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Villagers near the Afghan city of Kandahar say Afghan troops, and their U.S. mentors, forced civilians to march ahead of soldiers on roads where landmines were suspected. No one was hurt, but the incident raises questions about how civilians are being caught between the warring parties.

Regardless of how Europe resolves its debt crisis, changes are needed. Like the U.S., Europe's road to recovery is likely to be long and difficult. As European markets get closer to a meltdown and the echoes of the 2008 banking crisis still resonate in the U.S., has anything changed on Wall Street?

The Obama administration is consulting with U.S. allies on how to respond to the alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. But Saudi Arabia may have its own idea: It could try to undermine Iran's economy by driving down oil prices.

Turkish rhetoric has now escalated to the fullest, with Friday's call by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for Syrian President Bashar Assad to leave power. Turkey insists it won't move unilaterally, but pressure is building to protect civilian life in Syria.

The online group Anonymous was in the news again last week when it threatened to unmask collaborators with a powerful Mexican drug cartel. That is just one of the attention-grabbing exploits by the group of cyber activists that is as mysterious as its name sounds. Journalist Quinn Norton talks to Renee Montagne about the profile of Anonymous that she has written for Wired.com.

The former House speaker says the troubled mortgage giant paid him the consultant fee in 2006 for his "advice as a historian" — and that he was not a lobbyist. Strictly speaking, that's right. But one expert says what Freddie really wanted was "political protection and cover."

When they both worked at Princeton, Howard Stone and Jeff Aristoff used to play basketball at lunchtime. One day, when Dr. Stone was warming up with his jump rope, the two wondered if anyone had mathematically modeled the shape of the rope. The two researchers decided to give it a whirl.

This week, the Senate blocked the confirmation of Richard Cordray, the former Ohio attorney general chosen by President Obama to lead the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It boils down to yet another partisan fight: Republicans say the agency has too much power, and the White House says they won't weaken an agency that is supposed to protect consumers. Host Scott Simon talks with Joe Nocera, an op-ed columnist for The New York Times.

The idea that giving a family a few goats or chicks can change their lives by helping them earn a living is not new. But now there are more alternative giving groups that cater to American givers than ever.

Marriage — it's so last century. A new report out on Wednesday finds the share of all U.S. adults who are married has dropped to its lowest on record, at just 51 percent. If the trend continues, the institution will soon lose its majority status in American life.