It's been a long and complicated eight years for America's foreign policy under Barack Obama, but the chastened president is still a believer in US leadership, as PJ Crowley writes.

In the first year of his presidency, Barack Obama the idealistic internationalist cared deeply about what the world thought of US policy and power and committed himself to repairing America's standing in the world.
The United States was the indispensable nation, but needed to develop effective partnerships to solve the world's problems and share the burden of administering an interconnected and interdependent global system.
In the last year of his presidency, a far more chastened and realistic Barack Obama gave a remarkably blunt series of interviews to Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic that revealed the difficulty of translating that presumed indispensability into coherent strategies and meaningful collective action to resolve complex conflicts that are rooted as much in the past as the present.
Obama remains a true believer in the importance of US leadership. But he recognises the limits of American power, understanding that there are intractable problems that even the world's most influential nation can't solve.
The president rejected what he called the "Washington playbook", that the answer to every situation is military force. Obama was elected largely because of the war in Iraq (he alone among the presidential contenders in 2008 had not voted for it) and to avoid another Iraq.
Obama tried to better match the level of military muscle and diplomatic commitment to the importance of the interest and the potential for impact. He refused to take ownership of the outcome of a problem that he felt America didn't need to solve or couldn't solve at an acceptable or sustainable financial and political cost.
This strategic logic, as Obama told Goldberg, explained in large part his cautious approach to Libya and Syria.
How did Obama and Cameron fall out?
White House insists leaders are 'close partners'
Obama was pushed by British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy to support the Nato intervention to prevent an imminent massacre and protect the Libyan people from their unhinged leader, Muammar Gaddafi, who threatened to kill his political opponents "like rats".
Somewhere along the line, the three leaders decided that the only way to protect the Libyan people was to help the Libyan opposition, the National Transitional Council, overthrow the Gaddafi regime.
The world is undoubtedly better off without Gaddafi, but not yet Libya. While Obama rightly placed primary responsibility on Libya - the interim government was overconfident of its ability to manage its transition to democracy — he seemed to also finger a distracted Europe, which had a bigger stake in Libya's future.
"I had more faith in the Europeans," he said. Ok, but in fairness the EU financial crisis and Greek bailout were more than mere distractions. Their ripple effects impacted American markets in meaningful ways.
In fact, Nato did no post-conflict planning for Libya, to a great degree repeating a critical mistake made in Iraq. In the ensuing chaos, a group affiliated with al Qaeda attacked the US diplomatic and intelligence compounds in Benghazi and the Islamic State established a redoubt in Sirte, Qaddafi's hometown.
There is plenty of blame to go around, but no doubt the Libyan "mess", as Obama termed it, reinforced his doubts about Syria.
Obama drew a red line over Syria's use of chemical weapons, but after it was crossed in August 2013 he feared a slippery slope into the middle of what he considered "someone else's civil war." He threatened military force but in a dramatic moment in the Rose Garden pressed "the pause button," unexpectedly asking Congress for a vote on the proposed military strikes while buying time for a political alternative.
While the United States worked with Russia to force Syria to give up its chemical weapons stocks, many world leaders and some members of his own national security cabinet believe the mismanagement of the red line undermined the credibility of US power, a charge Obama categorically rejects.
Nonetheless, Obama would be drawn into the Syrian conflict within months as the Islamic State took control of three major Iraqi cities and released brutal videos showing the beheadings of American journalists and British aid workers.
Characteristic of Obama's definition of American indispensability, the United States now leads a 65-nation coalition that is steadily degrading the Islamic State. But it's unclear whether the limited application of military force is enough to destroy the caliphate. That, believes Obama, is the region's responsibility.
"A president does not make decisions in a vacuum," Obama said. "He does not have a blank slate." In the end, Obama more or less delivered the foreign policy that he advertised on the campaign trail in 2008 and for which he was elected — ending America's wars and avoiding new ones.
Which playbook the next American president brings into the Oval office 10 months from now - Washington's traditional internationalism, Obama's limited interventionism or the revisionism that has characterised the 2016 campaign thus far — is why elections matter and how domestic politics has come to shape America's foreign policy.
PJ Crowley is a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, a distinguished fellow at The George Washington University Institute for Public Diplomacy & Global Communication and author of the forthcoming book, Red Line: American Foreign Policy in a Time of Fractured Politics and Failing States.


Politicians from five political parties have clashed over action to tackle climate change - with UKIP arguing it is not caused by humans.

Conservative energy minister Matt Hancock praised the government's record on reducing carbon emissions.
But Ed Davey claimed the Lib Dems had to "fight every day" with its coalition partners for renewable forms of energy.
Shadow energy secretary Caroline Flint refused to rule out fuel duty rising under a Labour government.
The Green Party's Andrew Cooper told the debate on BBC2's Daily Politics that action on climate change had been "feeble".
Fracking
UKIP's Roger Helmer said: "I do not believe that the changes in climate are substantially caused by human activity."
He also insisted that it was not something voters were particularly interested in.
"How many people on the doorstep have raised the issue of climate change?" he said.
"It doesn't mean it isn't true but it's a speculative proposition. There's been no further global warming for 18 years."
But Mr Hancock said changes in the climate were "highly likely to be manmade".
He said he would be open to fracking in his own constituency, adding: "I would be open to have shale gas in any part of the country so long as it was explored for in a way that was careful and cautious.
"It's important we do this."
'Not liking Mick Jagger'
Mr Hancock said he thought the expansion of solar energy was superb, but warned that other forms of renewable energy risked destroying the environment.
"Environmental policy is about the beauty of our green and pleasant land. Putting onshore turbines in the wrong places where they are not wanted is not acceptable to local communities and we need to tackle that while supporting other renewables and low carbon," he said.
But Mr Davey compared Mr Hancock's support for renewables but not for onshore wind to "saying you like the Rolling Stones and not liking Mick Jagger".
Ms Flint said Labour would continue to support the development of renewable forms of energy.
"There are costs to this, but let's remember on our bills the green levy only amounts to Â£60 of an average bill of Â£1,300," she said.
"But it's about recognising what are the costs if we don't move to cleaner energy. It's important to get this balance right."
Mr Cooper said: "We need to invest in insulating over nine million new homes. We need Greens in Parliament to push for real commitment on climate change."


The public's overwhelming rejection of a change in the voting system is a "bitter blow", Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has said.

More than two-thirds of those who took part in the poll opposed replacing the current method for electing MPs with the alternative vote (AV) system.
Mr Clegg told the BBC the result was "very clear" and promised to "move on".
The No to AV campaign said voters had safeguarded first-past-the-post "for the next generation".
More than 19 million people took part in the referendum on whether to keep first-past-the-post, where voters put a cross next to their preferred candidate, with AV, which sees candidates ranked in order of preference.
These preferences could have been used to decide the outcome in constituencies where no candidate wins more than 50% of votes cast.
The Conservatives backed keeping the existing system, while Mr Clegg's Liberal Democrats urged change and Labour was split on the issue.
Overall turnout for Thursday's referendum was 42%, with 6,152,607 voters backing the proposal and 13,013,123 rejecting it
Mr Clegg said: "I wish I could say this is a photo finish but it isn't and the result is very clear.
"I'm a passionate supporter of electoral reform but we've got to accept this. If, in a democracy, you ask someone a question and get an overwhelming answer, you just have to move on."
He added: "This is a bitter blow for all those people like me who believe in the need for political reform."
Prime Minister David Cameron said the referendum was always going to be a "difficult moment" for the Tory-Lib Dem coalition, but added that the result had been "clear".
He added that the government would continue to deal with the problems facing the UK in a "decisive" way.
Labour leader Ed Miliband, who supported a move to AV, said the public had "delivered a clear verdict which I accept".
But he said elections still had to change in a way which made "people feel more included in our politics".
The AV referendum campaign has been marked by strong words of criticism between the two camps.
In a speech accepting his side's victory, No to AV campaign chairman Matthew Elliott said the result was "clear signal from every part of the country that people want to keep our simple, fair and effective system for electing MPs".
He added: "I personally believe this result will settle the debate about changing our electoral system for the next generation."
However, Katie Ghose, who ran the Yes to Fairer Votes campaign, which called for AV, said: "The referendum hasn't been the debate on issues of democracy that people would have hoped for.
"Too often the debate has been about party politics and the public has been shut out of discussing how we choose our MPs."
She added: "Over five million people voted for change - a tribute to our campaigners."


A deal to evacuate rebel fighters and civilians from eastern Aleppo has stalled, with heavy shelling reported in the Syrian city.

