'We will not be terrorized': Obama

U.S. President Barack Obama vowed on Saturday that federal investigators would find out what motivated a married couple in California to shoot and kill 14 people, and he asked Americans to stand united after the attacks. The White House also announced that Obama would on Sunday night make a special, nationally televized White House address over the attacks.

"We are strong. And we are resilient. And we will not be terrorized," Obama said in his weekly address on Saturday.

He is expected to expand on his administration's response to the threat posed by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in an address to the nation Sunday. In a release Saturday, the White House said Obama would provide an update on the investigation in California and "discuss the broader threat of terrorism."

Tashfeen Malik and Syed Rizwan Farook were killed in a shootout with police after the Wednesday attack during a holiday party at a social services agency in San Bernardino, California.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the massacre as an "act of terrorism" after Malik was believed to have pledged allegiance to a leader of the ISIL.

"It is entirely possible that these two attackers were radicalized to commit this act of terror," Obama said. "And if so, it would underscore a threat we've been focused on for years — the danger of people succumbing to violent extremist ideologies."

Americans were already nervous about attacks after ISIL fighters killed 130 people in Paris on Nov. 13. The United States is leading an international coalition fighting the group in Syria and Iraq.

The nation has been transfixed by coverage of the San Bernardino attacks. Obama, already facing scrutiny for his strategy in Syria, has been criticized by Republicans for initially focusing on the issue of gun control after the attacks.

Obama has been frustrated by his failure to convince Congress to pass tougher gun laws despite a series of horrific mass shootings during his time in office.

The U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to own guns, making the subject of reforms — opposed by the powerful gun lobby — politically fraught.

Obama met on Friday with Gabby Giffords, a former Democratic representative from Arizona who survived a mass shooting in 2011 and has since become an advocate for tougher laws.

In October, after another shooting, Obama tasked White House lawyers to find new ways he could use his executive powers to address the issue. That review is ongoing.

On Saturday, he called San Bernardino "another American community shattered by unspeakable violence" and said the tragedy was a reminder of the need to make it harder for criminals to get guns.

Colombia announces discovery of what may be world's largest sunken treasure

CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA (AP) –  Colombian President Juan Manual Santos hailed Saturday the discovery of a Spanish galleon that went down off the South American nation's coast more than 300 years ago with what may be the world's largest sunken treasure.

At a press conference in the colonial port city of Cartagena, Santos said the exact location of the San José galleon, and how it was discovered with the help of an international team of experts, was a state secret that he'd personally safeguard. The San José originally sank somewhere in the wide area off Colombia's Baru peninsula, south of Cartagena.

The discovery is the latest chapter in an ongoing saga that began three centuries ago, on June 8, 1708, when the Spanish ship with 600 people aboard sank to the bottom of the sea as it was trying to outrun a fleet of British warships. It is believed to have been carrying 11 million gold coins and jewels from then Spanish-controlled colonies that could be worth billions of dollars if ever recovered.

The ship, which maritime experts consider the holy grail of Spanish colonial shipwrecks, has remained submerged ever since off the coast of Cartagena even as a legal battle has raged in U.S., Colombia and Spain over who owns the rights to the sunken treasure.

In 1982, Sea Search Armada, a salvage company owned by U.S. investors including the late actor Michael Landon and convicted Nixon White House adviser John Ehrlichman announced it had found the San José's resting place 700 feet below the water's surface.

Two years later, Colombia's government overturned well-established maritime law that gives 50 percent to whoever locates a shipwreck, slashing Sea Search's take down to a 5 percent "finder's fee".

A lawsuit by the American investors in a federal court in Washington was dismissed in 2011 and the ruling was affirmed on appeal two years later. Colombia's Supreme Court has ordered the ship to be recovered before the international dispute over the fortune can be settled.

Santos said the ship was found at a different location than that of the discovery claimed by Sea Search thanks to the use of new meteorological and underwater mapping studies.

While no humans have yet to reach the wreckage site, the government said autonomous underwater vehicles have gone there and brought back photos of dolphin-stamped bronze cannons in a well-preserved state that leave no doubt to the ship's identity. During his presentation, Santos revealed an underwater video that appears to show jewels and the cannons.

