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BySarahElDeeb The Associated Press BEIRUT The destruction of the nearly 2,000-year- old temple of Baalshamin by Islamic State militants erased a symbol of the once rich religious life of Syria's ancient caravan city of Pal- myra and left residents, ar- chaeologists and historians fearful that the extremists will destroy more of the rich site, including an even larger more ancient temple nearby. The U.N. cultural agency UNESCO on Monday called the destruction of the tem- ple a war crime. For archae- ologists, it deepened their despair and frustration over the systematic destruc- tion of Syria's heritage in the country's civil war, not only by the extremists but by government forces, who have bombed and looted historic sites since the con- flict began in 2011. No pictures have yet emerged of the extent of the destruction of the temple. One resident told The As- sociated Press he saw it af- ter it was blown up Sunday and said it was reduced to "rocks on the ground, noth- ing more." The witness, who goes by the name Nasser al-Thaer, said the bombing took place Sunday shortly after 4pm. The militants had lined the inner and outer walls of the temple with bottles of ex- plosives more than a month ago, he said. "I went to see it, not from very close because IS (mil- itants) were there and be- cause I was worried for my- self and afraid they will ask me what are you doing here. So I saw it from a distance," al-Thaer told the AP. He said he feared other ancient sites in Palmyra might be next, though so far no explosives have been placed around them. An IS operative con- firmed the temple was de- stroyed and said a state- ment would be issued soon. He spoke to the AP over Skype on condition of ano- nymity because members of the group are not allowed to speak to media. The temple, a structure of giant stone blocks sev- eral stories high fronted by six towering columns, was dedicated to a god of storm and rain — the name means literally "Lord of the Heav- ens" — part of a sprawling Roman-era complex that includes other remains of temples to local gods and goddesses, including the even larger and slightly older Temple of Bel. In ancient times, the city grew rich sitting on caravan routes crossing east and west, eventually coming under Roman rule. In the modern day, it is one of the best preserved ancient cit- ies in the world and among the most popular tourist sites in the Middle East. The Islamic State group, which has imposed a vio- lent interpretation of Is- lamic law across its self-de- clared caliphate straddling Syria and Iraq, says such ancient relics promote idol- atry. It has already blown up several sites in neighboring Iraq, and it is also believed to sell looted antiquities. The group had seized con- trol of Palmyra, in the cen- tral deserts of Syria, in May. Kishore Rao, Director of the UNESCO World Heri- tage Centre, said Palmyra's soaring architecture was a "masterpiece of human cre- ative genius." "The destruction of any part of it is equally deplor- able," Rao told The Associ- ated Press. Rao said while efforts to stop the looting and selling on the black market have been launched, it was difficult to stop the destruction. "We don't have people on the ground who can prevent that," he said. "Very difficult to prevent unless you ap- peal to the consciousness of these people, and the inter- national community needs to come together and speak with one voice," he said. Amr Al-Azm, a former Syrian government antiq- uities official and now a professor in Shawnee State University in Ohio, said Baalshamin is the most significant site destroyed by the group inside Syria. IS has used the ancient city has cover to avoid air- strikes from the interna- tional coalition against its locations, he said. It also used its Roman amphi- theater as a stage when it killed 20 captured Syrian soldiers. SYRIA IS d es tr uc ti on o f an ci en t te mp le e ra se s ri ch h is to ry By Hyung-Jin Kim and Foster Klug The Associated Press SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA Af- ter 40-plus-hours of talks, North and South Korea on Tuesday pulled back from the brink with an ac- cord that allows both sides to save face and avert the bloodshed they've been threatening each other with for weeks. In an artfully crafted, though vague, piece of di- plomacy, Pyongyang ex- pressed "regret" over the fact that two South Ko- rean soldiers were maimed in a recent land mine blast. While not an acknowledge- ment of responsibility, it al- lows Seoul to say it has re- ceived the apology it has demanded. South Korea, for its part, agreed to halt anti-Pyong- yang propaganda broad- casts, which will let the au- thoritarian North trumpet to its people a propaganda victory over its bitter rival — and put an end to hated loudspeaker messages that outside analysts say could demoralize front-line troops and inspire them to defect. Importantstep The agreement is an im- portant first step in easing animosity that has built since South Korea blamed North Korea for the mine explosion at the border earlier this month and re- started the propaganda broadcasts in retaliation. But it's unclear how long the good mood will con- tinue. The accord does lit- tle to address the many ma- jor, long-standing differ- ences the rivals still have. The two sides' announce- ment that they'll hold fur- ther talks soon in either Seoul or Pyongyang