Africa 'must think big for its children'

Children at school in the Mukuru kwa Njenga slum in Nairobi, Kenya.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• New report shows that policies across Africa are helping children's development


• But laws must improve to help children reach potential, says Catherine Mbengue


• Scrapping fees in Malawi saw entry to primary school jump from under 50% to 99%


• At secondary level, education in much of the region is deeply limited, Mbengue says

Editor's note: Catherine Mbengue is a Trustee of the African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) and former senior UNICEF Official. Here, she writes about a new report -- "Children's Chances: How Countries Can Move from Surviving to Thriving," released by Harvard University Press on 13 February 2013.

(CNN) -- Africa has always been a continent of contrasts. And the latest findings from an amazing team of international researchers show that when it comes to providing our children with the best chances in life, Africa once more presents a very mixed picture.

In a new report, never-before-available comparative data on laws and public policies in 191 countries, covering poverty, discrimination, education, health, child labor, child marriage and parental care, reveals how millions of children across the world face conditions that limit their opportunities to thrive and reach their full potential because of governments failure to act.

This new research aims to broaden global attention from solely survival to children's full and healthy development. It comes at a critical time as the global community is looking to set new goals and agree on what all the world's nations will strive for in the so-called "post-2015" agenda following more than a decade of efforts focused around the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Catherine Mbengue

Children's opportunities are not just shaped by parents and families, but also by national action in the form of laws and public policies.

This may involve removing tuition fees, ensuring inclusive education for children with disabilities, enforcing minimum age requirements for labor, age restrictions for marriage so girls might have a better chance to stay in education, or assisting parents to be able to earn enough to support their children and have the time off from work they need to care for their children's health and education.

Read more: Africa grows, but youth get left behind

And as the new analysis confirms, marked strides have been made across sub-Saharan Africa in areas central to our children's healthy development.

Primary education is tuition free across the majority of the region (in 36 of the 41 countries with available figures) and 13 countries have removed charges for secondary education.

In addition, virtually all sub-Saharan African countries (45 of the 46 countries with data) guarantee paid maternity leave (although of these 23 provide less than the 14-week minimum established by the ILO), and 41 of 45 countries have recognized the need to provide income support during periods of unemployment (although this largely does not cover the informal economy).

And progress in improving children's chances does not necessarily rely on the ability to open large purses. Some low and middle-income countries have made impressive advances for children.

Kenya, for example, makes education compulsory for 12 years, longer than all other countries in the region, including those with a higher GDP, and it has a higher minimum age for full-time work than its neighbors.

Elimination of schools fees in Malawi in the 1990s has led to a jump in primary school enrollment from under 50% in 1991 to 99% in 1999.

Read more: Elite boarding school aims to create Africa's future leaders

Madagascar provides not only paid maternal leave, but also paid leave for children's health and family needs. Progress is clearly possible when there is political will.

There remains substantial room for policy advances to transform the lives of older children, youth and the poorest.
Catherine Mbengue, Trustee of the African Child Policy Forum

But there remains substantial room for policy advances to transform the lives of older children, youth and the poorest. At secondary level, educational opportunities in much of the region are deeply limited -- and limiting. A greater proportion of countries in sub-Saharan Africa than in other regions -- some 61% -- begin charging tuition fees before the end of secondary school.

When we look beyond the issue of accessibility to the quality of education our children receive -- after all it should be fit for purpose -- the region has among the lowest education requirements for teachers, with 50% of countries requiring lower secondary school teachers to have completed no higher than a secondary education (so teachers have barely more education that their students).

Plus, while policies in the formal economy are relatively strong in terms of supporting families, those in the informal economy remain unprotected.

Despite the fact that many countries have set a minimum wage, in 6 countries this wage is just $2 per day or less -- and in 20 others is between $2 an $4, leaving even a family of one adult and one dependent under the $2 poverty line. How can we expect children to thrive given this reality?

What this kind of comparative data and analysis allows us to do is see more clearly where progress is and isn't occurring.

It is only when we begin to call out country's names -- the leaders and the laggards -- that we'll see all children count on having a childhood where they can go to school and not labor full-time, a childhood free of marriages that require them to parent before they have grown up themselves, getting the education they need to find work that will lift them out of poverty, and not facing discrimination based on their gender or ethnicity.

Africa should be a region that has high ambitions for its children and demand that the post-2015 development agenda is one that thinks big for our children and their chances.

Read the report and stay up to date on Twitter #kidschances.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are soley those of Catherine Mbengue

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Olympics: Wrestlers vow to fight Olympic removal

PARIS: Wrestlers around the world on Wednesday vowed to fight to save the ancient sport's Olympic status, after the International Olympic Committee voted to drop it for the 2020 Games.

