>> welcome back to live from paris. it is 9:00 p.m. in the french capital. headlines this hour. an iraqi back militia grouped launches an operation to drive the islamic state out of the province. it comes as allies are targeting fighters with another round. in the closed trial of a journalist accused of espionage gets underway in iran only to be adjourned hours later.

five rockets have been fired from the gaza strip landing in southern israel. we will speak to our jerusalem correspondent in the next few minutes. first to the stop story. an operation to drive out the islamic group out of anbar province. the announcement was made by a paramilitary association. ramadi fell after the army withdrew. the battle for ramadi after allies have targeted islamic state fighters with yet another round of airstrikes. >> northeast of ramadi a

counteroffensive is set in motion. the iraqi army and shiite paramilitary are moving south to drive out the islamic state group. the end game is to retake ramadi . >> the operation will come into the northern areas of the province and southwest tikrit all the way to ramadi. this is a vast area. it is where the islamic state is present. >> according to the umbrella group for fighting militias, the operation has been named after hassan, a revered imam, stoking fears it may fuel sectarian tensions. the government is smarting from comments by the u.s. defense secretary that it's army despite outnumbering the islamic

state, has no will to fight sparking a war of words. on the defensive, the chief of the revolutionary guard who said it is the u.s. that has shown no will to fight. going into damage control, joe biden reassured iraq of its commitment in the battle against the islamic state group. iraq says you only have to look at its track record to see it is up to the task. >> we have listed them a few months ago baghdad where the airport -- or the airport was threatened. >> militants continue to pull more fighters into ramadi. all eyes will be on the army as it puts its training to the test in days to come. annette: the syrian or has killed 140 members of the islamic state group north of the

country. officials say a raid on the airbase has wounded dozens of islamic state fighters. the organization has seized the-based after fears of fighting in the meantime officials say the syria of -- the city of how myra has not been damaged since it was taken from state control. there is controlled the jihadists could blow up ancient ruins at the location. to israel where at least five rockets have been fired from the gaza strip, landing in the south of the country. for more let's go to our correspondent. five rockets is a lot. what are we hearing? what sort of response? >> well, it is very recent. there is not a response. there had been a confirmation

one rocket has fallen. there were more explosions. they recovered one rocket. four were fired. there has not been an official response or a claim of responsibility. annette: the fact it is happening now, one would assume we have not seen that number of rockets is some time now. what is the situation like in terms of that order? irris: it is interesting. you are right. the last rocket was on independence day and there and there was a back channel, from hamas saying don't escalate now. that was the military week. so this has come after months of quiet and after firing by the israeli navy yesterday on fisherman. it is not clear what this

actually says. perhaps it is a reflection that yesterday for the first time in 80 days egypt opened the border on the south, there are side of the border, and they let palestinians in. perhaps it is that. annette: irris thank you so much. as she was saying, so it is have indeed open the crossing for the first time in nearly 80 days allowing palestinians to return to the gaza strip. it did not allow traffic the other way, leaving thousands stranded. since the ousting of mohamed morsi in 2013, cairo has kept it closed, giving the territory run by how thomas. -- by hamas. jason rezaian accused of

espionage, began today behind closed doors. it was adjourned a few hours later with no word on the start date of the next session. the united states and the washington post have condemned to the trial and are calling for rezaian's immediate release. let's talk to douglas, the foreign editor of the paper. have you had any contact with jason? douglas: no, not for 10 months since he was arrested when authorities burst into his apartment. very few people have been able to speak with jason. we've had indirect communication. annette: what have they produced to support to their claim? douglas: the answer is very little. we don't know exactly what charges they are bringing and what evidence. the trouble with the secret trial is iran, everything is

secret. so his lawyer can't really tell us what is in the proceedings. she can say there is no basis for the charges and we can certainly say the idea jason was acting as a spy is absurd and ludicrous. annette: teharn does not recognize the internationality of the matter. douglas: that is right. jason is an iranian-american citizen, but in the eyes he is an iranian, which tells the united states this is not their business. it makes it more difficult for the united states to put pressure on iran to act in a fair manner. this complicates our efforts to bring this matter to an end. annette: douglas, thank you so much.

