forces and signed a $ 600,000 contract . The money bought Savimbi a revised reputation . Despite his client ’s Maoist background , Manafort reinvented him as a freedom fighter .
Except sound bytes . " When asked if she had any response to the New York Daily News report on Trump 's remarks , the former secretary of state emailed CNN : " Ca n't wait until November 9 ! " -- Trump ’s alleged misconduct has started a national conversation about sexual assaultlife.injure.injurycausedbyviolentevents. From Katie Zezima : “ The debate has been particularly painful for many victims of sexual assault , who now must endure nonstop coverage of allegations of groping and kissing without consent — along with backlash against the women who made the claims about Trump . But in the 2016 presidential election , the issue has become sharply divided along partisan lines , including claims by some Trump allies that the behavior described by Trump ’s accusers … might not be considered assault .
42/42 1 June 2017 French riot police signal to a migrant who is on his knees as French authorites block their access to a food distribution point in Calais , France REUTERS / Pascal Rossignol They said that on that basis , Pietro L ’s sentence should be overturned without further deliberation . Similar cases around the world have raised eyebrows in recent years , including that of a Swedish man caught masturbating on a beach on Stockholm , who was acquitted of sexual assaultlife.injure.injurycausedbyviolenteventson the basis his actions were not directed towards a specific person . In the UK , the standard sentence for masturbation in public is around 14 days in prison , though it can vary based on a range of circumstantial factors . The crime appears to based on Section 28 of the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 , which states it is an offence for anyone to " wilfully and indecently " expose his " person " in a street or public place .
The tactic worked when Clinton noted Trump ’s stated desire to expand the nuclear club , which Trump denied , insisting , “ You wo n’t find a quote . ” The quote exists , but Clinton could not summon it on the spot . His confidence perhaps bolstered , Trump tried to use the same method again . When pressed by the moderator with his own quoted remarks boasting about his habit of committing sexual assaultconflict.attack.na, a boast later corroborated by nine victims , Trump issued a blanket denial . Clinton effectively picked it apart . She mentioned that he insulted the accusers for being too ugly for him to bother assaulting .
The Clintons and their staff have dismissed this as dirty politics . CLINTON ACCUSERS ARE BACK Hillary Clinton 's decision to advocate for victims of sexual assaultlife.injure.nahas persuaded some of her husband 's other accusers , including Juanita Broaddrick and Paula Jones McFadden , to wade into the political season . Broaddrick and Willey say that Clinton , who has said victims of sexual assault have the " right to be believed , " is being hypocritical by doubting her husband 's accusers . When asked about the accusations by Broaddrick , Jones McFadden and Willey at a campaign event in New Hampshire in December , Hillary Clinton replied that people who say they were sexually assaulted should be " believed at first until they are disbelieved based on evidence . "
Al Jazeera could not independently verify if there were any casualties . The Sakhour hospital was put out of service earlier this year after it was targeted several different times by air strikes , but members of the Civil Defence have recently by working to repair it . Since the Syrian army 's assaultlife.injure.injurycausedbyviolenteventsagainst rebel - held Aleppo began in late September , Russian and government bombardment has killed more than 370 people , including 68 children , according to an Observatory toll . Over the past three days , as many as 100 people have been killed in the raids , rescue workers said , as the air strikes and shelling of the city 's east intensified . The rising casualties in Aleppo have prompted an international outcry and a renewed diplomatic push , with talks between the United States and Russia planned for Saturday .
We have endorsed Ms. Clinton for president , contending that she is well qualified , well prepared and likely to do a good job . But to voters who disagree — who have never voted for a Democrat , say , or who question our assessment of her qualifications — we would argue that Mr. Trump ’s challenge to the very core of our democracy nonetheless provides strong reason to vote for her . At a campaign rally in Portsmouth , N.H. , on Oct 15 , Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said the election was being rigged by " corrupt media " and added that the media is pushing " false allegations " and " lies " regarding sex assaultconflict.attack.naclaims against him . ( The Washington Post ) You may disagree with Ms. Clinton about Obamacare , Russia policy or Planned Parenthood .
