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ByZeinaKaram TheAssociatedPress BEIRUT Islamic State ex- tremists released a video Tuesday purportedly show- ing the beheading of a sec- ond American journalist, Steven Sotloff, and warning President Barack Obama that as long as U.S. air- strikes against the militant group continue, "our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people." The footage — depicting what the U.S. called a sick- ening act of brutality — was posted two weeks after the release of video showing the killing of James Foley and just days after Sotloff's mother pleaded for his life. Barak Barfi, a spokesman for the family, said that the Sotloffs had seen the video but that authorities have not established its authen- ticity. "The family knows of this horrific tragedy and is grieving privately. There will be no public comment from the family during this difficult time," Barfi said. Sotloff, a 31-year-old Mi- ami-area native who free- lanced for Time and For- eign Policy magazines, vanished in Syria in Au- gust 2013 and was not seen again until he appeared in a video released last month that showed Foley's be- heading. Dressed in an or- ange jumpsuit against an arid Syrian landscape, Sot- loff was threatened in that video with death unless the U.S. stopped airstrikes on the Islamic State. In the video distributed Tuesday and titled "A Sec- ond Message to America," Sotloff appears in a simi- lar jumpsuit before he is apparently beheaded by a fighter with the Islamic State, the extremist group that has conquered wide swaths of territory across Syria and Iraq and declared itself a caliphate. In the video, the organi- zation threatens to kill an- other hostage, this one iden- tified as a British citizen, David Cawthorne Haines. It was not immediately clear who Haines was. Britain and France called the killing "barbaric." In Washington, State Depart- ment spokeswoman Jen Psaki said U.S. intelligence analysts will work as quickly as possible to determine if the video is authentic. "If the video is genuine, we are sickened by this bru- tal act, taking the life of an- other innocent American citizen," Psaki said. "Our hearts go out to the Sotloff family." Psaki said it is believed that "a few" Americans are still being held by the Is- lamic State. Psaki would not give any specifics, but one is a 26-year-old woman kid- napped while doing human- itarian aid work in Syria, ac- cording to a family repre- sentative who asked that the hostage not be identified out of fear for her safety. The fighter who appar- ently beheads Sotloff in the video calls it retribution for Obama's continued air- strikes against the group. "I'm back, Obama, and I'm back because of your arrogant foreign policy to- ward the Islamic State ... de- spite our serious warnings," the fighter says. "So just as your missiles continue to strike our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people." The killer specifically mentions the recent U.S. airstrikes around the Mosul dam and the beleaguered Iraqi town of Amirli, mak- ing it unlikely that Sotloff was killed at the same time as Foley, as some analysts had speculated. Over the weekend, Iraqi government forces with help from U.S. airstrikes broke the Islamic State's two-month siege of Amirli, a town where some 15,000 Shiite Turkmens had been stranded. The SITE Intelligence Group, a U.S. terrorism watchdog, first reported the video's existence. In a sign of disorgani- zation — or perhaps dis- sension — in the extremist group's ranks, a faction of the Islamic State apparently posted the video early, be- fore it was supposed to be released. In a later Twit- ter message, those respon- sible apologized and asked fellow jihadis not to "re- proach" them. The Islamic State has terrorized rivals and civil- ians alike with widely pub- licized brutality as it seeks to expand a proto-state it has carved out on both sides of the border. In its rise to prominence over the past year, it has frequently published graphic photos and videos of bombings, beheadings and mass kill- ings. Sotloff grew up in the Mi- ami area, graduated from Kimball Union Academy, a prep school in New Hamp- shire, and then attended the University of Central Flor- ida, which said he majored in journalism from 2002 to 2004 but apparently left without graduating. Just how Sotloff made his way from Florida to Middle East hotspots is not clear. He published articles from Syria, Egypt and Libya in a variety of publications. ISLAMIC STATE Vi de o pu rp or ts t o sh ow beheading of US journalist THEASSOCIATEDPRESS This image made from video posted on the Internet by Islamic State militants and provided by the SITE†Intelligence Group, a U.S. terrorism watchdog, on Tuesday purports to show journalist Steven Sotloff before he was beheaded. The Arabic text at the bottom of the frame translates to "Now is the time for my message." SUSAN WALSH ‑ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Pentagon press secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby speaks during a briefing Tuesday. By Abdi Guled The Associated Press MOGADISHU, SOMALIA U.S. airstrikes in Somalia may have killed the leader of the Islamic extremist group al-Shabab, with a militant commander say- ing Tuesday that he was in a car that was struck and that six people died. The leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane, has no heir appar- ent. If he has been killed, it would be a "significant blow" to al-Shabab's orga- nization and abilities, said U.S. Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokes- man, who confirmed the strikes targeting Godane. ButGodane'sdeathcould also lead the group to ditch its association with al-Qa- ida and align itself with the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, analysts said. Al- Shabab gained notoriety a year ago this month when it attacked the upscale West- gate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, killing at least 67 people. Godane was in one of two vehicles hit by the U.S. military strikes Mon- day night, said Abu Mo- hammed, an al-Shabab commander and spokes- man. He said six militants were killed, but would not say if Godane was among them. The two vehicles were heading toward the coastal town of Barawe, al- Shabab's main base, Mo- hammed told The Associ- ated Press. The U.S. strikes hit Go- dane after he left a meet- ing of the group's top lead- ers, said a senior Somali intelligence official. Intel- ligence indicated Godane "might have been killed along with other mili- tants," said the Somali of- ficial, who spoke on con- dition of anonymity since he was not authorized to speak to the press. Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, said the U.S. launched the operation based on "actionable" in- telligence, and the strikes "hit what we were aiming at." But commanders were waiting to determine the outcome of the attack. The strikes on an en- campment and a vehicle were conducted by spe- cial operations forces us- ing manned and un- manned aircraft, accord- ing to Kirby. They struck using several Hellfire mis- siles and precision-guided munitions. Somali government and African Union forces head- ing to a town in the dis- trict heard what sounded like an "earthquake," said the governor of Somalia's Lower Shabelle region, Ab- diqadir Mohamed Nor. Airstrikes target al-Shabab leader ISLAMIC EXTREMIST GROUP By Scott Mayerowitz The Associated Press NEW YORK Squeezed into tighter and tighter spaces, airline passengers appear to be rebelling, taking their frustrations out on other fliers. Three U.S. flights made unscheduled landings in the past eight days after passengers got into fights over the ability to recline their seats. Disputes over a tiny bit of personal space might seem petty, but for passengers whose knees are already banging into tray tables, every inch counts. "Seats are getting closer together," says Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, which represents 60,000 flight at- tendants at 19 airlines. "We have to de-escalate conflict all the time." There are fights over overhead bin space, leg- room and where to put win- ter coats. "We haven't hit the end of it," Nelson says. "The condi- tions continue to march in a direction that will lead to more and more conflict." Airlines today are jug- gling terror warnings in Britain, the Ebola outbreak in Africa and an Icelan- dic volcano erupting and threatening to close down European airspace. Yet, the issue of disruptive pas- sengers has captured the world's attention. It's getting to the point where the pre-flight safety videos need another warn- ing: Be nice to your neighbor. The International Air Transport Association calls unruly passengers "an es- calating problem," saying there was one incident for every 1,300 flights in the past three years. The trade group would not share de- tailed historical data to back up the assertion that this is a growing problem. Today's flying experience is far from glamorous. Pas- sengers wait in long lines for security screening, push and shove at the gate to be first on board, and then fight for the limited over- head bin space. They are al- ready agitated by the time they arrive at their row and see how cramped it is. To boost their profits, airlines have been adding more rows of seats to planes in the past few years. Southwest and United both took away one inch from each row on certain jets to make room for six more seats. American is increasing the number of seats on its Boeing 737-800s from 150 to 160. Delta in- stalled new, smaller toilets in its 737-900s, enabling it to squeeze in an extra four seats. And to make room for a first-class cabin with lie- flat beds on its transconti- nental flights, JetBlue re- duced the distance between coach seats by one inch. Airlines say passengers won't notice because the seats are being redesigned to create a sense of more space. Southwest's seats have thin- ner seatback magazine pock- ets, Alaska Airlines shrank the size of tray tables, and United moved the magazine pocket, getting it away from passengers' knees. But passengers aren't just losing legroom; they're los- ing elbow room. Airlines sold 84 percent of their seats on domestic flights so far this year, up from 81 percent five years ago and 74 percent a de- cade ago, according to the Bureau of Transporta- tion Statistics. That means there are fewer empty mid- dle seats on which passen- gers can spread out. The latest spate of pas- senger problems started Aug. 24, when a man on a United flight prevented the woman in front of him from reclining thanks to a $21.95 gadget called the Knee De- fender. It attaches to a pas- senger's tray table and pre- vents the person in front from reclining. A flight at- tendant told the man to remove the device. He re- fused, and the passenger one row forward dumped a cup of water on him. Three days later, on an American flight from Miami to Paris, two passengers got into a fight, again over a re- clining seat, and the plane was diverted to Boston. Then on Monday night, on a Delta flight from New York to West Palm Beach, Florida, a woman resting her head on a tray table got upset when the passenger in front of her reclined his seat, hitting her in the head. That plane was diverted to Jacksonville, Florida. There were 14,903 flight diversions by U.S. airlines in the 12-month period end- ing in June, according to an Associated Press analysis of Department of Transporta- tion reports. DISRUPTIVE PASSENGERS Ti gh te r sp ac es s ho rt en t em pe rs JOHN MONE — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Rows of slimline seats await installation aboard a Southwest Airlines 737at the carrier's headquarters in Dallas. "Seats are getting closer together," says Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, which represents 60,000flight attendants at 19airlines. By Erik Schelzig The Associated Press NASHVILLE, TENN. Thirty teens "overwhelmed" their minders at a juvenile de- tention center by simul- taneously breaking out of four dormitories and then crawling under a weak spot in a chain-link fence. By late Tuesday, eight were still on the run. Police caught up with some walking along roads or coming out of the woods. Some turned themselves in. And some were swiftly returned to the detention center by their own fami- lies for their own good. "He broke loose, he was gone, but he's back now," said LaWanda Knowles, whose nephew joined the escape, The teens — ages 14 to 19 — left their rooms at the Woodland Hills Youth De- velopment Center at about 11 p.m. Monday night and gathered in common ar- eas. With just 16 unarmed adults to keep watch over 78 youths in 12 dormito- ries, the staff was "over- whelmed," said Tennessee Department of Children's Services spokesman Rob Johnson. The youths kicked out metal panels under the windows of each dorm to get into the yard, and then ran around for a while be- fore some started slip- ping through the chain- link fence that encircles their campus. The fence is buried 8 inches deep into the ground, but the teens found a spot where they could slip out under- neath it. 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