Japan and Turkey -- whose cities Tokyo and Istanbul are bidding to host the Games in seven years' time -- led the calls for the world body to reconsider, as an online petition was organised urging a rethink and gained thousands of supporters.

The president of the Turkish wrestling federation, Hamza Yerlikaya, called the decision, taken at the IOC executive board meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Tuesday, "unfair" and a "mistake" that they would seek to overturn.

"To have the 2020 Olympics in Istanbul without wrestling is unthinkable," said Yerlikaya, himself a double Olympic gold medallist, three-time world champion and eight-time European champion in Greco-Roman wrestling.

"We won't allow it," he added.

In Japan, Yerlikaya's counterpart Tomiaki Fukuda said on his federation's website that he was "dissatisfied and baffled", echoing the views of the sport's world governing body, which called the decision "an aberration".

Wrestling will remain on the programme for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro but faces a fight against seven other sports for inclusion at the Games four years later. A final decision is to be made when all IOC members meet in September.

Members are seen as unlikely to vote against the executive board, however, raising the prospect that one of the few sports that survived from the original Olympics in ancient Greece into the modern era will disappear.

Wrestling first appeared in 708 BC and has only ever been left out of the Olympic programme once before in 1900.

The International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA) has vowed to fight the decision, while multiple medallists Russia and Iran have also said they hoped the IOC would backtrack.

"This issue will definitely be a big blow to the country's sport, as it is one of our country's most popular sports," the head of Iran's national Olympic commitee, Mohammad Aliabadi was quoted as saying in Iranian media, "I will certainly pursue the case."

IOC president Jacques Rogge meanwhile insisted on Wednesday that the vote -- by secret ballot -- was fair and said he understood the angry response from those involved in the sport.

A meeting was planned between the committee and the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA), to discuss the matter, he told a news conference in Lausanne.

Wrestlers have been left dismayed by the decision, with Japan's undisputed queen of the ring, Saori Yoshida, saying: "I am so devastated that I don't know what to do."

Yoshida, a 55kg-class freestyle wrestler who is the face of Tokyo's campaign for the right to host the 2020 Games, has won a record 13 straight Olympic and world championship gold medals over 10 years.

In India, Sushil Kumar, who won a bronze in Beijing and a silver in London last year, said: "I still can't get over the news that we won't be at the Olympics.

"All sportsmen look towards the Olympics as the pinnacle of excellence, everyone wants to take part in them. Now what do we do? Give up wrestling? I hope the IOC will reconsider this decision."

An online petition at change.org entitled "The International Olympic Committee: Save Wrestling as an Olympic sport #SaveOlympicWrestling" has also been mounted, urging the US Senate to take up the matter.

By late afternoon on Wednesday, it had more than 21,000 signatures.

On Twitter, one user, @WrestlersLoveUs, wrote: "Ancient Olympic wrestlers used to sometimes fight to the death. IOC better understand we're ready to do that again. #SaveOlympicWrestling."

-AFP/fl

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Body found in cabin may be Christopher Dorner

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Los Angeles Police still guard some people named in Christopher Dorner's manifesto


• NEW: But the LAPD returns to normal operations the day after a mountain standoff


• Authorities have not conclusively identified a body as that of Dorner


• The body was discovered in the ashes of a cabin where he was believed to be

Follow the story here and at CNN affiliates KCBS/KCAL, KABC, and KTLA.

Near Big Bear Lake, California (CNN) -- Los Angeles police kept watch over some of their own again Wednesday, not ready to let down their guard until investigators can say for sure that the charred human remains found inside a burned mountain cabin are those of Christopher Dorner.

Authorities say it may take days before they can say if the body found inside the cabin was Dorner's, the onetime police officer suspected in four killings during a self-proclaimed guerrilla war on his former compatriots.

While officials were reluctant to say they were certain they had ended Dorner's vendetta, the frenzied manhunt, roadblock and helicopter flights that had preceded the standoff died down Tuesday night.

Los Angeles police also returned to normal patrol operations after days of heightened alert, Lt. Andy Neiman said Wednesday.

But police continued to protect some of the dozens of police officers and their relatives threatened by Dorner in a manifesto vowing revenge over his firing from the Los Angeles Police Department several years ago.

"There's great fear there," Neiman said.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said that while Dorner's body has not been conclusively identified, "I can tell you that there is a sigh of relief among the vast majority of these officers."