The president said any recovery of what he said was Colombia's national patrimony would take years.

Santos would only say that the ship was found Nov. 27 near the Rosario Islands archipelago, which is close to Baru. In a video accompanying the announcement, English-speaking crew members aboard a Colombian naval ship can be seen launching the underwater vehicle into the ocean.

UN refugees returned to China 'confess' to charges

Jiang Yefei fled China in 2008 after repeated run-ins with Chinese authorities over human rights [Courtesy: Jiang Yefei's family]

Two Chinese dissidents recognised as UN refugees who were forcibly deported from Thailand to China last month have appeared on Chinese state-run television and confessed to human-trafficking offences.

CCTV reported that Jiang Yefei was arrested for "assisting others to illegally cross the national border", and Dong Guangping was charged with using a trafficking network to flee China while awaiting trial on sedition charges.

The families of the men allege Chinese officials targeted them because of their political activities, and were using the human-trafficking accusations as justification for their illegal deportation from Thailand.

Looking tired and speaking slowly, Jiang confessed to the charge. It was unclear whether he was under any duress.

"I know it is not legal to do such things and I am remorseful," Jiang said. "From now on, I will try to control my behaviour and will not be involved in these activities any more."

Democracy campaigner Sheng Xue told Al Jazeera it appeared Jiang had been beaten.

"It is very clear they have been forced to do this and it seems that at least Jiang Yefei has been tortured," Sheng said. "We can see that he is very swollen in the face."

It was the first time the two men were seen since being taken from a detention centre in the Thai capital Bangkok in November and deported to China.

Jiang is a prominent pro-democracy campaigner and creator of a controversial series of cartoons depicting Chinese Prime Minister Xi Jinping in compromising situations.

UN status did not help

Both men fled China after being imprisoned for involvement in illegal human rights and pro-democracy movements.

They had been recognised as refugees by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) and were granted resettlement in Canada. However, this international protection did not prevent their deportation from Thailand.

The state television report emphasised the deportations were a joint operation between Thai and Chinese officials.

"According to Sino-Thai police coordination, the Thai police transferred the two criminal suspects to China for further investigation," the report said.

Thailand's military government has come under increased pressure from the international community for deporting Chinese dissidents to China, where rights groups say they could face prison and torture.

In July, 109 ethnic Muslim Uighurs were deported back to China from Thailand.

Three other Chinese citizens were sent to China with Dong and Jiang. Their identities have not been confirmed.

The CCTV report said Dong and Jiang were still being investigated for other offences and they are "allegedly guilty of other crimes".

Car-bomb attack kills governor of Yemen's Aden

Major General Jafar Mohammed Saad was recently appointed as governor of Aden [Saleh al-Obeidi/Getty]

The governor of Yemen's port city of Aden, Major-General Jaafar Mohammed Saad, was killed on Sunday in a car-bomb attack along with five of his bodyguards.

The automobile assault occurred in Aden's Tawahi district in the country's south.

Tawahi has become a stronghold in recent months for armed groups, including al-Qaeda whose fighters have expanded their presence across the district.

Earlier reports said six bodyguards were killed along with Saad in a rocket-propelled grenade attack.

Saad was only recently appointed governor and was known to be close to President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who returned to Aden last month after several months in exile in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Pro-Hadi forces, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, have battled Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen since March, after the Houthis overran the capital, Sanaa, and advanced south - forcing Hadi's government to flee.

Saad's death comes a day after the country's UN envoy held talks with Hadi in Aden aimed at kickstarting peace talks between the warring sides.

On Saturday, masked gunmen on motorcycles carried out separate attacks on vehicles in Aden, killing Colonel Aqeel al-Khodr, a military intelligence official, and Judge Mohsen Alwan, who was known for sentencing al-Qaeda fighters.

Three other people were killed in the attack on Alwan, which was not immediately claimed.

Saad's convoy was targeted while he was driving in Al-Tawahi district of Aden on Sunday morning [YouTube]

Speaking to Al Jazeera from Sanaa, Hisham al-Omeisy, a Yemeni political analyst, said the assassination of the governor fell in the patern of political killings in Aden in recent months.

