Article:

Washington (CNN) Two former friends of Sen. John McCain say his daughter Meghan McCain's pointed criticism of President Donald Trump in her speech at the Arizona Republican's memorial service on Saturday reflected the character of her late father.

 "She is her father's daughter," South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." "If you say something bad about her dad, you will know it, whether you're the janitor or the President of the United States. She is grieving for the father she adored. I think most Americans understand that."

 Former independent Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, who joined the program with Graham, said he was a "proud uncle" watching McCain's speech at the memorial service.

 "She was direct ... the way John was," Lieberman said.

 In her remarks on Saturday, McCain contrasted her father's legacy with Trump's rhetoric, saying, "The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again, because America was always great."

 The comment received applause at the service and highlighted the broad differences between McCain and Trump, who was not invited to attend.

 Graham and Lieberman were two of McCain's top allies in the Senate and his close friends -- they were often called the "three amigos" -- and their praise for his daughter came after she posted a photo of herself with them online reflecting that bond, calling the two senators her "uncles forever."

 During Sunday's interview, the pair looked back fondly on their time with McCain and their travels together.

 "His own attitude, the way he faced death with characteristic fearlessness and perspective, really comforted me," Lieberman said. "But you know, we're going to miss him. He's irreplaceable."

 Graham, who offered an emotional tribute to McCain last week on the Senate floor, predicted McCain would be remembered as a cornerstone in Senate history.

 "John loved the Senate," Graham said. "He was a man of the Senate. He loved the institution. When you write the history of the Senate, he's going to be in the first chapter."

 Later in the interview, Graham said the responses to McCain's death showed the appreciation people had for military service, and he outlined a "formula" for those who wanted to engage in public service.

 "Work hard, know what you're talking about, and people will listen to you," Graham said. "Pick a cause worthy of a good fight. Fight hard, and be willing to forgive, and ask for forgiveness. And above all else, when you make a mistake, admit it, repeat, repeat until you die, and the next thing you know, the nation will hold you up." ||||| Former Secretary of State John Kerry ripped America's current political leaders on Sunday, describing them as “so-called leaders” who are “operating in a fact-less world.”

 Kerry, appearing on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” said today's political climate contrasts with leadership seen under the late Sen. John McCain John Sidney McCainOvernight Defense: Officials rush to deny writing anonymous op-ed | Lawmakers offer measure on naming NATO headquarters after McCain | US, India sign deal on sharing intel Democrats up the ante in Kavanaugh hearings Lawmakers introduce resolution to back naming NATO headquarters after McCain MORE (R-Ariz.) who died last week after being diagnosed with brain cancer.

 "You work to implement our democracy by reaching out across the aisle, by building relationships, by believing in the better angels of American value system. And I think John McCain did that. I did that, others have done that,” Kerry said.

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 “But right now we have a culture divide that has been accentuated by political so-called leaders,” he continued. “And what they're doing is they're operating in a fact-less world.”

 Kerry, who was the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, has been a frequent critic of President Trump Donald John TrumpTrump: Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was ridiculed by the 'fake news' Trump thanks North Korea’s Kim for promise to denuclearize during his tenure No NFL players visibly kneel during season opener MORE and his administration.

 Kerry recently has criticized Trump over his controversial summit in Helsinki with Russian President Vladimir Putin, his comments slamming NATO allies and his decision to revoke former CIA Director John Brennan’s security clearance.

 Trump, in turn, has taken shots at Kerry.

 In May, the president lashed out at Kerry on Twitter following reports that the former secretary of State met Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in an attempt to save the Iran nuclear deal.

 “The United States does not need John Kerry John Forbes KerryJohn Kerry: Anonymous NYT op-ed means ‘we don't really have a president’ Kerry: US facing a ‘genuine constitutional crisis’ Election Countdown: Fallout from Massachusetts stunner | In Delaware, Carper looks to avoid next progressive upset | Dem 2020 primary already in full swing | How a Dem ex-governor hopes to take red-state Tennessee | GOP challengers hit Dems over tax votes MORE’s possibly illegal Shadow Diplomacy on the very badly negotiated Iran Deal,” the president wrote on Twitter. “He was the one that created this MESS in the first place!”

 When pressed Sunday about the tweet, Kerry responded, “America and our democracy are more thoughtful than dishonest tweets.” ||||| “I think the most important thing that the Democrats could do is allow Bob Mueller to complete his work,” said former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. | Alex Wong/Getty Images Panetta: Democrats should hold off on impeachment

 Amid recent talk of possible impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump, former Defense Secretary and CIA Director Leon Panetta is urging Democrats not to make a move just yet.

 “I think the most important thing that the Democrats could do is allow Bob Mueller to complete his work,” Panetta said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” referencing Mueller’s work as special counsel for the Justice Department and his role in the ongoing investigation into Russia’s part in the 2016 presidential election.

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 “I think Bob Mueller’s report will ultimately determine whether or not there are going to be additional steps taken against the president and they ought not to get ahead of that report because that will be the key to determining what happens in the future,” said Panetta, who was also White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton.

 Co-host Martha Raddatz asked about public concerns that Trump’s legal team is working on a report to question Mueller’s legitimacy.

 “Well, you know, Bob Mueller is focusing on several things right now,” Panetta said. “Obviously, he’s going after individuals and he’s gone after Russians that were involved in coming after our election system,” referring to Mueller’s indictments.

 “They’re getting very close to making a case for obstruction of justice not only by the steps that were taken in terms of the president demeaning and attacking a ‘witch hunt,’ but also the fact that [Trump’s lawyer] Rudy Giuliani himself has said that the whole purpose of their effort is to undermine the credibility of the special counsel.”

 “And then when you add to that the dismissal of those that were involved in the investigation, I think you begin to piece together the kind of case that could form around an obstruction of justice trial,” Panetta continued. “So I think they have to be very careful to use this tactic of trying to undermine the special counsel and the special prosecutor, because I think that could backfire.” |||||
What is a summary?

– On CNN's State of the Union, Sen. Lindsey Graham praised Meghan McCain as "her father's daughter" following her headline-grabbing eulogy to her dad that many said appeared to bash President Trump. Former Secretary of State John Kerry appeared on Face The Nation and bashed the country's current leadership while contrasting it to the late Sen. John McCain on the day of the frequently bipartisan Republican's burial. "Right now we have a culture divide that has been accentuated by political so-called leaders,” Kerry said, per the Hill. “They're operating in a fact-less world." Ohio Gov. John Kasich also appeared on Face The Nation and said that, should he choose to run for president in 2020, it would be as a Republican. Over on This Week, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta urged Dems to hold off on impeachment, per Politico.


Article:

Hiroo Onoda, an Imperial Japanese Army officer who remained at his jungle post on an island in the Philippines for 29 years, refusing to believe that World War II was over, and returned to a hero’s welcome in the all but unrecognizable Japan of 1974, died on Thursday in Tokyo. He was 91.

 His death, at a hospital there, was announced by the Japanese government.

 Caught in a time warp, Mr. Onoda, a second lieutenant, was one of the war’s last holdouts: a soldier who believed that the emperor was a deity and the war a sacred mission; who survived on bananas and coconuts and sometimes killed villagers he assumed were enemies; who finally went home to the lotus land of paper and wood which turned out to be a futuristic world of skyscrapers, television, jet planes and pollution and atomic destruction.

 Japanese history and literature are replete with heroes who have remained loyal to a cause, especially if it is lost or hopeless, and Lieutenant Onoda, a small, wiry man of dignified manner and military bearing, seemed to many like a samurai of old, ultimately offering his sword as a gesture of surrender to President Ferdinand E. Marcos of the Philippines, who returned it to him.

 And his homecoming, with roaring crowds, celebratory parades and speeches by public officials, stirred his nation with a pride that many Japanese had found lacking in the postwar years of rising prosperity and materialism. His ordeal of deprivation may have seemed a pointless waste to much of the world, but in Japan it was a moving reminder of the redemptive qualities of duty and perseverance.

 It happened with a simple command. As he related in a memoir after he went home, Lieutenant Onoda’s last order in early 1945 was to stay and fight. Loyal to a military code that taught that death was preferable to surrender, he remained behind on Lubang Island, 93 miles southwest of Manila, when Japanese forces withdrew in the face of an American invasion.

 After Japan surrendered, that September, thousands of Japanese soldiers were scattered across China, Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific. Many stragglers were captured or went home, while hundreds went into hiding rather than surrender or commit suicide. Many died of starvation or sickness. A few survivors refused to believe the dropped leaflets and radio announcements saying the war had been lost.

 Lieutenant Onoda, an intelligence officer trained in guerrilla tactics, and three enlisted men with him found leaflets proclaiming the war’s end, but believed they were enemy propaganda. They built bamboo huts, pilfered rice and other food from a village and killed cows for meat; they were tormented by tropical heat, rats and mosquitoes, and they patched their uniforms and kept their rifles in working order.