Timeline in manhunt

Standoff

Tuesday's events came five days after authorities found Dorner's burned truck on a forest road near the lake, which is about 100 miles east of Los Angeles. Officers converged on the remote area but the trail went cold for days. On Sunday, the San Bernardino authorities said they had scaled back the search.

Los Angeles authorities had issued a $1 million reward for Dorner's capture. Villaraigosa said it was too soon to say if anyone would be able to claim the reward.

What may have been the final act in the Dorner saga began Tuesday, when California Fish and Wildlife wardens said they spotted Dorner driving a purple Nissan down icy roads near Big Bear Lake. He was driving very close to some school buses as if using them as cover, said Lt. Patrick Foy.

No children were on the buses, Foy said.

The wardens, driving in two different vehicles, chased Dorner. A gun battle ensued.

One of the warden's cars was hit, Dorner crashed his car and ran, according to authorities. He then carjacked a pickup truck.

Rick Heltebrake, a camp ranger, said he was driving when he saw the crashed purple truck -- and then something terrifying.

"Here comes this guy with a big gun and I knew who it was right away," Heltebrake told CNN affiliate KTLA. "He just came out of the snow at me with his gun at my head. He said, 'I don't want to hurt you. Just get out of the car and start walking.'"

Heltebrake said the man let him take his dog and walk away with his hands up.

"Not more than 10 seconds later, I heard a loud round of gunfire," Heltebrake said. "Ten to 20 rounds maybe. I found out later what that was all about."

The fire

Dorner fled to a nearby cabin and got into another shootout with San Bernardino County deputies, killing one and wounding another.

San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon told reporters Tuesday the other deputy was in surgery "but he should be fine."

Some of the firefight between police and the suspect was captured live on the telephone of a reporter for CNN affiliates KCBS and KCAL. Police in Los Angeles listened live over police scanners broadcast on the Internet, Neiman said.

"It was horrifying to listen to that firefight," he told reporters.

The cabin caught fire when police tossed smoke devices inside, a law enforcement source told CNN.

The intense fire burned for hours as authorities waited at a distance.

After initially saying no body had been found, sheriff's investigators finally confirmed overnight that they had found charred human remains within the ashes.

The department said it will work to identify the remains -- but it could take a while.

Devices such as flash bang grenades and tear gas canisters designed to disorient and disable suspects can cause fires, CNN contributor Tom Fuentes, a former FBI assistant director, said Wednesday.

Death toll

The deputy's death in the shootout Tuesday brought to four the number of people police believe Dorner killed.

Dorner, a man who vowed to kill police officers to avenge what he called an unfair termination, was first named a suspect in two shooting deaths on February 3: Monica Quan, the daughter of his police union representative and her fiance, Keith Lawrence.

Police also say he killed Riverside, California, police Officer Michael Crain and wounded Crain's partner in an ambush on their patrol car Thursday. Police say he also wounded an LAPD officer who chased him in the suburban city of Corona, California.

Manifesto

Police say Dorner a promised war on police after issuing a manifesto blaming the LAPD for mistreating him. He claimed he was railroaded out of the department after filing a brutality report against another officer and said a culture of racism and misconduct continues within the department.

The manifesto warned dozens of LAPD figures and their families that he would wage "asymmetric warfare" against the department, drawing on his training with the LAPD and as a Naval officer in river warfare and security units.

He said it was not something he enjoyed, but called it a "last resort" to clear his name and bring change to the department.

He also predicted his own death would come in a confrontation with police.

"Self Preservation is no longer important to me," the manifesto said at one point. "I do not fear death as I died long ago."

CNN's Miguel Marquez reported from near Big Bear Lake and Lateef Mungin wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Paul Vercammen, Stan Wilson, Casey Wian, Kathleen Johnston, Alan Duke, Matt Smith, Chelsea J. Carter, Michael Martinez, Holly Yan and Michael Pearson also contributed to this report.

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Another lawsuit filed against U.S. over "Fast and Furious"

A second wrongful death lawsuit has been filed blaming U.S. government officials involved in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives' "Operation Fast and Furious," which allowed thousands of weapons to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.

Tuesday, the Texas family of fallen Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Jaime Zapata sued the Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security, the former head of the ATF and others they blame in Zapata's death.

In February 2011, Zapata and his partner Victor Avila were gunned down in Mexico by suspected drug cartel members. Avila survived but was critically injured and has joined Zapata's family in the suit.

As CBS News reported, at least two of the murder weapons had been trafficked by suspects the ATF had under surveillance but failed to arrest. Zapata's parents argue that if ATF agents had arrested the suspects and confiscated the weapons early on, the rifles might not have been used in their son's murder.

