Turks protest assault of young nurse who wore shorts on bus

ISTANBUL — Turks donned shorts and gathered in central Istanbul on yesterday to condemn the assault of a young nurse who was attacked on a bus for wearing shorts.

With chants of "Don't interfere with my shorts!" the protest aimed to show solidarity with Aysegul Terzi, who was kicked in the face by a man, Abdullah Cakiroglu, on Sept. 12.

Cakiroglu confessed to attacking Terzi for what he called her "inappropriate" clothing, yet was released from custody despite expressing no remorse, according to Turkish news reports. Following a public uproar over the attack, he was then re-arrested on charges of inciting hatred and interfering with the right to freedom.

On social media, critics accused the Turkish authorities of expressing tacit approval of Cakiroglu's actions.

Accountant Saadet Yesil, 44, told The Associated Press at yesterday's protest that everyone had a right to dress as they saw fit.

"Just as we don't interfere with those in headscarves or gentlemen in turbans, we expect they extend us the same courtesy," she said.

She also accused Turkey's prime minister of attempting to downplay the attack. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim spoke of the assault with the Turkish daily Hurriyet last week, saying "I don't think he is a normal man . because what he did isn't something a normal person would do. You might not like (someone's dress but) you just grumble about it."

Akin Ozcan Aksoy, a 21-year-old student at yesterday's protest, told the AP he hoped such attacks would not take place "but the direction our country is headed makes me think we will encounter more of these stories."

Another shorts protest was scheduled to take place in Ankara, the capital.

Fuel tanker continues to burn off Mexico's Gulf coast

MEXICO CITY — A fuel tanker continued to burn off the Gulf coast of Mexico on yesterday, a day after it erupted in flames.

Firefighting boats were battling the blaze aboard the Burgos, which is owned by state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex. A large plume of smoke from the burning ship could be seen from the port of Veracruz.

Firefighters have been using a chemical extinguisher against the fire, according to the Veracruz Port Authority. They declined to speculate late Saturday on when the fire may be put out.

Mexico's environmental protection agency, Profepa, said yesterday in a statement that a mile (1 ½ kilometers) of containment booms were deployed to prevent any fuel from reaching the coast.

Pemex said fuel seen on the water was what mixed with the water used to fight the fire and will dissipate. The Burgos was carrying about 168,000 barrels of gasoline and diesel.

The ship was about 7 miles off the coast when it called for help at 11:30 a.m. Saturday. All crew members were rescued without injury.

At the time of the incident, the Burgos was sailing from Coatzacoalcos in eastern Veracruz state to the Pemex terminal, Port Authority Director Juan Ignacio Fernandez said late Saturday.

World leaders at UN approve plan for refugee crisis

UNITED NATIONS — World leaders on Monday approved a declaration aimed at providing a more coordinated and humane response to the refugee crisis that has strained resources and sparked divisions from Africa to Europe.

The issue of what to do about the world's 65.3 million displaced people took center stage at the U.N. General Assembly with leaders from the 193 member states taking part in the first-ever summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants.

Advocacy groups worried that the New York Declaration on Migrants and Refugees — an outcome document which contains no concrete commitments and is not legally binding — falls short of what is needed, while U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, himself a refugee during the Korean War, hailed it as historic.

"Today's summit represents a breakthrough in our collective efforts to address the challenges of human mobility," Ban said.

Around the world, there are currently about 21.3 million refugees, 3.2 million asylum seekers, and 40.8 million migrants, according to the U.N. Refugee Agency. The agency defines refugees as people forced to flee due to armed conflict or persecution, while migrants choose to move in search of a better life.

Philippe Bolopion, deputy director of global advocacy for Human Rights Watch, said the international community still had a long way to go in dealing with the crisis.

"I would say if you measure this document by what is at stake here, it certainly falls short of the mark. We're facing an historic crisis and the response is not historic," Bolopion said on the sidelines of the meeting. He added that in many areas refugee protections were backsliding with a growing number of countries trying to turn back refugees in violation of international law.

"Is the outcome document up to the challenge? No, unquestionably it's not. Does that mean the summit is pointless? No, because it's precisely at moments like this that you need to regroup," Bolopion added.

The declaration seeks to standardize responses to refugee situations and provide better education prospects for the children who make up over half of the world's refugees.

It also looks to improve working opportunities for refugees who are now spending nearly 20 years in exile on average.

There are also plans for a campaign to combat xenophobia.

All of this may prove an uphill struggle at a time when refugees and migrants have become a divisive issue in Europe and the United States.

"The overall climate is not very favorable to receiving refugees in many parts of the world but on the one hand, states committed to this so we can remind them of their obligations. On the other hand, states, just like us, need a more predictable way of responding to the refugee crisis that's what this New York declaration proposes," Fillipo Grandi, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, told The Associated Press.

