(Continued from page 24)

• Not long after Clinton stepped down as President Barack Obama's secretary of state, the "will she or won't she" question is already following her around like the activists who held dark blue "Ready for Hillary" signs outside speeches at the Kennedy Center in Washington and New York's Lincoln Center.
• This past week, Clinton came off a two-month break with a soft roll-out of sorts. She gave her first two public speeches since leaving the State Department, released details of a book scheduled for June 2014 and plans to join an advisory board of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition.
• The mere makings of a pubic schedule for the runner-up of the 2008 Democratic presidential race is enough to get political tongues wagging over what it all means for the 2016 campaign. The speeches and news coverage offered an early indication of some of what awaits her as she considers whether to seek the White House again in three years: adoring supporters young and old, former political advisers to her husband, Bill, begging her to run, and potential rivals sizing her up.
• ___

• BAGRAM, Afghanistan (AP) -- A weekend visit to Afghanistan by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is aimed at assessing the type and level of additional training that U.S. troops could provide to Afghan defense forces after 2014.
• Gen. Martin Dempsey, who arrived at Bagram Air Field on Saturday after an overnight flight, said that assessment will inform U.S. decisions about how many American troops should remain after the U.S. and NATO combat role ends in December 2014.
• The U.S. is expected to keep between 9,000 and 10,000 in a residual force, but no final decision has been made.
• Dempsey was expected to meet with U.S. and allied commanders, including the new overall commander of coalition forces, Gen. Joseph Dunford. He also planned to meet with Afghan officials and talk with soldiers in the field.
• Dempsey said Friday in Stuttgart, Germany, that he would like to see how Afghan forces perform this summer before determining the size of a residual U.S. force. There are now about 66,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, down from a 2010 peak of about 100,000.
• ___