 Considering themselves to be at war, they evaded American and Filipino search parties and attacked islanders they took to be enemy guerrillas; about 30 inhabitants were killed in skirmishes with the Japanese over the years. One of the enlisted men surrendered to Filipino forces in 1950, and two others were shot dead, one in 1954 and another in 1972, by island police officers searching for the renegades.

 The last holdout, Lieutenant Onoda, officially declared dead in 1959, was found by Norio Suzuki, a student searching for him, in 1974. The lieutenant rejected Mr. Suzuki’s pleas to go home, insisting he was still awaiting orders. Mr. Suzuki returned with photographs, and the Japanese government sent a delegation, including the lieutenant’s brother and his former commander, to relieve him of duty formally.

 “I am sorry I have disturbed you for so long a time,” Lieutenant Onoda told his brother, Toshiro.

 In Manila, the lieutenant, wearing his tattered uniform, presented his sword to President Marcos, who pardoned him for crimes committed while he thought he was at war.

 He was already a national hero when he arrived in Tokyo, met by his aging parents and huge flag-waving crowds. More than patriotism or admiration for his grit, his jungle saga, which had dominated the news in Japan for days, evoked waves of nostalgia and melancholy. The 52-year-old soldier — a ghost from the past in a new blue suit, close-cropped military haircut and wispy mustache and chin whiskers — spoke earnestly of duty, and seemed to personify a devotion to traditional values that many Japanese thought had been lost.

 “I was fortunate that I could devote myself to my duty in my young and vigorous years,” he said. Asked what had been on his mind all that time in the jungle, he said, “Nothing but accomplishing my duty.”

 In an editorial, The Mainichi Shimbun, a leading Tokyo newspaper, said: “To this soldier, duty took precedence over personal sentiments. Onoda has shown us that there is much more in life than just material affluence and selfish pursuits. There is the spiritual aspect, something we may have forgotten.”

 After his national welcome in Japan, Mr. Onoda was examined by doctors, who found him in amazingly good condition. He was given a military pension and signed a $160,000 contract for a ghostwritten memoir, “No Surrender: My-Thirty Year War.” As his story went global in books, articles and documentaries, he tried to lead a normal life.

 He went dancing, took driving lessons and traveled up and down the Japanese islands. But he found himself a stranger in a strange land, disillusioned with materialism and overwhelmed by changes. “There are so many tall buildings and automobiles in Tokyo,” he said. “Television might be convenient, but it has no influence on my life here.”

 In 1975 he moved to a Japanese colony in São Paulo, Brazil, where he raised cattle. The following year he married Machie Onuku, a Japanese tea-ceremony teacher. The couple returned to Japan in 1984 and founded the Onoda Nature School, a survival-skills youth camp. Mr. Onoda revisited Lubang, the site of his long holdout, in 1996 and gave $10,000 to a school there. In recent years he lived in Japan and in Brazil, where he was made an honorary citizen in 2010.

 Hiroo Onoda was born on March 19, 1922, in Kainan, Wakayama, in central Japan, one of seven children of Tanejiro and Tamae Onoda. At 17 he went to work for a trading company in Wuhan, China, which Japanese forces had occupied in 1938. In 1942 he joined the Japanese Army, was singled out for special training and attended the Nakano School, the army’s training center for intelligence officers. He studied guerrilla warfare, philosophy, history, martial arts, propaganda and covert operations.

 It was in late December 1944 that he arrived on Lubang, a strategic island 16 miles long and 6 miles wide on the southwestern approach to Manila Bay and the island of Corregidor. His orders were to sabotage harbor installations and an airstrip to disrupt a coming American invasion. But superior officers on the island superseded those orders to focus on preparations for a Japanese evacuation.

 When American forces landed on Feb. 28, 1945, and the last Japanese fled or were killed, Maj. Yoshimi Taniguchi gave Lieutenant Onoda his final orders, to stand and fight. “It may take three years, it may take five, but whatever happens we’ll come back for you,” the major promised.

 Twenty-nine years later, the retired major, by then a bookseller, returned to Lubang at Tokyo’s request to fulfill his promise. Japan had lost the war, he said, and the lieutenant was relieved of duty. The ragged soldier saluted and wept. ||||| TOKYO (AP) — Hiroo Onoda, the last Japanese imperial soldier to emerge from hiding and surrender 29 years after the end of World War II, has died. He was 91.

 FILE - In this May 20, 1996 file photo, former Japanese straggler Hiroo Onoda holds a picture of himself, taken for the first time when he came out of hiding from the jungle, during a news conference... (Associated Press)

 FILE - In this May 20, 1996 file photo, former Japanese straggler Hiroo Onoda answers questions from media during a news conference in a Manila hotel upon arrival for a sentimental journey. Onoda, the... (Associated Press)

 FILE - In this March 10, 1974 file photo, Hiroo Onoda, wearing his 30-year-old imperial army uniform, cap and sword, salutes to the Philippine Air Force on arrival at a radar site on Lubang Island, Philippines,... (Associated Press)

 FILE - In this March, 1974 file photo, Hiroo Onoda, wearing his 30-year-old imperial army uniform, cap and sword, walks down a slope as he heads for a helicopter landing site on Lubang Island for a flight... (Associated Press)

 Onoda died Thursday at a Tokyo hospital after a brief stay there. Chief government spokesman Yoshihide Suga on Friday expressed his condolences, praising Onoda for his strong will to live and indomitable spirit.

 "After World War II, Mr. Onoda lived in the jungle for many years and when he returned to Japan, I felt that finally, the war was finished. That's how I felt," Suga said.

 Onoda was an intelligence officer who came out of hiding on Lubang island in the Philippines in March 1974, on his 52nd birthday. He surrendered only when his former commander flew there to reverse his 1945 orders to stay behind and spy on American troops.

 Onoda and another World War II holdout, Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi, who emerged from the jungle in 1972, received massive heroes' welcomes upon returning home.

 In his formal surrender to Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Onoda wore his 30-year-old imperial army uniform, cap and sword, all still in good condition.

 After the initial sensation of his return wore off, Onoda bought a ranch in Brazil. He later was head of a children's nature school in northern Japan.

 "I don't consider those 30 years a waste of time," Onoda said in a 1995 interview with The Associated Press. "Without that experience, I wouldn't have my life today."

 Onoda worked for a Japanese trading firm in Shanghai after finishing high school in 1939. Three years later, he was drafted and trained at a military academy.

 In December 1944, he was sent to Lubang, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of Manila. Most other Japanese soldiers surrendered when U.S. troops landed on Lubang in February 1945, though hundreds remained missing for years after the war.

 As he struggled to feed himself, Onoda's mission became one of survival. He stole rice and bananas from local people down the hill, and shot their cows to make dried beef, triggering occasional shooting at each other.

 The turning point came on Feb. 20, 1974, when he met a young globe-trotter, Norio Suzuki, who ventured to Lubang in pursuit of Onoda.

 Suzuki returned to Japan and contacted the government, which located Onoda's superior — Maj. Yoshimi Taniguchi — and flew him to Lubang to deliver his surrender order in person.

 ___

 Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi contributed to this report. |||||
What is a summary?

– Former Japanese Imperial Army soldier Hiroo Onoda has died at the age of 91—roughly 40 years after he stopped fighting World War II. Onoda, the last Japanese soldier to surrender, hid out in the jungles of the Philippines for almost 30 years after 1945, only coming out of hiding in 1974. The straggler formally surrendered—still wearing his uniform—to Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos after his former commander flew out to rescind his 1945 order that Onoda stay there and spy on American forces, the AP reports. The New York Times reports that Onoda was with three comrades on Lubang Island when the war ended; believing leaflets attesting to the war's end to be Allied propaganda, they lived off bananas, coconuts, stolen rice, and cows they killed, and constructed bamboo huts. One of the men surrendered five years later; the others were shot and killed by police, the last just two years before Onoda emerged. The Guardian reports that he "wept uncontrollably" when he eventually gave up his rifle—still "perfectly serviceable" after all those years, and one he may have used to kill as many as 30 locals that he mistook for enemies. A Japanese government spokesman praised Onoda for his unbreakable spirit: "After World War II, Mr. Onoda lived in the jungle for many years and when he returned to Japan, I felt that finally, the war was finished. That's how I felt." After the war finally ended for him, Onoda bought a ranch in Brazil before returning to Japan to run a children's nature school. "I don't consider those 30 years a waste of time," he said in a 1995 interview. "Without that experience, I wouldn't have my life today." (In other WWII news, the game Monopoly actually helped POWs escape.)


Article:
It doesn't matter that a California lawyer's outrageous Sodomite Suppression Act ballot initiative proposes executing gays with "bullets to the head," or that it's unconstitutional and could never become law. California Attorney General Kamala Harris is forced to allow the measure to circulate for signatures, legal experts said.