Grandi said he disagreed with criticism that the declaration lacked concrete commitments. He said it expands the concept of refugee response beyond humanitarian aid — like food, medicine and tents — to include things like education and jobs.

Still, advocates for refugees expressed disappointment that the U.N.'s need for consensus meant that the stronger provisions in the declaration had been watered down.

Several countries shot down an earlier draft of the declaration that called on nations to resettle 10 percent of the refugee population each year, something that has led several human rights groups to criticize the document as a missed opportunity. The U.S. and a number of other countries also objected to language in the original draft that said children should never be detained, so the agreement now says children should seldom, if ever, be detained.

More concrete progress is expected at a follow-up summit on Tuesday called by President Barack Obama, where at least 45 countries are expected to make pledges that are in line with U.S. goals of increasing humanitarian aid by $3 billion, doubling resettlement and increasing access to education for 1 million youngsters and access to employment for another million of the displaced.

"Both summits are crucial to raising awareness of refugee and migration concerns, and both events are designed to harness the political will of member states to address the global refugee and migration crises we are all facing," said U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby, speaking in Washington.

France says Syrian truce needs broader support

BEIRUT — The Latest on the developments in Syria, where a Russia-US-brokered cease-fire, now in its seventh day, is hanging in the balance after numerous violations (all times local):

9 p.m.

France says the US and Russian-brokered cease-fire in Syria has proven "particularly weak" and must have the support of the international community if it is to be implemented.

Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told reporters yesterday that the cease-fire is nevertheless a "glimmer of hope" because it's the only basis for stopping the fighting.

Speaking on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, he called for a "strengthened and renewed dialogue between the United States and Russia," but said "we can't limit the dialogue to two countries."

He stressed that "it's extremely difficult" to implement such an agreement without international support.

As for the future of Syria's President Bashar Assad, Ayrault said it's impossible for him to lead a united Syria in peace, and predicted "chaos" if he remains in power.

— Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations

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8:45 p.m.

The US says it's prepared to extend Syria's fractured cease-fire despite numerous violations and the Syrian military's announcement that the truce is over.

The State Department said yesterday that it was ready to work with Russia to strengthen the terms of the agreement and expand deliveries of humanitarian aid.

Spokesman John Kirby noted the Syrian announcement but stressed that the cease-fire arrangement was agreed by the United States and Russia. He says Russia, which is responsible for ensuring Syria's compliance, should clarify the Syrian position.

Kirby says that although there were truce violations by all sides, the level of violence overall had been reduced over the past week.

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8:30 p.m.

Russia's Foreign Ministry says the failure of Syrian rebels to adhere to a weeklong truce brokered by Moscow and Washington "threatens the cease-fire and US-Russian agreements."

The ministry statement was issued yesterday, after the Russian military said that continuing rebel violations made it "meaningless" for the Syrian army to respect the deal. The Syrian military said earlier yesterday that the cease-fire had expired.

The ministry's warning appears to signal that rather than declaring the truce dead, the military declarations represented an 11th hour attempt by Moscow to pressure the United States to move quicker on implementing the deal.

The agreement envisages creating a joint US-Russian center that would coordinate strikes against the Islamic State group and al-Qaida-linked militants, but Washington says conditions aren't ready for that yet.

Both sides are alleged to have repeatedly violated the agreement over the past week, and aid has yet to be delivered to besieged, rebel-held parts of Aleppo -- a key opposition demand.

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8:15 p.m.

Syrian activists and residents of the northern city of Aleppo are reporting airstrikes on rebel-held districts hours after the Syrian military declared that a cease-fire had expired.

The activist-operated Aleppo Media Center says suspected government warplanes dropped bombs on a number of rebel-held neighborhoods. Mohammed Khandakani, a resident, says one of the bombs fell near his house in the center of the city.

The cease-fire brokered by the US and Russia went into effect a week ago, but both sides have been accused of violating it on dozens of occasions. Activists and residents also reported airstrikes on rebel-held parts of Aleppo on Sunday.

The military said insurgents had failed to adhere to the agreement.

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6:30 p.m.

The International Committee of the Red Cross says it has delivered humanitarian aid to the besieged town of Talbiseh in Syria's central Homs province.

It says a joint convoy of 45 ICRC, Syrian Arab Red Crescent and UN trucks delivered nearly 17,000 food parcels as well as 1,000 bulk food rations to the town of 84,000 residents on yesterday.

Talbiseh is besieged by government forces. A humanitarian convoy last reached the town in July, the ICRC said.

The ICRC says it also delivered materials to repair the town's water network as well as hygiene products.