moving on, 800 people have died in a heat wave across india. roads have melted in new delhi is temperatures near 50 degrees celsius. authorities are advising people to stay indoors with no end insight to the searing conditions. >> this is unlike anything we have seen the last few years. people were here today and it was crazy to see the zebra crossing melt into one glob on the road. so a grim situation. especially in the southeastern states, which recorded 750. a pretty bad situation. there does not appear to be a risk bite insight. it will likely continue rising

because the heat wave is likely to continue until may 29. thereafter we will see some showers, which will bring the temperatures down. annette: france is suspending its security cooperation with burundi as protesters clash on the streets of the capital and the opposition has boycotted peace talks. the country's president said he was seeking a third term. leaders are to meet at a special summit to discuss the crisis. the interim president of the central african republic is calling on other countries to deliver aid. she says funding is needed to pay for elections later this year. the government is pushing to organize elections after violence in the wake of the 2013 coup. >> a plea for the community to

deliver on its promises. the interim president says additional funds are needed to help the country get back on its feet. a lot remains to be done. the unprecedented crisis calls for an unwavering commitment to the armed forces, but also to put an end to the recurring instability. >> the government is trying to put behind the provable conflict sparked after a 2013 coup pitting muslim rebels against christian vigilantes. the interim president said it is critical elections are held this year. eu officials are committed to helping the country. >> let me reassure you of my commitment not to allow caf to

have this crisis. the european commission is releasing an additional 10 million euros to support the humanitarian response. >> the eu is the main donor. this brings the current total to 72 million euros. even with international aid, the country is far from stable. nearly 1.5 million people depend on food handouts and 460,000 refugees are too scared to return home from chad, cameroon and other countries. annette: recovery teams are continuing their search for 12 members of families missing after a vacation home was carried off its foundation in texas. record rainfall was dumped on the american heartland causing flooding, tornadoes, and killing eight people in oklahoma and texas.

>> houston underwater. heavy rain battered texas since the weekend, causing some of the worst flooding in years. >> flooded houses and buildings. it is devastating. >> among the missing, members of two families spending their holiday in a vacation home. the house was swept off the foundation by a wave. >> we have been through bad thinks before. never like this. >> the texas governor cleared a state of emergency in 24 counties. president obama offered his condolences to the victims. president obama: i sure the governor he could count on the help of the federal government. we have personnel on the ground coordinating with texas emergency management authorities. >> texas' industries generate

1.4 trillion dollars a year. there has been no estimate on the damage caused by the disaster. oklahoma was also hit by deadly tornadoes. in a mexican border town, a tornado destroyed 800 homes and left a dozen dead. annette: david cameron has been holding talks with jean-claude juncker in efforts to renegotiate the country's eu membership. he says he needs a new deal before pressing his case of reform later this week. david cameron: these talks will require patience and tenacity. there will be ups and downs. but by working together, i believe we can reform the eu and our relationship with it. annette: authorities have given the green light to nicholas

sarkozy to rename his party the republicans. the former president hopes it will boost to the party's reputation after a string of scandals and internal squabbles. >> scrapped the unp and rebrand the party the republicans. that is what nicholas sarkozy wants and he has been given the green light, despite the reluctance of 100 private citizens and left-wing parties. >> international conventions are in place since 1883. it is not news. it is for bidden to use the symbol of the party state in a name. >> since the french revolution, france has embraced liberty, equality, and fraternity. even some politicians, the new name is not appropriate. >> renaming the party the

republicans could be damaging because it gives the party and exclusiveness that they are only unp and nowhere else. the point of the republic is people with different opinions get together and go the extra mile. that is the republic. >> party members are also expected to have their say. they will vote on the new name on thursday and friday. if they reject the barehand -- the brand, it could be a blow for nicholas sarkozy. annette: returning to his swedish hometown after winning the eurovision contest he was met by scores of jubilance. his song won the competition on saturday night, watched by 200 million people across the world. >> we are the heroes

