UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The president of Turkey on Wednesday accused the international community of doing too little to stem the flow of foreign fighters to Syria and slammed the U.N. Security Council's inaction on some of the world's most pressing issues.

In two separate speeches in New York, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey was playing a leading role in fighting terrorism but was not being aided by the rest of the world.

"We can stop this flow of foreign terrorist fighters only if our friends and partners awaiting our cooperation show, themselves, a sort of cooperation as well," Erdogan said.

"This is not a fight to be carried out solely by Turkey," he added.

But Turkey, a key backer of the rebels seeking to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad, is under scrutiny for allowing thousands of fighters to cross into Syria across its borders.

Syria's U.N. Ambassador Bashar Jaafari reiterated the criticism later Wednesday, noting pointedly that Turkey was the "main gate for terrorists crossing into Syria and Iraq." He said Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have turned their airports into "reception halls" for extremists before sending them illegally to Syria.

Erdogan spoke at a Security Council meeting where members unanimously approved a resolution requiring countries to prevent the recruitment and transport of foreign fighters preparing to join terrorist groups.

It was an unusual Security Council meeting chaired by President Barack Obama and attended largely by heads of state for the 15 member states.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the 69th session of the United Nations General Asse …

U.S. intelligence officials estimate some 12,000 foreigners have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join the Islamic State group, which has many as 31,000 fighters.

Erdogan said the threat of foreign terrorist fighters starts "the moment these individuals depart from the source countries" and that countries concerned have not cooperated in a timely fashion.

Still, he said, recent information sharing by source countries helped Turkey in its effort to stem the flow. About 3,600 individuals have been included on the "no entry list" and nearly 1,000 foreigners have been deported by the Turkish government, Erdogan said.

He said Turkey sacrificed greatly, taking in more than a million Syrian refugees in addition to more than 140,000 Syrian Kurdish refugees last week alone.

"Despite our sacrifices and our expectations of solidarity, we have not received the kind of support we've been looking for from the international community," he said.

Erdogan has said he would offer military help but has been vague about exactly how he intends to answer the American call to join Washington and a number of Arab states as they continue attacks on the Islamic State group that has taken over wide swaths of Syria and Iraq in a brutal assault and a bid to establish what the radical group calls a Islamic Caliphate.

Earlier in the day, in his speech to the U.N. General Assembly, Erdogan said the U.N. has repeatedly failed to act, citing the Syrian civil war which has killed more than 200,000 people and this summer's Gaza War in which more than 2,000 people died.

He also criticized the U.N. for what he termed the legitimization of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi who spoke from the same podium shortly before.

He said the democratically elected President of Egypt, Islamist president Mohammed Morsi, was overthrown by a coup, and the U.N. chose to legitimize the person who conducted this coup — a reference to el-Sissi.

"We should respect the choice of the people in the ballot box. If we want to support coups...then why does the United Nations exist?" he said.

Turkey had forged a close alliance with Morsi and strongly criticized the military coup in Egypt which ousted his government. He has described el-Sissi as a "tyrant," prompting Egypt's Foreign Ministry to summon the Turkish charge d'affaires.

Erdogan said the U.N. as a world body should be more "brave" in addressing world problems.

"The world is bigger than the five," he said of the five permanent Security Council members, accusing them of rendering the U.N. ineffective.

One third of all Ukrainians had been involved in bribery, according to a Gallup poll in May.
'A man of integrity is an exception'

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of shootings in which a gunman wounds or kills multiple people has increased dramatically in recent years, with the majority of attacks in the last decade occurring at a business or a school, according to an FBI report released Wednesday.

The study focused on 160 "active shooter incidents" between 2000 and 2013. Those are typically defined as cases in which a gunman in an attack shoots or attempts to shoot people in a populated area.

The goal of the report, which excluded shootings that are gang and drug related, was to compile accurate data about the attacks and to help local police prepare for or respond to similar killings in the future, federal law enforcement officials said.

"These incidents, the large majority of them, are over in minutes. So it's going to have to be a teaching and training of the best tactics, techniques and procedures to our state and local partners," said James F. Yacone, an FBI assistant director who oversees crisis response and was involved in the report.

According to the report, an average of six shooting incidents occurred in the first seven years that were studied. That average rose to more than 16 per year in the last seven years of the study. That period included the 2012 shootings at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado and at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, as well as last year's massacre at the Washington Navy Yard in which a gunman killed 12 people before dying in a police shootout.