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6:20 p.m.

Syria's military command has declared the U.S-Russian brokered cease-fire over, blaming the country's rebel groups for undermining the agreement.

In a statement yesterday, the Syrian military said that "armed terrorist groups" repeatedly violated the cease-fire which came into effect last week. It said the armed groups also took advantage of the truce to mobilize and arm themselves while attacking government-held areas. The statement said the rebels wasted a "real chance" to stop the bloodshed.

Activists and rebel groups also accuse the government of violating the cease-fire. The UN said the Syrian government has obstructed the delivery of aid, a key component of the deal.

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5:40 p.m.

Secretary of State John Kerry says the week-old truce in Syria brokered by the US and Russia is "holding but fragile" despite persistent violence and a lack of aid deliveries to besieged communities.

Speaking yesterday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Kerry said some humanitarian assistance is moving but it's too soon to say if it will meet the requirements of the cease-fire deal. The truce took effect last yesterday with the goal of creating a joint US-Russia military facility to coordinate airstrikes on the Islamic State group and an al-Qaida affiliate. That was to be set up after seven days of reduced violence and sustained aid deliveries to Aleppo and other areas.

Although Kerry professed hope, US officials said yesterday conditions were still not right to set up the Joint Implementation Center.

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4 p.m.

Syrian state TV is quoting President Bashar Assad as saying that the airstrike of the US-led coalition against his troops was meant to support the Islamic State group.

Assad described the attack that killed dozens of Syrian soldiers in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour as a "blatant American aggression."

Assad made his comments yesterday during a meeting with Iranian Foreign Ministry official Hossein Jaberi Ansari.

Ansari said Tehran will "give all possible support" to Syria in its war against terrorism.

Iran is one of Assad's strongest supporters.

The US military said after Saturday's airstrike that it may have unintentionally struck Syrian troops while carrying out a raid against IS. Britain, Denmark and Australia have since acknowledged that their planes took part in the airstrike — which Moscow says killed at least 62 Syrian soldiers.

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3:50 p.m.

The Russian military is warning that for Syrian government forces, observing the US-Russia-brokered cease-fire has become "meaningless" in view of continuous rebel violations of the truce.

Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi of the Russian military's General Staff, says the rebels killed 63 civilians and 153 Syrian soldiers since the truce took effect a week ago. He claimed on yesterday that the Syrian government forces have observed the truce unilaterally, despite the continuing rebel violations.

The Syrian government forces have in fact also repeatedly been accused of violating the truce.

Rudskoi accused Washington of failing to fulfill its obligations under the truce deal — most importantly to separate the US-backed opposition units from al-Qaida's branch in Syria. He says that amid the rebel violations, "it has become meaningless for the Syrian government forces to unilaterally observe the cease-fire."

He didn't explain whether this means Moscow is opting out of the cease-fire and giving the Syrian government the free hand to freely use force again.

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3:05 p.m.

Britain's Ministry of Defense has confirmed that it participated in a coalition airstrike over the weekend that killed dozens of Syrian troops — even as it stressed it would never intentionally target Syria military units.

The US military has said it may have unintentionally struck Syrian troops while carrying out a raid against the Islamic State group on Saturday.

The strike has threatened an already fragile US- and Russia-brokered cease-fire that has largely held despite dozens of alleged violations on both sides.

MOD says it can "confirm that the UK participated in the recent coalition airstrike in Syria, south of Deir el-Zour on Saturday, and we are fully cooperating with the coalition investigation."

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2:45 p.m.

Syrian state TV is reporting that government warplanes are attacking positions of the Islamic State group in eastern Deir el-Zour province.

The station says yesterday's airstrikes targeted IS positions in areas such as the Tharda Mountain, overlooking the airport of the city of Deir el-Zour.

The areas hit are close to Syrian army positions that were targeted on Sunday by the US-led coalition. Australian and Danish warplanes were involved in that attack on Syrian army positions.

Russia's military has said that it was told by the Syrian army that at least 62 Syrian soldiers were killed in the Deir el-Zour air raid and more than 100 wounded.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights gave a different death toll, saying 90 troops were killed in the strikes.

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1:45 p.m.

A Syrian activist group says 92 people have been killed in Syria since the start of the US-Russia-brokered cease-fire a week ago.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on yesterday that 29 children and teenagers are among those killed, as well as 17 women. The figure does not include dozens of Syrian soldiers and Islamic State militants killed in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour.

The truce excludes IS and al-Qaida-linked militants.

Uncertainties are prevailing about the truce, which is now in its seventh day.

The Syrian army said in a statement last week that the cease-fire would last until midnight Sunday but it's not clear if the US-Russia-brokered deal set a time limit for the truce. There have been remarks from the Syrian military in Damascus that the truce might be extended by 72 hours.