The Justice Department has not commented except to say that, at the time, the ATF "was not aware of," a suspect's purchase of one weapon used in Zapata's murder. Justice officials said answering further questions would jeopardize the investigation.

Zapata and Avila were on assignment at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico when their supervisors sent them on a mission to pick up some equipment that required driving on an infamous stretch of highway "known to be patrolled and controlled by a dangerous criminal organization," according to the suit. That was despite a recent travel notice that warned U.S. embassy employees of the danger. The lawsuit says Avila objected, but that the two were ordered to make the trip anyway without escort and in an armored Chevrolet Suburban that did not have working GPS.

When a drug cartel vehicle cut off and blocked Zapata and Avila's vehicle, Zapata put the vehicle in park and it automatically unlocked the doors, according to the lawsuit. It says the attackers were able to breach the vehicle, kill Zapata and injure Avila using weapons trafficked by suspects ATF had previously watched without arresting.

The lawsuit blames a number of ATF officials involved in Fast and Furious, including former ATF Director Kenneth Melson, former Phoenix ATF Special Agent in Charge Bill Newell and former ATF Phoenix Group Leader David Voth for developing the controversial strategy of combating the Mexican cartels with "gunrunning activities." According to the suit, "The high-risk tactics of cessation of surveillance, gunwalking, and non-interdiction of weapons that ATF used in Operation Fast and Furious went against the core of ATF's mission ... These inherent flaws of Fast and Furious made its tragic consequences inevitable."

All of the ATF officials named in the lawsuit have denied wrongdoing. Newell has said that Fast and Furious was sanctioned at high levels at ATF and Justice Department headquarters, and that he and his colleagues turned to the controversial strategy of letting guns "walk" into the hands of Mexicans gun cartels because prosecutors were turning away their smaller cases involving just the so-called "straw purchasers" who move the weapons.

Two months ago, the family of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry sued seven government employees -- including some also named in the Zapata lawsuit. Terry was gunned down by illegal immigrants in the U.S. two months before Zapata, in Dec. 2010. Like the Zapata case, the alleged killers were armed with rifles that had been trafficked by suspects ATF watched -- but did not arrest at the time.

The Terry lawsuit claims the federal officials "created, organized, implemented and/or participated in a plan - code named 'Operation Fast and Furious' - to facilitate the distribution of dangerous firearms to violent criminals" and that they "knew or should have known that their actions would cause substantial injuries, significant harm, and even death to Mexican and American civilians and law enforcement, but were recklessly indifferent to the consequence of their actions."

Lengthy investigations by Congress and the Inspector General have faulted at least 17 ATF and Justice Department officials for alleged mismanagement and other violations of conduct.

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Charred Human Remains Found in Burned Cabin

Investigators have located charred human remains in the burned-out cabin where they believe suspected cop killer and ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner was holed up as the structure burned to the ground, police said.

The human remains were found within the debris of the burned cabin and identification will be attempted through forensic means, the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department said in a news release early this morning.

Dorner barricaded himself in the cabin in the San Bernardino Mountains near Big Bear Tuesday afternoon after engaging in a gunfight with police, killing one officer and injuring another, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said.

Cindy Bachman, a spokeswoman for the department, which is the lead agency in the action, said Tuesday night investigators would remain at the site all night.

FULL COVERAGE: Christopher Dorner Manhunt

When Bachman was asked whether police thought Dorner was in the burning cabin, she said, "Right. We believe that the person that barricaded himself inside the cabin engaged in gunfire with our deputies and other law enforcement officers is still inside there, even though the building burned."

Bachman spoke shortly after the Los Angeles Police Department denied earlier reports that a body was found in the cabin, contradicting what law enforcement sources told ABC News and other news organizations.

Police around the cabin told ABC News they saw Dorner enter but never leave the building as it was consumed by flames, creating a billowing column of black smoke seen for miles.

A news conference is scheduled for later today in San Bernardino.

One sheriff's deputy was killed in a shootout with Dorner earlier Tuesday afternoon, believed to be his fourth victim after killing a Riverside police officer and two other people this month, including the daughter of a former police captain, and promising to kill many more in an online manifesto.

PHOTOS: Former LAPD Officer Suspected in Shootings

Carjacking Victim Says Christopher Dorner Was Dressed for Damage Watch Video

Christopher Dorner Manhunt: Inside the Shootout Watch Video

Chris Dorner Manhunt: Fugitive Ex-Cop in Shootout With Police Watch Video

Cops said they heard a single gunshot go off from inside the cabin just as they began to see smoke and fire. Later they heard the sound of more gunshots, which was the sound of ammunition being ignited by the heat of the blaze, law enforcement officials said.