A ceasefire was declared in Aleppo on Tuesday and buses brought in to ferry people out of the devastated enclave.
But fighting resumed on Wednesday. Syrian activists also say air strikes over rebel-held territory have resumed.
The breakdown of the deal, brokered by Russia and Turkey, is being attributed to demands from the government side.
It is said to be seeking the evacuation of injured fighters and civilians from nearby towns encircled by opposition forces.
Eastern Aleppo has been held by the rebels since 2012. But they have been squeezed into ever-smaller areas in recent months by a major government offensive, backed by Russian air power.
In recent days government troops have made sweeping gains. Russia's military said on Wednesday that rebels were confined to only 2.5sq km of the city.
Late on Tuesday, Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told an emergency session of the UN Security Council that "military actions in eastern Aleppo are over".
Under the evacuation deal, civilians and rebels from eastern Aleppo were to be allowed to go to rebel-held areas in northern Syria.
Evacuations had been due to start at 05:00 (03:00 GMT), but did not go ahead. Fresh shelling was reported several hours later.
"The clashes are violent and bombardment is very heavy... it seems as though everything (the ceasefire) is finished," Rami Abdulrahman, director of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) monitoring group, said.
The SOHR also said aircraft had resumed bombing in rebel-held areas.
Russia - Syria's ally - said the Syrian army resumed firing after the rebels broke the truce. Syrian TV reported rebel rocket fire on government-held parts of the city and said at least six people had been killed.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Syrian forces of breaking the ceasefire deal and called the situation in Aleppo "very fragile". He said civilians had to be allowed to leave.
Residents of besieged eastern Aleppo have faced weeks of bombardment and chronic food and fuel shortages. Medical facilities in the city have largely been reduced to rubble.
AFP news agency reported that before the fighting had resumed, crowds of civilians, holding belongings, had gathered in the streets to await evacuation.
Some information continues to emerge from besieged areas:
Residents say they fear reprisals from government forces or being forcibly conscripted. There have also been reports of atrocities.
On Tuesday the UN said it had received reliable evidence of summary executions taking place, saying that in four areas 82 civilians were killed by pro-government forces. It said that many more may have died.
Syria's government and Russia said the allegations were untrue.
Meanwhile, the BBC has learned that Western forces are using satellites and unmanned aircraft to gather evidence of possible war crimes in Aleppo and elsewhere in Syria.
It is not clear exactly how many people remain in besieged areas. UN envoy Staffan de Mistura put the figure at about 50,000.
He said there were approximately 1,500 rebel fighters, about 30% of whom were from the jihadist group formerly known as the al-Nusra Front.
Other local sources say there could be as many as 100,000 people, many of them arriving from areas recently taken by the government.
The deal to evacuate rebel fighters and civilians out of eastern Aleppo is only the latest and most complex of such arrangements. It is also the one with the highest stakes.
Rebel-held towns in a ring around Damascus have one by one ceded in similar ways.
The choreography often follows the same pattern, with buses waiting hours or days at evacuation points as final guarantees on both sides are hammered out. Safe passage to the rebel-held province of Idlib has also been part of such deals.
More rarely, the agreements have involved reciprocal evacuations from government areas encircled by rebels. That now seems to have been made part of this deal, complicating it further.
The violence has resumed, but that does not mean that the deal is off.  The rebels have reached a point of no return.  Many more lives may be lost in the meantime, but it is all but certain that the fighters will leave Aleppo.


Authorities in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam say two people have died and more than 200,000 have been affected by flooding.

The state government said that over 500 villages in 13 districts of the state had been affected after early monsoon rains swelled the Brahmaputra river.
Floods are an annual occurrence in the region during the summer monsoon.
Assam has sufficient food stocks and medicines to cope, its revenue and disaster management minister said.


British scientists say they have developed a new type of wheat which could increase productivity by 30%.

The Cambridge-based National Institute of Agricultural Botany has combined an ancient ancestor of wheat with a modern variety to produce a new strain.
In early trials, the resulting crop seemed bigger and stronger than the current modern wheat varieties.
It will take at least five years of tests and regulatory approval before it is harvested by farmers.
Some farmers, however, are urging new initiatives between the food industry, scientists and government.
They believe the regulatory process needs to be speeded up to ensure that the global food security demands of the next few decades can be met, says the BBC's Tom Heap.
One in five of all the calories consumed round the world come from wheat.
But despite steady improvement in the late 20th century, the last 15 years have seen little growth in the average wheat harvest from each acre in Britain.
Just last month, cereal maker Weetabix announced that it would have to scale back production of some of its products due to a poor wheat harvest in the UK.
Now British scientists think they may have found the answer to increasing productivity again.
Around 10,000 years ago wheat evolved from goat grass and other primitive grains.
The scientists used cross-pollination and seed embryo transfer technology to transfer some of the resilience of the ancient ancestor of wheat into modern British varieties.
The process required no genetic modification of the crops.
Find out more by watching Countryfile on BBC One at 18:00 BST on Sunday 12 May.


Eastleigh suffered a promotion setback with a demoralising home loss to Chester.

The home side made the early running, but the visitors capitalised against the run of play. Johnny Hunt crossed for Kane Richards to stab the Blues into a 20th-minute lead.
Mikael Mandron missed two good chances to score for the hosts, which proved a turning point.
The Blues extended their advantage, despite a heroic penalty save by goalkeeper Scott Brown from Tom Shaw. In the ensuing scramble, Elliott Durrell poked in.
In their strenuous efforts to fight back, Eastleigh inadvertently gave Jordan Chapell the freedom of Ten Acres to race clear on the break and make it three.
Report supplied by the Press Association.
Match ends, Eastleigh 0, Chester FC 3.
Second Half ends, Eastleigh 0, Chester FC 3.
Goal!  Eastleigh 0, Chester FC 3. Jordan Chapell (Chester FC).
Substitution, Chester FC. Jordan Chapell replaces Kane Richards.
Goal!  Eastleigh 0, Chester FC 2. Elliott Durrell (Chester FC).
Substitution, Eastleigh. Alefe Santos replaces Ross Stearn.
Substitution, Eastleigh. Jamie Cureton replaces Scott Wilson.
Second Half begins Eastleigh 0, Chester FC 1.
First Half ends, Eastleigh 0, Chester FC 1.
Reda Johnson (Eastleigh) is shown the yellow card.
Goal!  Eastleigh 0, Chester FC 1. Kane Richards (Chester FC).
First Half begins.
Lineups are announced and players are warming up.


A Glasgow taxi driver who fled abroad to avoid a rape charge has been found guilty of the sex attack.

Arshad Mohammed, 48, raped the 19-year-old woman in his Skoda taxi after driving her to a dead-end in Neilston, East Renfrewshire, in November 2010.
He was caught after police took a DNA sample when he was detained in March and April 2011 for making sexual remarks to two 17-year-old women.
Sentence on Mohammed was deferred and he was remanded in custody.
Pakistan-born Mohammed, who holds Italian citizenship, was convicted by majority verdict following a six-day trial at the High Court in Stirling.
The court heard that the rape victim had got into his 50 50 Cabs Skoda taxi in her pyjamas, with a coat on top, following an evening watching television at a friend's house.
Mohammed abducted her and drove the victim to a secluded spot in Renfrewshire where he raped her.
After the attack he told her: "See you after, princess."
The court was told the woman went round to a friend's house in tears and the police were called.
Mohammed, who was described as having "more than one teenage daughter" and a wife in Pakistan, was caught after he targeted two other lone, teenage passengers.
He was detained by police twice, in March and April 2011, after he subjected them both to explicit sexual remarks.
On these occasions he was required to give a DNA sample which was matched to DNA on a swab taken from the rape victim.
Following his arrest, Mohammed appeared at Paisley Sheriff Court in June 2011 and was granted bail but he broke the conditions by failing to report to police, failing to hand in his Italian passport, and failing to appear at the High Court in Glasgow in April 2012.
Mohammed was arrested in Norway on a European Arrest Warrant two years later, and extradited back to the UK in August 2014.
During his trial he had lodged a special defence of consent, and claimed that his victim had asked him if he wanted to have sex.
He claimed she said afterwards, "Thank you driver, now I can get a good night's sleep."
In court, he claimed a "disability" in his legs made it only possible for him to have consensual sex.
The jury also found him guilty, unanimously, of two charges of breach of the peace for uttering the remarks to the 17-year-old girls.
Judge Lord Matthews said there was a "substantial sexual element" to the breaches of the peace.
He deferred sentence for reports and remanded Mohammed in custody.


Concerns have been expressed over the quality of last month's National 5 exam paper in computer science.

Some teachers have claimed there were a number of problems with questions - including the way some were phrased.
The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) has defended the exam paper and said it was in line with the course specifications.
The exam marks, which will be published in August, will help show if there actually was a problem.
If the mark needed to pass or the boundaries for particular grades need to be lowered substantially, it may lead to questions for the SQA.
One teacher who contacted BBC Scotland said: "I am very disappointed with the quality of this paper overall and personally, I think this paper is a disgrace and am really wondering if it actually went out to any checkers.
"I have gone through the entire paper and although some of my points are probably a little pedantic, they are valid."
The teacher said others shared his concerns.
The precise concerns made by the teacher were quite complex. Some involved the phrasing of the questions or the scenarios they described.
The SQA said the exam paper met its course and assessment specifications and that the anecdotal feedback it had received was positive.
A spokesman added: "The breadth of questions allowed candidates to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding. The paper did contain a small number of typographical errors.
"SQA takes its responsibility to uphold the high standards of Scottish qualifications very seriously and has systems in place to ensure assessment is high-quality, rigorous and meets national standards.
"These systems and processes are subject to continuous improvement."


For weeks now, US stock markets have been hitting records, a rise claimed by President Donald Trump as proof of a healthy economy.