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11:40 a.m.

Denmark says two of its F-16 fighter jets took part in the US-led air raid that killed dozens of Syrian soldiers over the weekend.

In a yesterday statement, the Danish military says it will cooperate fully with the coalition investigation into the airstrikes in eastern Syria on Saturday.

After the incident, the United States said it may have unintentionally struck Syrian troops while carrying out a raid against the Islamic State group.

The Danish Armed Forces say it is "regrettable if the coalition mistakenly hit" government forces instead of IS militants.

They say the raid was halted immediately when information came from Russia that the Syrian military had been hit.

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11:35 a.m.

A senior Syrian opposition figure says the US-Russia-brokered cease-fire that went into effect in Syria a week ago is now "clinically dead."

George Sabra of the High Negotiations Committee told The Associated Press on yesterday that the truce has been repeatedly violated and did not succeed in opening roads for aid to enter besieged rebel-held areas.

Seven days after the cease-fire went into effect, aid convoys have not been able to reach besieged rebel-held neighborhoods of the northern city of Aleppo.

On yesterday, the opposition reported 254 violations by government forces and their allies since the truce started on Sept. 12. Syrian state media said there were 32 violations by rebels on Sunday alone.

The Syrian army said in a statement last week that the truce will last until midnight Sunday.

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11:10 a.m.

Turkeys' president has announced a new push by Turkish forces and Syrian rebels aimed at capturing a town held by the Islamic State group.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the Syrian opposition forces, backed by Turkish troops and tanks, are determined to advance toward al-Bab to clear the region of terror threats.

The Turkish leader said on yesterday that the offensive will last until the area "is no longer a threat" to Turkey.

Last month, Turkey for the first time sent tanks across the border into Syria to help rebels clear territory of IS militants and to contain the expansion of a Syrian Kurdish militia.

Erdogan's announcement comes as a fragile cease-fire, brokered by the United States and Russia and now in its seventh day, has mostly held despite numerous violations.

29 injured in explosion in NYC's Chelsea neighborhood

NEW YORK — An explosion in a crowded Manhattan neighborhood on Saturday night left 29 people injured, and authorities said a second nearby site was also being investigated. Mayor Bill de Blasio called the blast an "intentional act," but said there was no terrorist connection.

 

"Tonight, New York City experienced a very bad incident," de Blasio said at a news conference near the scene in Chelsea. "We have no credible and specific threat at this moment. "

 

De Blasio said the blast was "an intentional act" and tried to calm any fears among nervous New Yorkers, saying the explosion had no terrorist connection and wasn't related to a pipe bomb explosion earlier Saturday in New Jersey at a charity run.

 

A law enforcement official told The Associated Press that a second device that officers were investigating four blocks from the scene appeared to be a pressure cooker attached to wiring and a cellphone. The source, speaking on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak about an ongoing investigation, said the device was found inside a plastic bag on West 27th Street.

 

A law enforcement official told The Associated Press that the explosion appears to have come from a construction toolbox in front of a building. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the person wasn't authorized to speak about an ongoing investigation. New York officials said the incident was not due to a gas leak.

 

The blast happened on West 23rd street, in front of a residence for the blind, near a major thoroughfare with many restaurants and a Trader Joe's supermarket. Witnesses say the explosion at about 8:30 p.m. blew out the windows of businesses and scattered debris in the area. Officials said no evacuations were necessary.

 

Police spokesman J. Peter Donald said several people were taken to hospitals with injuries. One of the injured suffered a puncture wound that was considered serious. Officials said the other injuries were minor, described as scrapes and bruises.

 

Donald tweeted a warning to residents near the second site that officials are investigating, saying: "As a precautionary measure, we are asking residents who live on West 27th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues in Manhattan to stay away from windows facing 27th Street until we clear the suspicious."

 

A number of New York City subway routes were affected by the earlier explosion.

 

Chris Gonzalez, visiting from Dallas, was having dinner with friends at a restaurant in the area.

 

"We felt it, we heard it, the restaurant went real quiet, the 26-year-old Gonzalez said. "It wasn't like jolting or anything, everyone just went quiet."

 

Rudy Alcide, a bouncer at Vanity Nightclub at 21st Street and 6th Avenue, said he, at first, thought something large had fallen.

 

"It was an extremely loud noise, everything was shaking, the windows were shaking, it was crazy," he said. "It was extremely loud, almost like thunder, but louder."

 

The FBI and Homeland Security officials, along with the ATF arson and explosive task force are also at the scene.

 

The White House said President Barack Obama has been apprised of the explosion in New York City and will be updated as additional information becomes available.