Police did not enter the building, but shot tear gas inside.

One of the largest dragnets in recent history, which led police to follow clues across the West and into Mexico, apparently ended just miles from where Dorner's trail went cold last week.

It all began at 12:20 p.m. PT Tuesday, when a maid working at a local resort called 911, saying she and another worker had been tied up and held hostage by Dorner in a cabin, sources said.

The maid told police she was able to escape, but Dorner had stolen one of their cars, which was identified as a purple Nissan.

The San Bernardino Sheriff's Office and state Fish and Wildlife wardens spotted the stolen vehicle and engaged in a shootout with Dorner.

Officials say Dorner crashed the stolen vehicle and fled on foot only to commandeer Rick Heltebrake's white pickup truck on a nearby road a short time later.

"[Dorner] said, 'I don't want to hurt you, just get out and start walking up the road and take your dog with you.' He was calm. I was calm. I would say I was in fear for my life, there was no panic, he told me what to do and I did it," Heltebrake said.

"He was dressed in all camouflage, had a big assault sniper-type rifle. He had a vest on like a ballistic vest," Heltebrake added.

The white pickup truck bought Dorner extra time because police were still looking for the purple Nissan, California Department of Fish and Wildlife Lt. Patrick Foy told "Good Morning America" today.

"We were looking for a purple color Nissan and all of a sudden this white pickup starts coming by in the opposite direction. That's not the suspect's vehicle that we had been looking for," Foy said.

A warden with the Fish and Wildlife department noticed Dorner driving and the pursuit picked up again, Foy said.

"Ultimately, the officer who was driving that vehicle stopped and pulled out his patrol rifle and engaged probably 15 to 20 shots as Dorner was driving away," Foy said.

Dorner then ran on foot to the cabin in which he barricaded himself and got in a shootout with San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies and other officers who arrived.

The two deputies were wounded in the firefight and airlifted to a nearby hospital, where one died, police said. The second deputy was in surgery and was expected to survive, police said.

Police sealed all the roads into the area, preventing cars from entering the area and searching all of those on the way out. All schools were briefly placed on lockdown.

Believing that Dorner might have been watching reports of the standoff, authorities asked media not to broadcast images of police officers' surrounding the cabin, but sent him a message.

"If he's watching this, the message is: Enough is enough," Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Andy Smith told reporters at a news conference Tuesday. "It's time to turn yourself in. It's time to stop the bloodshed. It's time to let this event and let this incident be over."

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Why pope will long be remembered

Tim Stanley says Pope Benedict will be seen as an important figure in church history.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Timothy Stanley: Benedict XVI's resignation is historic since popes usually serve for life


• He says pope not so much conservative as asserting church's "living tradition"


• He backed traditionalists, but a conflicted flock, scandal, culture wars a trial to papacy, he says


• Stanley: Pope kept to principle, and if it's not what modern world wanted, that's world's problem

Editor's note: Timothy Stanley is a historian at Oxford University and blogs for Britain's The Daily Telegraph. He is the author of "The Crusader: The Life and Times of Pat Buchanan."

(CNN) -- Journalists have a habit of calling too many things "historic" -- but on this occasion, the word is appropriate. The Roman Catholic Church is run like an elected monarchy, and popes are supposed to rule until death; no pope has stepped down since 1415.

Therefore, it almost feels like a concession to the modern world to read that Benedict XVI is retiring on grounds of ill health, as if he were a CEO rather than God's man on Earth. That's highly ironic considering that Benedict will be remembered as perhaps the most "conservative" pope since the 1950s -- a leader who tried to assert theological principle over fashionable compromise.

Timothy Stanley

The word "conservative" is actually misleading, and the monk who received me into the Catholic Church in 2006 -- roughly a year after Benedict began his pontificate -- would be appalled to read me using it. In Catholicism, there is no right or left but only orthodoxy and error. As such, Benedict would understand the more controversial stances that he took as pope not as "turning back the clock" but as asserting a living tradition that had become undervalued within the church. His success in this regard will be felt for generations to come.

Opinion: Why pope will be remembered for generations

He not only permitted but quietly encouraged traditionalists to say the old rite, reviving the use of Latin or receiving the communion wafer on the tongue. He issued a new translation of the Roman Missal that tried to make its language more precise. And, in the words of one priest, he encouraged the idea that "we ought to take care and time in preparing for the liturgy, and ensure we celebrate it with as much dignity as possible." His emphasis was upon reverence and reflection, which has been a healthy antidote to the 1960s style of Catholicism that encouraged feverish participation bordering on theatrics.