 The initiative, which mandates 10 years in prison and permanent expulsion from California for anyone who advocates gay rights to minors, stands no chance of collecting 365,000 valid signatures it needs to appear on next year's ballot. But because its backer, Matt McLaughlin, paid the $200 filing fee by the February deadline, Harris is bound by law to prepare a title and summary of the initiative by May so that its sponsor can begin collecting signatures, legal experts told the San Francisco Chronicle.

 Joe Mathews, a fellow at the Center for Social Cohesion at Arizona State University, argued on California politics website Fox&Hounds; that forcing the attorney general to allow the circulation of such an absurd proposal attacks the integrity of the initiative process. He said a "human rights exception" should be adopted for these instances.

 "When you are taking away fundamental human rights -– as in the right to live -– it is appropriate to give our public officials a formal exception that they can invoke to block an initiative that violates fundamental human rights," Mathews wrote.

 An innovative response to McLaughlin's initiative comes from activist Charlotte Laws, who told Slate she is filing the Intolerant Jackass Act on Monday. The bill reads:

 "Any person, herein known as an 'Intolerant Jackass,' who brings forth a ballot measure that suggests the killing of gays and/or lesbians, whether this measure is called the Sodomite Suppression Act or is known by some other name, shall be required to attend sensitivity training for at least three (3) hours per month for twelve (12) consecutive months. In addition, the offender or "Intolerant Jackass" must donate $5000 to a pro-gay or pro-lesbian organization."

 McLaughlin may face other repercussions for advocating murder. According to the Sacramento Bee, state Sen. Ricardo Lara (D) has askled the State Bar of California to investigate McLaughlin, and more than 3,800 people have signed a petition asking State Bar President Craig Holden to revoke McLaughlin's law license. ||||| People in the LGBT community are our family members, neighbors, and co-workers. They are people like Apple CEO Tim Cook who have changed the way we live. Imagine a law that would make it legal to kill them all. The “Sodomite Suppression Act” is a real voter initiative in California that would “put to death by bullets to the head” anyone who has had sexual relations with a person of the same gender. The initiative wasn’t submitted by a fringe group, but by a California lawyer named Matthew G. McLaughlin.

 Calling for the legalized murder of the LGBT community makes Mr. McLaughlin unfit to practice law. We are demanding the California Bar Association to immediately disbar Matthew G. McLaughlin to prevent him from practicing law in California.

 Lawyers are a critical part of our judicial system. They help ensure our legal system is just and fair. A lawyer such as Mr. McLaughlin who actively pursues creating laws that permit genocide has no business practicing law in California or any other state. The California Bar Association must act swiftly to send a clear message that Matthew G. McLaughlin’s actions do not meet the standards of ethics and behavior set by their organization.

 To ensure Mr. McLaughlin is disbarred, The California Bar Association needs to hear from us. The California Bar is an association that has an internal self discipline process and is usually slow to act. With our voices and outrage, we can get The California Bar to make the right decision now.

 We will not stand by while someone who is suppose to represent our justice system calls for the mass murder of our loved ones. Please sign and share the petition today.

 You can read the voter initiative here:http://oag.ca.gov/system/files/initiatives/pdfs/15-0008%20%28Sodomy%29_0.pdf ||||| Photo by American Spirit/Shutterstock.com

 Last Friday, I wrote about California attorney Matt McLaughlin’s bizarre quest to have all gay people in his state executed. In February, McLaughlin paid $200 to file a ballot measure called the Sodomite Suppression Act, which, if passed, would require that gays “be put to death by bullets to the head or by any other convenient method.” Although the goal of the act is clearly illegal, McLaughlin’s support for it is a constitutionally protected act of free speech for which he probably can’t even be disbarred. Further, California’s attorney general has no power to halt the proposal, thanks to an odd gap in the law. As a result, the Sodomite Suppression Act will now move on to the signature-gathering stage—and, in the unlikely event it receives 365,880 signatures, it will appear on the ballot in November.

 Mark Joseph Stern Mark Joseph Stern covers courts and the law for Slate.

 Frustrated by the attorney general’s inability to combat McLaughlin’s proposal, Charlotte Laws has decided to fight back with some free speech of her own. On Monday morning, Laws plans to file the Intolerant Jackass Act, accompanied by the requisite $200, with the California attorney general. Laws’ proposal cleverly mirrors and skewers the Sodomite Suppression Act, explaining that the “abominable crime known as prejudice against sexual orientation” is “a destructive view that society commands us to suppress.” Thus:

 c) Any person, herein known as an "Intolerant Jackass," who brings forth a ballot measure that suggests the killing of gays and/or lesbians, whether this measure is called the Sodomite Suppression Act or is known by some other name, shall be required to attend sensitivity training for at least three (3) hours per month for twelve (12) consecutive months. In addition, the offender or "Intolerant Jackass" must donate $5000 to a pro-gay or pro-lesbian organization.

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 I spoke to Laws about her initiative—which, she readily acknowledges, is not necessarily designed to become law.

 “I’m fighting fire with fire,” she told me. “The only way to counter [the Sodomite Suppression Act] is … to let people know that most people in California don’t agree with something as incendiary and hateful as what this one attorney proposed.” Laws recognizes the merit of having a content-neutral initiative system, but she believes “we have a very open-minded state and country. This is one guy, and there are millions of us who do not agree with this.” |||||Summary:

– Activist Charlotte Laws says she is "fighting fire with fire"—and fighting an intolerant jackass with the Intolerant Jackass Act. With California Attorney General Kamala Harris unable to halt the progress of lawyer Matt McLaughlin's Sodomite Suppression Act ballot initiative, which calls for homosexuality to be punished by "bullets to the head," Laws' lighthearted counter-initiative calls for anyone proposing a ballot measure involving killing gay people to be punished with a year of sensitivity training and a hefty donation to a gay rights group, Slate reports. The measure mocks the language of McLaughlin's initiative, which describes homosexuality as an "abominable crime." Laws, who like McLaughlin only had to pay a $200 fee to file the initiative, tells Slate that the measure is a way to show that most Californians "don't agree with something as incendiary and hateful as what this one attorney proposed." McLaughlin's deranged initiative appears bound for the signature-gathering phase, though the state Supreme Court would be certain to step in to keep it off the ballot even if he found the necessary 365,000 signatures, the Guardian reports. The State Bar of California, meanwhile, has been asked to investigate the Huntington Beach lawyer, reports the Huffington Post. A petition to have him disbarred for advocating murder now has more than 18,000 signatures.


Article:

Another schoolgirl kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014 was released Thursday, two days after Amina Ali Darsha Nkeki was found by vigilante militant group

 A second schoolgirl kidnapped by Boko Haram from the north-eastern Nigerian town of Chibok in 2014 has been freed, according to the Nigerian military.

 An army spokesman said that Serah Luka had been “rescued” on Thursday morning, along with 96 other women and children held captive by Boko Haram. The spokesman, Sani Kukasheka Usman, said that 35 Boko Haram fighters had also been killed in “clearance operations”.

 If the claim is true, she would be the second of the Chibok girls to escape a Boko Haram camp in Sambisa forest in the past two days.

 “She is believed to be the daughter of Pastor Luka,” Usman said in a statement. “During debriefing the girl revealed that she was a student of the [Chibok] school at the time they were abducted. She further added that she hails from Madagali, Adamawa State.” The statement said the girl had only joined the school just over two months before her abduction.

 Luka is currently receiving medical treatment in Borno state where she was found, the spokesman said.

 The first girl to escape, Amina Ali Darsha Nkeki, met President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday. She had been found by members of a vigilante group on Tuesday on the edge of a Boko Haram stronghold after fleeing during an attack on the militants’ camp.

 On Thursday she was flown to Abuja in the presidential jet to meet Buhari. In a press conference at the presidential villa while waiting for the president to arrive, Nkeki first hid her face from the cameras, then greeted Buhari and handed him her four-month-old baby girl, born in captivity.

 The president pledged to continue the search for the remaining Chibok girls who have not been recovered – who number more than 200 – and to fund Nkeki’s education, in a statement released after the meeting.

 “Like all Nigerians and many others around the world, I am delighted at the news that Amina Ali Nkeki, one of the missing Chibok girls, has regained her freedom,” Buhari said. “But my feelings are tinged with deep sadness at the horrors the young girl has had to go through at such an early stage in her life.”

 He promised Nkeki “the best care” that the Nigerian government could afford. “We will ensure that she gets the best medical, psychological, emotional and whatever other care she requires to make a full recovery and be reintegrated fully into society,” he said.

 “Amina must be enabled to go back to school. No girl in Nigeria should be put through the brutality of forced marriage. Every girl has the right to an education and a life choice.”

 Buhari said that Nkeki offered his government “a unique opportunity for vital information” that could lead to the release of the rest of the Chibok girls, though he said nothing of the estimated 2,000 other women and girls that have been captured by Boko Haram.

 Nkeki’s brother, Inua Ali, who was also at the meeting, confirmed to the Guardian that the president had pledged to look after Nkeki and her family. “We saw and met with the president today,” he said. “He promised to cater for my sister, her daughter and my mother. He promised to put my sister back in school.”