He added the two countries were : " providing clandestine financial and logistic support to ISIL and other radical Sunni groups in the region " . The email between the two Democrats showed they wished to shift policy also with regard to Turkey , giving their full backing to Kurdish allies in the region . " Armed with proper equipment , and working with US advisors , the Peshmerga [ Kurdish rebel forces ] can attack the ISIL with a coordinated assaultlife.injure.injurycausedbyviolentevents, " Podesta explained . In the past a deal with Turkish general staff had stopped the US arming Kurdish rebels with heavy weapons . " The current situation in Iraq , not to mention the political environment in Turkey , makes this policy obsolete , " he wrote .
Hillary Clinton 's assertion to the grieving mother of a Benghazi , Libya , victim that the deadly 2012 assaultconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattlewas caused by an anti - Islam video was as " true " as the fact it was a terror strike , according to ex - CIA acting director Michael Morell . In an interview Sunday with ABC News ' " This Week , " Morell said " the video did play a role in that attack , and Republicans do n't want people to believe that . "
Trump ’s unpopularity is unprecedented , but even so , the United States is a highly partisan country , and having only 64 percent of your own party ’s voters take a favorable view of you — as Gallup found a week ago — is really low . While Trump ’s performance during the second and third debates was middling as judged by post - debate polls , he at least tossed his base plenty of red meat . And there ’s been less discussion recently of the videotape released on Oct. 8 that showed Trump condoning unwanted sexual contact toward women , or of the many women who came forward to accuse him of sexual assaultconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattle. Another potential issue is partisan nonresponse bias , the possible tendency of voters not to respond to surveys during periods of poor news coverage for their candidate , which can potentially exaggerate swings in the polls . I ’m personally somewhat agnostic about how serious a problem this is and whether there are good ways to adjust for it .
This is a disgraceful yet fitting end to a sleazy , deeply polarizing campaign during which the sexual predilections , self - deceptions and lunacies of Trump and two other men who are not candidates have attracted opprobrium and ridicule and could decide the fate of the presidency . The tomcatting of Hillary Clinton ’s husband , Bill , and the husband of an aide that Clinton has described as a “ surrogate daughter ” have been righteously mined by the Republicans to besmirch her reputation . And the Democrats have sanctimoniously harpooned Trump for his many outrageously vulgar comments about women and over multiple allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assaultlife.injure.injurycausedbyviolenteventsby women over the past few decades . The first woman to reach the Oval office may start her term under criminal investigation by the FBI . Either way , Republicans will be braying for her impeachment the moment that Congress convenes early next year .
Or some tissues . Donald Trump has erupted and the Grand Old Party may never be the same . A steady stream of Republicans have called on their presidential nominee to exit the race after a 2005 recording showed Trump making comments about women that many have characterized as sexual assaultlife.injure.na. On Monday , House Speaker Paul Ryan told House Republicans he would no longer defend Trump or campaign with him . Trump blasted Ryan and continued the attacks on Tuesday , effectively declaring war on the Republican establishment : " Disloyal R 's are far more difficult than Crooked Hillary .
But since 2013 , when violent threats against gay activists in Tbilisi forced them to cancel a gay - pride parade in the Georgian capital , the slogan has appeared as spray - painted graffiti near Heroes Square in the city center alongside Nazi swastikas and racist slogans . Kiwi Cafe said on May 30 that it was continuing to work and was " ready to accept all customers regardless of their nationality , race , appearance , age , gender , sexual orientation , or religious views . " For now , it remains unclear whether the premeditated meat assaultconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattleagainst the vegan cafe was merely a prank against an alternative culture hangout that turned violent . But some Tbilisi residents are concerned that the xenophobic overtones of the violence at Kiwi Cafe , taken together with the march by right - wing nationalists in Tbilisi just three days earlier , could mark the emergence of organized political actions by Georgian ultranationalists . With reporting by RFE / RL 's Georgian Service
Hide Caption 75 of 93 Photos : Mosul operation : Iraqi - led forces push into key city Spent bullet cartridges litter the street around the Jihad Hotel , where ISIS militants battled Iraqi security forces in Kirkuk on Friday , October 21 . Hide Caption 76 of 93 Photos : Mosul operation : Iraqi - led forces push into key city Gen. Abdel Ghani al - Asadi , who leads Iraq 's counterterrorism forces , sits in Bartella on October 21 after the town was reclaimed . Hide Caption 77 of 93 Photos : Mosul operation : Iraqi - led forces push into key city Peshmerga fighters look over a village during an assaultconflict.attack.nanear Bashiqa on Thursday , October 20 . Hide Caption 78 of 93 Photos : Mosul operation : Iraqi - led forces push into key city A Peshmerga fighter takes aim near Naveran on October 20 . Hide Caption 79 of 93 Photos : Mosul operation : Iraqi - led forces push into key city Iraqi soldiers travel along a road near Qayyara as clouds of black smoke rise in the sky on Wednesday , October 19 .