 

In St. Cloud, Minnesota, police said multiple people were injured at a shopping mall Saturday evening in an attack that possibly involved both a shooting and stabbing. The suspect was believed to be dead.

 

Hillary Clinton says she has been briefed "about the bombings in New York and New Jersey and the attack in Minnesota."

 

She says the nation needs to support its first responders and "pray for the victims."

 

"We have to let this investigation unfold," she said.

 

The reports of a possible blast come hours after a pipe bomb exploded in Seaside Park, New Jersey, shortly before thousands of runners participated in a charity 5K race to benefit Marines and sailors. No injuries were reported.

 

Associated Press writers Jake Pearson and Maria Sanminiatelli in New York and Eric Tucker and Kevin Freking in Washington contributed.

50 injured by PKK car bomb in east Turkey

ISTANBUL — Turkish authorities are accusing Kurdish militants of detonating a car bomb that wounded 50 people in front of the ruling party's municipal headquarters yesterday in the eastern city of Van.

Van Governor Ibrahim Tasyapan told state-run Anadolu news agency that 46 civilians and four police officers were wounded in the attack at a police check point outside the party offices.

Tasyapan said two of the wounded were in serious condition, but he did not specify if they are officers or civilians.

An earlier statement by the governor's office alleged the bombers were affiliated with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

Hundreds of people have been killed and injured in Turkey in recent months in attacks the government says were carried out by Kurdish militants or the Islamic State group.

The governor's office said security forces are working to apprehend the perpetrators of the car-bombing.

The attack came a day after Ankara replaced 28 elected mayors with appointees, mostly in the Kurdish dominated east of the country.

Turkey's pro-Kurdish party, the country's main opposition party and the United States all have criticized the move.

Zahir Soganda, chairman of the ruling party's Van office, told the Anadolu agency he was aware that threats of such an attack had been made after the mayors were replaced.

The explosion occurred yesterday around 10:50 a.m. local time on the first day of Eid al-Adha, an Islamic holiday. Governor Tasyapan said more people could have been hurt had nearby businesses not been closed..

Development Minister Lutfi Elvan condemned the attack, saying the car-bombers had disrespected Islam's most important holiday.

"Of course the necessary response is being given to these traitors and will continue being given," Anadolu quoted Elvan as saying. "Our nation and our state are strong..We are easily overcoming them and, God willing, we will root out this divisive terrorist organization as well as Daesh."

Daesh is the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told Anadolu agency that security forces had taken precautions to prevent violent attacks during the nine-day Eid al-Adha festival.

Turkey's broadcasting authority, RTUK, imposed a temporary ban on coverage of the attack.

In Colombia jungle, rebels prepare for peace

JUNGLES OF PUTUMAYO — Traveling deep inside the jungle after a daylong boat journey, I arrived with trepidation and mistrust at the secret camp of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

As a Colombian photojournalist, I was raised in a modest farming family to despise the rebels my relatives characterized as killers. But watching the guerrillas of the FARC's southern bloc go about their daily routine as they prepared for peace I began to see them as regular people like myself and I decided to photograph them both in their uniforms and then in their civilian attire to show their more human side.

Under an accord reached last month by the government and FARC leaders, a cease-fire has taken effect and a national referendum will be held Oct. 2 to give voters the chance to approve the deal for ending a half-century of political violence that has killed more than 220,000 people and driven more than 5 million from their homes.

During a visit to their secret camp, I photographed rebels of both genders from the FARC's 48th Front and several other rebel units. I asked each one their age, number of years in the FARC and aspirations for the future.

Setting aside heavy assault rifles and camouflaged uniforms to put on street clothes, the men looked virtually the same. But the women were transformed.

Many said they were 18 but some looked younger. Many also confided that they joined the FARC years before. That meant many were recruited as minors, a human rights violation that is sadly among many that the long conflict has produced.

If the conversations seemed scripted — the male commanders chose which women I could photograph — the pictures were anything but. The women laughed, smiled and grabbed nervously at the edges of unfamiliar street clothes. Many had never been photographed in any formal way and the experience recalled my own youth as a studio photographer in Bogota taking portraits for high school graduations and ID cards.

After spending their youth fighting a futile war, the rebels are now eager to make up for the lost time. One young woman hadn't even finished elementary school.

It was very different than the last time I entered a guerrilla camp more than a decade ago. The rebels then were guarded, more dogmatic.

Today, Colombians still say overwhelmingly in polls that they dislike the rebels. FARC members have responded by trying to project a softer image during their transition into a political movement.

On my recent visit, the guerrillas were focused on their future lives under the peace deal reached last month after four years of negotiations. One rebel was even learning how to play guitar with instruction from the internet.

When I left after a week, I told the rebels I'd see them soon. It was a throwaway phrase, the sort of thing you say when you're at a loss for words.

