August was the deadliest month for U.S. troops in the nearly 10-year-old war in Afghanistan. Sixty-six U.S. service members were killed, including 30 Americans who were shot down in a Chinook transport helicopter by the Taliban on August 6.

The road from Kabul to Jalalabad that NPR Morning Edition host Renee Montagne and I took earlier this week passes through some spectacular scenery — the road carves its way through the Kabul Gorge, between craggy, rock cliffs on one side and the Kabul River on the other –- often, a dizzying 1,000 feet below.

Something violent is going on the night sky, right now. And scientists studying the phenomenon said yesterday that with a pair good binoculars or a telescope you can see a star in its final throes causing a spectacular explosion called a supernova.

Even though the star is 21 million light years away from Earth, the explosion is the closest and brightest astronomers have found in decades. Today will be its brightest night.

Reuters reports:

For nearly two years, the Greek debt crisis has been causing financial and political turmoil in Europe.

Now, the widening European troubles are undermining U.S. stock prices and increasing the odds of a global recession.

The crushing debt loads incurred by Greece, as well as Italy, Ireland and others, have "badly rattled global financial markets," Nariman Behravesh, chief economist for IHS Global Insight, a forecasting firm, said Wednesday.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has always had a mantra of sorts that he would frequently resort to when taking heat from opponents during political debates back home.

It went something like this: Texas is great. People want to live here. Businesses want to move here. And, by the way, Texas is great.

Unfortunately for Perry, he couldn't play the card that has served him so well back home during his three terms as governor during his first presidential debate Wednesday night.

Good morning!

The news we've already posted about, today:

-- Texas Wildfires Rage On With More Than 1,000 Homes Destroyed

-- The Day After: Who Came Out On Top In The GOP Debate

And here some other stories making headlines:

Midmorning on a recent Tuesday in Washington and life is a-bustling at Union Station — the railroad terminal just a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol. People come and go, sidestepping the Jersey barriers at the entrance, making for the platform gates, some talking on cellphones, others to each other, still others moving in purposeful silence.

Not a soul seems to be paying attention to the security signs or videos.

Texas authorities said today that the wildfires that began Sunday in Bastrop have destroyed 1,386 homes. The Austin American Statesman reports that officials came to that number by going "house by house and driveway by driveway."

Doctors are supposed to help overweight patients lose weight, since those extra pounds boost the risk of diabetes, heart disease and many other illnesses. But those patients might be better off going to Weight Watchers, according to new research. And, a second study finds, paying for weight-loss programs now may reduce health care costs over the long haul.

The reviews are in of last night's Republican presidential debate at the Reagan Library. The short of it is that the debate was all about Texas Gov. Rick Perry — the newest in the field and presumed "front runner" — and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.

Our friend Frank James at It's All Politics has analysis. But here's what others are saying this morning: