Erstellt am: 21. 9. 2012 - 16:05 Uhr

The End of the Surge

Reality Check: extra troops leave Afghanistan; France & Mohammed Cartoons; GM crops; Ig Nobel Awards.

EPA

Afghan forces are taking over responsibility for security from US and other foreign troops.

• US Surge Troops withdrawn from Afghanistan

After much deliberation, in December 2009 US President Barack Obama ordered a “surge” of troops to be sent to Afghanistan. By the autumn of 2010 some 33,000 extra soldiers had been deployed to the country to combat the growing Taliban insurgency, bringing the total number of US forces in Afghanistan to a high of 101,000. Today it was announced that those extra 33,000 have now left Afghanistan. An American official says the surge meant training programmes for the Afghan police and army could be stepped up, but how much has security in Afghanistan improved because of the surge, and what lies ahead? We heard from our international security expert, Paul Rogers:

• France & Mohammed Cartoons

This week France has been bracing for possible protests in the country, as well as around its embassies abroad, because of the publication by the weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo of cartoons denigrating the prophet Prophet Mohammad. The drawings added to the furore over an anti-Islam film made that has provoked sometimes violent protests in several Muslim countries. Our correspondent Hugh Schofield reported from the streets of Paris:

• Genetically Modified Crops

Deborah Mackenzie of the magazine New Scientist explains the phenomenon of superweeds, which have evolved in regions where there is extensive farming with GM crops. She also tells us why recent research claiming to show the adverse effects on animals fed GM grain has been shunned by the scientific community.

• Ig Nobel Prizes

Coming just ahead the Nobel prize announcements, the Ig Nobel prize is about honouring science which “first makes you laugh, then makes you think”. Last year’s winnners include Austrian research into whether yawning is contagious – by using tortoises! Daniel Sokolov watched the announcement of this year’s winners, and describes his favourites: