To the militant group itself. Also coming up in neighboring iraq baghdad is pushing ahead with an offensive to read to take disputed kurdish held areas as the u. N. And the u. S. Appealed for calm. And from great hope to great misery south sudan is one of the worlds newest states but today millions of people there are reliant on food aid we have a special report on one womans struggle to survive and to feed her family. Plus calls for justice grow louder in malta following the murder of anticorruption journalist tough enough to leave. And following the Harvey Weinstein sex abuse allegations stories of Sexual Harassment sweep across social media using the hash tag me to. Im sara kelly welcome thanks for joining us. U. S. Backed fighters in syria have retaken rocca the city that the socalled Islamic State considers its capital now troops fighting i say that they have captured one of the militants last holdouts that is of course the citys hospital but there are still pockets of resistance one of them reported to be a stadium complex and roca which was used by us as a prison and an arms dump dozens of fighters have made their last stand there once the seed of Islamic States power the long fight for rocca has left the city in ruins. A five month battle is over for the Syrian Kurdish and arab fighters. Backed by the United States they killed dozens of i asked militants in their final push rocka is now a shell of a city. Theres nothing left were near the end we havent seen any i asked militants we havent seen any of them near the stadium either i think the city will be fully clear of them in the next two days which is once all of the i asked militants are gone from syria ill go home. I asked took control of rocca in early twenty fourteen and made it the company all of its selfstyled kind of thought. The militants imposed a strict interpretation of islamic law and used extreme means such as beheadings and torture to quash those who oppose the rule it became home to thousands of jihadists from across the globe after a call by us leader. De to migrate to the syrian city however in recent months the socalled Islamic State has steadily lost territory in syria and iraq. The fall of raka is a major blow to the militant group but the extremists still controlled territory in neighboring regions on the iraqi side of the border. A long road lies ahead to heal wounds and rebuild the ruined city of raka the spite these fighters celebrations. Well lets get more now on this offensive im joined in the studio by Daniel Gary Locke from zenith magazine and he is a middle east expert daniel thanks so much for being with us this afternoon and for having me now that rocca has been liberated what does this mean for the socalled Islamic State the socalled Islamic State has lost its both both of its symbolic and at the same same time structural capitals mosul in iraq and iraq and syria which was much more symbolic capital since it was the capital of the of the killing of an irishman and theyve made this is storable references of course but they have a lot left and lost a stronghold in syria but this doesnt come unprepared for them they know its a long time since months that rocket would fall and they have to place their you can say essential or nonessential staff their commanders and their families to the euphrates valley and there are still some pockets and there they are confronting the Syrian Regime and somehow we will see who is going to the city of rockets going to be handed over my guests you know later its going to be the Syrian Regime to as they were preparing for this as you know you mentioned it seems as if they had a backup plan in fact for when this city would fall what does that mean now for the anti Islamic State coalition Going Forward im for example what needs to be done politically to make sure that the military gains are in fact not lost or or that theyre carried out what i see in syria at the moment is fear and particular from the side of those tribes that lived under the yoke of the socalled Islamic State or some of them have been forced into this and alliance or negligence to the Islamic State and theyre now left to the mercy of several armed groups and militias around you have the Syrian Regime you have the kurdish socalled Syrian Democratic forces. You have iraqi militias who are coming in across the border from iraq and these tribes they are in danger because the Islamic State forces are going to try to merge into them and theyre going to try to hide into them and the alternative would be like a military clints in these forces and many people would fall victim to that or they would be left to the mercy of shia militias that are coming from iraq and theyre very much afraid of that so i think this area is very much in focus now at the moment and needs to be peddled wise so then looking forward for this group the socalled Islamic State looking into the future say you had a crystal ball looking one year ahead perhaps even five years ahead how do you see it evolving over time. Look i never i never thought that the territorial project of the socalled Islamic State was something tangible insistent substantial. You could see if the opponents and if the states a week in the region then these jihadi groups can always reemerge and rebrand