U.S. drone strikes kill 13 Islamist militants in Pakistani tribal district; Pentagon: Costs of Iraq, Syria campaign $1.1 billion; Senator: Congress should debate terrorist threat. Latest updates: 2:00 P.M. Kurdish protesters have forced their way into the European Parliament, part of Europe-wide demonstrations against the Islamic State group's advance on a town on the Syrian-Turkish border. The activists are demanding more help for the besieged Kurdish forces struggling to hold onto the Syrian town of Kobani. Some European countries are arming the Kurds or firing airstrikes against the Islamic extremists, but protesters say it isn't enough. In Brussels, about 50 Kurdish protesters smashed a door and pushed past police to get into the European Parliament on Tuesday, while 600 other Kurds demonstrated in Berlin. Kurdish protesters overnight occupied the Dutch Parliament and protested at the French Parliament. (AP) 12:52 P.M. President Hassan Rohani on Tuesday called for more academic freedom in Iran's universities, saying restrictions stifle innovation and breed sycophancy. "Irrelevant restrictions will lead to lack of tolerance, the departure of honest, competent individuals and the promotion of ingratiating people," Rohani said at an event marking the start of the academic year at Tehran University. "Let's not create a climate of flattery in the university," Rohani said in the speech, which was broadcast live on state TV. "We should not be concerned about the expression of diverse views by university professors." He complained that no student representatives were speaking at the ceremony, saying: "I am here to listen, not to make a speech. It is a matter of regret that there was no speech by a student association representative in today's program." Rohani added that "governing and administering the country is not possible without tolerance. Let's let people express themselves." Several students at the meeting were carrying placards reading: "We are waiting to realize your promises," a reference to last year's election, when Rohani vowed change after the conservative rule of his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (AP) 10:56 A.M. Warplanes believed to have been sent by the U.S.-led coalition struck positions held by Islamic State militants near a Syrian border that beleaguered Kurdish forces have been struggling to defend. The air strikes on Tuesday came after fighters from the extremist group managed to enter some neighborhoods of Kobani, a strategic town near the Turkish border. Journalists on the Turkish side of the border heard the sound of warplanes before two large plumes of smoke billowed just west of Kobani. The U.S.-led coalition has launched several air strikes over the past two weeks near Kobani in a bid to help Kurdish forces defend the town, but the strikes appear to have done little to slow the Islamic State offensive. (AP) 10:41 A.M. Media reports say police in Istanbul and at least six other Turkish cities clashed with hundreds of demonstrators protesting the Islamic State group's advance on a Kurdish town on Syria's border with Turkey. The private Dogan news agency said Tuesday clashes broke out in several Istanbul neighborhoods overnight, as protesters set up barricades, hurled stones, fireworks and firebombs at police and set a bus on fire. One police officer was injured. Police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse similar protests in the mostly Kurdish-populated cities of Diyarbakir, Batman, Van, Sirnak, Sanliurfa and Hakkari. (AP) 10:26 A.M. Islamic State fighters advanced into the south west of the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani overnight, a monitoring group said on Tuesday, taking several buildings to gain attacking positions from two sides of the city. Two Islamic State flags were still visible over the eastern side of Kobani, Reuters journalists viewing from across the nearby Turkish border said. Sporadic gunfire could be heard. More than 2,000 Syrian Kurds including women and children were evacuated from the town, a member of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) said on Monday. Read full article here 10:00 A.M. U.S. drone strikes killed 13 Islamist militants in Pakistani tribal district, officials said Tuesday. The first unmanned aircraft fired two missiles at a compound in the Shawal area of North Waziristan, near Afghan border, killing eight militants on Monday. Most of the victims were believed to be members of an Islamist group of ethnic Uzbek militants, a military official said. The compound was being used as a transit point to launch cross-border attacks on international forces in Afghanistan, an intelligence official said. (DPA) 6:19 A.M. Japanese police raided the house of a 26-year-old man who allegedly planned to go to Syria to join Islamic State militants, a report said Tuesday. Tokyo police questioned the university student Monday, a day before he planned to leave for Syria, the Kyodo News agency reported, citing an investigative source. The student told an investigator that he was planning to join the jihadists as a fighter, Kyodo quoted police sources as saying. He had cancelled a scheduled trip to Syria in August and it was unclear if he has ever been to the country, the report said. The student apparently responded to a "help wanted" poster inviting people to go to Syria, which had been put up at a second-hand bookshop in Tokyo, Kyodo said. (DPA) 5:16 A.M. The Pentagon has spent as much as $1.1 billion on U.S. military operations against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria since the mission began in mid-June, including more than $62 million alone in Navy airstrikes and Tomahawk cruise missiles. Read full story (AP) 2:50 A.M. U.S. Sen. Bob Casey says it would be "very healthy" for the United States if members of Congress spend about two weeks getting briefings, holding hearings, and having a real debate about authorizing the use of force against the Islamic State terrorist group. The Pennsylvania Democrat said in an interview Monday with The Associated Press that even if members believe, as he does, that President Barack Obama has the legal authority to mount an aerial bombing campaign against the terrorist group, a debate and even some votes could be helpful for his strategy. Casey said the administration also has to prepare the country for a counterterrorism campaign that is going to take years, "and I think we should not only say that, we should have a strategy that reflects that." (AP) 2:04 A.M. The White House defended Vice President Joe Biden on Monday after he was forced to call leaders in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to apologize for remarks he made suggesting they had supported Islamist militants in Syria. "The vice president is somebody who has enough character to admit when he's made a mistake," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters. "(Biden) is somebody who continues to be a core member of the president's national security team. He is somebody who has decades of experience in dealing with leaders around the globe. And the President is pleased to be able to rely on his advice as we confront the variety of challenges that are so critical to American national security." (AP) 0:24 A.M. Dozens of Kurds stormed the national parliament building in The Hague on Monday night in a protest against Islamic State fighters who are attacking a Kurdish town in northern Syria, Kurdish officials in the Netherlands said. Riot squads and hundreds of officers were deployed and helicopters were flying overhead, said a demonstrator at the scene. Around 100 protesters forced their way through to the main hall of the building and were sitting on the floor with banners, one of which read "Stop Kobani." "The situation in Kobani is getting of control. IS has stormed the town and a lot of civilians are being killed. We want the West to do more to stop the situation in Syria," said the protester, who asked not to be named. (Reuters)