Breaking : The chief said the gunman who engaged in the standoff " said he was upset about the recent police shootings . " He was killed when police detonated an explosive . -- Trump just issued a statement calling this " an attack on our country " : “ It is a coordinated , premeditated assaultlife.injure.naon the men and women who keep us safe . We must restore law and order . We must restore the confidence of our people to be safe and secure in their homes and on the street .
Isis does not have a major presence in Aleppo . Opposition groups in 2014 lost more than 1,000 men , pushing the jihadis back to a small stretch of territory near the town of Manbij , which is now under a concerted assault by US - backed Kurdish and Arab fighters . But many of the groups fighting there are conservative Islamists , and moderates are worried that for this assaultlife.injure.nathey have gathered around Jolani ’s group . It has shored up finances and power base as rivals splintered , and success in Aleppo would further entrench the group . “ If the regime , Russians and other supporters had not brought a siege on Aleppo , we could have avoided the coalition of Nusra and the other groups joining it to fight , ” said Bassma Kodmani , a member of the main opposition High Negotiating Council team for peace talks .
Although Lonina told police she was trying to record the assault as evidence , her behavior as people watching via Periscope " liked " the assault painted a different picture , O'Brien said . " She got , I guess , taken up with all the ' likes ' that her livestream was getting and therefore continued to do it , and did nothing to aid the victim , " O'Brien said . Independent of the rape count , Lonina is also charged with livestreaming her friend nude the day before the assaultlife.injure.injurycausedbyviolentevents, which is a felony , O'Brien said . The Franklin County prosecutor told WBNS he has handled many sexual assault cases in his career , but never anything like this one . " Technology has moved us into an area that is sometimes beyond belief , " he said .
According to Sec . James , the components for a great military are training , modernization , and taking care of the service people . Specifically , the Air Force has implemented measures to combat sexual assaultlife.injure.injurycausedbyviolenteventsthrough education , reform , and victim care . Listen to the episode above for more on the benefits of having a mentor , the importance of “ zigzagging , ” and exclusive insight into the U.S. Air Force .
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton addressed questions Wednesday on issues from the Iraq War and veterans ’ health to Clinton ’s email use and Trump ’s statements about Vladimir Putin and sexual assault in the military , during an NBC forum . One audience member asked Trump : “ As president , what specifically would you do to support all victims of sexual assaultconflict.attack.nain the military ? ” Trump agreed it ’s “ a massive problem , ” and something should be done . “ And the best thing we can do is set up a court system in the military .
Trump has operated Miss Universe for years , surely some of these young ladies would have come forward with allegations against the man by now if he acted inappropriately . Out of the hundreds of Epstein ’s victims that came forward , none of the girls ever named Trump or even spoke of him . Why suddenly , weeks before the election and years after the alleged assaultconflict.attack.na, is this “ Jane Doe ” magically appearing ? According to The Guardian , “ Lawsuits accusing Donald Trump of sexually assaulting a child in the 1990 ’s appear to have been orchestrated by an eccentric anti - Trump campaigner with a record of making outlandish claims about celebrities . ” Advertisement
📸 pic.twitter.com/wRkowqrJSi — Mete Sohtaoğlu ( @metesohtaoglu ) September 19 , 2016 EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini has also called the air bombardment in Aleppo , a " massacre " and stated European governments were considering their response , reports Reuters . As for how Washington will respond , U.S. officials told Reuters " they are considering tougher responses to the Russian - backed Syrian government assaultlife.injure.injurycausedbyviolentevents, including military options , although they have described the range of possible responses as limited and say risky measures like air strikes on Syrian targets or sending U.S. jets to escort aid are unlikely . " In 2011 , the Syrian civil war began when President Bashar Al - Assad violently used force to crush dissent among hundreds of thousands of pro - democracy protesters who took to the streets to demonstrate against civil rights abuses . Since then , violence escalated , sectarian conflict emerged , and rebel brigades were formed to fight government forces , with the governments of Syria , Russia , and the United States all launching air strikes on various rebel forces on the ground , resulting in the death and displacement of thousands of civilians in the process .