themselves and and have some kind of terror territorial gains or autonomy. In certain parts of the middle east but i dont think that there is ever going to be such a territorial territorial project again unless the main players which are the Syrian Regime and other powers in the middle east a letting it happen either voluntarily or out of carelessness and i think this is the danger of the ideology of jihadism the ideology that that that empowered or the socalled Islamic State is still present globally its still having a lot of attracting a lot of disciples and even though the territorial project might be dead jihadism a still alive and still very dangerous ok daniel fascinating stuff here and youre going to actually stick with us because we want to get your perspective on happenings elsewhere in the region were actually going to head now to syrias neighbor iraq where Government Forces say that they have taken control of all Major Oil Fields in the disputed Northern Province of care cook as follows fast on the heels of their capture of the kurdish held city of kirkuk have a lot of. Celebrations as iraqi forces ruling. Supporters of the iraqi Central Government could contain their joy. Thousands of kurdish residents fled the city ahead of the advance. Assumed you were heading to where bill because the situation is getting worse as the iraqi troops are ventured theres no way we could stay out of going up on was a no no our children are terrified we were afraid that there would be clashes and mortar rounds would have us thats what im worried about. Cant cook an oil rich province claimed by both kurds and the Iraqi Government had been under kurdish control since iraqi forces fled when the slimy state militants swept through the region in twenty fourteen now its back into the control of the Iraqi Government the advance comes three weeks after residents in the kurdistan region and also here in kids voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence in a controversial referendum. Kurdish peshmerga leaders see the seizure of cuckoos amounts to a declaration of war. And we are to rejoins now by Daniel Gary Locke to tell us a little bit more about you know how it is that you see this playing out in particular because i mean there are so many loose alliances and and disputes here as well i dont think that we will see a military confrontation between the quarters first night of forces and the iraqi Central States army and its militias i dont think this is going to happen was disputed for many years and the Iraqi Government announced such a step but they just did of course its in the coke of was an embarrassment to both sides because it has oil and because its so disputed and such a difficult like kind of iraq in a nutshell but i think both sides are reasonable enough to know that another full fledged war would cost many many lives and would totally said iraq ablaze so i dont think thats going to happen and of course this some Wishful Thinking and into Daniel Gary Locke middle east expert journalist with the scene at the magazine we thank you so much for joining us this afternoon to share your expertise on the region and the latest happenings today. Lets get a quick check now of some other stories making news around the world philippine president. Declared maral weve liberated from terrorists he visited the Southern City one day after the last two islamist leaders there were killed but military leaders say that the battle is still ongoing as they search the ruins for remaining pockets of militants. And taliban militants in afghanistan have carried out a suicide bombing and gun attack on a provincial Police Headquarters an attack that killed at least thirty three people it was part of a series of attacks against Police Across the country that has left at least Seventy Eight people dead and hundreds wounded. Portugal has declared three days of National Mourning after at least forty one people died in forest fires in the countrys north and Center Firefighters have now brought most of the five hundred blazes under control the government says that the fires the worst in more than a decade were caused by higher than average temperatures and drought. It watching news still to come on the program the Regional Government in catalonia delivers a defiant message to madrid by refusing to back down on its independence but we will hear from our correspondent in barcelona what this means for the struggle between the two sides. And the food crisis in south sudan four years of civil war of the millions malnourished we have a report from the site of an ongoing emergency in part two of our series hunger in africa. But first daniel enter as you can see he is here with us here in the studio and bombard a is apparently getting some help from an arch rival tell us more tenuous and if youve been stalling the story recently all know it is not boeing thats helping bomb body out European Aviation giant buses bonbon body is ailing c. Series jet business get this at no cost it would allow the canadian plane maker to use an Assembly Line in the u. S. Possibly by possibly tough tariffs. Celebrations in to lose after an unusual deal somebody a c. Series had a bumpy start it almost forced the canadian aircraft maker into bankruptcy now body is teaming up with its