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Anchored by Jake Tapper, The Lead airs at 4 p.m. ET on CNN.
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national lead
Airstrikes hit ISIS in Iraq as Obama condemns journalist's murder
(CNN) - There was no suggestion in President Barack Obama's remarks Wednesday about the terrorist beheading of an American journalist that the United States was backing down in its airstrikes in Iraq.
The President blasted ISIS and said that the world was "appalled" by the videotaped execution of James Foley that surfaced Tuesday.
Around that time came word that U.S. military forces struck ISIS in Iraq by employing fighter, remotely piloted and attack aircraft, unleashing 14 airstrikes near Mosul Dam.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports.
world lead
U.S. jet fighters carry out second round of airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq
Washington (CNN) - U.S. fighter jets repeatedly bombed Sunni Islamic extremists in northern Iraq on Friday, targeting what officials described as ISIS artillery units and convoys advancing on the Kurdish regional capital of Irbil.
At least two rounds of airstrikes ramped up America's involvement in Iraq where ISIS, which calls itself the Islamic State, is seizing control of towns and key infrastructure in an advance that has forced hundreds of thousands to run for their lives.
world lead
Officials: Israel, Palestinian factions accept 72-hour cease-fire in Gaza
Gaza City (CNN) - Will it, or won't it, hold?
That's the question following word late Monday that Israel and Palestinian factions, including Hamas, agreed to a 72-hour humanitarian cease-fire proposed by Egypt.
Even as both sides agreed to the cease-fire, scheduled to begin Tuesday morning, both sides appeared suspicious of one another.
world lead
Kerry assures Iraqis of U.S. support if they unite against militants
Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Iraqi leaders Monday as radical Sunni militants continue their march toward Baghdad during the country's tensest time since the U.S. withdrawal of troops in 2011.
"The future of Iraq depends on decisions made in the next few days and weeks," Kerry said after meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, the man who some observers say needs to step down.
world lead
More than a million Iraqis have fled their homes as ISIS continues armed siege
Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) - More than a million Iraqis have been forced from their homes by conflict this year, the U.N. refugee agency said Friday - a number only likely to rise as Islamist militants and Iraqi Security forces battle for control.
A humanitarian crisis is brewing, as families who've fled fighting with little more than the clothes on their back seek water, food and shelter from the summer heat.
