The Defence Committee (at 2.30pm) has Defence Secretary Phillip Hammond before it, to discuss "securing the future of Afghanistan" - ie what happens after western forces pull out.

BBC: Week ahead in committees

Chuck Hagel and Olympia Snowe added their names as co-sponsors of a Democratic measure for U.S. forces to pull out of Iraq by April.

CNN: GOP senators increasingly demanding changes to war strategy

The pull-out from Panama this year, along with an expected withdrawal from Haiti, means that American forces have fewer bases in the Caribbean, too.

ECONOMIST: Weapons testing