But Mr Trump's pride in the numbers is at odds with analysts and investors, who have expressed increasing discomfort over the market's climb.
About 65% of investment managers surveyed by Northern Trust last quarter said they believed shares were over-valued, the highest ever in the firm's report.
Surveys by Bank of America Merrill Lynch have expressed alarm about the high prices, as have policymakers at the Federal Reserve.
"We are concerned about equity valuations right now," says Mike Morrill, chief operating officer at DF Dent, a Baltimore-based investment company. "We've had nine years of a strong bull market and that's not going to last forever."
The sentiment is similar to statements Mr Trump himself made before his election, when he said the stock market was "so bloated" and warned people to "be careful".
If investors believe prices are too high - and are buying anyway - that could be a sign of a bubble.
So is the stock market rally a reason to cheer, as Mr Trump suggests now? Or could a crash be around the corner?
Stocks, which have been on a long-term upward trend, surged early in 2017, amid optimism over business-friendly policies endorsed by the Trump administration, such as tax reform.
Analysts say that without clear signs of progress on reform in Washington that effect has faded.
Now, it's strong corporate revenue and profit growth that are boosting share prices, with gains going to larger, multinational companies.
The three major measures - the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq - have climbed between roughly 10% and 17% so far this year, compared with about 6% to 7% during the same period last year.
The Nasdaq has hit a new high more than 40 times this year. Since 2012, the value of the S&P 500 index has almost doubled.
"The stock market hit the highest level it's ever been," Mr Trump boasted on Wednesday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average exceeded 22,000 points on Wednesday morning.
"Our country is doing very well," he said.
But that hasn't stopped the muttering that the stock market, at least, is due for a correction.
Robert Shiller, a Nobel Prize-winning economist at Yale University, says share gains reflect optimism about where the economy is heading, but it's an unreliable forecasting tool, and shifts quickly.
"The stock market is mostly psychology," he says. "The fluctuations in it mean that we're in an optimistic mood but we could change and we could change suddenly."
Investors are trying to anticipate what might trigger a change - whether it be rising interest rates, weak consumer spending, developments overseas or something else entirely.
Mr Shiller says he thinks Mr Trump himself poses one of the biggest risks.
The firestorm in Washington in May after Mr Trump fired former FBI director James Comey prompted some of the biggest one-day share sell-offs this year.
"Usually, presidents are not able to transform the economy unless he does something disastrous, which transforms it down," says Mr Shiller. "I'm thinking that it's more likely he will create some kind of uncertainty, disruption and that might be a trigger for decline."
Many of the biggest gains come from a single sector - technology stocks - the same industry that some investors say is overvalued.
The S&P 500 information technology index, which averages 68 companies, including heavyweights such as Apple, Microsoft and Facebook, last month passed the record set in March 2000.
The index rose about 22% in the first seven months of 2017, while the broader S&P 500 climbed about 10%.
Some say the gains in tech make sense, as investors target a part of the economy seeing rapid growth.
However, others worry that in some cases the rise in shares has little to do with the companies' actual prospects.
And in more recent weeks, tech stocks have come under pressure.
If the sell-off spreads to other sectors, it could be a warning of bigger problems.
Jill Hall, a US equity strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, doesn't expect stock markets in general to rise much more this year, but she's not predicting a big sell-off either.
She thinks investors will shift their money from the high-growth tech industry into sectors such as energy, health care and finance.
"What we're expecting is more of a rotation out of growth and into value," she says.
Some say they're worried Federal Reserve and central bankers elsewhere will move too aggressively to increase interest rates, causing havoc in bond and stock markets.
About 27% of investors surveyed by Bank of America Merrill Lynch last month identified a mistake by central bankers in the US and Europe as the biggest risk to their outlooks. Another 28% were worried about bonds.
Mr Trump himself raised alarms on these lines at a presidential debate last year.
"We are in a big, fat, ugly bubble," he said.
"The only thing that looks good is the stock market. But if you raise interest rates even a little bit, that's going to come crashing down."
That's something that is not lost on the central bankers responsible for monetary policy.
Last month Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen told a US congressional committee: "We want to make sure that we manage this in a way that is not disruptive to financial markets."
And that's a sentiment financial markets would no doubt endorse.


England produced a flawless performance to beat Pakistan by 330 runs in the second Test, says former captain Michael Vaughan.

Media playback is not supported on this device
The hosts won with a day to spare at Old Trafford to level the series.
England made 589-8 declared and 173-1 declared to set up their second biggest win over Pakistan in terms of runs.
"It's an absolute hammering. It's as good a four days of cricket that you could wish for from an England point of view," Vaughan told Test Match Special.
England's Joe Root, promoted to number three for this series, was named man of the match after scoring 254 in the first innings and an unbeaten 71 off 48 balls in the second.
He also took four catches in Pakistan's first-innings 198 and claimed a wicket in his only over as Pakistan were bowled out for 234 on Monday.
"It's great to see him stepping up to number three and playing with the responsibility there," said captain Alastair Cook, who made 105 and 76 not out.
"It's as good an innings as I've seen. He's an extraordinary player. He didn't put a foot wrong; he played beautifully."
Root, who twice fell to poor strokes in England's 75-run defeat in the first Test, said: "It's a great feeling.
"Those two occasions at Lord's were batsman error on my part. I tried to cut that out of my game. It's the most controlled I've played."
Coach Trevor Bayliss said: "He went away and did a bit of soul-searching and hard work, came back and did exactly what he said he was going to do."
Vaughan: added: "This was his best Test-match innings."
Media playback is not supported on this device
Pakistan batted for only 63 overs in the first innings and 70 in the second on a pitch that offered the bowlers little assistance.
"Their spirit was broken," said former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott.
"Full marks to England - they got it all together, the quality of the batting, the discipline, their good bowling.
"England are in a good place and will win again. They will be too strong for Pakistan. I'll be surprised if they come back."
Pakistan play a two-day tour game against Worcestershire at New Road starting on Friday before the third Test at Edgbaston gets under way on 3 August.
Media playback is not supported on this device
Vaughan said: "England should enjoy the win and have a good party, but I just have a feeling that this series is going to be very, very tight."
Of the Pakistan players, only captain Misbah-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq have passed 50 in the first two Tests of the four-match series.
"This is a big disappointment for us," said Misbah. "We could have scored around 400 in the first innings - the ball wasn't doing anything much.
"We are short of confidence and shot selection really cost us.
"These guys are strong characters - mentally strong. I'm hopeful that everybody is hurt and they will really work hard."
Media playback is not supported on this device


A huge car bomb has exploded at the gate of Somalia's presidential palace, followed by a fierce gun battle inside, officials say.

At least two senior officials and nine attackers are reported dead but the security minister told the BBC the situation was "under control".
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has told the UN envoy to Somalia he was not harmed, envoy Nick Kay has tweeted.
The al-Qaeda-linked group al-Shabab has said it carried out the attack.
BBC Somalia analyst Mohamed Mohamed says this is the first time that al-Shabab fighters have entered the presidential palace, known as Villa Somalia.
The heavily guarded complex is home to the president, prime minister, speaker of parliament, other ministers and a mosque, which was hit during the attack.
The president was preparing for Friday prayers at the mosque, senior police officer Abdikadir Ahmed told Reuters news agency.
Some of the attackers were wearing suicide vests, police sources have told the BBC.
Another police officer, Hussein Farah, told Reuters there were about 10 assailants, wearing uniforms similar to that of the presidential guards.
"All the Shabab fighters perished, some blew up themselves while others were shot dead. Several government guards also died," he said.
"Now the fighting is over, and scattered on the scene is human flesh and blood."
Security Minister Abdi Karim Hussein told the BBC Somali service that all of the country's leaders were safe.
Senior officials in the prime minister's office and security services are said to have been killed.
Al-Shabab military spokesman Sheikh Abdul Aziz Abu Musab said militants were still in control of some buildings inside the presidential compound.
"Our commandos have attacked the so-called presidential palace in order to kill or arrest those who who are inside," he told the AFP news agency.
Mr Kay said the attack on Villa Somalia had "failed".
"Sadly some lives lost. I condemn strongly this terrorism," he said.
Al-Shabab was driven out of Mogadishu in 2011 but it still controls many smaller towns and rural areas of the country and stages periodic attacks in Mogadishu.
Some 22,000 African Union troops are helping the government battle al-Shabab.


Friends and family of a boxer with a "gentle smile", who died after being knocked out in his first fight, have attended a memorial mass.

Kuba Moczyk, 22, died in hospital after he was knocked out in an unlicensed fight at the Tower Complex, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, on 19 November.
A memorial mass has been held at St Mary's Church in the town.
Father Philip Shryane told the congregation Mr Moczyk' was a "good man" whose "life was boxing".
More on this story and others from Norfolk
He said Mr Moczyk was "a young man with a good heart, with so much to give and so much to look forward to... but always a gentle smile".
His uncle, Marcin Smigaj gave a tribute, in Polish, on behalf of the family. Mr Moczyk was due to be cremated.
Mr Moczyk, originally from Poland, worked at a chicken factory and lived in the town.
His trainer Scott Osinski said earlier that Mr Moczyk was winning the fight when he took the fatal blow.
His opponent is believed to be aged 17.


Islamic State militants have launched a fierce assault on government-held areas in the eastern Syrian city of Deir al-Zour, with dozens reportedly killed.

Twelve government soldiers and 20 IS fighters were killed, said the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
At least two civilians were also killed in IS rocket fire on government-controlled parts of the city, it added.
The jihadists have besieged government-held parts of the city, which borders Iraq, since early 2015.
IS already controls half of the city as well as most of the surrounding province, which shares the same name.
Deir al-Zour connects the militant group's de facto "capital" in Syria, Raqqa, to territory it controls in Iraq.
Why is there a war in Syria?
Turkish policy sets new path for Syria
The latest offensive comes amid a continuing ceasefire, brokered by Russia and Turkey last month, between government and rebel forces.
But the truce does not cover IS nor rival jihadist group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, which was known as al-Nusra Front until it broke off formal ties with al-Qaeda in July.
There are hopes the truce - which has mainly held despite some clashes - will lay the groundwork for peace talks planned for later this month in the Kazakh capital of Astana.
The umbrella group representing Syria's political and opposition factions, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), voiced its support for the talks on Saturday.
"Concerning the forthcoming meeting in Astana, the (High Negotiations) Committee stresses its support to the military delegation... and expresses hope, that the meeting would reinforce the truce," it said in a statement.
Official invitations have yet to be issued for the Astana talks, but Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said Washington will be asked to attend.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the city of Deir al-Zour had been hit by at least six explosions since Saturday morning.
Syrian government war planes hit back against IS positions, the state-run Sana news agency reported.
Rami Abdel Rahman, who runs the monitoring group, said Saturday's attack by IS was the "most violent" on the city in more than a year.
The jihadists are reportedly trying to cut off the main road linking the airport and the city in a bid to stop the government's supply lines.
Syrian and Russian aircraft have been carrying out regular air drops on the besieged area, where about 200,000 people live.


The Sun is thought be giving up printing pictures of topless women on Page Three.