 In her first two days of freedom, Nkeki has met dozens of Nigerian dignitaries.

 After being briefly allowed home so that her family could identify her, she was airlifted to Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state. She and her baby had medical checks and met trauma specialists before being flown to Abuja.

 Chibok abductions: first girl found, say Nigerian activists Read more

 Nkeki’s age is not known – her brother said she was born in 1995, but according to other reports she was 17 when she was abducted and is now 19.

 In what commentators called a “desperate bid to claim credit” for the escape of the first of the Chibok girls since the messy aftermath of the 2014 abductions, the Nigerian army on Wednesday said it had rescued a girl it identified as Falmata Mbalala.

 It later admitted that her name was actually Amina Ali and said its troops had rescued her in conjunction with Civilian JTF, the local vigilante force that arms itself with muskets and catapults.

 Abdul Amin Mahmud, a Nigerian commentator and lawyer, criticised the government for attempting to claim credit and for parading her at the press conference.

 “She was roughly handled by the Nigerian army, and she’s a young girl who’s been in captivity for two years,” he said. “The girl is not a trophy. She’s not the elephant man to be paraded at a circus. She has gone through real psychological trauma. She needs care. They transferred her to the governor’s house and to Abuja to meet the president – for what?

 “The issue of the missing Chibok girls has become a political issue. The previous government did nothing, so if the current government can rescue one, it’s seen as a political victory. I worry about the future of these young girls.”

 In contrast to the government’s claims of rescue, Nkeki’s brother said she had been found trying to hide from the vigilantes after running away from the Boko Haram camp. He said she had been brought back to her family home for a tearful reunion with her elderly, widowed mother, Binta Ali. Onlookers said that Ali shouted “Amina! Amina!” when she saw her, and that they nearly fell over as they hugged each other.

 According to activists, Nkeki said the rest of the Chibok girls were in the forest except for six, apparently killed in the same attack she had tried to escape. It is unclear who launched the attack on the Boko Haram camp; the army did not claim responsibility for it.

 When she was found, Nkeki was with a man who claimed to be her husband, Mohammed Hayatu, whom the army suspect is a Boko Haram fighter. Hayatu was not at the presidential villa but was being investigated, according to Usman.

 “It should be noted that Mohammed Hayatu is well treated in line with Operation Lafiya Dole’s rules of engagement regarding insurgents who voluntarily surrender to the military,” he said.

 Given Buhari’s claim in December that Boko Haram had “technically” been defeated because it was reduced to suicide missions and controlled no territory, Nkeki’s escape raises questions about the location of her fellow kidnapping victims and the thousands of others taken by Boko Haram.

 Yakub Bulus, the father of another of the Chibok girls, said that the news brought him joy and hope that his daughter would be found.

 “At least one of them has been found now, hopefully she will reveal where the others are, and with God they will all be found. My hope to see my daughter again has been strengthened,” he said. ||||| Image copyright AFP Image caption The girl was in a lower year than those abducted from the school

 The Nigerian army says it has freed 97 women and girls from Boko Haram, including one of the more than 200 girls abducted from Chibok school.

 However, Chibok campaigners say that while the girl in question was a pupil at the school, she was actually kidnapped from her home elsewhere.

 This comes days after the first of the Chibok girls was freed.

 The Islamist militant group has seized thousands of women and girls in northern Nigeria, rights groups say.

 But it was the abduction of the girls from Chibok that gained international attention through the #BringBackOurGirls campaign, which was supported by US First Lady Michelle Obama and Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai.

 The army has made several mistakes in its statements about the Chibok girls - in its initial statement after the first girl was found on Wednesday, it used the wrong name.

 It has claimed to have freed more than 100 of them before later backtracking.

 In all, 218 girls remain missing since they were seized from Chibok secondary school in Borno state, north-eastern Nigeria, in April 2014.

 The girl rescued earlier this week told a Chibok community leader that six of the kidnapped girls had died but the rest were still in the Sambisa forest where she was found.

 Behind the headlines: Tomi Oladipo, BBC Africa Security Correspondent

 It would have been ideal for the Nigerian army to rescue two of the Chibok girls in three days - only it did not happen, despite the speed and enthusiasm with which the press statements were sent out.

 The military has been trying to win over the public following heavy criticism it has received for its inability to bring back the schoolgirls. Such has been its focus that it has not capitalised on the work of its troops in rescuing thousands of Boko Haram captives.

 In fact, army records show it freed 11,595 people between February and April this year. That has barely been publicised - although the abductions of those people also did not make headlines, unlike the schoolgirls whose disappearance raised concern around the world.

 As important as the Chibok girls are, it appears their fate is being used as a measure of success in the fight against Boko Haram.

 In a statement, army spokesman Col Sani Usman said the 97 women and girls had been found on Thursday in the Demboa area of Borno, during an operation in which 35 militants were killed.

 "Among those rescued is a girl believed to be one of the Chibok Government Secondary School girls that were abducted on 14 April 2014," he said.

 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's Tomi Oladipo: The rescued girl's mother said she was "thankful to God"

 However, the BringBackOurGirls group said it had established that the rescued girl had been abducted from her home in Madagali, in neighbouring Adamawa state.

 Earlier on Thursday, the first Chibok girl found was flown to the capital Abuja to meet President Muhammadu Buhari.

 Mr Buhari said he was delighted she was back and vowed to help her resume her education.

 "But my feelings are tinged with deep sadness at the horrors the young girl has had to go through at such an early stage in her life," he added.

 Image copyright Reuters Image caption The first rescued Chibok girl showed her child to President Buhari

 She was found by an army-backed vigilante group in the huge Sambisa Forest, close to the border with Cameroon, along with her four-month-old baby.

 She was with a suspected member of Boko Haram who claimed to be her husband.

 More on the Chibok abductions:

 Chibok rescue revives Twitter campaign

 Inside Mbalala, the town that lost its girls

 Chibok abductions: What we know

 On patrol in the Sambisa forest

 Torment of a freed Boko Haram 'bride'

 During the April 2014 attack, Boko Haram gunmen arrived in Chibok at night and raided the school dormitories, loading 276 girls on to trucks.

 More than 50 managed to escape within hours, mostly by jumping off the lorries and running into roadside bushes, leaving 219 in the hand of Boko Haram.

 Image copyright AFP Image caption The Bring Back Our Girls campaigners and relatives of the girls have marched in Abuja to demand more be done to rescue them

 Boko Haram at a glance:

 Founded in 2002, initially focused on opposing Western-style education - Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language

 Launched military operations in 2009

 Thousands killed, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria, and hundreds abducted

 Joined so-called Islamic State, now calls itself IS's "West African province"

 Seized large area in north-east, where it declared caliphate

 Regional force has now retaken most of that territory

 Who are Boko Haram? ||||| (CNN) A girl rescued by Nigerian troops from Boko Haram militants does not appear to be one of the girls abducted in 2014 from a school in the town of Chibok, as was initially reported, an activist said Friday.

 Serah Luka, who was rescued Thursday, did attend the school, but wasn't abducted at the same time as the 276 taken from the school on April 14, 2014, according to Bukky Shonibare of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign.

 "However, the same way we rejoice over the return of the Chibok girl, so also is our joy over this one," Shonibare said.

 A Nigerian army officer said Thursday that Luka was part of the mass abduction. On Friday, Army Brig. General Abubakar Rabe declined to address whether Luka was part of that abduction.

 "We shouldn't focus on whether she is one of the Chibok girls or not," Rabe said. "The important thing is that we are pursuing Boko Haram and rescuing human beings on a daily basis. We should be allowed to be concentrate on rescuing other people in our operations."

 The girl was one of 97 women and children were freed during Thursday's operation, according to Col. Sani Usman. At least 35 Boko Haram fighters were killed.

 Serah Luka was taken to a hospital after her rescue.

 Initially Usman said Luka -- the daughter of a pastor -- had started at the boarding school in Chibok a little more than two months before the Boko Haram raid.

 Activists and residents of Chibok disputed the claim and asked for more verification, saying Luka's name was not on the list of those missing.

 Thursday's news came the same day another kidnap victim, Amina Ali Nkeki, met with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa in Abuja on Thursday.

 She had been found two days before in northeastern Nigeria after apparently escaping from the terror group.

 During the emotional meeting, Buhari held the baby Amina gave birth to while a captive of the terror group.

 "Like all Nigerians and many others around the world, I am delighted that Amina Ali is free, but it is tinged with deep sorrow with what she had to go through," Buhari said.

 Amina was accompanied by her family and Borno State Gov. Kashim Shettima, whose residence she had visited the previous night.

 Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari hold Amina Ali's baby.

 Shettima had treated Amina, who was limping and severely malnourished when she arrived with her baby at his home, like a "VIP guest," a state government official told CNN.

 "She is receiving high-level medical attention and the best doctors in the state are attending to her. The governor ordered for her release from the military as he wanted to make sure she and her baby daughter received urgent medical and psychological attention," he said.

