Syria

Islamic State militants have stepped up attacks on Kobani, which lies along the Turkey-Syria border and has been encircled by the extremists for weeks.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights says mass executions, forcing women and girls into sex slavery and the use of child soldiers may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Islamic State militants killed the seven men and three women near the besieged Kurdish town of Kobani.

Saying his country will do "whatever is needed" to help fight the extremist group ISIS, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he has reached what media are calling "a point of determination."

Seven airstrikes hit in Syria and three in Iraq, according to U.S. Central Command, which adds that Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates participated in some strikes.

Many legal scholars say the White House lacks a legal justification for the strikes inside Syria. But the administration disagrees, saying its actions are covered by post-Sept. 11 legislation.

The Syrian group, which the U.S. and a coalition of Arab partners has been striking in Iraq and Syria, is estimated to get as much as $6 million a day from the oil fields it has taken over.

President Obama has been reluctant to call it a war, yet the administration and the Pentagon boast of a 40-nation coalition and warn of a military operation that could last for years.

The group, which was targeted by U.S. airstrikes in Syria last night, has been on the U.S. radar for a while. Intelligence officials say they have tracked its individual members for years.

The president praised the five Arab nations that joined in airstrikes against extremists in Syria and said it should be clear that there are "no safe havens" for those who threaten America.