Campaigners say it is a positive step in the right direction but say newspapers need to do more to represent women for the "amazing things they do" rather than for decoration.
Not everyone is happy with the decision though.
Three Page Three models have their say.
Emma is a Page Three star and she told Newsbeat that parents and feminists should be more concerned about access to porn that children have on their mobiles and tablets.
She told Newsbeat that she thinks campaigners should focus on bigger issues.
"There are way more important issues for feminist to be tackling than trying to ban a pair of boobs," she said.
"Whether you decide to get your boobs out doesn't define you as a person. I do have a brain, I have 11 GCSEs, 3 A-levels and a degree."
Emma told Newsbeat that she wishes feminists would stop singling out her profession.
"You see women's magazines and they are far more damaging to younger girls and women by putting down people's weight. I am confident with my body.
"I used to be bullied at school but it's given me so much confidence. It's empowered me and I get paid very well."
Emma told Newsbeat that campaigners say they are standing up for her rights but she wished they would leave her alone.
"The whole point of feminism is equal rights and for women to be able to do what they want from their own choice.
"I'm not being forced to do the job I do. I do it because I want to do it. "
One of the best known Page Three models is Melinda Messenger. She says her time doing it was fun.
"I will always have fond memories of working with The Sun even though it was only for a short while. I'm older and wiser, it's not something I would advise any girl to do.
"The paper has made the right decision, and it shows a great understanding from The Sun to end Page Three in this current climate.
"We live in a time now, where we are one click away from seeing thousands of naked images of both men and women.
"Our kids have full access to a whole gamut of images, a lot of which are potentially damaging to the development of their sense of self and I think this is the bigger issue we should be concerned about.
"As a mother myself I'm constantly worried about how easy it is for our kids to access porn, but also did they really need to see a topless woman in a family paper too?"
"I commend the Sun for taking out Page Three. That page should now be used for tackling the bigger issues of society, like abuse of all kinds and the readily available internet pornography that is having a damaging effect on how our kids view themselves."
Another Page Three pin-up, Jodie Marsh, has been defending her old job after being criticised on Twitter.
She said: "So-called 'feminists' really annoy me. Telling girls they shouldn't do Page 3 is not being a feminist; women should do whatever they want.
"I loved doing Page 3, it was good money. I thought 'Blimey, people are willing to pay to see my boobs'.
"I felt powerful, I was definitely in control and all the people (mostly women) I worked with were fab. I never felt exploited - in fact the opposite."
She denied that being a model meant she was selling out women.
"I am very much a feminist. I believe women can do it all and have it all. Women who slag off other women are just jealous and insecure.
"Women shouldn't be fighting to be equal to men. We are there already."
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter, BBCNewsbeat on Instagram and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube


As US President Barack Obama visits East Africa this weekend there is an understandable focus on issues like security and counter-terrorism, as well as entrepreneurship.

But for many people on the continent, America's role appears to be a distant, nebulous one, increasingly overshadowed by that of another emerging global super-power.
Here in Lesotho, the Chinese are in almost every village - from the cornfields of the western lowlands right up to the snow-dusted peaks of the mountainous east.
In Nazareth, halfway up a steep hillside an hour's drive out of the capital Maseru, a cluster of people were gathered at the door of the local store. A young woman from southern China was helping a farmer to load supplies into a pickup truck.
"It's good here. The air is much cleaner than back home," she said, politely declining to give her name.
Inside, her Chinese colleague was manning the cash register with China's CCTV News playing on a television nearby. The only American brand visible came in the form of a handful of Coca Cola bottles in a fridge.
"I've been here two years. My relatives were already here. Business is okay. I feel the Basotho people respect us, to a certain point, because we do help out and they think we're okay as people," said the shopkeeper.
Some locals grumble about the influx of "Ba-China" - the Chinese - saying they are taking away jobs, and undercutting local businesses.
But many quietly acknowledge the entrepreneurial spirit and resourcefulness of the mainland Chinese and Taiwanese business people whose presence is strikingly obvious in this small nation of some two million people.
"American investors don't come to Africa.... I don't think they know much about this region, and we need to try and show them what we are, what we do. The Chinese are everywhere. I think they are great explorers," said Motebang Mokoaleli, from Lesotho's National Development Corporation.
But if American business people are thin on the ground in Lesotho - and the only one we could find was running the local grain mill - it does not necessarily follow that American influence is small here.
The biggest employer in the country is the garment manufacturing industry, housed in warehouses on the edge of Maseru. Some 40,000 locals are currently working here, many for wages of little more than $3 (Â£2) a day.
None of the workers I spoke to had any idea that the tracksuits they were stitching together were all heading for the United States.
Their work is a direct result of America's African Growth and Opportunities Act (Agoa), which offers tax breaks to support manufacturing in a select group of African countries and is single-handedly responsible for the garment industry's success in Lesotho.
But, unsurprisingly, it is business people from the Far East, and in particular from Taiwan, who are taking advantage of Agoa to build and run the sector in Lesotho.
"This is my second home now," said Jennifer Chang, owner of the Shinning Century factory.
"We're not the enemy. We want to get the benefit, but we also benefit our team, our employees. This past 10 to 15 years we see a big change here - people are able to have education," she said, praising an American initiative that "makes countries develop - not just [through] aid".
On the far side of town, perhaps 50 people had gathered at an HIV-Aids clinic for check-ups. Here, too, was another example of America's hugely significant, but largely arms-length, support for Lesotho.
Through a range of programmes, not least the long-running Pepfar initiative, the US has poured huge sums into fighting the virus, which is currently thought to affect some 23% of the population (the second highest rate in the world).
"Generosity. The Americans have been very generous in helping Lesotho. I think without the US things would be dismal, to say the least.
"A lot of people would have died long ago because many people in this country cannot afford antiretroviral treatments for HIV," said Dr Edith Mohapi, the head of Baylor College of Medicine Children's Foundation Lesotho.
Some people, harking back to the colonial "scramble for Africa", see China and the US locked in a new contest for resources.
Perhaps it will come to that, but in Lesotho, as in many parts of the continent, the world's two biggest economies seem to be playing different, and in some respects complementary, roles.


The first time 'Jenny' was paid for sex, she was 18.

It was in a stranger's car, in a lay-by.
Around a year later, as a university student, she decided to "take it seriously" and signed up for an escort website.
Now 22 years old, Jenny still chooses to earn a living by having sex with strangers, but she says she is "always on her guard" whenever she is with a client.
Jenny agreed to tell her story of life as a student sex worker if we didn't use her real name.
The biggest ever study looking into the issue has been published.
One in 20 students who took part said they had worked in the sex industry.
That includes things like glamour modelling and web-cam modelling, stripping and prostitution.
"I don't think I had any positive influences that drove me to do it," Jenny told us.
"I just thought, I've got nothing to lose. If I find it degrading I won't do it, but I didn't and yeah I got a taste of the good life.
"My rent was so expensive and I didn't want to ask my parents for money."
1 in 4
Students working in the sex industry don't feel safe
54% Of student sex workers say they do it to pay basic living costs
22% Of students have considered sex work, according to the research
Although Jenny calls it the "good life", she said she was aware of the risks of having sex with strangers.
"I'm not scared of men [but] I don't trust them. I'm always on guard."
Jenny admits to being "terrified" that first time, and feeling "unsafe" at times since then, but she adds "I've never feared for my life."
"They've (clients) got feedback on the site I use from other escorts. Some of them don't and in that case I will not see them.
"Sometimes they just feel a bit dodgy and I'll keep my bag close to me and get out as soon as I can.
"The majority of the time it's completely safe, it's fine." she says.
"A lot of men are physically bigger and stronger than me. I'm not going to assume they're going to hold me down and force me to do things I don't want.
"I never feel like they're going to rape me or anything."
Prostitution laws in the UK are complicated. It is legal for two adults to agree to swap money for sex, but things like running a brothel, advertising sex services or  encouraging another person to sell sex are illegal.
Jenny says she has lost count of the number of men she's slept with. It could be anywhere "between 300 and 1,000".
She says she knows of the health risks that come with sleeping with so many people.
"I get tested every three months, I never have unprotected sex with them [the clients], I get offers but it's not worth it."
Listen to Jenny's story on SoundCloud
Jenny thinks that, like it was for her, money is the motivating factor for most students who work in the sex industry.
"Sex is becoming more accepted by society.
"You can earn big amount of money quick. I think some girls just see it as an easy option."
Help on sexual health and relationships is available at on at BBC Advice
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter, BBCNewsbeat on Instagram and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube


Colombia's constitutional court ruled on Wednesday to keep the current limits on same-sex adoption.

The court said that same-sex couples could only adopt a child if it was the offspring of one of the partners.
Discussion about whether to lift the current restrictions had dominated social media in the hours before the ruling.
It comes almost two years after the country's Congress voted against allowing gay marriages.
Colombian media said the ruling showed great wisdom, arguing that it took the middle road between allowing same-sex couples to freely adopt children and banning same-sex adoption outright.
But lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) groups expressed their disappointment, saying the ruling did not go far enough.
Senator Armando Benedetti, a supporter of LGBT rights, called the judges "cowards".
The president of Colombia's Conference of Bishops, the Right Reverend Monsignor Luis Augusto Castro Quiroga, said he would continue fighting for "the right of children to have a father and a mother".
"Two mums don't make a dad," he said.
The decision by the court does not prevent Congress from legislating on the issue in the future.
In fact, the court suggested Congress should debate the "legislative vacuum" LGBT couples face in Colombia.


Russia's media watchdog has warned the country's press against publishing religious caricatures that could be deemed offensive.

