set to continue for several days to come. Authorities are urging people to stay inside as much as possible. The heat is intense and there isnt a cloud in the sky. The sweltering temperatures have taken a toll particularly on the elderly infirm, and children. People are staying indoors and trying to find ways to keep cool. Many of those who work outdoors have no choice and risk their lives to earn a living. The heat has put many in hospital. My brother has been admitted here. He suffered sun stroke while going to work yesterday morning. His condition is serious. People say it was 45 degrees, extremely hot. Ive never experienced such intense heat here before. The government needs to take precautions to help people. Authorities are appealing to people not to go outside between 11 00 a. M. And 4 00 p. M. When temperatures peak. Meteorologists say in some places the heat wave is the worst its been in years. Theres a heat wave. Some places are experiencing temperatures climbing above 47 degrees celsius. A 10year record has been broken in at least four places. Frequent Power Outages and reduced Water Supplies are only adding to the misery. The extreme heat is expected to last at least another week. Well move to west africa now where one year ago the deadly ebola virus spread from liberia to sierra leone killing some 4000 people. While liberia was able to declare it had eradicated it earlier this month sierra leone has seen a recent jump in new cases. Our reporters caught up with an ebola survivor who has now joined the fight to stop the virus from wreaking further havoc. He is fearless in the face of ebola. Having had and recovered from the deadly virus herself she now visits areas affected by the virus several times a week. The main emphasis here is on prevention. Regular hand washing is one simple message she is trying to get across to people. Temperature checks are also essential. Anyone with the temperature over 38 degrees is sent straight to hospital. Sierra leones Capital District is high known for a high crime rate and poor Living Standards perfect for the spread of ebola. I come here every day and ask people what happened and why they have been quarantined. She will visit three houses today and have contact with ebola patients. The residents are under quarantine. Haja is the only volunteer on her team who has had ebola. It means if she gives advice people listen. Her messages have helped and we have changed our behavior. I believe everything will be fine from now on and i also think we all have to do what we are told. No one is allowed to leave the house for three weeks as a precaution against the spread of ebola. Haja hopes they will not face such a tough fight against the virus as she did. I did not believe i would survive. My two children died on the same day. I thoult i would never recover my health again. And many indeed do not recover. Nearby a babys funeral is being held. However, doctors are still not sure whether the infant died from the virus. Again, hand washing the work of the red cross is done for another day. The journey back home is difficult. Work acts as a diversion from her grief. I feel happy when i am on the job but sad when i am at home. Every time i am alone at home and i think of the people i lost mostly about my husband and children i feel really sad. She hopes with her grief by busying herself selling mangos on the streets she would like to leave sierra leone and start a new life in europe. Now this past weekend has seen record rainfall in the balkans causing severe flooding in serbia. Eastern regions and some areas around the capital belgrade have been badly hit. North of belgrade flooding was so bad officials had to cut off electric power apparently to avert an even greater disaster. If they hadnt done that, someone could have been killed. That would have been a catastrophe. Emergency workers used special vehicles to pump away water. But it was a losing battle. This is not the first time this area has been hit by floods but the government is usually slow to respond, says this resident. Weve asked for help many times but they never hear us. The eastern town was battered by hail as well as rain. As cleanup crews race to clear streets of debris the situation could get worse. Forecasters say more rain is on the way. Serbians are hoping the situation wont become as bad as last year when more than 16,000 people had to be evacuated from floodhit regions. Elections in spain have delivered a blow to the governing peoples party. The Prime Ministers party has suffered severe losses in regional and local polls. Voters appear to have been angry about four years of austerity and a string of scandals. Opposition parties which have only just formed made strong gains. The results herald a sea change in spains Political Landscape. Opponents of the Prime Minister conservative Popular Party celebrated in madrid after new players upset its long standing majorities in many of the countrys 13 regions. The antiausterity group made particularly strong gains. Now we have a chance to finally put an end to 24 years of repressive and dictatorial Popular Party government. We are hopeful that change is possible. The outcome o could spell the end of the twoparty system that dominated spain for nearly four decades. Pablo iglesius said he hoped it would also prove a taste of things to come. The spring will take us to autumn when were going to win the elections by beating the Popular Party. Ks they feel the all Citizens Party also proved a winner drawing disillusioned voters with promises of change. Weve done it our way. Weve done it with Citizens Party people, without coalitions, and without agreements with local or regional parties. One thing is clear. Spanish voters are saying, no thanks to the austerity measures imposed on them over the past few years by the current government. Okay. Before we go, lets take you to california to San Diego Zoo where a female hippopotamus has been showing off her new calf. Indeed. The eightyearold davy made quite a splash. Look at her. Delighting onlookers as she ventured into the deepest part of the hippo pool for the first time. Mom was of course on hand to make sure she was playing safe. Davie also got a glimpse of her admirers. Hippos have a protective membrane over their eyes that enables them to see under water. A South African once told me never get between a mother hippo and her calf. Youre in desperate danger. Theyre beautiful but dangerous animals. Thats your world news for now. More news at the top of the hour. If you want more, you can always go to our website dw. De. Stay with us here at dw. S in india worn a deadly heat wave is said to continue. Dramatic shakeup of the Political Landscape in spain after a big advance for antiauthority movements
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