 Separated from 'husband'

 Amina Ali after escaping the clutches of Boko Haram.

 Amina was the first of the so-called Chibok girls to escape since the 276 schoolgirls were kidnapped at gunpoint from their boarding school in northeast Nigeria.

 As many as 57 girls were able to escape almost immediately, but more than 200 have remained missing since then.

 When Amina escaped, she was accompanied by a young man who said he was her husband and the father of her baby. He said he had been kidnapped by Boko Haram and taken to their forest stronghold, where he married Amina.

 But a government official told CNN that Amina had been "completely detached" from the man, who remains in military detention and is being interrogated.

 Bittersweet reunion

 Amina was briefly reunited with her mother on Tuesday night at the family home in Mbalala before being held by the army, CNN learned.

 A neighbor who witnessed the emotional meeting told CNN that her mother, Binta Ali, was very distressed when she first saw her daughter.

 JUST WATCHED Who are Boko Haram? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Who are Boko Haram? 01:03

 "The mom was very disturbed," said the neighbor, who did not want to be named.

 "She was full of happiness but at the same time seeing the situation of her daughter, who is a Christian, with a baby and a Boko Haram husband and wearing a hijab, she was just crying bitterly," said the neighbor.

 "Even Amina was comforting her mother saying she should be happy to see her alive. She was very happy to see her but she was also very sad."

 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girls It's been two years since the "Chibok girls" were stolen from their families. For the first time, we see some of the girls alive in a video obtained by CNN. This is who they are. Hide Caption 1 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girls Muwa Daniel Hide Caption 2 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girls Juliana Yakubu Hide Caption 3 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girls Ramati Yaga Hide Caption 4 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girls Naomi Yaga Hide Caption 5 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girls Saratu Ayuba Hide Caption 6 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girls Naomi Zakaria Hide Caption 7 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girls Jummai Mutah Hide Caption 8 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girls Falmata Musa Hide Caption 9 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girls Martha James Hide Caption 10 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girls Maraima Yahaya Hide Caption 11 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girls Naomi Yahona Hide Caption 12 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girls Kwazuku Haman Hide Caption 13 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girls Rifkatu Umar Hide Caption 14 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girls Hauwa Ishaya Hide Caption 15 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girls Ruth Amos Hide Caption 16 of 16

 Conflicting accounts

 It is still unclear how Amina escaped from the clutches of Boko Haram, but the government official said it was likely as a result of the sustained military campaign in the Sambisa Forest. The dense forest in Nigeria's northeast is believed to be the terrorist group's stronghold, and has long been the suspected location of the missing girls.

 JUST WATCHED Taken girls of Nigeria Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Taken girls of Nigeria 01:08

 "The governor has ordered that no one should ask her any questions for now but it's likely that she may have taken her chance to escape based on a military attack carried out in the Sambisa Forest," the official said. "I believe more Chibok girls could have escaped and could still be in the Sambisa."

 On Wednesday, a member of a civilian vigilante group set up to help fight Boko Haram told CNN he had been on a nightly patrol on the edge of Sambisa Forest on Tuesday night when when the girl and some companions wandered out around 7 p.m.

 He recognized her as one of the missing schoolgirls, although she looked different and was in poor physical condition, as were the baby and man with her.

 Nigeria's government has said the girl was rescued by government troops that were working with the civilian force. Operations to find the missing girls have intensified recently with a deep push into Sambisa Forest, a military spokesman told CNN's Nima Elbagir.

 Campaign of terror

 The girls' kidnapping sparked global outrage, including the #BringBackOurGirls campaign on social media.

 JUST WATCHED Haunted by loss: Chibok parents share their stories Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Haunted by loss: Chibok parents share their stories 02:00

 But Nigeria's government has so far proven largely powerless to recover the girls.

 Last month, CNN obtained a video of some of the missing Chibok girls that had been sent to negotiators by their captors as "proof of life," and showed it to some of the girls' mothers, who had not been shown the footage by officials.

 Boko Haram, based mainly in Nigeria's northern states but responsible also for attacks in neighboring countries, is seeking to implement sharia law. According to a report released in November, the Global Terrorism Index, Boko Haram was the world's deadliest terrorist group in 2014, responsible for 6,644 deaths, compared with ISIS, which was responsible for 6,073.

 Besides the spate of kidnappings, the group has also pursued a ruthless campaign of bombing marketplaces throughout Nigeria and neighboring countries. |||||
What is a summary?

– The families of hundreds of schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram two years ago have been given fresh hope by what the Nigerian military says is another rescue. A military spokesman says that "Miss Serah Luka, who is number 157 on the list of the abducted schoolgirls," was among 97 women and children rescued in a raid that killed at least 35 militants, reports the BBC, although a spokesman for the families of the girls kidnapped in the town of Chibok denies that she is on the list. The military says Luka, a pastor's daughter who joined the Chibok school just two months before the mass kidnapping, is receiving medical treatment, the Guardian reports. On Tuesday, the military announced that it had rescued missing schoolgirl Amina Ali Nkeki from the militants. Since then, she has met with President Muhammadu Buhari and so many other dignitaries that critics are accusing the government of putting a traumatized girl on parade in an effort to score political points. Nkeki was found by vigilantes in the Sambisa Forest after she ran away from a Boko Haram camp with a 4-month-old baby and a man she said was her husband. But while she was meeting the president, the husband was being interrogated as a suspected Boko Haram fighter, CNN reports. Some 217 schoolgirls are still missing, and Nkeki has reportedly said that they are all still in forest camps, apart from six killed in a recent attack.


Article:

The BBC's State Department Correspondent Kim Ghattas gets behind-the-scenes access to Hillary Clinton on a recent diplomatic trip overseas.

 For Assignment the BBC's State Department Correspondent Kim Ghattas has gained rare behind-the-scenes access to one of Hillary Clinton's recent overseas trips.

 Join her on "special air mission 883" as it heads from the US to the Middle East and Africa.

 Expect surprising insights and unguarded moments with aides, officials and the special protection team as they try - and sometimes fail - to control the messy world around them.

 Get up close and personal with the American Secretary of State in this week's Assignment. ||||| QUESTION: I know it’s a strange question, but may I ask you to start by introducing yourself to BBC listeners?

 SECRETARY CLINTON: I am Hillary Rodham Clinton. I’m the 67th Secretary of State for the United States of America, serving in the Administration of President Barack Obama.

 QUESTION: Okay. We’re in Dubai because we had a little problem with your plane.

 SECRETARY CLINTON: Yes.

 QUESTION: Now, what does that say – (laughter) – about American power, because it’s not the first time your plane breaks down?

 SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I think it says that we prioritize. So the President’s plane, Air Force One, is absolutely impeccable. Our fighter jets are the best in the world. Others of our Air Force are first-rate. But I think there’s a long line ahead of the plane that I’m in, which I share with the Vice President and other high officials. So we’ve had our ups and downs, as you might say, with this airplane.

 QUESTION: On the other hand, you actually have an airplane that you can commandeer to go wherever you want when needed.

 SECRETARY CLINTON: That’s exactly right. So I have no complaints. And if we were to just chart the hundreds of thousands of miles that I have traveled, the mechanical problems, or in the case of volcanic ash clouds or rocks on runways, have been relatively few.

 QUESTION: Does the plane feel like a home away from home, an office with wings?

 SECRETARY CLINTON: It feels like an office, not a home, because it is an office. It has secure communications, it has a very able civilian and military team, we get a lot of work done on the plane, but it’s a little challenging jet lag-wise, mileage, dehydration, all of the problems that come with spending a lot of time in the air. So I am always happy to be home once we finally land.

 QUESTION: How do you handle jet lag? I mean, I travel with – I’ve traveled with you quite a bit, and at the end of the trips, I’m exhausted and I take a few days off. You go back to the office the next day. How do you do it? Do you do yoga, a special diet, what’s the secret?

 SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I sleep a lot on the plane. I know that some people think you should stay up for a certain period of time and not sleep on certain legs, but since I am perpetually tired, I figure make up for the lost hours of sleep while flying. Also, I know very simple things – drink a lot of water, deep breathing, try to get a little bit of sunshine if you can every day. But I don’t know that there’s any magic formula. Because I, too, often am tired; there’s no doubt about it. But I’m exhilarated at the same time. I love what we’re doing, I’m honored to represent our country everywhere we go, and I feel like we are making a difference. So that is enough to keep me going.

 QUESTION: I want to take you back to our stop in Shannon when we were on our way here. You took me outside to talk to those two Irish guys. Tell me about them. You seemed to have a very nice conversation with them. Are they always there to welcome you when you land?

 SECRETARY CLINTON: They work at the airport, so they and a few others are usually always there. They’re combination security and welcoming, and I have gotten to talk with them over the years, stopping, going from Shannon. And I love Ireland, so it was great because we were there while it was still light out, and actually, I had slept till about five minutes before we were going to take off again. So I wanted to get a little air and a little bit of sun, and they kindly accommodated me.