could do that, but the Koreas have a history of failing to follow through on accords and al- lowing simmering animos- ity to interrupt diplomacy. The talks that began Sat- urday at the border vil- lage of Panmunjom, where the Koreas agreed to the 1953 ceasefire that stopped fighting in the Korean War, also resulted in Pyongyang agreeing to lift a "quasi-state of war" declared last week, according to South Korea's presidential office and North Korea's state media. While this declara- tion was largely a matter of rhetoric — the border is the world's most heav- ily armed and there has never been a formal peace agreement ending the Ko- rean War, so the area is al- ways essentially in a "quasi- state of war" — there had been growing worry about South Korean reports that the North continued to pre- pare for a fight during the talks, moving unusual num- bers of troops and subma- rines to the border. The Koreas also struck an important humanitar- ian agreement by promis- ing to resume in Septem- ber the emotional reunions of families separated by the Korea War. They said more reunions would follow, but there were no immediate details. Top political officer In a signal of North Ko- rea's seriousness, Pyong- yang sent to the talks Hwang Pyong So, the top political officer for the Ko- rean People's Army and considered by outside an- alysts to be North Korea's second most important of- ficial after supreme leader Kim Jong Un. "I hope the two sides faithfully implement the agreements and build up (mutual) confidence through a dialogue and co- operation and that it serves as a chance to work out new South-North relations," chief South Korean nego- tiator and presidential na- tional security director Kim Kwan-jin said in a televised news conference. The United States quickly welcomed the agreement and the prospect of tensions dropping. Kim, the Seoul negotia- tor, described the North's expression of "regret" as an apology and said the loud- speaker campaign would end at noon Tuesday unless an "abnormal" event occurs. Pyongyang had denied in- volvement in the land mine explosions and rejected Seoul's report that Pyong- yang launched an artillery barrage last week. South Ko- rea's military fired dozens of artillery rounds across the border in response and said the North's artillery strikes were meant to back up an earlier threat to attack the loudspeakers. There were no details on whether the North addressed the artillery claim in Tuesday's deal. These were the highest- level talks between the two Koreas in a year. So it was something of a victory that senior officials from coun- tries that have spent recent days vowing to destroy each other were even sitting to- gether. EAST ASIA Rival Koreas find way to avoid disaster, reach deal to save face THESOUTHKOREANUNIFICATIONMINISTRY South Korean presidential security adviser Kim Kwan-jin, right, shakes hands with Hwang Pyong So, North Korea's top political officer for the Korean People's Army, a er their meeting at the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea, on Tuesday. MELISSA RENWICK — TORONTO STAR, THE CANADIAN PRESS Toronto Police Services Superintendent Bryce Evans, center, speaks to the media regarding the investigation into the AshleyMadison.com breach on Monday. By Rob Gillies The Associated Press TORONTO The hack of the cheating website Ash- ley Madison has triggered extortion crimes and led to two unconfirmed reports of suicides, Canadian po- lice said Monday. The company behind Ashley Madison is offering a $500,000 Canadian (US $378,000) reward for infor- mation leading to the ar- rest of members of a group that hacked the site. Hackers last week re- leased detailed records on millions of people regis- tered with the website, a month after a break-in at Ashley Madison's parent company, Toronto-based Avid Life Media Inc. The website, whose slogan is, "Life is short. Have an af- fair," is marketed to facil- itate extramarital affairs. Toronto Police acting staff-Supt. Bryce Evans said the hack is having an "enormous social and eco- nomic fallout." "This hack is one of the largest data breaches in the world," Evans said. "This is affecting all of us. The social impact behind this leak, we're talking about families, we're talk- ing about children, we're talking about wives, their male partners." The hackers who took responsibility for the break-in had accused the website's owners of deceit and incompetence, and said the company refused to bow to their demands to close the site. The hackers referred to themselves as the Impact Team. Evans said the hackers released the entire Ashley Madison client list, which claims more than 30 mil- lion users worldwide. He said the hackers also sent a taunting message to the company CEO and re- leased his emails. Evans said there are confirmed cases of crimi- nals attempting to extort Ashley Madison clients by threatening to expose them unless payment is received. The police official did not offer further details of the unconfirmed suicides. He also said hate crimes may be connected to the hack but did not provide details. Evans addressed the hackers directly, saying their actions are "illegal and will not be tolerated." "This is your wake-up call," he said. Police: Hack might have led to suicides CHEATING WEB SITE SANA, FILE A view of the ancient Roman city of Palmyra, northeast of Damascus, Syria, is shown. 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