The majority of the shootings occurred either at a business or a school, university or other education facility, according to the study, conducted in conjunction with Texas State University. Other shootings have occurred in open spaces, on military properties, and in houses of worship and health care facilities.

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A total of more than 1,000 people were either killed or wounded in the shootings. In about one-quarter of the cases, the shooter committed suicide before the police arrived. The gunman acted alone in all but two of the cases. The shooters were female in at least six of the incidents.

Not all of the cases studied involved deaths or even injuries. In one 2006 case in Joplin, Missouri, a 13-year-old boy brought a rifle and handgun into a middle school, but his rifle jammed after he fired one shot. The principal then escorted the boy out of school and turned him over to the police.

Law enforcement officials who specialize in behavioral analysis say the motives of gunmen vary but many have a real, or perceived, personally held grievance that they feel mandates an act of violence. Though it's hard to say why the number of shootings has increased, officials say they believe many shooters are inspired by past killings and the resulting notoriety.

"The copycat phenomenon is real," said Andre Simons of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. "As more and more notable and tragic events occur, we think we're seeing more compromised, marginalized individuals who are seeking inspiration from those past attacks."

Beyond studying the shootings, the FBI has promoted better training for local law enforcement, invariably the first responders.

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FBI: U.S. mass shootings on the rise

The number of incidents in which a gunman wounds or kills multiple people has risen sharply in recent years.
Most occur at work, school

The United States bombed Islamic State-controlled oil refineries in Syria as President Barack Obama rallied the world at the UN General Assembly to fight the jihadist "network of death" in Iraq and Syria.

In an interview with veteran US broadcaster Charlie Rose, Hassan Rouhani described the Islamic State (IS) group as "extremely savage and barbaric," but questioned the motives of the US-led bombing campaign in Syria.

"It is not clear for us what they are seeking," he said in the interview to be broadcast in full on PBS later Wednesday.

"Whether they're under the pressure of their own domestic public opinions and they want to put on a show, a theater for public consumption, or they're after a tangible, a real objective in the region; it is not crystal clear for us.

"But what I can tell you unequivocably, no terrorist group can be eradicated and destroyed through aerial bombardments only," he said in New York, where he is attending the UN General Assembly.

Tehran has been unusually accepting of the US military action in Iraq, where it is also tackling IS but is a strong backer of the Syrian government.

Rouhani accused unnamed countries in the region of fueling the rise of IS by supporting groups in the civil war against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"All of them in one fashion or another encouraged and supported these terrorists," he said.

"Terrorism is always bad without exceptions. You cannot say now it’s good and at another time condemn it. It is always bad and evil."

Asked about the prospect of securing an agreement on Iran's nuclear activities, Rouhani said he believed a deal was "within reach" before a November 24 deadline.

"Certainly, before the deadline that's remaining ahead of us, we will succeed in resolving this issue," he told Rose.

He said Iran must safeguard its right to use peaceful nuclear energy and the West must also be assured there will be no deviation from that.

Last year Rouhani and Obama spoke by telephone at the end of the UN General Assembly, but no meeting between the two leaders has been scheduled this time.

"Today, conditions do not dictate such a meeting," Rouhani told Rose, but signalled a resolution of problems in relations further ahead.

"I do not believe that between Iran and America, there must be perpetual distance, a perpetual gap and tension," he said.

"I do believe that one day, these tensions will come to an end."

United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Iran's president warned the US in an interview that air strikes would not destroy jihadists in Syria but appeared upbeat about securing a deal over Tehran's nuclear program.

The United States bombed Islamic State-controlled oil refineries in Syria as President Barack Obama rallied the world at the UN General Assembly to fight the jihadist "network of death" in Iraq and Syria.

In an interview with veteran US broadcaster Charlie Rose, Hassan Rouhani described the Islamic State (IS) group as "extremely savage and barbaric," but questioned the motives of the US-led bombing campaign in Syria.

"It is not clear for us what they are seeking," he said in the interview to be broadcast in full on PBS later Wednesday.

"Whether they're under the pressure of their own domestic public opinions and they want to put on a show, a theater for public consumption, or they're after a tangible, a real objective in the region; it is not crystal clear for us.

"But what I can tell you unequivocably, no terrorist group can be eradicated and destroyed through aerial bombardments only," he said in New York, where he is attending the UN General Assembly.