This shameful betrayal of humanity in the face of mass suffering must stop Another detainee recounts details of the “ welcome party ” – the terrifying initiation ceremony that awaited new arrivals , fresh off one of the “ meat fridge ” trucks used to transport prisoners , clueless to their whereabouts until the doors clanged open . Beatings with metal bars and cables were followed by so - called “ security checks ” , during which women in particular were subjected to rape and sexual assaultlife.injure.injurycausedbyviolenteventsby male guards . “ As we waited for our turn , we heard the sounds of beating , of people falling out of the truck , we heard people scream , ” says Jamal Abdou . “ Everyone was screaming – the guards and the prisoners . ”
That was very clear . " Daniel Rye Ottosen The only period in Mueller 's 18 horrifying months as an ISIS hostage when she was n't subjected to some form of torture , verbal abuse , prolonged isolation , sensory deprivation , stress positions , forced labor or sexual assaultlife.injure.injurycausedbyviolenteventsbefore she died in captivity was the six weeks she was held at an abandoned oil refinery in Syria , with other Western hostages in 2014 . Because many of the ISIS captives were being individually negotiated for ransom with their governments , employers or families , the women , at least , inside the makeshift prison south of ISIS stronghold Raqqa were not subjected to the kind of abuses that Mueller said she experienced in other ISIS prisons before and after her time there , according to the Mueller family and those held captive with her . Three of the Westerners released by ISIS and a Yazidi teenager who escaped captivity provided eyewitness accounts to ABC News of Mueller 's strength , selflessness and will to survive amid her considerable suffering , including details she gave them of her treatment when she was completely alone for most of her confinement by the terrorist group .
COLUMBUS , Ohio- An 18-year - old Ohio woman accused of livestreaming the rape of her 17-year - old friend with a social media app was trying to record the assaultlife.injure.injurycausedbyviolenteventsas evidence , the woman 's attorney said recently in a defense a prosecutor flatly dismissed . Marina Lonina pleaded not guilty Friday to multiple charges including rape , kidnapping , sexual battery and pandering sexual matter involving a minor . A judge set bond at $ 125,000 for Lonina , a student at New Albany High School , outside Columbus .
As people gather to gawk at the spectacle , rambunctious prurience gives way to funereal sadness ; the humiliation soils everyone who watches it . That ’s what it felt like going into the second presidential debate on Sunday . Before it even started , Donald Trump had held a press conference with three women who ’ve accused Bill Clinton of sexual assaultlife.injure.injurycausedbyviolenteventsand one woman , Kathy Shelton , who loathes Hillary Clinton because , as a young attorney , Clinton was assigned to defend Shelton ’s indigent alleged rapist . Apparently hoping to get under Clinton ’s skin , Trump put the women in the debate audience , and his campaign signaled that he intended to go nuclear on the Clintons’ marriage . In the moments before the debate started , the camera panned the members of the two candidates’ families , their faces strained and sad .
In another they dug frantically for a baby , but it was too late when they got to the child . CBS News ca n't independently verify the videos , but they appear to show the Syrian regime 's new offensive in Aleppo Province , which is backed by Russian airstrikes . Hassan Haj Ali is a rebel commander who told us his men have received weapons from the U.S. and are trying to fight off the assaultlife.injure.injurycausedbyviolentevents. " When the regime kills women and children , " he said , " they 're telling Syrians to get out of rebel - held areas . " As the regime and Russia bombard Aleppo Province , the battlefield there has become even more chaotic .
Trump also lit into the media outlets that published the stories of his accusers . But Trump ’s attacking several of the women who say he groped or kissed them against their will could prove a tough sell with voters . It risked amplifying Michelle Obama ’s central point : that Trump is a candidate who belittles real concerns women have about sexual assaultconflict.attack.na. White House Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz argued that Trump faces a conundrum as the GOP nominee tries to dispute the portrait of him Michelle Obama is presenting on the campaign trail . Lashing out at her , Schultz predicted , would only hurt Trump more .