Its statement was in response to widespread discussion following the attack on the French magazine Charlie Hebdo which satirised the Prophet Muhammad.
The ruling came on the same day that a court in Moscow sentenced a man to eight days in jail for staging an unsanctioned protest, by holding up a "Je suis Charlie" placard in the city centre.
Very few publications in Russia reprinted the French cartoons and many commentators - both Orthodox Christian and Muslim - have criticised them as insulting.
Now the watchdog, Roskomnadzor, has made it clear that reproducing such satire here would be judged a criminal offence, reminding journalists that there are strict laws against "inciting religious hatred".
After Friday prayers in Moscow this week, people told the BBC they supported the ban - as much as 13% of Russia's population is Muslim.
"I am very opposed to those cartoons," one man, Abidin, said as he left the mosque.
"Look at everyone here. It is like they are spitting in our faces," he added, gesturing to the rows of men gathering up their prayer mats from the street.
"They fight for their rights, of course," said another mosque-goer, Ruslan, referring to the French cartoonists' insistence on free speech. "But they don't understand the depth of feeling among Muslims, the insult to our faith."
Russian Orthodox believers have been equally critical of the cartoons.
This week, the spokesman for the Orthodox Church underlined that terrorism was never justified. But he suggested that the #JeSuisCharlie campaign mistakenly placed the value of free speech over and above the feelings of believers.
This comes from the same Church that in 2012 backed a two-year prison sentence for the activists of Pussy Riot, who were charged with "hooliganism, fuelled by religious hatred" for staging a protest against President Vladimir Putin in Moscow's main cathedral.
Many church-goers justified the tough sentence by arguing that the girls' actions were deeply offensive.
But beyond religious sensibilities, this is a country with little instinct for defending free speech.
As well as the #JeSuisCharlie protester imprisoned on Friday, another was fined almost $300 (Â£198) for the same offence.
Perhaps that's why the Paris murders have particular resonance here for some.
They have been leaving flowers and messages of support outside the French Embassy in Moscow, ever since.
On Wednesday, the Union of Journalists held a minute's silence in solidarity with Charlie Hebdo.
They point out that Russia is one of the world's deadliest countries to be a journalist, so say there can be no qualifications when condemning the Paris murders.
"If people start to say, 'the killing is bad, butâ€¦' then you could say that about any journalistic activity," the union's secretary, Roman Serebryany, told the BBC.
"You can argue that someone should not have touched this, or that topic - that it is their own fault.
"I think in Russia, that is a very hot issue," he said, pointing out that more than 350 journalists have been killed here for doing their job, in the past two decades.
And yet, in that same Russian press, the overriding response to the Paris attack has been caution. Opinion columns explaining why Russians are not "Charlie" have far outnumbered those arguing the opposite.
And in Chechnya, one of Russia's Muslim republics, the Moscow-backed President Ramzan Kadyrov has called for a mass march of protest on Monday - not in support of free speech or against terrorism but against insults to Islam.


The amount spent on advertising by political parties went down in May's general election campaign compared with previous years, the Electoral Commission says.

But the regulator said spending on market research and "unsolicited material" for voters went up.
It said the changes might be down to a move away from traditional campaigning to a more targeted, online approach.
General levels of spending were similar to the 2010 general election.
In its campaign spending report for the 2015 general election, the commission said spending on advertising was £6.9m, compared with £9.2m in 2010, with the amount spent on campaign broadcasts down from £1.5m to £806,000.
At the same time, market research spending went up from £1.8m to £7.6m with unsolicited material up from £12.4m to £15m.
The commission also called for new powers to regulate spending at elections.
Its director of party and election finance Bob Posner said: "The law currently stops short of giving the commission the power to enforce candidates' spending rules and only the police can investigate if there's a problem.
"It's time to end that anomaly and give us the power to investigate and sanction."


How do you get rich, be happy, triumph at work and find love?

The bookshop shelves sag with bestselling volumes which claim that only they can guide you to success.
But they do all share a single simple idea: success starts with failure.
The message is that if your business fails, your advances are spurned or you don't get that job you  wanted you shouldn't despair, you should be optimistic. Learn from your mistakes and succeed next time.
Wise advice no doubt, that the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi should heed.
Because, in the wreckage of his party's terrible defeat in the key state of Bihar this week, lie the seeds of opportunity.
Picking over the bones of the election, the Indian media has focused on Mr Modi's strategy of using sectarian rhetoric to fight local battles.  And many identify the 23rd of September as a key watershed for the prime minister and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
That's when the boss of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Mohan Bhagwat, tossed in the political equivalent of a hand grenade into the campaign.
The RSS is a huge and controversial volunteer organisation which regards itself as the custodian of Indian culture.  It is very influential, sitting at the head of the family of Hindu organisations including the BJP.
The RSS is reckoned to have played a key role in Mr Modi's landslide election victory a year and a half ago, mobilising its army of volunteers to cajole and canvass voters on his behalf.
He was relying on it again this time around. Until, that is, Mr Bhagwat spoke out on the ever-sensitive subject of caste reservations.
Caste reservations are as contentious as the RSS itself.  They guarantee the most disadvantaged groups in Hinduism's hierarchy not just equality of opportunity but reserved places in universities, government jobs and even seats in parliament and state assemblies.
Mr Bhagwat's suggestion seemed innocuous enough: he proposed a "review" of reservations, suggesting - quite rightly - that they have been used for political ends.
But it was a disaster halfway through an election which was always likely to be won or lost on the basis of caste allegiances.  A review of reservations represented a potential threat to the aspirations and livelihoods of millions of voters.
Indeed the electoral implications of making such a suggestion were so obvious many whispered that it was a deliberate attempt to undermine Mr Modi - a brutal lesson in who really holds power.
The obvious answer for Mr Modi would be to distance himself from the RSS but that isn't possible. The BJP is an organ of the RSS.  So what Mr Modi needs to do is find some way of marginalising the more extreme elements of the organisation and of his party.
Which leads us to the related issue of beef, another hugely contentious issue in a country where many regard the cow as sacred.
Mr Modi was criticised for failing to speak out sooner - or more decisively - to condemn the lynching of a Muslim man over rumours that he had been eating beef .
One reason he may have been reluctant to do so is because the BJP's strategy was to drive a wedge between the lower-caste Hindu and the Muslim vote banks which were the basis of the opposition "Grand Alliance's" electoral strength.
The judgement of India's newspapers is that the approach backfired. Not only did it fail to divide the Grand Alliance's constituency it also alienated voters, not just in Bihar, but across the entire country.
It also added to concern about the growing atmosphere of intolerance in India which has been condemned by everyone from Bollywood stars like Shah Rukh Khan to Raghuram Rajan, India's central bank governor.
That, in turn, may end up damaging Mr Modi's bigger project, his promise to bring growth to India.  That's because this undermines the reputation of India - and Mr Modi - abroad.
Moving away from narrow Hindu nationalism could have another benefit for Mr Modi.
One reason the BJP fought such a vicious battle was because there was so much at stake.  Mr Modi's economic reforms - on taxation, labour rules and land purchase - have been blocked in the upper house of parliament, undermining his ability to deliver on his election promises.
A more inclusive approach might help draw in cross party support and help get some of these key reforms passed.
So what would the self-help gurus behind the "failure is the mother of success mantra" suggest is the key lesson from all of this?
At root these are all issues of leadership.
Mr Modi was elected on the basis that he was the only person with the focus and strength to revive the Indian economy.
Maybe he needs to put development back at the centre of his agenda and reinvent himself as the strong leader he promised to be.


Red paint has been sprayed on a republican memorial in Newry, County Down.

The damage in the graveyard of St Mary's cemetery on Chapel Hill occurred sometime overnight on Saturday.
Ch Insp Bernard O'Connor said officers were working to establish a motive for the attack and appealed for anyone with information to contact police.
The Sinn FÃ©in MP for Newry & Armagh described it as a "despicable act".
"Graveyards are places that should be respected and unfortunately in this case these people came in the dead of night, they hadn't the courage to do it in daylight," he said.
"I would utterly condemn this as something that is reprehensible and ask them to desist absolutely from doing this in any way in the future."


Brighton winger Kazenga LuaLua has returned to Championship side QPR on loan until January 2018.

LuaLua, 26, previously joined QPR on loan in January 2017 and played 11 times during his initial loan spell, contributing one goal.
"It's good to be back. I know the boys here, I know the manager, this was an easy decision for me," said LuaLua.
LuaLua is eligible for QPR's next Championship fixture at Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.
"I am absolutely delighted to have Kaz back," said QPR manager Ian Holloway. "This is a great opportunity for us.
"He had such a good pre-season with Brighton and it was touch-and-go whether they were going to let him go out again."
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


Jersey's Liberation Day celebrations were hit by an island-wide power cut, causing the big screens and public address system to fail.

Jersey marked 71 years since its liberation from Nazi occupation on 9 May with a service and re-enactment in Liberation Square.
Bailiff, William Bailhache, gave his speech twice as the power cut hit just before he was due to speak.
Heavy rain also caused a number of people in the audience to leave early.
Hundreds still turned up to mark the event, seen as the island's national day including ex-servicemen and occupation survivors.
Organisers had planned a change to the traditional order of service, moving the Bailiff's speech to before the religious portion of the programme.
As the power cut hit just before the Bailiff was due to speak he was asked to give his speech again, with amplification, during the religious portion, returning to the normal order.
Jersey Electricity say the power was off in both islands but did not say why. The power cut lasted about 20 minutes.
In his speech, William Bailhache urged people to be tolerant of other people's religion, describing Jersey as a tolerant society.
He said: "In this Island today let us be beacons of tolerance, respecting those of different backgrounds, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or religion."
A traditional part of the service is the singing of Jersey's unofficial anthem, Beautiful Jersey.
For decades it has been sung by Sadie Rennard, but for the first time student Rachel Hayden performed the song.
The re-enactment saw Jersey's army cadet force replicate the original liberating forces journey through a packed Liberation Square in 1946.
This was then followed by a parade of the Jersey Field Squadron, bands, cadet forces and classic vehicles.


Alexis Sanchez scored twice as title-chasing Arsenal beat relegation-threatened Hull in controversial circumstances in the Premier League.