"Major General Jaafar Mohammed Saad was pro-secession of the south of Yemen and was under a lot of pressure," Omeisy said, speaking to Al Jazeera from Sanaa.

"He was blocked from getting to his office several times in the past weeks and his movement in the city was very restricted. To a lot of people in Aden, this attack does not come as much of a surprise," Omeisy added.

"There is a security vacuum in Aden. Al-Qaeda and other militias are running freely. So it's very instable and therefore no surprise that the governor was targeted after we've seen several assassinations over the past two months," he said.

"It's likely going to get even worse, especially now that al-Qaeda has taken over in two cities just a few kilometres away from Aden. So they'll be moving into Aden and I think you'll see a war in the streets there very soon."

Jaafar Mohammed Saad (left) was was known to be close to President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi (right) who returned to Aden last month after several months in exile in Riyadh [STR/AFP/Getty]

Thai king, longest-reigning monarch, marks 88th birthday

BANGKOK (AP) — The people of Thailand on Saturday marked the 88th birthday of their king, the world's longest-reigning monarch, but with their once-vigorous leader in a hospital and unseen in public for three months, the celebrations were the most subdued in memory.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej looked frail on his last appearance before the general public on Sept. 1, when he was taken on a brief tour of the Bangkok hospital where he has spent most of the last six years. His most recent ailment was a lung infection that required him to be fed intravenously and use a machine to aid his breathing.

Many public activities were being held for the royal birthday, but there were no joyous celebrations of the type that used to be held before the decline of the king's health. One major gathering point this year was outside the hospital that has become his de facto palace, where well-wishers came to offer their prayers.

The king's other medical issues in recent years have included excess fluid in the brain and an operation to remove his gallbladder.

A somber reminder of his generation's passing came Saturday morning with the death of 96-year-old former Foreign Minister Siddhi Savetsila, a member of the Privy Council, the king's personal advisory board.

While he is a constitutional monarch with no formal political role, Bhumibol — King Rama IX — has generally been regarded as Thailand's unifying figure. His intervention during major political crises is generally seen as having been key to restoring the status quo.

Before the decline in his health, Bhumibol's birthday had also been the occasion for a much-anticipated annual speech in which he would speak his mind to exercise his authority as the country's moral leader.

Love of the monarchy is almost seen as the definition of Thainess. But it is not so clear whether the people's strong devotion for the king will be transferred to his son and heir apparent, 63-year-old Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, who does not have his father's record of public service.

Social and political schisms that have sometimes led to violence over the past decade have added to the air of uncertainty about what may happen after Bhumibol's reign is over.

"I don't know what to think," said Thaweewat Chongsuanoiy, a banker. He was wearing a 'Bike for Dad' T-shirt promoting a mass cycling event being held Dec. 11 under the prince's auspices to honor the king.

"He has been the person that holds the people together; without him, people would be lost," Thaweewat said.

Chuck Williams, founder of Williams-Sonoma, dies at 100

The retailer of high-end home goods said Williams died peacefully of natural causes Saturday at his home in San Francisco.

Williams opened his first Williams-Sonoma store in Sonoma, California, in 1956 inspired by a trip to Paris three years earlier. A lover of cooking and entertaining, he wanted U.S. professional chefs and home cooks to have access to high-quality cookware and tools.

"I couldn't get over seeing so many great things for cooking, the heavy pots and pans, white porcelain ovenware, country earthenware, great tools and professional knives," Williams told The Washington Post in 2005.

He refurbished the store off Sonoma's town square, covering the floor with black and white checkerboard tiles and painting the walls a bright yellow that he'd seen in pictures. He built custom shelving to display individual pots and pans and crafted a simple logo with the words "Williams" and "Sonoma" in block letters over a woodcut illustration of a pineapple — a symbol of hospitality.

The shop was such an enormous success that in 1958, he relocated to a 3,000-square foot store in San Francisco, next to the city's bustling Union Square shopping district.