The next time, one said, you may not recognize us because we'll be dressed just like you.

15 years after 9/11, America in perpetual war

The 9/11 attacks of 2001 forever changed America and upended its foreign and national security policy, leaving the country for the past 15 years in a war against jihadists -- without ending the upheaval in the Middle East.

Barack Obama, who will leave the White House in January, is the president who tried to get the US military out of the quagmires in Iraq and Afghanistan -- devastating "war on terror" conflicts launched by his predecessor George W. Bush in the wake of the suicide plane strikes that killed nearly 3,000 people.

But Obama's legacy on that front is mixed, with US forces still present in both countries.

And while he worked hard to bring America closer to the Muslim world, he will leave office with the United States bogged down in a seemingly endless conflict against Islamists at home and abroad, experts say.

"The evolving threat of Islamist terrorism compelled President Obama, against his own inclinations, to engage militarily in Iraq once again, and since then in Syria and Libya as well," said Tamara Cofman Wittes, director of the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

"The wars in the Middle East, the metastasis of ISIS, online radicalization and a series of attacks in European and American cities have made the paradigm of a 'global war on terror' very hard to set aside, even 15 years after 9/11," she wrote on the World Economic Forum website.

The US is also still engaged militarily, in limited form or on a purely logistical basis, in Afghanistan, Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen to counter myriad threats.

"The thinking of the Obama administration is that big wars make things worse," Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute, told AFP.

So instead, Obama launched a new era in American warfare -- one dominated by drones, special forces and training for local fighters.

The human and financial costs of such engagements are more limited -- a significant fact, after the 5,300 US military personnel killed, 50,000 wounded and $1.6 trillion spent from 2001-2014 in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Congressional data.

Obama's strategy had its best success in May 2011, when US special forces killed Al-Qaeda leader Obama bin Laden, who masterminded the 9/11 attacks, at his home in Pakistan.

But for Ibish, such a use of "limited resources... looks like a continuous war."

"It is even more than a permanent war because the limited resources cannot change the instability. It accepts the current chaos as being unsolvable," he added.

Evolving threats

In Syria, a lasting peace is still not at hand, though a fresh truce brokered by the United States and Russia -- both now involved militarily in the deadly conflict -- is due to begin Monday.

And a US military re-engagement in the Middle East is not in the plans of either of the candidates looking to succeed Obama -- Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Fifteen years after the Twin Towers fell, forever changing New York's skyline, Obama said the terror threat facing America had "evolved," referring to lone-wolf attacks in the United States like the nightclub massacre in Orlando in June.

"So in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and beyond, we'll stay relentless against terrorists like Al-Qaeda and ISIL. We will destroy them. And we'll keep doing everything in our power to protect our homeland," he said Saturday in his weekly address.

Mass surveillance

As Amy Greene -- an American researcher at the prestigious Institute of Political Studies in Paris (Sciences-Po) -- pointed out, "there has not been an attack on US soil of the same scale" as the carefully planned 2001 attacks.

Of course, Washington still fears more small-scale attacks carried out by homegrown attackers, like the Orlando shooting that left 49 people dead or the San Bernardino attacks last December that left 14 dead.

Faced with ongoing threats, the United States has built up a massive surveillance apparatus in the post-9/11 era both at home and abroad.

The budget for the CIA, FBI and National Security Agency has nearly doubled since 2001.

"The threat that I think will dominate the next five years for the FBI will be the impact of the crushing of the caliphate, which will happen," Comey said this past week, referring to the Islamic State group.

Since the passage of the Patriot Act after 9/11, legislation maintained by Obama, "Americans have accepted the idea of giving up some of their freedoms," Greene said.

According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, 40 percent of Americans fear that "the ability of terrorists to launch another major attack on the United States is greater than it was at the time of the 9/11 attacks."

That is the highest share expressing that fear since 2002.

On Saturday, the US State Department warned in its regular "worldwide caution" note to travelers on terror risks that the IS group had "called on supporters to attack US citizens and coalition partners wherever they are."

BRITISH GOVERNMENT CLARIFIES NEWS REPORT ABOUT VISA-FREE ENTRY BY FILIPINOS INTO THE UK

The British government today issued a clarification regarding a news report published in the Da1lymail.com that Filipinos are now eligible to visit the United Kingdom without obtaining a visa.

The report stated that newly-appointed British Prime Minister Theresa May had announced a new visa policy for 3 countries that included the Philippines, Republic of South Africa and Rwanda.

The decision reportedly took into consideration the Socio-Economic, Political, Foreign and Human Rights Policies instituted over the past 60 months by the named countries.