The release would , the messaging indicated , prove that Secretary Clinton had , in fact , laid open U.S. secrets to foreign interception by putting highly - classified Government reports onto a private server in violation of U.S. law , and that , as suspected , the server had been targeted and hacked by foreign intelligence services . All of these revelations have the feel of an October Surprise , and should the claims made by Julian Assange and the Russian government prove legitimate , this October Surprise could cause a November Defeat . Obviously aware of this , Clinton ’s Republican challenger , Donald Trump , has ramped up his rhetoric regarding Clinton ’s responsibility for the deadly assaultconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattleon Benghazi and her failure to produce e - mails and to prove they were not sent on unsecure servers in violation of U.S. law . He may need the help , as the latest national poll has Clinton ahead of Trump nationwide by 12 points . Should Assange and Russia come through with their promise to publish evidence of Clinton ’s willful disregard of federal law in the use of private servers to transfer classified data , Hillary Clinton ’s lead in the polls could be very short - lived .
Strike by Assad regime ’s helicopters leaves residents in east of the war - torn city with next to no access to essential healthcare An unrelenting Russian and Syrian blitz of eastern Aleppo heavily damaged one of the city ’s three remaining hospitals on Saturday , as Moscow warned that any American attempts to stop its assault would lead to “ frightening tectonic shifts in the Middle East ” . The Russian raids struck at least five areas of the opposition - held half of the city , which is bracing for a ground assaultconflict.attack.naby Shia forces allied to the Syrian regime . Syrian helicopters are believed to be responsible for the strike on the M10 hospital , which has left those who remain in the east with next to no access to essential healthcare . Is despair and disbelief all we can offer to the savagery being visited on Aleppo ?
Less than a week after denying at a presidential debate that he had engaged in the sort of sexual assaultconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattleof which he boasted in the now infamous “ Access Hollywood ” tape , Donald Trump was confronted this week with a series of statements from women who said , yes , he had groped or kissed them against their will . The reports exacerbated the problem Trump created by his gross and demeaning language about women , not just in the “ Access Hollywood ” tape but on countless occasions . As First Lady Michelle Obama powerfully put it on Thursday : “ The shameful comments about our bodies , the disrespect of our intelligence , the belief you can do anything to a woman : It is cruel .
" You do n’t see that at all [ inside here ] . We ’ve been through days where you do n’t see it , " he added . Back in March , Trump canceled a rally in Chicago amid huge protests outside of the arena , and at another rally , a man was charged with assaultlife.injure.injurycausedbyviolenteventsand battery after video surfaced showing him punching a man in the face . The real estate mogul has been accused of stoking violence at past rallies . Earlier this year , Trump said he wanted to punch a protester in the face .
Image copyright AFP Image caption Smoke billows after an air strike on Jarablus Syrian rebels , backed by the Turkish military and US air cover , say they have taken the town of Jarablus from jihadists of so - called Islamic State . The assaultconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattlebegan at dawn when Turkish warplanes , tanks and special forces personnel crossed the nearby border . Rebel commanders said most of the IS militants subsequently retreated . Turkey says its intervention is targeting both IS fighters and a Syrian Kurdish - led alliance that is attempting to advance on Jarablus .
This is a disgraceful yet fitting end to a sleazy , deeply polarizing campaign during which the sexual predilections , self - deceptions and lunacies of Trump and two other men who are not candidates have attracted opprobrium and ridicule and could decide the fate of the presidency . The tomcatting of Hillary Clinton ’s husband , Bill , and the husband of an aide that Clinton has described as a “ surrogate daughter ” have been righteously mined by the Republicans to besmirch her reputation . And the Democrats have sanctimoniously harpooned Trump for his many outrageously vulgar comments about women and over multiple allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assaultconflict.attack.naby women over the past few decades . The first woman to reach the Oval office may start her term under criminal investigation by the FBI . Either way , Republicans will be braying for her impeachment the moment that Congress convenes early next year .
The subject that most seemed to provoke Mr. Putin was Aleppo , where Russian and Syrian bombing of hospitals , apartment buildings and a United Nations relief convoy has been widely condemned as a war crime . “ We keep hearing Aleppo , Aleppo , Aleppo , ” whined Mr. Putin . Yet the attack on the Syrian city , he contended , was not different from the U.S.-backed assaultlife.injure.naon Mosul , the Iraqi city held by the Islamic State . “ If it is better not to go in ” to Aleppo , he contended , “ then the offensive against Mosul should n’t go ahead either . ” Here , for the record , are some differences : While Mosul is controlled by Islamist extremists who enslave non - Sunni women and behead dissenters , the rebel forces in Aleppo include Western - backed secular groups who seek only to overturn the blood - drenched Assad regime .