Julia Child's landmark 1961 cookbook, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," and her cooking show on television sent even more cooks interested in French cuisine to Williams-Sonoma and by 11 years later, that store had expanded to twice its original size and the catalog, first published in black and white in 1958, was flourishing.

Renowned chef and restaurateur Thomas Keller said Williams made a major contribution to the world of cuisine.

"His tireless search for new equipment, techniques and ingredients to feature at Williams-Sonoma brought the pleasures of using fine cookware into reach for Americans, and by following his passion, Chuck allowed us to fulfill ours," Keller said in a statement. "As we do with all of our mentors, we must acknowledge and be thankful for his vision and commitment; for what he did has impacted kitchens and restaurants worldwide. Chuck Williams once said, 'If you love what you do, then the world will fall in love with you.' We fell for you, Chuck, and we thank you for touching our lives."

Born Oct. 2, 1915 in northern Florida, Mr. Williams' earliest memories were of hand-mixing egg whites for divinity fudge and lemon meringue pies with his grandmother, who once owned her own restaurant.

Williams' family moved to Palm Springs, California, during the Great Depression. He later relocated to Los Angeles, where he worked as a window dresser at the I.Magnin and Bullocks department stores. During World War II, he traveled to India and Africa, exploring the food, drinks and unique cooking techniques and tools of those parts of the world.

After returning home, he visited Sonoma and decided to move there and start a home construction business before venturing into the world of high-end cooking ingredients and home goods.

"With his impeccable taste and unique talent for selecting the right products at the right time, he built a powerful brand that inspired a cultural revolution around food and had immeasurable impact on home and family life around the world," said Janet Hayes, Williams-Sonoma brand president.

He sold the company in 1979, but he remained closely involved with it.

Tens of thousands rally against South Korea president

Tens of thousands of protesters marched in the South Korean capital on Saturday accusing President Park Geun-hye of pushing pro-business labour laws and attacking personal and political freedoms.

The march was organised by labour, farming and civic groups opposing what they called the president's effort to glorify her father's authoritarian rule.

An estimated crowd of 30,000 people - many wearing masks in defiance of Park's call for a ban on mask-wearing during demonstrations - marched through the city centre en masse.

Demonstrators carried signs and banners with slogans that included "Park Geun-hye step down" and "Stop regressive changes to labour laws".

Park's administration is facing mounting resentment over a range of issues, including her plan to impose new history textbooks on schools, to further open the agricultural market, and to reform the labour market by making the dismissal of workers easier and cutting wages for older workers.

An estimated crowd of 30,000 people marched through the city centre in Seoul on Saturday [Ahn Young-joon/AP]

"President Park, Don't try to turn South Korea's national history into your family's private history," said a banner carried by a female student at a rally outside City Hall.

"Overall many are coming out onto the streets to express a general frustration with just the way life is in Seoul at the moment and in Korea in general. Al Jazeera's Margas Ortigas, reporting from Seoul, said.

"They feel that there is a widening wealth gap and that the workers are only becoming poor."

The march began on the same streets where a demonstration three weeks earlier drew about 70,000 people, the largest rally the capital, Seoul, had seen in a decade.

Police had initially banned Saturday's rally but organisers appealed to the Seoul Administrative Court, which overturned the order.

"A much more subdued atmosphere than it was here a few weeks ago. Many here are saying that's because of a notable lack in police presence. That has definitely defused any potential tension here," the Al Jazeera correspondent said.

"The fact that you can’t really see many police out on the streets means protesters hope the spotlight will be firmly on the issues that they want the government to address," she said.

While presiding over a government cabinet meeting on November 24, Park described the earlier demonstration as an attempt "to negate the rule of law and incapacitate the government", calling for a crackdown on those who incite "illegal, violent protests".

Critics say Park, despite an election promise to reach out to opponents for national unity, is increasingly reliant on strong-arm tactics used by her late father Park Chung-Hee, a general-turned-authoritarian leader who ruled the country for 18 years until he was assassinated in 1979.

Demonstrators carried signs and banners with slogans that included 'Park Geun-hye step down' [Lee Jin-man/AP]