Nothing the pope proposed was new, but it could be called radical, trying to recapture some of the certainty and beauty that pervaded Catholicism before the reforming Vatican II. Inevitably, this upset some. Progressives felt that he was promoting a form of religion that belonged to a different century, that his firm belief in traditional moral theology threatened to distance the church from the people it was supposed to serve.

If that's true, it wasn't the pope's intent. Contrary to the general impression that he's favored a smaller, purer church, Benedict has actually done his best to expand its reach. The most visible sign was his engagement on Twitter. But he also reached out to the Eastern Orthodox Churches and spoke up for Christians persecuted in the Middle East.

Opinion: Huge challenges await next pope

In the United Kingdom, he encouraged married Anglican priests to defect. He has even opened up dialogue with Islam. During his tenure, we've also seen a new embrace of Catholicism in the realm of politics, from Paul Ryan's nomination to Tony Blair's high-profile conversion. And far from only talking about sex, Benedict expanded the number of sins to include things such as pollution. It's too often forgotten that in the 1960s he was considered a liberal who eschewed the clerical collar.

The divisions and controversies that occurred under Benedict's leadership had little to do with him personally and a lot more to do with the Catholic Church's difficult relationship with the modern world. As a Catholic convert, I've signed up to its positions on sexual ethics, but I appreciate that many millions have not. A balance has to be struck between the rights of believers and nonbelievers, between respect for tradition and the freedom to reject it.

As the world has struggled to strike that balance (consider the role that same-sex marriage and abortion played in the 2012 election) so the church has found itself forced to be a combatant in the great, ugly culture war. Benedict would rather it played the role of reconciler and healer of wounds, but at this moment in history that's not possible. Unfortunately, its alternative role as moral arbiter has been undermined by the pedophile scandal. Nothing has dogged this pontificate so much as the tragedy of child abuse, and it will continue to blot its reputation for decades to come.

Opinion: Echoes of past in pope's resignation

For all these problems, my sense is that Benedict will be remembered as a thinker rather than a fighter. I have been so fortunate to become a Catholic at a moment of liturgical revival under a pope who can write a book as majestic and wise as his biography of Jesus. I've been lucky to know a pope with a sense of humor and a willingness to talk and engage.

If he wasn't what the modern world wanted -- if he wasn't prepared to bend every principle or rule to appease all the people all the time -- then that's the world's problem rather than his. Although he has attained one very modern distinction indeed. On Monday, he trended ahead of Justin Bieber on Twitter for at least an hour.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Timothy Stanley.

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Tension running high in Kashmir Valley

KASHMIR VALLEY: Tension is running high in Kashmir Valley, after India's secret execution of a Kashmiri man for his involvement in an attack on parliament in 2001.

A continuous curfew has been in place for four days now, as the government attempts to prevent further outbreaks of violence.

The curfew has brought life to a standstill in the valley.

Three people have died and at least 50 others injured in protests over India's execution of a Kashmiri militant, Afzal Guru, on February 9.

Farooq Ahmed, a resident, said: "This curfew isn't right. Even if someone is sick, the police won't let them leave. Yesterday, there was some stone pelting -- if someone got injured... it's not right. The curfew is making life very difficult for people."

While the police keep a strict vigil, making sure there is no movement on the streets, opposition leaders are speaking out against such extreme measures.

Mehbooba Mufti, an opposition leader from the People's Democratic Party, said: "What has happened is very bad. The consequence of this will negatively impact the psyche of the young generation."

It could take many days before life returns to normal in the valley.

For now, the Kashmir government may succeed in containing the situation.

However, there is still a considerable chance that violence could still break out. And that is not something the state government would look forward to, especially when things were beginning to return to normal after years of conflict.

- CNA/al

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Bergen: New story of bin Laden's death

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Esquire published interview with ex-Navy SEAL who says he shot bin Laden


• Peter Bergen: His account differs from another SEAL who wrote bestseller "No Easy Day"


• He says "the Shooter" gave an account that matches physical evidence on the scene


• Shooter left military before he became eligible for pension, health benefits

Editor's note: Peter Bergen is CNN's national security analyst, the author of "Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for bin Laden -- From 9/11 to Abbottabad," and a director at the New America Foundation.

(CNN) -- On Monday Esquire magazine published a massive profile of the Navy SEAL who says he shot Osama bin Laden.

Weighing in at some 15,000 words, the story does not identify the killer of al Qaeda's leader by his real name and refers to him only as "the Shooter."