Stein went beyond merely praising Assange by inviting him to speak via teleconference to the Green Party ’s national convention earlier this month . His views not only mesh with the party ’s belief in transparency and civil liberties , they apparently speak to many Bernie Sanders supporters who believed they were part of a movement , not merely a campaign . Assange addressed the audience from the Embassy of Ecuador in London where he 's been living for the past four years as he fights extradition to Sweden over sexual assaultconflict.attack.naallegations . “ The Green Party bringing in Julian Assange is an attempt to further brand themselves as an alternative to Hillary Clinton in the wake of Bernie Sanders ’ loss and the leaked DNC emails , ” Jared Yates Sexton , a professor at Georgia Southern University and political contributor to The New Republic and New York Times , told Foxnews.com “ What I 've found from time with the Greens , both at the convention and the Democratic National Convention , is that the ‘ Bernie Or Bust ’ people are primarily voters who would n't have normally voted Democrat in the first place and were probably either not going to vote or go for the Greens in the first place , ” he added .
Has said he wants more countries to have nuclear weapons . Said he ca n’t release his tax returns because they ’re currently being audited — even though the IRS said that ’s a lie . Feels he has the right to sexually assaultlife.injure.injurycausedbyviolenteventswomen . One man has done all of that , and much more — the person these people support for president . Look , I ’m no mental health expert and I ’m not involved in the medical field at all .
The federal Bureau of Justice Statistics once calculated , based on crime victimization rates from 1975 to 1984 , the lifetime chances of being raped , robbed , or assaulted . The numbers were astounding . If crime rates remained the same ( which , of course , they did n’t ) , 83 percent of all Americans aged 12 at the time would , in their actuarial lifetimes , be victimized by an attempted or completed violent crime , and 40 percent would be injured as a result of a robbery or assaultlife.injure.injurycausedbyviolentevents. These are the kind of numbers that the public , media , and lawmakers worried about in the ' 60s through ' 90s . Rates of violent crime and drug use , particularly during the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s , really were unusually high , as federal statistics show .
" Maybe , maybe not . I think that it 's completely up in the air now , and so the result of the nomination process has no political legitimacy . " Assange remains in exile in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to avoid prosecution on sexual assaultconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattlecharges in Sweden . He denies the charges .
During the bombing in that area , 20,000 refugees lived in the quarries . Hide Caption 18 of 38 Photos : World War II in pictures U.S. troops assaultconflict.attack.naOmaha Beach during the invasion of Normandy on June 6 , 1944 . On D - Day , Allied forces landed on five beaches -- Utah , Omaha , Juno , Gold and Sword -- taking the first step in establishing the Western Front in Europe . The landing included more than 5,000 ships , 11,000 airplanes and 150,000 soldiers .
Two groups of security forces , reportedly local law enforcement and French special service personnel , were taking part in the assault to neutralize the terrorists inside the hotel . Both groups entered the hotel through lobby partly set on fire . American and French soldiers were seen gathering on the scene before the counter - assaultconflict.attack.nabegan , according to local reporters who tweeted out pictures of special forces by the hotel . " Sabre Room Service ... " ... French SpecOps taking order before retaking Splendid Hotel - Ouagadougou pic.twitter.com/ml0lVM0I1Z — Harry Boone ( @towersight ) January 16 , 2016 There are some 75 American troops in Burkina Faso , of them 15 are assigned to the US embassy and about 60 have been assisting the French military to handle the hostage crisis , a source told AP .
A Kurdish - Arab alliance has announced the launch of a military campaign against IS north of Raqaa . " With the participation of all SDF [ Syrian Democratic Forces ] units , we start this operation to liberate northern Raqaa " province , the SDF said on Twitter , quoting Kurdish commander Rojda Felat . The assaultconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattlewill be supported by air strikes from the US - led coalition bombing IS in Iraq and Syria , it added . The Iranian Al - Alam news website carried reports earlier this month that " Syrian allied forces " had cut off IS supply lines between Raqqa and Homs by taking over four hills overlooking the Shaer gas fields held by IS . But Mr Tack counters that IS supply lines to Raqqa are holding .
" Maybe , maybe not . I think that it 's completely up in the air now , and so the result of the nomination process has no political legitimacy . " Assange remains in exile in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to avoid prosecution on sexual assaultlife.injure.nacharges in Sweden . He denies the charges .