The hosts had been on top when the ball came off forward Sanchez's hand and ended up in the net on 34 minutes. He added a penalty in injury-time which was awarded after Sam Clucas was sent off for handball from Lucas Perez's header.
In between, Hector Bellerin and Sanchez both failed to hit the target and Mesut Ozil volleyed over the crossbar for Arsenal.
Striker Oumar Niasse had Hull's best chances - his header and low strike forced Petr Cech into sharp saves - while Adama Diomande nodded over late on.
Arsenal had been pressing for the opener before Sanchez's intervention.
The visitors failed to clear Kieran Gibbs' low shot and as the ball ricocheted off goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic on the ground it bounced off the Chilean's hand and into the net.
For a deliberate handball, Football Association laws state:
Media playback is not supported on this device
On this occasion, Sanchez did not look like he purposefully pushed the ball into the net and he had little time to move out of the way after the ball came off Jakupovic.
After consultation with his assistant, referee Mark Clattenburg awarded the goal, but prior to that in the first half, Theo Walcott had a shot blocked by the hand of Clucas inside the area, for which no penalty was given.
After the game, Hull defender Andrew Robertson told Sky Sports that Clattenburg had apologised to the Hull players after half-time.
Robertson added: "The ref told us he didn't give it because he wasn't 100% sure. Not many referees can admit they're wrong, so it's good when he does, though it doesn't make things better."
News app users should click this link to vote
Chasing the game in the second half, Hull's Lazar Markovic was running onto a long punt forward deep in the Arsenal half.
The Serb was barged down by Gibbs, who was the last defender, and had the on-loan Liverpool man not been infringed, he would have had a clear run through on goal from 30 yards.
Clattenburg spotted the incident and presented a yellow card.
Gibbs said after the game: "I took a chance with the challenge on Markovic. The ref said the ball was going away from goal."
When asked if Gibbs should have been sent off, Hull boss Marco Silva said: "Yes. It is true. Markovic go to the goal."
With Hull pushing for an equaliser, they were hit on the counter by the home side. Jakupovic came sprinting off his line as Sanchez went round him and picked out Perez at the back post, but the Spaniard's goal-bound header was kept out by Clucas' arm on the line. Clucas was given a red card for the incident.
Sanchez stepped up to take the penalty, drilling a low finish into the net, which was his seventh goal against Hull in just four games.
It was also his 17th top-flight strike this season, making him the league's leading marksman.
Media playback is not supported on this device
Arsenal had lost back-to-back league games against Watford and Chelsea to leave their title challenge in disarray.
But the win moves them up to third in the table, nine points behind leaders Chelsea.
For Hull, it was an unlucky defeat, having come close to scoring in both halves, but they have now failed to find the net in 12 of their 25 games - more than any other side.
Despite the defeat, Tigers supporters will be buoyed by the impact made by new manager Silva as his side look well-equipped for a battle to stay in the top-flight, yet they remain in the relegation zone by a single point.
Former Hull defender Peter Swan on BBC Radio Humberside
Hull City's performance was strong, and they did really all they could. The referee's decisions have hurt Hull today, but the side are showing they have got a very real chance of staying up.
For the second goal, you have got to feel sorry for Clucas. His keeper has stitched him right up. It was an easy decision for Clattenburg.
And do you want to know the irony? Jakupovic had probably made up the ground and was covering behind Clucas, not that the defender knew.
Arsene Wenger speaking to Match of the Day: "We were resilient, focused and organised, but a bit with the handbrake on as we were under pressure to win the game. In the end perhaps we were fortunate to get away with a positive result.
Hull boss Marco Silva told BBC Sport: "The most important thing is the result. It was a very good second half. We had control of it and caused Arsenal problems.
"They started the game better than us and after the story of the first half they score with handball. We didn't deserve this result.
Arsenal travel to Bayern Munich for the Champions League last-16 first leg fixture on Wednesday (kick-off 19:45 GMT), while Hull host Burnley in the Premier League next Saturday (15:00).
Match ends, Arsenal 2, Hull City 0.
Second Half ends, Arsenal 2, Hull City 0.
Attempt missed. Danny Welbeck (Arsenal) right footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Héctor Bellerín.
Goal!  Arsenal 2, Hull City 0. Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the centre of the goal.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match Andrew Robertson (Hull City) because of an injury.
Sam Clucas (Hull City) is shown the red card.
Penalty conceded by Sam Clucas (Hull City) with a hand ball in the penalty area.
Attempt blocked. Lucas Pérez (Arsenal) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Alexis Sánchez.
Attempt missed. Ahmed Elmohamady (Hull City) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left following a corner.
Corner,  Hull City. Conceded by Héctor Bellerín.
Harry Maguire (Hull City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal).
Offside, Arsenal. Kieran Gibbs tries a through ball, but Mesut Özil is caught offside.
Hand ball by Ahmed Elmohamady (Hull City).
Attempt missed. Adama Diomande (Hull City) header from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Evandro with a cross following a corner.
Corner,  Hull City. Conceded by Danny Welbeck.
Attempt saved. Andrea Ranocchia (Hull City) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Evandro with a cross.
Hand ball by Francis Coquelin (Arsenal).
Foul by Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal).
Lazar Markovic (Hull City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Substitution, Arsenal. Lucas Pérez replaces Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Substitution, Arsenal. Danny Welbeck replaces Alex Iwobi.
Foul by Mesut Özil (Arsenal).
Andrea Ranocchia (Hull City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Oumar Niasse (Hull City) header from the right side of the six yard box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Evandro with a cross following a corner.
Corner,  Hull City. Conceded by Alex Iwobi.
Substitution, Hull City. Adama Diomande replaces Tom Huddlestone.
Attempt saved. Lazar Markovic (Hull City) header from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Harry Maguire with a cross.
Offside, Arsenal. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain tries a through ball, but Mesut Özil is caught offside.
Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal) is shown the yellow card.
Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal) has gone down, but that's a dive.
Attempt missed. Harry Maguire (Hull City) header from the centre of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Evandro following a set piece situation.
Foul by Alex Iwobi (Arsenal).
Lazar Markovic (Hull City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Attempt missed. Shkodran Mustafi (Arsenal) header from the centre of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Mesut Özil with a cross following a corner.
Corner,  Arsenal. Conceded by Ahmed Elmohamady.
Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Ahmed Elmohamady (Hull City).
Andrea Ranocchia (Hull City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.


US President-elect Donald Trump says he will impose punitive taxes on US firms that move manufacturing overseas.

Mr Trump promised a 35% tax on products sold in the US by any business that fired American workers, and built a factory elsewhere.
Firms should be "forewarned prior to making a very expensive mistake", he said.
Mr Trump has promised to help blue-collar workers, reduce taxes and regulations on businesses.
"The US is going to substantially reduce taxes and regulations on businesses, but any business that leaves our country for another country, fires its employees, builds a new factory or plant in the other country, and then thinks it will sell its product back into the US without retribution or consequence, is WRONG!" [sic], the Republican tweeted.
"There will be a tax on our soon to be strong border of 35% for these companies wanting to sell their product, cars, A.C. units etc., back across the border," he went on.
"This tax will make leaving financially difficult, but these companies are able to move between all 50 states, with no tax or tariff being charged.
"Please be forewarned prior to making a very expensive mistake! THE UNITED STATES IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS."
Trump warns of 'consequences' for firms leaving US
'Great' Trump deal keeps 1,000 jobs in US
Trump assembles America's 'richest cabinet'
What are Trump's economic promises?
Last week Mr Trump tweeted a warning to Rexnord Corp, an industrial supplier based in Milwaukee that plans to move a bearings plant and its 300 jobs from Indiana to Mexico.
"Rexnord of Indiana is moving to Mexico and rather viciously firing all of its 300 workers. This is happening all over the country. No more!" he fumed.
Experts have warned that the president-elect will face legal challenges if he tries to impose tariffs on specific companies without congressional approval.
Gary Hufbauer, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, predicted that the US courts would block such a move.
Mr Trump, who defeated Hillary Clinton in the poll, is due to be sworn in on 20 January.


We're buying fewer clothes and pairs of shoes, although we're eating out more, according to credit card firm Visa.

Its latest survey shows household spending dipped for the first time in four years last month with families "starting to feel the squeeze" as higher living costs eat into pay.
"Let's face it, we are skint," says commentator Justin Urquart-Stewart.
"Our card's maxed out, nothing in the savings account, pockets emptied out and nothing down the back of the sofa."
Visa said physical stores saw sales drop at their fastest pace for over five years in May, with sales down 5.3% year-on-year.
In contrast, spending at hotels and restaurants rose at an annual rate of 3.3%.
But even though so-called "experiences" spending rose, the figures suggest people are still being careful.
Josh Beer, from the Illustrious Pub Company, in Cambridgeshire, said: "More of our customers gravitated towards deals and offers in the past month, it feels as though they were biding their time, and cutting back until they became more confident in the economy."
The Visa figures show overall spending was 08% lower than in 2016, the first fall since September 2013.
The findings chime with official data from the Office for National Statistics, which shows that wage growth is falling back while inflation is rising, causing a squeeze on household incomes as they  fail to keep pace with shop prices.
The latest official figures showed wage growth behind inflation for the first time since mid-2014, and the Bank of England has said it expects this to get worse.
Average weekly earnings excluding bonuses increased by 2.1% in the three months to March, while inflation rose by 2.3% in the year to March 2017.
"Now is starts to hurt, with inflation above lower pay levels we will all start to feel poorer. As the consumer we have been the driver of the UK economic engine - and now you can hear it start to splutter," adds Mr Urquart-Stewart, co-founder of fund manager Seven Investment Management.
One of the chief reasons for inflation's rise is the steep fall in sterling since the UK voted to leave the European Union.
It is now worth between 11-15% less against the euro and the dollar, making anything we buy with our weaker currency more expensive.
That leaves shops with a dilemma, shred their often already paper-thin profit margins or raise prices.


A shed full of old and broken tools and machinery may seem a world removed from the beauty of Carmarthenshire wildlife.