competitor airbus to build an manage the mid range aircraft its a perfect this is why weve done it and we think its good news for Airlines Customers that already potential customers of shareholders on both sides thats why we call it win win i mean is that latest new newest Innovative Technology and a hundred two hundred fifty c. Class so there is no other aircraft like that so when you combine this with the arab bus reach capability i mean it will only take the full value of the aircraft the european cooperation will only a little more than half the endeavor without having to pay in but then airbus will be responsible for the entire building in marketing of the c. Series the deal is also a result of the ongoing trade dispute between bump r. T. A. And the Us Administration which is threatening the Canadian Company with hefty tariffs and fines if it sells planes in the u. S. The new partnership throws a Monkey Wrench in the trumpet ministrations trade plans because the canadian planes will be sold through the e. U. Company air bus and air bus can only gain from helping its competitor it broadens the air bus product pallet and makes it more competitive internationally. Now its confirmed tons as among seven bidders for parts of alitalia italys flag carrier has long been the sick man of european adelines only making a profit twice in a seventy year history and to make the deal was that while lufthansa would reportedly start cutting immediately. There is a new order in the skies above europe. Italian airline out italia which filed for bankruptcy last may recently received another line of credit from the Italian Government to help maintain operations until a new buyer is found. Tons is offering half a billion euros for parts of the airline according to reports by italian media the german air giant is reportedly only interested in audi talias Aviation Business and not its ground operations that means half of the employees of italys Largest Airline could lose their jobs thats around six thousand people and thats similar to the Current Situation faced by the employees of insolvent Airline Air Berlin the photons is said to only be interested in the tally is long haul routes and not the short and medium ones whether anyone else is interested in those still remains to be seen as no other potential buyers have been reported to be lining up for pieces of al italia europes largest Budget Airline ryanair has already withdrawn its bid for the airline the only welcome news for al italia may be the three hundred Million Euros of extra credit that it received from the Italian Government. Catalonia has bid for independence will have an impact on Economic Growth across the country next year thats according to the Spanish Government and in catalonia itself tourism activity is down fifteen percent thats according to an industry lobby group in a Statement Today consumers and businesses alike im looking for a quick resolution but both sides of the political divide holding up. This was the scene outside the headquarters of the castle and government on monday night use protesters expressing their outrage over the arrest of two pro separatist leaders its only the latest twist in a battle of wills between madrid and barcelona and the political turmoil is swiftly translating into Economic Uncertainty the crisis over catalonia his quest for independence has prompted the Spanish Government to lower its growth forecast for next year from two point six percent to two point three percent the move comes after economists raise concern over the potential for life of the crisis last week in the us that were seeing agencies have warned that the uncertain political and Economic Situation could affect the catalan Economy Companies continue to leave the result could be a recession would undoubtedly affect the growth of g. D. P. There for the article. Though that built into the route of growth separatists have long maintained that catalonia would prosper without financial obligation to spain but since the crisis broke companies have been leaving the region in their droves the two biggest banks have already moved their headquarters elsewhere and hundreds of Smaller Companies have packed their bags to accounting for over a fifth of the national g. D. P. What happens to catalonia as economy happens to spain as a whole. And sarah is back now with more on the catalonia crisis absolutely jenin because there are so many facets to this crisis indeed in fact catalonia has refused madrids demands that it were now seeing a symbolic declaration of independence or face the threat of direct spanish role speaking at a News Conference a Catalan Government spokesman said that the autonomous region will stand by its decision the announcement came as protesters gathered in barcelona to demand the release of two cattle and Pro IndependenceMovement Leaders the two have been provisionally jailed since monday night in a sedition probe. Lets head now to barcelona where correspondent barbara vessel is standing by with the latest developments so so barbara i mean they arrest of the these two separatist leaders this has really inflamed tensions there hasnt it. This is the first figure demonstration were seeing four days since we had sort of the high point to a week ago and its just arriving b