♪ annette: a very happy musician there. a reminder of what is making news. the battle for ramadi now launching an operation to drive the islamic state organization out of anbar province. this comes as allies are targeting fighters within another round of vader strikes. also the close trial of journalist accused of iranian authorities gets underway only to be adjourned several hours later. and five rockets have been fired from the gaza strip landing in southern israel. it is time now for a look at the

business news. markus karlsson is with us. we are starting with greece. markus: we have seen a fresh concern regarding greece's finances. the country faces a 300 million euro repayment to the imf next week and it is not clear whether or not greece will be able to make that repayment to the imf. it is unclear and also the question is what is going to happen next as negotiations are underway for a 7.2 billion euro lifeline from the imf to greece and the government. negotiations between greece resumed on tuesday and earlier i spoke to our athens correspondent and she explained where the negotiations are at this point. >> the technical teams were

supposed to meet in brussels today to discuss the stumbling block. that got pushed back to tomorrow. today is a teleconference instead. tomorrow the technical teams will be meeting and discussing a number of issues including the eu and the imf wanting to change the regulations and discussing early retirement and the differences in the fiscal gap. once these issues are resolved, we are hoping to come closer and have baby steps. greece is running out of time. we have the repayments as well. also what greece is hoping for is a euro working group. they are hoping for that for thursday. the working group is where representatives of the euro area member states of the economic and financial committees come together.

usually what happens is after that, a eurogroup is convened. so the finance ministers meet. that is what reese is banking on, have one of the meetings next week ahead of the payments. all of this is up in the air. greek officials are claiming that a deal with insight. it has yet to transpire. i'm afraid we will h markus: that was nathalie: with the latest on the long-running story and the message is watch this space as the negotiations continue. we are going to move on. amazon is changing the way it record sales in europe you and markets. it used to record all of its european sales in luxembourg, which means it has been paying sales tax there. now it is recording sales in the u.k., germany, and spain which

means they open up the possibility to being taxed in those countries. amazon has been criticized for its tax practices as josh explains. josh: a quiet revolution in europe. amazon will start paying taxes in countries where it has branches. it started declaring revenue in the u.k., germany, italy, and spain with france soon to follow. until recently they were channeling revenues through a holding company in luxembourg where it received favorable tax rates. under european law, amazon warehouse is across the continent were not considered permanent establishments, allowing them to claim operations were run from luxenberg. >> an incredible admission. it is great to have a company say they're going to pay their taxes.

josh: the tax agreement is under investigation by the european commission who are looking into similar arrangements between apple and starbucks and fiat in luxenberg. >> there are concerns the tax ruling is providing a company -- we will consider the tax structure. josh: officials continue to deny any wrongdoing. markus: stocks in the united states are falling back this session. shares in time warner cable are plucking that trend as time warner cable has agreed to be bought by charter communications including its debt. it is valued at 17.9 billion dollars and this comes after

comcast abandoned the takeover bid. there were concerns comcast would become too powerful and competition officials have to sign off on this deal between charter and time warner cable. we are going to take a look at the stock markets now. if we look stateside, the indices are falling back. the nasdaq is down which comes as the dollar is strengthening pushing down energy prices and oil and energy stocks. investors digesting a weaker reading of factory orders in april. the european close indices closing to the downside as well with the frankfurt dax being the hardest hit. we sought greek concerns in european stock markets this session. as i say, concerns that the greek government won't be able to fulfill its obligations as a

debt repayment to the imf which is due next week. those concerns also putting pressure on the single currency the euro, and get the dollar. let's talk you through a few stories we are watching for you shares in ryanair swordoared. for the 12 months ending in march, they posted a net profit of 867 million euros. this was after it improved customer service. it has been trying to attract the all-important business passengers. meanwhile, the hours government will make a decision on the potential of its air carrier. ministers are mulling over a takeover offer from iag. the irish government has a 25%

stake in aer lingus. the unions are not happy and they oppose the deal. a former trader has gone on trial in britain for the so-called liber scandal. he has been charged on conspiring with other traders at financial institutions to manipulate global interest rates. liber is a key interest rate that affects other financial systems including car loan send -- car loans and mortgages. he denied all eight charges. i will be back again in one hour with more business news. annette: thank you, markus karlsson. we will take a break. i will be back with more news. in the meantime, stay with us on

rom pacifica this is democracy now! >> with today's vote, we have disclosed who we are -- a generous, compassionate, bold and joyful people. yes to inclusion yes to generosity yes to love yes people marriage. amy: ireland has become the first country in the world to adopt same-sex marriage by popular vote as 62% of this catholic country backed a