But one man has made it his life's work to transform the unloved and discarded into sculptures of some of Wales' most breathtaking creatures.
Artist Chris Crane's works incorporate spanners, bike chains, agricultural machinery and even lorry wheels.
The results are models of the animals he sees while walking near his home in Drefach, Carmarthenshire, including a tawny owl, otters, a raven and a seal.
They are to go on show at Fishguard's Workshop Wales Gallery from Sunday.
"I love the juxtaposition of turning the functional and mechanical into something natural and beautiful," he said.
"A load of junk welded together oughtn't to be able to represent wildlife, but there's something in the engineering of machinery which can convey the kinetic energy of life."
Mr Crane is given scrap by friends, family, and even strangers who learn of his unusual work.
However his main source of material comes from Tools For Self Reliance, a charity which repairs used tools for use in poorer countries.
"Tools For Self Reliance only give me the items which are beyond repair," he said.
"I love the sense that even the seemingly useless can be made into something which can give pleasure; it's the ultimate recycling really.
"Similarly I'm given things people have been keeping in the garage for years, because they thought it might come in handy for something one day, but were never sure what. I'm just pleased to prove them right."
Mr Crane said his inspiration comes as much from the tools he is given as the wildlife he spots.
"I was moved to create my sand eel after seeing how they writhed under the water while I was snorkelling with my daughter," he added.
"But on the other hand my raven came to me when I was given a small bit of agricultural equipment by a friend of mine in sustainable energy installation, and it just leapt out at me straight away that this was a raven's beak."
He added that this collection differs from his usual sculptures, in that he began working on all the exhibits simultaneously, in order to give them a sense of interconnection.
The show will also include the paintings and drawings that led to the creation of each piece.


Coventry City's on-loan Aston Villa midfielder Joe Cole has completed a move to the Ricoh Arena on a deal until the end of the season.

The former England international, 34, has signed on a free transfer after winning friends on and off the field in his three months at the Ricoh Arena.
"He's great to have around the dressing room," said City manager Tony Mowbray.
"The rest of the squad feed off his experience. I'm sure it'll have a positive impact on our young players."
Cole scored a cracking free-kick in a 4-3 win over Barnsley after arriving on 19 October, but has only made seven appearances in total because of injury niggles.
"Our staff have worked hard to build up his fitness and physicality, and we've seen Joe really buy into what we're trying to do here," added Mowbray.
"I only see his performances for the club getting better. He is a fantastic option to have from now until the end of the season."
Cole began his career at West Ham before moving in 2003 to Chelsea, for whom he made 183 league appearances, scoring 28 goals.
After seven years at Stamford Bridge and two Premier League titles, he moved to Liverpool, but had a loan spell with French Ligue 1 side Lille before returning to boyhood club West Ham in 2013.
He made 31 appearances in a one-year spell at Upton Park, scoring five goals, before switching to Villa, for whom he made four starts.
Cole scored 10 goals in 56 international appearances for England.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


At a UK level, the last government cut day-to-day public spending by 9% over five years.

In cash terms, that reduced Stormont's spending power by more than £1bn between 2010 and 2015.
The Conservatives' plans involve a further cut of 7% over the first four years of the next Parliament with spending increasing in the last year.
So Stormont can expect its spending power to decrease again.
The precise cash amount will not be clear until the Conservatives lay out detailed spending plans.
That is because the money Stormont has to spend is determined by the Barnett Formula.
In crude terms, the formula means that if spending falls or rises on a particular public service in England, it will also change by a proportionate amount in Northern Ireland.
So if health and education spending continue to be largely shielded from cuts in England, that will help Stormont as those two areas form the vast majority of departmental spending in Northern Ireland.
But even if the Barnett formula means a smaller spending cut for Northern Ireland, compared to the UK as a whole, it will still mean a series of difficult decisions for the Northern Ireland Executive.
The cuts in Stormont's most recent budget have only begun to be implemented and more will now inevitably follow.
The Conservatives' plans also imply some radical cuts to welfare and social security.
They say they will implement £12bn of cuts to the welfare budget by 2018, but so far they have only explained about £2bn of those cuts.
The party will not cut pensioner benefits and also seems to have promised not to cut child benefit.
That means the bulk of cuts would have to fall on housing benefit, tax credits or disability benefits.
That potentiality creates a big problem at Stormont as the parties have not been able to agree to implement the last round of Westminster-initiated welfare cuts.
A deal seemed to have been reached late in 2014 as part of the Stormont House Agreement, but then collapsed at the last minute.
Sinn Féin said the plans for implementing the deal did not provide the levels of protection for claimants that they wanted; the DUP said Sinn Féin's demands were not part of the deal and were unaffordable.
As welfare is a devolved matter, the Stormont parties could, of course, fund a more generous welfare system but that would place spending for other services under even more pressure.
In the early stages of the election count, it looked as though there could have been a path to additional spending power for Stormont.
It seemed as if the Conservatives would need DUP support to form a stable government.
That could have given the unionist party leverage to get some additional money for the Northern Ireland Executive.
The party's East Antrim MP Sammy Wilson went on the BBC's election programme to tell David Dimbleby about Northern Ireland's "special economic circumstances"  and the need for infrastructure spending.
But, with the latest forecast giving the Conservatives an overall majority, the prospect of any special treatment for Northern Ireland is receding.
In economic terms, the Conservative victory is a vote for smaller government and less public spending - that will inevitably have an impact on Stormont's budget.


It's a global dance craze born out of US hip-hop culture that's swept the world over the last year.

From nightclubs to sports grounds to television studios, it seems almost everyone's had a dip at doing the dab.
But in a surprising new development, it has worked its way into the stuffy world of Irish politics.
In an attempt to get down with the kids, Richard Boyd Barrett brought the dab to the Dáil - the Irish parliament.
The left-wing Anti-Austerity Alliance People Before Profit politician pulled the move during a debate on the Irish government's Misuse of Drugs Bill on Thursday.
In his speech he said politicians "need to start to listen to young people", adding that some in his Dún Laoghaire constituency in County Dublin had asked him: "Do you have any idea what's going on?"
And he said they asked him to dish out a "bit of street language, from the street" to his fellow parliamentarians in the Dáil.
"When kids are trying to make a positive statement on the street they do a thing called a dab," he said.
"I don't know if you've ever seen it.
"I don't know what it means.
"But we need to learn what it means, learn what young people are talking about, what matters to them, what they consider positive activity."
Speaking to The Ryan Tubridy Show on RTÉ Radio 1, Mr Boyd Barrett said "we need more" hip-hop in the Dublin parliament.
"I don't pretend to be an expert on these things, but it's more from my own kids and young people that I've kind of learnt about these things," he said.
"Hip-hop, for a lot of teenagers these days, is the language they speak - it's the cultural language of teenagers."
He added that it's "very obvious" that many young people "are completely alienated from politics".
"In any election, it's clear that the biggest demographic that don't vote and don't engage with politics are young people.
"I think it's our responsibility to engage with young people."


Ben Williamson bagged a brace as Cambridge inflicted a first defeat on new Leyton Orient manager Kevin Nolan.

Williamson capitalised on Frazer Shaw's tame back pass to round O's keeper Alex Cisak and slot the ball home.
The visitors struck again through Williamson's low drive before Orient pulled one back through substitute Armand Gnanduillet's neat finish.
Jimmy Spencer buried Williamson's cross on his debut to seal victory for the U's, who climb to 11th in League Two.
Nolan had started with two victories for the O's after being appointed on 21 January. His side drop three places back to ninth, two points above Cambridge.
Leyton Orient player-manager Kevin Nolan told BBC Radio London:
Media playback is not supported on this device
"We were very sloppy. You don't want to gift a side who've come to your turf a goal and that's what we did.
"I've said to the lads, when you're playing at this level you can't afford to make mistake after mistake after mistake because if you do that you're going to get punished and we did.
"I don't think it was through Cambridge's great play, I think it was through us not doing what we've done over the last two games."


A host of celebrities, including British grime and hip hop artist Stormzy, have sent birthday greetings to a young boy who is being bullied.

Chris Hope-Smith, from Leeds, posted on Twitter asking if people could send positive messages to his son, Ollie.
He wrote: "The bully keeps saying to him that everything O has, he has bigger/better/more often.
"I would love someone to tell him he does mean something and bullying is not ok, ever."
Ollie will celebrate his ninth birthday on 5 July.
More on this story and others from Yorkshire
Responding to the appeal, Stormzy wrote: "Happy birthday Ollie! You're a lil legend. â


A railway worker says he is "lucky to be alive" after his Essex home was struck by lightning during overnight storms.

James Messer, 40, was asleep in a room directly below the roof space when he heard a loud bang and realised his loft was ablaze.
He said the noise of the strike was "like a bomb going off".
The entire building in The Street, Bradwell - which contains four one-bedroom houses - had to be evacuated.
Essex Fire Service was called to the scene at about 03:50 BST on Wednesday.
Live updates: Read more Essex stories here
Mr Messer, who works for Network Rail, told the BBC he quickly realised his TV aerial had been struck and his loft was on fire. He said he was "lucky to be alive".
He praised the actions of the fire service who he said arrived "within 10 to 15 minutes".
The fire broke out during an intense thunderstorm which brought heavy rain and frequent lightning bursts during the early hours.
The Street was cordoned off for much of the night while crews worked to dampen hotspots in the building roof.
"When crews arrived at the property they found the fire was affecting the roof spaces of two properties," the fire service confirmed.
It added a Red Cross unit also attended to provide the occupants with immediate welfare support.


An 83-year-old woman who was hit by a car in Portglenone, County Antrim, in March has died from her injuries in hospital.

The pedestrian was struck by a car on Main Street on Tuesday, 31 March.
Police have said they want to speak to the driver of a white van that was in the area at the time of the incident.
Anyone with information can contact police on the non-emergency number 101.


Labour MP Keith Vaz has comfortably survived a bid to prevent him getting a seat on a House of Commons committee.

Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen tried to block the appointment to the justice committee following newspaper claims that Mr Vaz paid for the services of two male sex workers.
But his attempt was rejected in a Commons vote by 203 to seven.
Mr Vaz quit as chairman of the influential home affairs committee in September.
Electing MPs to vacancies on committees is usually uncontentious, with each party given a set allocation of places.
Labour put forward Mr Vaz and Kate Green for the two vacant places on the justice committee, which is chaired by Conservative Robert Neill.


Juries are the backbone of the Scottish criminal justice system but what is the likelihood of being selected to do your civic duty in a Scottish court?