Today, however, the Office of the British Prime Minister clarified that the news report is not entirely true, saying that only Filipino citizens who speak with a British accent are eligible for the new visa-free policy.

So, Pinoys, it’s time to practice your British accent!

Korean Air continues to support local communities around the world

SEOUL, Korea – Korean Air employees worked alongside 50 local residents of Bicol Region in the Philippines for seven days from August 21 to 27 to provide aid to the local community.

Bicol, a remote peninsula in the northern part of the island of Luzon, was severely struck by Typhoon Rammasun in July 2014. The typhoon caused widespread devastation, with many people still living in unsafe conditions to this day.

A team of Korean Air employees volunteered to help build shelters and provide free meals for the students of elementary schools and residents of slum suburbs in Bicol. The Korean Air volunteers also installed solar-powered street lamps to improve public safety.

As part of its annual corporate “Happiness” campaign, staff from Seoul Head Quarters surprised the volunteers by arriving to cheer them on and to supply refreshments and snacks.

In the same week, Korean Air held a 'donation ceremony' on August 25 at the 125th National School in Baganuur, Mongolia, to present the school with 30 computers and accompanying desks and chairs.

Korean Air’s yearly computer donation program started in 2013 when it provided 30 computers to the Bolovsrol School in Mongolia. The aim of Korean Air’s donation program is to enable Mongolian students to keep up with technology and learn the skills to enable them to become computer literate.

Korean Air has also continued to roll out its Global Planting Project, which has seen the planting of trees in Baganuur since 2004. The schools selected for Korean Air's computer donation have also participated in this project in the past. The Korean Air Forest in the Baganuur area now extends to 440,000 square meters consisting of some 90,000 trees.

Korean Air has continually assisted communities in need through an array of programs spread out across the different markets where it flies.

In September last year, Korean Air provided relief goods to those affected by floods in Myanmar. Goods delivered to the country include 1,800 liters of water and 500 blankets.

Last April, Korean Air delivered relief goods to earthquake victims in Kathmandu, Nepal. Aid included 24,000 bottles of mineral water, 2,000 blankets, dried rice and other foods.

Korean Air will continue to roll out corporate social responsibility programs at home and abroad, in support of protecting the environment, maintaining sustainable development and supporting local communities.

oman behind failed Paris attack engaged to priest-killer

PARIS — Three women behind a thwarted attack near Notre Dame Cathedral were radicalized by Islamic State commanders in Syria, and one had been engaged to an extremist who killed a priest in July, the Paris prosecutor said Friday.

Francois Molins spoke a day after three women were dramatically arrested over the failed attack that centered on a car discovered Sunday morning in central Paris abandoned and loaded with gas canisters. No detonators were found in the car.

"In the last few days and hours a terrorist cell was dismantled, composed of young women totally receptive to the deadly Daesh ideology," Molins said, using another term for the IS group.

The women who spearheaded the failed plot included a 19-year-old whose father owned the abandoned Peugeot car. Her written pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State group was found by police, a security official said Friday.

The teen, Ines Madani, stabbed a police officer with a knife and was shot in the leg Thursday evening in a raid south of Paris, police said. She was being treated in a hospital.

Five women and two men have been arrested in the case.

One of the women detained in a police raid, referred to as Sarah H. and who was wearing a veil, was betrothed separately to two French extremists who carried out deadly attacks this year, the Paris prosecutor said.

Sarah H. was engaged to Larossi Abballa, who killed two police officials in Magnanville in June and filmed the aftermath on Facebook Live before dying in a police raid.

She was also betrothed to Adel Kermiche, who slit the throat of an elderly French priest during morning Mass in July before being killed by police, Molins added. He didn't say when she was engaged to either man.

France's interior minister described the pursuit as "a race against time" to find Madani and the two women with her before they could strike.

A man arrested Thursday also had ties to Abballa, one of the officials said.

"There's a group that has been annihilated, but there are others," French President Francois Hollande said Friday. "Information we were able to get from our intelligence services allowed us to act before it was too late."

A security official, who also cannot be identified when speaking about the investigation, said Madani had pulled a knife during the raid outside a small apartment building near the Boussy-Saint-Antoine train station.

In video filmed by a neighbor, a veiled woman, her face uncovered, is seen being carried away by police as she cries out "Allahu Akbar" or "God is the Greatest" in Arabic.

A plot conceived and carried out by a group of women would mark a new step in the Islamic State group's attempts to sow fear in Europe.

"It's at the same time rare and predictable," Matthieu Suc, author of "Wives of Jihadis," told France Info radio.

Women in the group do not take part in attacks, he said, but are there "to ensure the longevity of the caliphate" by having babies and providing moral support. But, he added, "there are often young girls, who are just as radicalized as the young men, and they also want the status of martyr, and they want to act."

