TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you are given news articles and you need to generate a highlight, i.e., a short summary, with a maximum length of 10 lines.
PROBLEM: (CNN) -- Bayern Munich coach Louis Van Gaal has signed a one-year contract extension with the German champions. The Dutchman's current deal was due to expire at the end of the Bundesliga season but the club confirmed on Monday that Van Gaal's new contract will take him through until June 2012. Bayern won the title last season but have endured a tough start to the current campaign. They are sitting ninth in the table after losing two of their opening six games and were defeated at home by league leaders Mainz on Saturday. But chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told the club's official website that they were keen for the coach to stay despite Bayern's patchy form. "I always prefer doing things which might not have been expected," he said. "People are always extending contracts after victories, so this sends out a very good signal to the world at large about our opinion of the coach's value, even though we lost to Mainz." Speaking ahead of Bayern's Champions League tie with Swiss team FC Basel on Tuesday, Van Gaal said: "My first priority is always the sporting perspective. Winning things is always important, and you can win things with a top club like Bayern Munich." The 59-year-old led Bayern to the Champions League final for the first time since 2001 last season, where they were beaten 2-1 by Inter Milan, then coached by Jose Mourinho. Van Gaal said his "outstanding" relationship with his playing staff and the board were major factors in his decision to commit. He added: "I couldn't wish for anything better. The chemistry's right. You get to know each other properly in difficult situations. We're seeing it again right now. "These are tough times, but the board is keeping the faith -- the faith which took us to the Champions League final in Madrid." Rummenigge said Bayern valued their coach highly: "He does a superb job every day. We're recognizing that with this contract extension." Bayern's captain -- Dutch midfielder Mark van Bommel -- welcomed the news. He said: "The coach signing a new deal is a very good sign. He's doing a great job." One of Germany's stars of the World Cup, Thomas Muller, echoed the comments of his captain. "Van Gaal been extremely important for me so far, he's made a huge contribution to my career. That settles the matter, which is good for him, for us and for the club as a whole."

SOLUTION: Louis Van Gaal signs a contract extension with German champions Bayern Munich .
The Dutchman's deal runs until the end of June in 2012 .
Bayern won the Bundesliga last season and were beaten in the Champions League final .
Van Gaal unconcerned about Bayern's patchy start to the season .

PROBLEM: WASHINGTON (CNN) -- State Department officials should serve where they are needed -- even in war-torn Iraq, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says that "people need to serve where they are needed." Rice was responding to foreign service officers' objections to the possibility of "directed assignments" in Iraq. The issue has caused an uproar in the State Department, resulting in a contentious town hall-style meeting Wednesday. The new directives would be needed if enough qualified foreign service officers don't step forward to fill open positions at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. If the State Department enforces directed assignments, it will be the first time since the Vietnam War era. One official called the order to serve in Iraq "a potential death sentence" during the town meeting. The State Department already has begun notifying about 200 people considered prime candidates. Those chosen will be given 10 days to respond, according to last week's announcement. Unless they have a valid medical reason to refuse, those who decline could face dismissal, it said. Wednesday's heated meeting was replayed on an internal State Department television channel in Washington several times and talked about widely. Some at the hourlong meeting questioned why they were not told of the policy change directly, learning about it instead from news organizations last week.  Watch the diplomats exchange angry words » . "I just have no respect for the whole process because you've demonstrated a lack of respect for your own colleagues," said foreign service officer Jack Croddy. "Thank you for that comment. It's full of inaccuracies, but that's OK," Harry Thomas Jr., director general of the foreign service, shot back. Others pointed out the risks of such assignments, considering the dangers of a war zone, lack of security and regular rocket attacks on U.S. personnel. Rice, who did not attend the meeting, tried to calm things down Friday by underscoring the State Department's attempts to do "everything that we can to try and protect our diplomats." However, she said, "This is one of the highest priority tasks of the United States, and we're going to meet our obligations." Speaking to reporters en route to Turkey and the Mideast, she said, "I don't know if we will have direct assignments or not, but we are one foreign service, and people need to serve where they are needed." The secretary sent out a cable to State Department employees worldwide encouraging them to serve in Iraq. "This year [U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker] has identified the need for additional positions to more effectively accomplish our mission in Iraq," Rice said in the cable. Rice said she has decided to go forward with the identification of  officers to serve, "should it prove necessary to direct assignments." "Should others step forward, as some already have, we will fill these new jobs as we have before -- with volunteers. However, regardless of how the jobs may be filled, they must be filled," she said. Rice earlier said reports that the State Department was finding it hard to coax foreign service employees into Iraq "couldn't be further from the truth." The assignments are new positions. Fifteen people have stepped forward to volunteer for Iraq service since the new policy was announced October 26, department spokesman Sean McCormack said. McCormack rejected comments by Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-California, that State Department employees are "nervous Nellies" and that wounded U.S. military veterans should be asked to fill the Iraq vacancies. McCormack said until now the State Department has been successful in filling jobs in Iraq with volunteers. Since 2003, more than 1,500 personnel have volunteered to go to Iraq, he said. But with the expansion of the staff in Iraq this year, 58 spots were left open. "They are serving in dangerous and challenging places," he said. "We have a lot of brave people who are stepping up to the plate in Anbar and Basra and Baghdad and Kabul and a lot of other places that are not necessarily in the headlines." State Department employees have been killed in Iraq, but McCormack could not say how many. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Zain Verjee and Charley Keyes contributed to this report.

