At Hand...

A U.S.-backed Kurdish-led force battling the Islamic State group in Syria will be in control of Raqqa "within a few days" after attacking the last militant-held pocket of the city, a spokesman for the force said Monday.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, also said that fierce street battles were underway near the main hospital in Raqqa, once the de facto capital of the extremists' self-proclaimed caliphate.

A Kurdish commander said the situation has calmed down in the city in order to allow the remaining civilians to leave the area.

On the other side, Iraqi government troops entered the city of Kirkuk without a fight, taking up positions inside the city after Kurdish fighters withdrew.

Iraqi commanders ordered the operation after a contentious independence vote on Sept. 25 in the oil-rich Kurdish region in northern Iraq. Baghdad, Washington and most international leaders condemned the referendum.

Who are we backing, Iraqis, Kurdish, or oil? and why?  

DOH...

The Democrats are hiding at this time. Only Hillary is the one talking, and she is not saying any thing of value. She thinks she is still running for the presidential election and thus is trashing Trump. This is well and good, if any is listening. Look around.  Just a thought.

Austria...

Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz won the national election, putting the 31-year old on track to become Europe’s youngest leader.

Integrate...

Austria’s Interior Ministry says nearly completed final returns show the center-right party headed by Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz won the national election, putting the 31-year old on track to become Europe’s youngest leader.

Becoming head of government would be the next leap in a political career that started eight years ago when Kurz, then studying law, was elected chairman of his party's youth branch.

Smart and articulate, he eventually caught the eye of People's Party elders. He was appointed state secretary for integration, overseeing government efforts to make immigrants into Austrians, in 2011.

The results put Austria on track for a rightward turn. Both the People’s and Freedom Parties campaigned on introducing tough measures to curb immigration and to pressure foreigners already in the country to integrate.

This is the topic de-Jour all around.  Just a thought.

Bannon...

 


Steve Bannon predicted that his former boss will not only finish out his first term, but win a second term with 400 electoral votes in 2020.  Bannon was directly refuting a recent Vanity Fair article.

Bannon, who returned to Breitbart News as its executive chairman after leaving the White House this summer, has pledged to fight for Mr. Trump and his agenda from outside the White House. Part of that pledge includes fighting the establishment GOP Bannon believes is responsible for stifling that agenda.

But the GOP establishment isn't Bannon's only target. The former top Trump strategist also spoke of the need to dismantle former President Barack Obama's signature accomplishments.

Sebastian Gorka, a former deputy assistant to the president who spoke at the conference before Bannon, said Bannon has declared war on the "RINO" (Republicans in name only) class, and "every swamp dweller" in Washington, regardless of party.

Dems...

About 100 ISIS fighters have surrendered in Raqqa, Syria and have been removed from the city, the U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS told ABC News.

The mass surrender is viewed as a sign that the coalition's battle to retake Raqqa could be nearing its end, with 85 percent of the city now under the coalition's control.

Separately, the Raqqa Civil Council and local Arab tribal elders have brokered a deal in which they are allowing a convoy of vehicles to leave Raqqa today.

In a press release, the coalition, which was not involved in the discussions that led to this deal, said people who are being allowed to leave Raqqa are subject to search and screening by Syrian Democratic Forces. 

Who are the Syrian Democratic forces? and how much democracy will be after the end of this fight? 

Let us hold on to our wallet.  Just a thought.

Hallelujah...

Movie...

The scary part of these allegation is that many of young hopeful can fall for someone that they may think he can raise them up to a star status. A too high of a cost and the hill with the status.

Avoidance...

 British actress Kate Beckinsale said Weinstein tried to ply her with drink when she was just 17.   In a statement Scotland Yard said: “The Met have been passed an allegation of sexual assault by Merseyside Police today. The allegation will be assessed by officers from Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Command.”

The American actress, Rose McGowan, stated more frankly  "HW raped me." In a series of tweets, McGowan addressed Amazon chief Jeff Bezos and said that she repeatedly told an Amazon Studios executive that "HW raped me". McGowan said the executive told her it was not proven. 

Mr Price, the Amazon executive, was put on an immediate leave of absence  following allegations that he himself had harassed a producer and ignored McGowan's claim of a sexual assault by Weinstein. 

Rich powerful man, young beautiful aspiring actresses, and serious allegation. Is there a solution?

Boyle...

Image is not related.

An American woman, her Canadian husband and their three young children have been released after years held captive by a network with ties to the Taliban. 

Caitlan Coleman, and her husband, Canadian Joshua Boyle, were abducted five years ago while traveling in Afghanistan. Coleman was pregnant when she was captured and the couple had three children while in captivity.

The U.S. sent a C-130 transport plane to Pakistan to get the family out of the country, but Boyle declined to board, a White House official tells CBS News. Boyle's family called him and tried to persuade him to board the plane but were unsuccessful.

The couple set off in the summer 2012 for a journey that took them to Russia, the central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and then to Afghanistan.  

Boyle had a self-described intrigue over terrorism. “  He also developed an interest in Omar Khadr, a Canadian captured in Afghanistan who was held at Guantanamo Bay from 2002 to 2012. He married Khadr's sister in 2009. Strange story...