Clearly the Shooter wanted to maintain something of the code of silence that is pervasive among the covert warriors of SEAL Team 6, the unit that mounted the bin Laden operation.

Peter Bergen

What do we learn from the Shooter's story? Most critically that the Shooter says he killed bin Laden with two shots at close range as he stood in his third floor bedroom in the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where he had been hiding for more than five years.

This account differs in a crucial respect from the book "No Easy Day" by Mark Owen, a SEAL who also was on the bin Laden raid. (Mark Owen is a pseudonym; he was quickly revealed to be Matt Bissonnette.)

In "No Easy Day," a runaway bestseller that has stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for the past 22 weeks, Bissonnette writes that the SEALs were 15 minutes into the Abbottabad mission when the point man spotted a male poking his head out of a third floor bedroom.

He wrote that the point man shot at the mysterious male, and when the SEALs went inside the third floor bedroom they found him lying on the floor in his death throes. Bissonnette and another SEAL quickly finished him off with several more rounds.

The dead man was bin Laden.

'Nightmare' at home for SEAL who shot Osama bin Laden

It's a much less heroic story than that of the Shooter, who says he encountered bin Laden face-to-face in the bedroom. The Shooter says he saw that bin Laden's gun was within easy reach, and it was only then that he fired the shots that killed him.

The Shooter's version of bin Laden's death matches closely the accounts by reporters who have written most authoritatively about it.

It also matches what I saw when I was the only outside observer allowed inside the Abbottabad compound before it was demolished in late February 2012.

Accompanied by Pakistani military officers, I examined the bedroom where bin Laden died. The officers showed me a large patch of dark, congealed blood on the low ceiling.

It is consistent with the Shooter's account of firing two rounds at the head of a "surprisingly tall terrorist" while he was standing up. This evidence tends to undercut Bissonnette's version of bin Laden's death.

That said, it is worth noting that the night of bin Laden's death was a very confusing one.

As soon as the operation in Abbottabad had started one of the two Black Hawk helicopters crashed. There was a brief but intense firefight with Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, bin Laden's courier. The SEALs also shot and killed the courier's brother, sister-in-law and bin Laden's son Khalid.

All this took place in less than 15 minutes on a night when there was no moon and the electricity in the compound and surrounding neighborhood had been turned off. The SEALs were wearing night vision goggles that bathed the compound in a murky, pixilated glow.

It was a confusing situation, and that helps explain why Bissonnette's account differs from that of the Shooter.

In fact, Bissonnette's account virtually eliminates what the Esquire profile asserts is the Shooter's "central role in bin Laden's death."

Navy Seals: A battle for the conscience

"I don't know why he'd do that," the Shooter told Esquire.

We keep learning more about the hunt for and the death of Osama bin Laden, but it is a complex story, and, in common with many important historical events, the full facts will take many years to emerge.

The Shooter's account in Esquire is important to help us understand what happened that night, as is Bissonnette's account.

A good deal of the Esquire piece concerns the Shooter's worries about his future now that he has left the military.

"When he leaves after sixteen years in the Navy, his body filled with scar tissue, arthritis, tendonitis, eye damage, and blown disks, here is what he gets from his employer and a grateful nation: Nothing. No pension, no health care, and no protection for himself or his family."

In fact, pretty much any veteran who leaves before 20 years of service is not going to be eligible for a pension.

So should the Shooter be treated any differently? Indeed, should other members of key Special Operations units like SEAL Team 6 or the Army's Delta Force who have been at war almost continuously since the 9/11 attacks be given greater benefits given the inordinate amount of combat they have seen?

It's an idea that may be worth exploring for those who have seen extensive combat, but the fact is that once you start making such exceptions, the floodgates will open. After more than a decade of war, many veterans in conventional military units would also qualify for such preferential treatment.

In a time of budget crisis and large cuts at the Pentagon it is hard to make such a case. After all, what about the thousands of Marines who have also been fighting for many years in tough places like Anbar in western Iraq and Helmand in southern Afghanistan? Should they get a cushy early retirement deal, too?

If the Shooter had wanted to get the full benefits that follow 20 years of service he had a choice: Stay in for another four years to qualify for the pension he clearly deserves.

It's a choice he didn't make.

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Poll: 45% approve of Obama's handling of the economy

By Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Anthony Salvanto, and Fred Backus

As President Barack Obama prepares for the first State of the Union Address of his second term, one which will primarily be focused on economic issues, fewer than half of Americans (45 percent) approve of how he's handling the economy, while more (49 percent) disapprove.

Overall, Mr. Obama is performing better with 52 percent of Americans now approving of the job he is doing as President, while 38 percent disapprove.