SOLUTION: Condoleezza Rice responds to foreign service officers' objections on Iraq duty .
"Directed assignments" will be enforced if enough officers don't volunteer in Iraq .
Rice: Department doing "everything that we can to try and protect our diplomats"
One official calls order to serve in Iraq "a potential death sentence"

PROBLEM: Washington (CNN) -- A Chicago man who planned to travel to Somalia to fight for a terrorist group pleaded guilty on Monday to terrorism-related charges. Shaker Masri, a 28-year old U.S. citizen, pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support for Al-Shabaab, a group he knew the United States had designated as a foreign terrorist organization, according to prosecutors. In his plea agreement, Masri said that on July 19, 2010, he told an associate he "wanted to travel to a conflict zone to engage in jihadist fighting" and that he had the choice of going to Afghanistan to help al Qaeda or travel to Somalia to aid Al-Shabaab. Masri told his associate he had decided to go to Somalia but he needed money. The associate -- who was actually a source assisting law enforcement -- said he would help Masri but insisted on going to join Al-Shabaab as well. Masri agreed, according to the plea agreement. Over several weeks Masri and his associate worked on their travel plans including "how to conceal their departure, the financial costs of the journey, the necessity of supplies, and the weapons they would need to acquire in Somalia." The plea agreement says the associate asked Masri how they would link up with Al-Shabaab once they arrived in Somalia. Masri explained that they would be traveling to a part of southern Somalia that was controlled by Al-Shabaab and said "he expected that they would be placed with a brigade of al-Shabaab's militia comprised of foreign fighters." According to the plea agreement, Masri said to avoid suspicion they should not travel directly to East Africa. Instead Masri decided on a route through California, Mexico, and then a "Latin or South American country that did not work with United States' law enforcement" and then on to East Africa. Masri told his associate that once they left for Somalia they would be "wanted men." Masri also told his associate that he needed to get rid of his laptop because it had information that could be incriminating, and buy a new one. In late July Masri and the man he believed to be his co-conspirator purchased one-way tickets to California to begin their circuitous journey. On August 3, 2010 -- the day before their scheduled departure -- Masri and his associate drove to a liquor store where the associate allegedly picked up $18,000 to fund their trip. Next they went to a store to buy a new laptop. Masri was arrested when he left the store. Earlier in his case Masri also was charged with attempting or conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction outside the United States. A criminal complaint charged he wanted to wear a suicide vest and become a martyr with an attack on "infidels." Under the terms of the plea agreement that charge was dropped. Masri is scheduled to be sentenced on October 16, and his plea agreement calls for a sentence of nine years and 10 months in prison on the conspiracy to provide material support charge. Chicago terror suspect's long road to seeking martyrdom .

SOLUTION:
The 28-year-old U.S. citizen told an associate he wanted to engage in "jihadist fighting"
The associate was actually a source assisting law enforcement .
The man's plea agreement calls for a sentence of nearly 10 years in prison .