WYSO-FM: Renee Montagne

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is in the Afghan capital Kabul to meet with Afghan officials, and try to smooth relations with Pakistan. His trip follows a deadly attack on Pakistani troops by a U.S. drone based in Afghanistan. In response, Pakistan has blocked two routes used to supply U.S. troops.

In the Egyptian port city of Alexandria, hundreds of women lined up at one polling center Monday. For many of the women at the segregated polling station, this is the first election in which they feel their choice will count.

Already tense U.S.-Pakistan relations have been further strained by a weekend incident on the Afghan border that left two dozen Pakistani soldiers dead. Pakistan says NATO helicopters crossed the frontier and fired on its forces. NATO has apologized for the loss of life and is investigating what happened.

Many Americans could see a bigger bite out of their paychecks unless Congress votes to continue the suspension of the Social Security payroll tax. The tax holiday, enacted to stimulate people to spend money in a bad economy, is scheduled to expire at the end of this year. Senate Democrats plan to try to extend the tax break and pay for it by charging a new tax on the very wealthy.

President Obama was in Hawaii over the weekend for a summit of Asian-Pacific leaders. Before he left, he made phone calls to the Democratic and Republican chairs of the supercommittee, which is dealing with debt-reduction in Congress.

After a week of intense political drama played out on the world stage, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou is expected to step down Monday. He will make way for a coalition government that's supposed to steer the country through austerity measures and save a bailout deal that is widely seen as Greece's last chance to preserve its economy.