The car loaded with gas cylinders belonged to Madani's father, who flagged her to police on Sunday 14 hours after the vehicle was discovered. Since then, authorities have worked frantically to untangle the relationships within the group and thwart what they increasingly feared was another plot.

More than one-third of the nearly 700 French citizens who have reached the war zones of Iraq and Syria are women, according to government figures. And officials have said for months that those being recruited by Islamic State in France are increasingly adolescent girls and young women.

Security around Paris was visibly higher Friday as the investigation widened.

A bomb squad, sniffer dogs and a scanner were deployed when a gas canister with a timer but no detonator was found outside a police station Friday morning in the suburb town of La Plaine Saint Denis, just north of Paris, a local police official said.

In a sign of fraying nerves, the son of a gas delivery driver was briefly detained because he had canisters in his car. Elsewhere, police in Paris used explosives to disable an illegally parked motorcycle.

Explosive gas canisters filled with nails were the weapon used in bomb attacks by Algerian extremists on Paris in the 1990s.

US generals 'reduced to rubble,' he'd replace some

EW YORK — Leveling unusually harsh criticism against the military, Republican Donald Trump said Wednesday night that America's generals have been "reduced to rubble" under President Barack Obama and suggested he would fire some of them if he wins the presidency in November.

Trump's comments came during a televised national security forum where he and Democratic rival Hillary Clinton each fielded 30 minutes of questions about their experience and judgment to be commander in chief. While the candidates never appeared on stage together, their back-to-back sessions served as a preview of sorts for their upcoming debates.

By virtue of a coin flip, Clinton took the stage first and quickly found herself responding at length to questions about her years in government. She reiterated that she had made mistakes in relying on a personal email account and private server as secretary of state and in voting for the 2003 invasion of Iraq as a senator. But she defended her support for U.S. military intervention to help oust a dictator in Libya, despite the chaotic aftermath.

"I'm asking to be judged on the totality of my record," said Clinton, who grew visibly irritated at times with the repeated focus on her past actions.

Clinton, who has cast Trump as dangerously ill-prepared to be commander in chief, tried to center the discussion on her foreign policy proposals should she win in November. She vowed to not send American ground troops into Iraq or Syria to fight the Islamic State group. And she pledged to hold weekly Oval Office meetings with representatives from the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs to stay abreast of health care for veterans.

Trump did little to counter the criticism that he lacks detailed policy proposals, particularly regarding the Islamic State. He both insisted he has a private blueprint for defeating the extremist group and that he would demand a plan from military leaders within 30 days of taking office.

Asked to square his request for military options with his harsh criticism of the current crop of generals, Trump said simply: "They'll probably be different generals."

Trump renewed his praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin for having "great control over his country." He stood by a previous comment that appeared to blame military sexual assaults on men and women serving together, but added he would not seek to remove women from the military. And for the first time, he opened the door to granting legal status to people living in the U.S. illegally who join the military.

"I think that when you serve in the armed forces, that's a very special situation," Trump said. "And I could see myself working that out."

As a businessman with no substantial national security experience, Trump was vague about how he is preparing for the enormous array of complex issues that would land on his desk as commander in chief. He cited his team of military advisers, but also said he has "a common sense" that will help him make decisions on foreign policy.

With just two months until Election Day, national security has emerged as a centerpiece issue in the White House race. Both candidates believe they have the upper hand, with Clinton contrasting her experience with Trump's unpredictability and the Republican arguing that Americans worried about their safety will be left with more of the same if they elect Obama's former secretary of state.

While GOP candidates are often seen by voters as having an advantage on military and national security issues, Trump is far from a traditional Republican. He has no military experience and has repeatedly criticized the skill of the armed forces.

A flood of Republican national security experts have instead chosen to back Clinton, helping bolster her case that Trump is broadly unacceptable. Earlier Wednesday, former Defense Secretary William Cohen joined the list of GOP officials supporting Clinton.

Ahead of the forum, Trump rolled out a new plan to boost military spending by tens of billions of dollars, including major increases in the number of active troops, fighter planes, ships and submarines.

His address earlier in the day also included plans to eliminate deep spending cuts known as the "sequester" that were enacted when Congress failed to reach a budget compromise in 2011. Republicans and Democrats voted for the automatic, across-the board cuts that affected both military and domestic programs, though the White House has long pressed Congress to lift the spending limits.

Trump expressed support for the sequester in interviews in 2013 — even describing them as too small — but seemed to suggest at the time that military spending should be exempt.

A senior adviser said ahead of the speech that Trump would make sure the additional spending was fully paid for but did not explain how.

The United States currently spends more than $600 billion a year on the military, more than the next seven countries combined.