 QUESTION: When we travel with you, we are in what is known apparently as the bubble. How would you describe the bubble?

 SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I don’t think of it so much as a bubble. I think of it as more of a caravan going from place to place, and sometimes the dogs bark, but we still move on. And it is for me a moveable adventure. No day is the same, in part because the places, the issues, the leaders, the people, the food are enough different still in our increasingly interconnected world that there’s always something new to see or hear about or discover. But it is true that when we’re traveling, we are focused on where we have been, are, and intend to go. So a lot of what happens back in the United States has to take second priority to what we are actually focused on. But there is no escaping the constant stream of paper, which is never ending. And I keep up with that on the road. So I don’t feel like I’m cut off in any way. I assume it would have been quite challenging, but such different times you would not maybe have noticed, 50 or 100 years ago when travel was much slower, communication was either so slow or nonexistent. So we live in this 24/7 media environment. So I’m always kept up to date, but I try to keep my attention on what we’re doing.

 QUESTION: But do you ever wish you could break free of the caravan and go explore on your own? Where would you go?

 SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I do wish that, and I’ve been fortunate because I’ve traveled before this current job where I had the opportunity to explore, wander, walk anonymously, and even in –

 QUESTION: Anonymously?

 SECRETARY CLINTON: Anonymously in those days. (Laughter.) That was a long time ago. So I would have felt very sad if I hadn’t had that experience before I – before my husband was president, certainly before I was a first lady, a senator, or a secretary. I went to a lot of places, and that gave me a familiarity. But even on these trips in the last two and a half years or so, every once in a while I will go for a walk and just get away. I remember when we were in Wellington, New Zealand and we were on the water, and there was a great walkway. I walked for probably an hour, and it’s just so rejuvenating to me. It’s my favorite thing to do. So I don’t get enough time to do that, but I try to fit it in.

 QUESTION: If I’m not mistaken, your Secret Service code when you were first lady was Evergreen, and it’s stayed. And in hindsight, it’s quite a fitting name – (laughter) – because you’ve renewed yourself, reinvented yourself so often and so well.

 SECRETARY CLINTON: Apparently – well, apparently so. I had no choice. I was just given the name. My husband was Eagle. My daughter was Energy. And I think those are all fitting code names. But I have been lucky. I’ve been so fortunate to have been given these opportunities in my life over the course of a long time now. And I never take it for granted. I’m never complacent about it. I’m always energized by it because I think it’s important. I think the work that we’re trying to do, especially in this time of such tumultuous change, is going to set the template for the rest of this century.

 QUESTION: It is a very tumultuous time in the Arab world and in many other places, and you have to meet a lot of leaders around the world. Some of them you like; some of them perhaps you like a little bit less. What is it like to have to shake hands with an autocrat, with somebody whose values you don’t really share? It can’t be easy to smile for the cameras all the time.

 SECRETARY CLINTON: It isn’t, and I have had to do it quite a bit over the course of the last 20 years. But I try to remember why I’m there and why I’m doing it. The United States has relationships with every country just about. There are a few exceptions that we don’t, obviously, but we are everywhere in the world, and we have a great mission to protect our security and advance our interests and promote our values. We see that very clearly. So with some you can work on all three, and some you can work on two or one of the three, and we’re always looking for those moments. I also try to be sensitive to the historical, experiential, cultural, religious, social differences that exist that make life so intriguing on this planet we share. But there have been times when I have left a meeting or an encounter, and it’s been very difficult to smile for the cameras, as you say. But some of what you do you do because of the goal that you are trying to achieve. And you cannot get from point A to point B without working with leaders and regimes that you don’t have much in common with or, frankly, who you disagree rather significantly with.

 QUESTION: When a foreign minister travels to a foreign country, they’re usually – they usually only get to meet their direct counterparts, the foreign minister of that country. When an American secretary of state travels, when you travel, you get to meet with presidents and kings. Why is that? What does it say about America?

 SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I think it says a lot about America and about our great reach and the relationships that we have. I also know many of these people from my prior incarnations, so I have personal relationships with them, which I have certainly called upon in this role. So I find it very helpful to meet with, as you say, kings, presidents, and prime ministers.

 QUESTION: But they also open the doors to you.

 SECRETARY CLINTON: Yes, they do.

 QUESTION: They wouldn’t do that for the foreign minister of another country, for example.

 SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I can’t speak to that, but I know that because of my prior relationships, which are often on a long-standing personal basis, they would see me under any circumstances. They saw me when I was a senator, they saw me when I was a First Lady, so they continue to see me in my current role, and then I do think that as Secretary of State of the United States, there is a lot of business to be done, and some of that business is not only in the foreign ministry.

 QUESTION: What’s your favorite story from your time – (laughter) – as a secretary of state?

 SECRETARY CLINTON: Oh, my gosh, Kim. I have too many. I’ll probably save them for my next book if I ever get around to writing it, but there have been wonderful moments, and then there have been moments of high comedy and even some quite difficult times. But the few times when I really feel like we’re making a difference are the best times because for me it’s mostly about the work when I travel. I mean, I don’t try to think too much about what else is happening, and I haven’t had too many difficult experiences. So I’m not looking back on it and rolling my eyes or anything, but I think I’ll probably wait until I can really think that through. Certainly, the last time I was in South Africa, getting to see Nelson Mandela, which for me has always been important personally, was very gratifying because he’s an international treasure. But there’s too many stories to tell.

 QUESTION: And what was your biggest challenge or your worst moment? I mean, we’ve been on some very interesting trips.

 SECRETARY CLINTON: Yes, you have. I think that first trip to Asia was maybe one of the most consequential because there was a feeling in Asia that the United States had abandoned its role as a Pacific power, and that’s why I decided to go, but we did not know what would await us. And I heard a lot from the leaders there about our economic crisis, the global recession, whether the United States was going to remain a player in the region. So that very first trip for me was a real baptism by fire, so to speak.

 QUESTION: You were practically mobbed by adoring fans, and you were greeted like a rock star everywhere. Two and a half years into your job, do you think people still look at you as a rock star, a celebrity, or do they see you more as part of the Obama Administration?

 SECRETARY CLINTON: That’s a great question. I actually think it’s both. I mean, I was just walking through the mall here and had some young women come up and shout at me and tell me how much they appreciated me. And I think for young women and not so young women, there is a connection. They know that I’ve spent a lot of time working on women’s issues and they care about what I’m doing and what it might mean for them. So I still encounter that a lot. And so that’s kind of my independent role. But also as someone who ran against Barack Obama, and you’ve heard me say, ran very hard and didn’t make it, but then supported him and much to my amazement was asked to be Secretary of State. That is a very powerful story around the world.

 I started telling that story on that first trip to Asia, and I could see people just nodding, little light bulbs of thinking and recognition going off about, oh yeah, that did happen there, and we have politics where basically we try to kill each other. And so people do see me connected with the Obama Administration. I often encounter very positive personal responses in the town halls, the townterviews kind of programs that we do, and then an interviewer or an audience member will mention President Obama’s name and people will break into applause. So I think there’s still a very good feeling about what the President and what this Administration are trying to do.

 QUESTION: Do you ever wake up in the morning think, oh, I’m too tired to go to work today?

 SECRETARY CLINTON: I really don’t. I wake up and say I’m tired so I better get up and get going. But no, every day is fascinating to me because I really don’t know what’s going to happen during the day. I am very aware of how much energy this takes because, clearly, it’s a nonstop marathon. But let me knock on wood here, I have been lucky with health, stamina, and all that goes with it. So no, I won’t lie to you. I’m tired. My friends call and email saying, “Oh, my gosh, I saw you on television. You looked so tired.” (Laughter.) Which I send back saying, “Gee, thanks a lot.” But I know, because if you work around the clock like we do, that’s just inevitable. So I do try to take some time, long weekends, take some deep breathing. I do exercise, yoga, those kinds of things. But no, I’m never tired about the work. It’s just the physical challenge.

 QUESTION: You have an incredible amount of people you know around the world. You must have the biggest Rolodex in town. (Laughter.) How many contacts do you have in your Blackberry that you can just call up like that?

 SECRETARY CLINTON: Oh, thousands. Really, thousands. And it’s the right kind of contacts, because they are people who have some connection with me.

 QUESTION: Somebody’s calling you right now. (Laughter.)

 SECRETARY CLINTON: Somebody’s calling me right now, so if somebody else will, I hope, answer it and see what they want. But that – you timed that question. Is that one of your colleagues calling and saying, “Oh, my goodness”?

 I’m lucky. I know a lot of people. Now, they’re not close friends, but I have become friends with a number of the leaders with whom I do work. And I have found over this 20 years of high-wire American and international activity, people do not end up in the positions they hold by accident. There is a reason. Even in authoritarian, dictatorial systems, there is something that has set them apart. And it’s always fascinating for me to figure it out. Because from afar, you can say how did that person end up as prime minister, president, whatever? But then you work with them and you – and there’s an intelligence there, there’s a savvyness, there’s a sense of survival. It’s really, for me, not just diplomatic. It’s political, psychological.

