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Anchored by Jake Tapper, The Lead airs at 4 p.m. ET on CNN.
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world lead
ISIS gaining ground despite airstrikes
(CNN) – Airstrikes without ground troops were Obama's only option domestically.
But after nearly as many airstrikes during the entire Pakistan drone campaign, things are going the wrong way on the ground.
ISIS raised its flag in part of Kobani Monday, pressing against a vital part of Syria's border with Turkey.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports.
world lead
Ukraine: Rebel leader resigns; militants shoot down fighter plane
Donetsk, Ukraine (CNN) - A leader of pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine resigned his post Thursday as fighting flared there, with militants reportedly downing a Ukrainian military plane as Ukrainian government forces continued their attempt to retake the key city of Donetsk.
Alexander Borodai, prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, told reporters in the city he was stepping down Thursday and handing power to Alexander Zakharchenko, a little-known militia commander.
world lead
Russia retaliates against latest sanctions
(CNN) – On the border between Russia and Ukraine, the violence continues unabated.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin tried his best Wednesday to swing back at fresh sanctions from the United States and the European Union with his own attempt at causing economic havoc for his enemies.
All of this, as explosions echo across the region, and Russia bolsters its troop levels along the border.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports about Putin's latest move, and the kind of destruction he is witnessing in Ukraine.
world lead
Russia troop increase at Ukraine border raises concerns
Donetsk, Ukraine (CNN) - A new buildup of Russian troops along the Ukraine border raised concerns Tuesday that Moscow might be contemplating another intervention like the one that annexed Crimea earlier this year.
According to a NATO official, Russia now has about 20,000 troops stationed "in an area along the entire border with eastern Ukraine." The buildup nearly doubled the troop deployment in the last week by adding 8,000 more forces to 12,000 already there, the official said.
world lead
Investigators can't get to Flight 17 crash, CNN does
(CNN) - The Ukrainian government is now claiming that the pro-Russian separatists placed land mines and set up firing positions around the scene where Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 crashed.
And for the fourth straight day, international investigators say conditions were too dangerous to reach the site, leaving the top suspects in the downing of Flight 17 still in control of the crime scene.