Groups of 15 ordinary women and men are selected at random to uphold justice in their local community. It is a civic duty they are obliged to perform.
Potential jurors must be at least 18 years old and they should be listed on the electoral roll.
They must also have lived in the UK for more than five years since they were 13 years old.
However people in some jobs - for example solicitors and police constables - cannot be cited to appear on a jury.
Others who have committed crimes and served time in prison are likely to be disqualified.
MPs, MSPs, religious ministers, full-time serving members of the armed forces and people who are over 70 can legitimately apply to be excused.
There is a full list of exemptions here.
BBC Radio 4's More or Less asked Deirdre Toher, a statistics lecturer at the University of the West of England, to calculate the probability of an eligible person being asked to serve on a jury.
She used figures obtained from the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service.
She told the programme: "The chance of being called for jury service, as in receiving a citation for jury service, in Scotland is approximately 95% across the 53 years of typical eligibility."
Although many people will receive a letter asking them to serve on a jury, far fewer will actually be selected to sit on the jurors' benches.
About 30 men and women will be invited to court and 15 will be selected to be part of a jury.
In fact, the chance of actually serving on a Scottish jury is about 30%, according to Ms Toher.
The probability of being asked to be part of a jury more than once is about 40%, she added.
South of the border, juries are made up of 12 people, and the odds of being selected for the job are far lower than in Scotland.
According to the latest figures from the Ministry of Justice, there is about a 35% chance of people in England and Wales being summoned for jury service over the course of their lifetime.
Only about half of those cited spend any time in court.
Listen to the analysis on BBC Radio 4's More or Less on the BBC Radio iPlayer here.


Stocks on Wall Street opened lower, with department stores Kohl's and Macy's down sharply after they reported weak holiday sales.

Shares in Kohl's dived 18% and Macy's was down 12% as the two retailers cut their profit forecasts for 2016.
Macy's also announced plans to shed more than 10,000 jobs through shutting stores and cutting middle management positions.
The Dow Jones dipped 1.71 points to 19,940.45 in early trade.
The S&P 500 index also lost ground, dropping 0.59 points to 2,270.16, while the tech-focused Nasdaq rose 13.29 points to 5,490.29.
Another struggling retailer, Sears, saw its shares rise nearly 6% after it said it would sell its Craftsman tools business to Stanley Black & Decker for $900m.
However, Sears also reported weak holiday trading, with same-store sales in November and December down by 12-13%, and announced plans to close 150 stores.


The son of a food tycoon has been jailed for a year over a bar brawl which left a man blind in one eye.

Antonio Boparan, 28, of Little Aston, Sutton Coldfield and son of the head of the 2 Sisters Food Group, pleaded guilty to violent disorder and assault.
The 22-year-old victim was injured at the Nuovo Bar, Birmingham, last April.
Theodore Mullings-Fairweather, 25, of Dawlish Road, Selly Oak, was jailed for eight years, after pleading guilty at Birmingham Crown Court.
Edward Ansah, 24, of Westwood Road, Sutton Coldfield and Nathan Pringle, 32, of Welshman's Hill, were both jailed for 18 months, after also pleading guilty to the same offence.
The Boparan family issued a statement after the hearing saying the altercation was something their son "deeply regrets" and that he "sincerely apologises for his actions".
Boparan was jailed for dangerous driving in April 2008 after he rammed into a car in Sutton Coldfield in November 2006.
A baby in the car when the crash happened was left paralysed and Boparan, then 19, spent six months in prison.


It's the fridge that could help feed a community.

Northern Ireland's first sharing fridge has opened in Cloughmills.
Based at The Old Mill in the County Antrim village, it is open to all with businesses and residents able to share extra food or help themselves to food that would go to waste.
The idea behind the community fridge is simple - take what you need and leave what you don't need.
Patrick Frew, chair of Cloughmills Community Action Team, said it was not a food bank.
"It's for everyone," he said.
"If you're going away on holidays you can bring along some of your food before you go and leave it with us. Rather than it going to the bin or landfill we give it out to other people.
"There is no referral service, it's come and see what we have and you can take it home with you.
"If you've got any spare food at home, in date and packaged, we can take it off your hands. Then see what we have that you can take home with you."
The people behind the fridge estimate that each household in the village could be throwing away up to £470 of food every year - that's £282,000 annually for the whole area.
Although this is the first in Northern Ireland, there are solidarity or honesty fridges in Spain, Germany and other parts of the UK.
When a community fridge was set up in Swadlincote in England, with the help of charity Hubbub, it redistributed more than 2,000kg of food in the first six months.
"It can make a massive difference in communities," said Catherine Darragh from Hubbub.
"You can collect fresh food and give that out to people, and the community fridges have become places where people can share knowledge and learn more about their food and become healthier.
"The volunteer networks that are running the fridges have come together and it's helped to strengthen local communities."
As well as food that needs to be refrigerated, tins, cans, and dried food are welcome too. The most important thing is that they are fit to eat.
Declan Donnelly, from Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, said they will be paying attention to use by dates.
"When you come to visit the fridge we've clearly communicated it has to be before the date has passed," he said. "If it's the day before or past its use by date, we can't take it unfortunately.
"We may still be able to compost it because there's quite a big compost site here, but the ultimate aim is that no food goes to landfill."


A zoo where a keeper was mauled to death by a tiger has admitted health and safety breaches.

Sarah McClay, 24, died at South Lakes Wild Animal Park - now known as South Lakes Safari Zoo - in Dalton-in-Furness, south Cumbria, in May 2013.
A Sumatran tiger, which got through an unlocked gate, left deep puncture wounds in her neck and body.
The zoo's owner, David Gill, 55, had faced individual charges on the same allegations but was formally acquitted.
The prosecution offered no evidence against him.
Miss McClay, from Barrow-in-Furness, suffered "unsurvivable" multiple injuries in the attack and was airlifted to hospital where she was formally pronounced dead.
Her boyfriend, David Shaw, said it was a "shame it took this long to come to what was a fairly obvious conclusion".
In September 2014, an inquest jury in Kendal ruled, in a narrative verdict, the tiger got to Miss McClay by entering two open internal sliding gates within the tiger house and then an open door that led on to the corridor.
Systems were in place at the park to ensure animals and keepers remained apart at all times through indoor and outdoor compartments connected by lockable self-closing doors, it heard.
The zoo pleaded guilty to contravening the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and failing to ensure people who were not staff were not exposed to risk on the day in question.
It accepted it had not sufficiently addressed risks arising from a defective bolt on the door that was open immediately before the attack.
The company said "a more proactive maintenance and inspection regime" should have been in place to ensure the door functioned efficiently and that its self-closing mechanism worked properly.
"The failure of the door to self-close was a more than trivial cause of harm," it said.
Sentencing will take place at Preston Crown Court on Friday when the company is expected to receive a financial penalty.
Miss McClay, who was originally from Glasgow, had worked at the park for more than two years and was experienced with working with big cats, which she saw as a "privilege".
Her mother, Fiona McClay, from Linlithgow, West Lothian, said it was her daughter's "dream job" after she had visited the park as a child.
The family asked for Padang not to be put down at the time but he was put to sleep because of his age this year.
It can now be reported that the zoo pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to two other contraventions of the Health and Safety at Work Act when a zoo keeper fell from a ladder while preparing to feed big cats in July 2014.
The company admitted it failed to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of its employees, including Yasmin Walker, and to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment.
Barrow Borough Council, which oversees the zoo, is considering whether to renew the park's operating licence, which would have expired on Tuesday but has been extended until a council hearing on 5 July where Mr Gill must show a number of requirements have been met.
Inspectors previously demanded more than 30 improvements to the attraction, having found it had placed staff and the public in potential danger.


The firms building the Royal Navy's two new aircraft carriers say the cost has risen by at least £1bn and possibly almost £2bn, the BBC has learned.

This could push the final cost of HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales to about £7bn - from the agreed £5.2bn.
At least one of the carriers is to be redesigned to take the US Navy's version of the Joint Strike Fighter.
Defence Secretary Liam Fox said the government would take a "fairly stiff view" of any costs increase.
The Ministry of Defence said no final decisions on a redesign had been taken, but added that it believed the final cost of the 60,000-tonne vessels, to be based in Portsmouth, would be closer to £6bn than £7bn.
The ships - which are being built by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, the members of which are BAE systems, Babcock and Thales - were saved from defence cuts under the coalition government because it would cost more to cancel the projects than proceed with them.
Ministers agreed to change the design of one, or both, of the aircraft carriers to make them compatible with different aircraft.
To take the US Navy's version of the Joint Strike Fighter, they will need to be fitted with catapults and traps - or "cats and traps" - rather than ramps.
By Robert PestonBusiness editor, BBC News
Read Robert's blog in full
Last November, the UK and France signed a defence treaty that agreed to share aircraft carrier resources, by keeping at least one vessel at sea between the two countries at any one time.
Each will be able to use the other's carrier in some form, certainly for training and possibly for operations.
Speaking at a Westminster lunch, Dr Fox accepted the government had increased the budget and time scale by introducing changes to the design to allow interoperability with US and French forces.
But he said: "What we are looking at is a capability that will last us, when we have it, for 50 years. Therefore it is essential to get the decisions right."
He added: "We will look at the contracting as we go through to the end of 2012 with a fairly stiff view."
HMS Prince of Wales will not enter service. It will be built but not kitted out, and then kept as a reserve vessel.
The government's strategic defence and security review in October 2010 outlined cuts of £4.7bn over four years.
The new carriers will replace the 22,000-tonne Invincible class aircraft carriers, HMS Invincible, HMS Illustrious and HMS Ark Royal.
HMS Invincible, mothballed in 2005, was put up for sale on a government internet auction website, while Ark Royal - the navy's flagship - was decommissioned in January and HMS Illustrious will be decommissioned in 2014.
Ark Royal was decommissioned ahead of schedule - along with RAF Harrier jump jets - meaning no planes will be able to fly from British aircraft carriers until 2019, when the HMS Queen Elizabeth is expected to enter service.
BBC business editor Robert Peston said: "The disclosure of the rise in costs is bound to reopen the debate about whether the UK really needs new carriers, especially since the UK will be without any aircraft carrier until 2019."
Source: Ministry of Defence