 I remember very well when – on my first trip to Africa and I went to Kenya, and it was shortly after they’d had this terrible violence after their prior election, and I delivered a really tough message. And they were taken aback by it, but I felt strongly that here was a country that had so much going for it. And we slowly saw some changes. I had very open, honest conversations with some of the leaders there. The President followed up because, of course, his deep interest in Kenya, with his father. And then two years later, we were at a democracy conference in Poland, and Kenya had been invited. They had taken some rather significant steps, including reforming their constitution. And the spokesman who came from the government started off by saying to me – I was in the audience – that you came and you really spoke very truthfully to us, and we have tried very hard to change. And that’s worth it to me. That’s worth all the travel.

 I have no illusions about how hard this is to create strong democracies, to build free market economies, to stand against a culture of corruption, and all of the things that I talk about endlessly. But when I see progress being made against the odds, I say okay, this is really worth it, because we’ve been at independence for 235 years this year. We’ve had our own ups and downs and our own difficulties, including a civil war and so much else. But it’s the intention and it’s the direction. And when I see positive intentions matched with a commitment to a path that could lead in a positive direction, I just am going to stand up and say hooray, and the United States will be with you, we’ll support you, we’ll do everything we can to help you.

 QUESTION: You are still very popular, both in the United States and abroad. In fact, I think you’re skyrocketing in polls. But some of your critics say that they can’t quite put their finger on what it is that you are trying to achieve as a Secretary of State. What is the issue that you are trying to get your hands on and bring to fruition? Is it Middle East peace? Is it Afghanistan? Is it Pakistan? What is – what do you want to be remembered for as Secretary of State?

 SECRETARY CLINTON: I don’t see it that way, especially at this time. I think there are so many converging challenges that are interconnected in ways that we could not have imagined 25, 50 years ago, that what we’re trying to do is restore America’s leadership in the world, because I fervently believe American leadership is essential for the promotion of human rights and dignity, freedom, economic opportunity.

 And I am well aware that for the years prior to this Administration, there were a lot of questions about what we were doing. And of course, there are those who say, well, history will look back and see Iraq as a great success, and I hope that’s the case. But I think much of what we did was because we were attacked on 9/11, and I think we made fiscal and budgetary decisions that undermined America’s strength at home and abroad.

 So what we’re trying to do, and what I am personally am committed to doing, is moving on a very steady path toward restoring America’s influence and leadership. That’s why going to Asia was important. That’s why continuing to pay attention to Latin America and Africa, working with regional institutions that can espouse the same values that we think are the best way to live and for societies to flourish.

 Now, when I took this job, people said, well, you can either try to do that or you can pick one or two or three things. I don’t think this is a time to pick one or two or three things. And I’m well aware of – others might well choose a different perspective, but that’s how I see what I’m doing.

 QUESTION: Do you think you are on the right track in terms of restoring American leadership? Some people argue that, in the Middle East, America is becoming irrelevant.

 SECRETARY CLINTON: I just don’t believe that for a minute. I think that it’s nothing we can take for granted. We can’t be complacent and we certainly can’t walk away. I have fought hard within the Administration for a significant economic program for both Egypt and Tunisia, because I think that the revolution of expectations in both countries was as much economic as political, because it wasn’t only the freedom to vote or the freedom to speak, but the freedom to work and to increase your standard of living and to see your life improve.

 And I think that we are still looked to, sometimes begrudgingly and critically, but there is no doubt in my mind that people still care very much what the United States says and does. And what I worry about is the contrary, that it’s not what people around the world think about our role, but at home people who rightly are concerned about our own domestic economic situation, our own federal budget deficit, who are saying enough with the foreign involvements; let’s just do nothing but stay right here and tend to our own garden. That would be, in my view, a great mistake.

 So part of what I’m trying to do is speak and work on behalf of America’s influence and leadership in a way that my own country understands, so that people who are unemployed auto workers in Michigan or struggling small businesspeople in California can say, “Yeah, I really want the President, the government, to pay attention to me, but I get it. I know why we’re working to make sure Egypt and Tunisia turn out well. I know why we still put money into developing agriculture and fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa, and all the other things that we are working on.”

 QUESTION: And a final question, to wrap up on a lighter note. Tell us something about yourself that BBC listeners don’t know. (Laughter.)

 SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I sometimes think I’m the best-known unknown person. I’m always amazed when people – and sometimes interviewers but sometimes just citizens around the world – will say something to me about me that I think, well, no, I didn’t do that or I didn’t say that or I don’t like that. So I’m always amused by that. But there’s – look, I don’t think anybody in the public eye can ever be totally known. That’s a misnomer, even though people are constantly in the press and therefore, you think you know them.

 But I think that I am a pretty normal, average person, despite all of the hype. And I am very interested in spending time with my friends and my family and not being on the merry-go-round all the time, which is one of the reasons why I have decided that I will move on and return to private life at the end of what will be a very intense period of activity and work in the next 18 months. But I just – I believe what I say and I work to try to see life improve, particularly for women and girls, and I love what I’m doing.

 QUESTION: I think one thing that people don’t know about you is that you have a great sense of humor. (Laughter.) You (inaudible) I think.

 SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, you’ve got to have a little bit of fun doing these kinds of jobs, Kim, as you know. And thank you for all of your good work.

 QUESTION: Thank you. |||||
What is a summary?

– After decades of living in the public eye, Hillary Clinton tells the BBC she is ready to get off the "merry-go-round" at the end of President Obama's first term and enjoy her private life, reports Politico (which has a link to the full transcript.) “I think that I am a pretty normal, average person, despite all of the hype,” Clinton said. “And I am very interested in spending time with my friends and my family." While Clinton has said before that she is ready to take a break or retire, these comments came unprompted from Clinton herself, not in response to a specific question about stepping down, notes Jennifer Epstein. “I do wake up and say I’m tired so I better get up and get going,” said Clinton, calling her job a "nonstop marathon." "It is for me a moveable adventure." You can hear the full audio at the BBC.


This will appear next to all of your comments

 This will NOT appear anywhere on Newser ||||| On Thursday, Jurgen Klinsmann, the coach of the United States national men’s soccer team, dined with President Obama, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, a number of Nobel laureates and a couple of astronauts at a gala in Berlin. The sausages were “excellent,” he said.

 On Friday, Klinsmann returned to his home in California and was bemused by the criticism he was receiving in the news media for two recent losses by his team, which had damaged — but not erased — its chances of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup. On Sunday, Klinsmann aggressively defended his record as coach in an interview, saying that he was “very comfortable” in his position and was not especially concerned about being removed.

 On Monday, Klinsmann was fired.

 The announcement, which was made by U.S. Soccer, the federation that oversees the sport in this country, came shortly after Sunil Gulati and Dan Flynn, two of the federation’s top executives, met with Klinsmann at a hotel in the Los Angeles area. U.S. Soccer did not immediately name Klinsmann’s replacement, though it is expected that Bruce Arena — a Major League Soccer veteran who led the national team from 1998 to 2006 — will take the job through the end of the current World Cup cycle.

 “While we remain confident that we have quality players to help us advance to Russia 2018, the form and growth of the team up to this point left us convinced that we need to go in a different direction,” Gulati, the U.S. Soccer president, said in a statement. He is expected to elaborate on the thinking behind Klinsmann’s dismissal during a conference call with the news media on Tuesday afternoon. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– Jurgen Klinsmann is out as coach of the US men's soccer team, the AP reports, ending a contentious five-year love-hate relationship on the job. US Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati announced Monday that Klinsmann has been "relieved of his duties" as coach and technical director for US Soccer. The move isn't exactly surprising, notes the New York Times, following a pair of embarrassing losses that damaged the Americans' efforts to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. The final straw came less than a week ago, as the Times puts it: "Then came the 4-0 thrashing against the Ticos in which Klinsmann’s team looked alternately disorganized, dispirited and—perhaps most damningly—disinterested." "While we remain confident that we have quality players to help us advance to Russia 2018, the form and growth of the team up to this point left us convinced that we need to go in a different direction," said Gulati in a statement. Klinsmann replaced Bob Bradley in July 2011 and led the team to the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup title and the second round of the 2014 World Cup, where the Americans lost to Belgium in extra time. But the US was knocked out in last year's Gold Cup semifinals, lost to Mexico in a playoff for a Confederations Cup berth and started 0-2 this month in the final round of World Cup qualifying.