Mr. Obama's approval rating has remained fairly constant over the past year, though it rose as high as 57 percent in December. Only 12 percent of Republicans approve; 86 percent of Democrats do. Just under half of independents approve.

On the other hand, the President enjoys particularly strong support for his handling of terrorism - 57 percent approve, while 31 percent disapprove.

Use of Drones

The practice of using unmanned drone aircrafts to attack suspected terrorists in foreign countries - a policy begun by the Bush Administration and expanded under President Obama - enjoys widespread and bipartisan support. Seven in 10 Americans favor using drones to attack suspected terrorists abroad, including most Republicans, Democrats, and independents.

Americans also support a more controversial measure, although in smaller numbers. Forty-nine percent of Americans favor the targeting and killing of U.S. citizens living abroad who are suspected of carrying out terrorist activities against the U.S.; 38 percent oppose that.

Cooperation between Republicans and Democrats?

Looking ahead, Americans are not especially optimistic that there will be more cooperation between Republicans and Democrats in the next four years than there was during the President's first term. Just 17 percent think there will be more cooperation, 22 percent say less, and 58 percent say cooperation will be about the same as it was during the last four years.

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This poll was conducted by telephone from February 6-10, 2013 among 1,148 adults nationwide. Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups may be higher. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

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Fort Hood Hero Says Obama 'Betrayed' Victims

Three years after the White House arranged a hero's welcome at the State of the Union address for the Fort Hood police sergeant and her partner who stopped the deadly shooting there, Kimberly Munley says President Obama broke the promise he made to her that the victims would be well taken care of.

"Betrayed is a good word," former Sgt. Munley told ABC News in a tearful interview to be broadcast tonight on "World News with Diane Sawyer" and "Nightline."

"Not to the least little bit have the victims been taken care of," she said. "In fact they've been neglected."

There was no immediate comment from the White House about Munley's allegations.

Thirteen people were killed, including a pregnant soldier, and 32 others shot in the November 2009 rampage by the accused shooter, Major Nidal Hasan, who now awaits a military trial on charges of premeditated murder and attempted murder.

Tonight's broadcast report also includes dramatic new video, obtained by ABC News, taken in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, capturing the chaos and terror of the day.

WATCH Exclusive Video of Fort Hood's Aftermath

Munley, since laid off from her job with the base's civilian police force, was shot three times as she and her partner, Sgt. Mark Todd, confronted Hasan, who witnesses said had shouted "Allahu Akbar" as he opened fire on soldiers being processed for deployment to Afghanistan.

As Munley lay wounded, Todd fired the five bullets credited with bringing Hasan down.

Charles Dharapak/AP Photo

Leader Wants to Rehabilitate 'Misguided' Youth Watch Video

Despite extensive evidence that Hasan was in communication with al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki prior to the attack, the military has denied the victims a Purple Heart and is treating the incident as "workplace violence" instead of "combat related" or terrorism.

READ a Federal Report on the FBI's Probe of Hasan's Ties to al-Awlaki

Al-Awlaki has since been killed in a U.S. drone attack in Yemen, in what was termed a major victory in the U.S. efforts against al Qaeda.

Munley and dozens of other victims have now filed a lawsuit against the military alleging the "workplace violence" designation means the Fort Hood victims are receiving lower priority access to medical care as veterans, and a loss of financial benefits available to those who injuries are classified as "combat related."

READ the Fort Hood Victims' Lawsuit

Some of the victims "had to find civilian doctors to get proper medical treatment" and the military has not assigned liaison officers to help them coordinate their recovery, said the group's lawyer, Reed Rubinstein.

"There's a substantial number of very serious, crippling cases of post-traumatic stress disorder exacerbated, frankly, by what the Army and the Defense Department did in this case," said Rubinstein. "We have a couple of cases in which the soldiers' command accused the soldiers of malingering, and would say things to them that Fort Hood really wasn't so bad, it wasn't combat."

A spokesperson for the Army said its policy is not to comment on pending litigation, but that it is "not true" any of the military victims have been neglected and that it has no control over the guidelines of the Veterans Administration.

Secretary of the Army John McHugh told ABC News he was unaware of any specific complaints from the Fort Hood victims, even though he is a named defendant in the lawsuit filed last November which specifically details the plight of many of them.

"If a soldier feels ignored, then we need to know about it on a case by case basis," McHugh told ABC News. "It is not our intent to have two levels of care for people who are wounded by whatever means in uniform."

Some of the victims in the lawsuit believe the Army Secretary and others are purposely ignoring their cases out of political correctness.

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