Changes to US activities in Afghanistan

This is the introduction to an article at Foreign Policy.com about changes to US strategy in Afghanistan.  There isn't much to the article, but we'll definitely return to this on 2 October, so read it.

Following a string of insider attacks by Afghan soldiers against their U.S. and NATO counterparts, Gen. John R. Allen, the top commander in Afghanistan, issued a new set of limits on direct cooperation with Afghan forces.

More from Wired magazine.

But in reality, the persistence of Afghan troops attacking their American mentors has prompted a major shift in how the U.S. trains Afghans, to the point where it calls into question the cornerstone of the U.S. exit strategy.

Another AQ leader killed, but does it matter?

The #2 Al Qaeda leader in Yemen, killed by a US drone attack. 

Money Politics in the EU

In America, we have the Federal Reserve Bank.  It effectively prints money and determines the interest rate.  In theory, it is supposed to be separate from politics.  In Europe, the situation is more complicated, since there are many different countries in the European Union (which we'll talk about this week).

This post from the Economist describes how the European Central Bank is looking more and more like its American counterpart these days.