– Afghanistan today told foreign powers to take a back seat in talks with the Taliban and let Kabul lead the way, Reuters reports. Afghanistan's High Peace Council put its foot down after the US, Qatar, and Germany secretly set up an office for the Taliban in Qatar to continue negotiations. “Afghans must be in the lead in the talks,” an Afghan rep tells the AP. Afghanistan also wants the Taliban to sever ties with al-Qaeda and enact human rights reforms before talks continue. The council will consent to the Qatar office, however, and approves the US giving up Guantanamo Bay prisoners for Taliban concessions. "In fact we have been demanding this for a while," an Afghan official says. "These are Afghan prisoners." The council also wants Pakistan's support because members of the Taliban reside there. The tensions between Washington and President Hamid Karzai highlight the difficulty of reaching a settlement with the Taliban before the West is scheduled to pull out most of its troops in 2014.

Expand this summary.

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan will accept a Taliban liaison office in Qatar to start peace talks but no foreign power can get involved in the process without its consent, the government's peace council said, as efforts gather pace to find a solution to the decade-long war.

 Afghanistan's High Peace Council, in a note to foreign missions, has set out ground rules for engaging the Taliban after Kabul grew concerned that the United States and Qatar, helped by Germany, had secretly agreed with the Taliban to open an office in the Qatari capital, Doha.

 U.S. officials have held about half a dozen meetings with their insurgent contacts, mostly in Germany and Doha with representatives of Mullah Omar, leader of the Taliban's Quetta Shura, this year to prepare the way for face-to-face talks between the group and the Afghan government.

 A representative office for the group is considered the starting point for such talks and Doha has in the past served as a meeting ground for initial contacts.

 But the Afghan peace commission which has suffered a series of setbacks including the assassination of its head in September said that negotiations with the Taliban could only begin after they stopped violence against civilians, cut ties to al Qaeda, and accepted the Afghan constitution which guarantees civil rights and liberties, including rights for women.

 The council, according to a copy of the 11-point note made available to Reuters, also said any peace process with the Taliban would have to have the support of Pakistan since members of the insurgent group were based there.

 "The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is in agreement regarding the opening of an office for the armed opposition, but only to move forward the peace process and conduct negotiations," the council said.

 The government would prefer such an office in either Saudi Arabia or Turkey, both of which it is close to, but was not averse to Doha as long as the authority of the Afghan state was not eroded and the office was only established for talks, officials said.

 "We are saying Saudi or Turkey are preferable, we are not saying it has to be there only. The only condition is it should be in an Islamic country," said a government official.

 President Hamid Karzai's administration recalled its ambassador from Doha last week, apparently angry that it had been kept in the dark about the latest round of contacts with the insurgent group.

 Officials said Kabul was also deeply concerned about reports that the United States was considering the transfer of a small number of Afghan prisoners from Guantanamo Bay military prison to Doha as a prelude to the talks.

 "We are a sovereign country, we have laws. How can you transfer our prisoners from one country to another. Already it's a violation to have them in Guantanamo Bay," the official said.

 The Afghan government wanted the prisoners to be returned to its custody, the official said.

 Reuters reported this month that the United States was considering the transfer of an unspecified number of Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo Bay into Afghan government custody as part of accelerating, high-stakes diplomacy.

 "We have no problem with this. In fact we have been demanding this for a while. These are Afghan prisoners," said the official, who declined to be identified.

 The tension between the Karzai administration and the United States over engaging the Taliban underscores the challenges of seeking a political settlement as the West prepares to withdraw most combat troops from the country by 2014.

 Efforts to engage the insurgent group have faced a string of setbacks, the most recent being the assassination of the head of the peace council and former president, Burhanuddin Rabbani, in September at the hands of a suicide bomber who pretended to be a Taliban emissary.

 HARDENING OF POSITIONS

 It led to a hardening of positions with Karzai saying the government could not talk to suicide bombers and that there should be an address for the Taliban so that negotiators know they are talking to the right representatives.

 "We are committed to the reconciliation process, the experience of the last 10 years shows no military solution is possible. Talking to the armed opposition is the key in this regard," said presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi.

 White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said the United States backed steps toward reconciliation that bring Afghans together and allow insurgents eschewing violence and abiding by the Afghan constitution to come off the battlefield.

 "We will join initiatives that support Afghan-led reconciliation. Pakistan also has an important role to play in supporting the Afghan-led process," she said.

 A State Department official added Washington will continue to work very closely with Kabul authorities to draw in Taliban fighters who break from al Qaeda terrorists and agree to respect the rights of Afghans, including women and ethnic minorities.

 "We believe it is in the interests of both of our countries, as well as the region as whole, to work together to support a stable, secure, and prosperous Afghanistan inside a stable, secure, and prosperous region," the State Department official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

 The Afghan peace council, laying down the markers for engagement with the Taliban, said well known figures from both the Taliban and the government had to be involved in talks.

 It said that "before any negotiations can take place, violence against Afghan people must stop and that the armed opposition must cut ties to al Qaeda and other terrorist groups".

 It also said that the Taliban must accept the constitution and honor the gains made in the last 10 years since they were ousted from power, conditions that the Taliban have shown no sign of accepting.

 The Taliban do not accept the constitution and have vowed to carry on fighting until all foreign troops have left the country.

 The peace council said Pakistani support was necessary for talks to take place, another condition that makes the task harder because of fraught ties between the United States and Pakistan which fears it is being shut out of the process.

 Opening a Taliban office in a third country is seen as a way to create distance from Pakistan which has longstanding ties to the insurgent group.

 But the government official said he did not think the peace council had laid down such tough conditions that the talks would fail even before they started.

 "We don't think it's a deal breaker. We are quite optimistic," he said.

 (Additional reporting by Laura MacInnis in Honolulu and Alister Bull and Jim Wolf in Washington; Editing by Robert Birsel, Ed Lane and Sandra Maler) ||||| An Afghan government body seeking a negotiated peace deal with the Taliban insisted Monday it would not tolerate foreign interference in any talks.

 The head of the foreign relations department of the High Peace Council, Mohammad Ismail Qasimyar, emphasized the government's position in reaction to Afghan media reports that the U.S. and other foreign governments with a stake in the war may try to strike a separate deal with the Taliban.

 "Afghans must be in the lead in the talks," Qasimyar told The Associated Press. "No foreign involvement in the Afghan peace talks is acceptable."

 The peace council is a group of about 70 influential Afghans and former Taliban appointed by President Hamid Karzai to try to reconcile with the insurgents. The former head of the council, Burhanuddin Rabbani, was assassinated on Sept. 20. Rabbani, a former president of Afghanistan, was killed by a suicide bomber posing as a peace emissary from the Taliban.

 After Rabbani's death, Karzai said peace efforts could only take place if the Taliban established a political office that would be authorized to conduct talks on a peaceful end to the 10-year war. He proposed that it be set up in Saudi Arabia or in Turkey if the insurgent movement did not want to establish it in Afghanistan.

 The Taliban have not publicly responded to Karzai's demands. The insurgents, who perceive themselves as winning the war, have repeatedly said they would not engage in peace talks with the government while foreign troops remain on Afghan soil.

 On Monday, the Taliban repeated that they were confident of ultimate victory and said that the NATO forces would face the same fate as the Soviet invaders who withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989 after an almost decade-long war.

 The insurgents "are successfully withstanding all the coalition forces led by the U.S. invaders and will make them all face the same fate that befell the Red Army," said statement marking the 32nd anniversary of the Soviet invasion in 1979.

 Meanwhile, a gunman wearing an Afghan army uniform opened fire on coalition troops in western Afghanistan, military authorities said Monday. Several coalition troops were wounded and the gunman was killed, said an official who asked not to be named because the investigation was ongoing.

 The shooting took place Saturday at an outpost in Bala Boluk district, about 340 miles (700 kilometers) west of Kabul, said Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi. A NATO statement said there were no fatalities among alliance soldiers.

 If the probe confirms the gunman was a soldier, the shooting would be the latest in a series of attacks by Afghans against coalition partners. Those shootings have raised fears of Taliban infiltration as NATO speeds up the training of Afghan security forces.

 The expansion of the army and police is a critical element in NATO's exit strategy from Afghanistan.

 Coalition troops are to end their combat role in 2014, and the goal is to have 195,000 trained Afghan troops in service by next October.

 ___

 Slobodan Lekic can be reached on Twitter at http://twitter.com/slekich |||||


News article:

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 This will NOT appear anywhere on Newser ||||| Police in Munich evacuated two train stations in the city after getting word of a possible terror attack.

 Officials said they got hints of a possible bomb attack, specifically in the main Munich train station and the Pasing station, a police spokeswoman told ABC News.

 Both train stations has been evacuated, police said. The were reopened hours later.

 Officers who were off duty for New Years went into work and are now performing sweeps of the stations. Police have not yet found anything suspicious, they said.

 Police are asking people to avoid crowds, public transportation and train stations.

 This is a developing story. Check back for updates. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Police in Munich, Germany, warned citizens of an "imminent" terrorist attack shortly before New Year's Eve, the AP reports. According to ABC News, there are possible plans to blow up bombs at two train stations: the main Munich station and Pasing station. "Due to existing information, which we take highly seriously, there is an attack planned tonight," NBC News quotes Munich police. Both train stations were evacuated.