Tehran has been unusually accepting of the US military action in Iraq, where it is also tackling IS but is a strong backer of the Syrian government.

Rouhani accused unnamed countries in the region of fueling the rise of IS by supporting groups in the civil war against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"All of them in one fashion or another encouraged and supported these terrorists," he said.

"Terrorism is always bad without exceptions. You cannot say now it’s good and at another time condemn it. It is always bad and evil."

Asked about the prospect of securing an agreement on Iran's nuclear activities, Rouhani said he believed a deal was "within reach" before a November 24 deadline.

"Certainly, before the deadline that's remaining ahead of us, we will succeed in resolving this issue," he told Rose.

He said Iran must safeguard its right to use peaceful nuclear energy and the West must also be assured there will be no deviation from that.

Last year Rouhani and Obama spoke by telephone at the end of the UN General Assembly, but no meeting between the two leaders has been scheduled this time.

"Today, conditions do not dictate such a meeting," Rouhani told Rose, but signalled a resolution of problems in relations further ahead.

"I do not believe that between Iran and America, there must be perpetual distance, a perpetual gap and tension," he said.

"I do believe that one day, these tensions will come to an end."

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BAGHDAD (AP) — Militants with the Islamic State group publicly killed a rights lawyer in the Iraqi city of Mosul after their self-styled Islamic court ruled that she had abandoned Islam, the U.N. mission in Iraq said Thursday.

Samira Salih al-Nuaimi was seized from her home on Sept. 17 after allegedly posting messages on Facebook that were critical of the militants' destruction of religious sites in Mosul.

According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq, al-Nuaimi was tried in a so-called "Sharia court" for apostasy, after which she was tortured for five days before the militants sentenced her to "public execution."

She was killed on Monday, the U.N. mission said. Her Facebook page appears to have been removed since her death.

"By torturing and executing a female human rights' lawyer and activist, defending in particular the civil and human rights of her fellow citizens in Mosul, ISIL continues to attest to its infamous nature, combining hatred, nihilism and savagery, as well as its total disregard of human decency," Nickolay Mladenov, the U.N. envoy to Iraq, said in a statement, referring to the group by an acronym.

The militant group captured Iraq's second largest city Mosul during its rapid advance across the country's north and west in June, as Iraqi security forces melted away. The extremists now rule a vast, self-declared caliphate straddling the Syria-Iraq border in which they have imposed a harsh version of Islamic law and beheaded and massacred their opponents.

In the once-diverse city of Mosul, the group has forced religious minorities to convert to Islam, pay special taxes or die, causing tens of thousands to flee. The militants have enforced a strict dress code on women, going so far as to veil the faces of female mannequins in store fronts.

In August, the group destroyed a number of historic landmarks in the town, including several mosques and shrines, claiming they promote apostasy and depart from principles of Islam.

Among Muslim hard-liners, apostasy is considered to be not just conversion from Islam to another faith, but also committing actions that are so against the faith that one is considered to have abandoned Islam.

The Gulf Center for Human Rights said Wednesday that al-Nuaimi had worked on detainee rights and poverty. The Bahrain-based rights organization said her death "is solely motivated by her peaceful and legitimate human rights work, in particular defending the civil and human rights of her fellow citizens in Mosul."

In the nearby town of Sderat, militants on Tuesday broke into the house of a female candidate in the last provincial council elections, killed her and abducted her husband, the UN also said. On the same day, another female politician was abducted from her home in eastern Mosul and remains missing.

The Islamic State extremists' blitz eventually prompted the United State to launch airstrikes last month, to aid Kurdish forces and protect religious minorities in Iraq.

This week, the U.S. and five allied Arab states expanded the aerial campaign into Syria, where the militant group is battling President Bashar Assad's forces as well as Western-backed rebels.

Nearly a dozen countries have also provided weapons and training to Kurdish peshmerga fighters, who were strained after months of battling the jihadi group.

In other developments Thursday, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen visited northern Iraq for talks with Kurdish leaders about the fight against Islamic State extremists and Berlin's efforts to help with arms deliveries.

Thursday also marked the start of German arms deliveries to the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, with the ultimate goal of supplying 10,000 Kurdish fighters with some 70 million euros ($90 million) worth of equipment.

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Associated Press writer David Rising in Berlin contributed to this report.