…And the World:

We begin today in Afghanistan where Ashraf Ghani has been declared the winner of the country’s Presidential election. He and his rival, Abdullah Abdullah promised to form a coalition and begin the transition of power away from Hamid Kharzai, who has ruled the country for a decade.

The union may be saved, but for how long? We mean of course Britain’s union, which survived a Scottish independence vote last week. Now comes the hard work of figuring out how to properly grant more power to the constituent nations of the United Kingdom. Perhaps one side has already been outmaneuvered. The Labour party, which has a decent chance of winning next May’s elections, is holding its party conference in Manchester. While it might win in May, it must do much more to actually save the union and hold power, among the many challenges Labour Party leader Ed Miliband has.

Austrialian Prime Minister Tony Abbott is telling his countrymen they may need to accept a bit less freedom for security.

Al-Qaeda linked Syrian rebels have taken control of the Syrian side of the Golan Heights border with Israel, flushing out the UN peacekeepers stationed there. Israel turns a wary eye to a border it has not worried about in 40 years.

Elsewhere in the Middle East potpourri: Syrian Kurds flood into Turkey as questions arise about how much good airstrikes are doing to ISIS in Iraq. In a related vein, have the US and Hezbollah united (sorta) against a common enemy. Israel’s High Court rejects the nation’s response to African asylum seekers.

Tomorrow world leaders will gather at the UN to discuss climate change and have been advised to bring bold ideas to combat it.

Russians opposed to the foreign policy of President Vladimir Putin filled the streets of Moscow in one of the largest demonstrations against his rule in months. Although it did not quite meet expectations.

The New York Times profiles the challenge and the opportunity the Ebola crisis presents UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

The Feds:

In New York hundreds of thousands of protesters rallied in favor of action on climate change ahead of the UN meeting this week.

Staying in New York, indicted Congressman Michael Grimm is even with his Democratic opponent. Hard to know what part of that is most stunning.

Los Angeles is on the cusp of approving a big pay hike for hotel workers.

Up in Maine, Michelle Obama is slated to campaign for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Mike Michaud while incumbent Republican governor Paul Lepage says he might skip debates.

The Courant looks at the rise and fall of Connecticut’s own John Rowland who was convicted on federal charages…again.

More from Greg Sargent about the midterm dropoff conundrum for Democrats and how, maybe even losing in November might stir some necessary changes.

The State of Things:

The Star-Ledger of Newark editorializes about the deals between a fund tied to Massachusetts Republican Charlie Baker and his contributions to the political funds run by New Jersey governor Chris Christie.

Not surprisingly, women will be key to the gubernatorial election this year. Joan Vennochi hits Baker on how he’s reaching out to the ladies.

Meanwhile a profile of the woman trying to unseat Niki Tsongas.

The welding company linked to a fire that took the lives of two firefighters earlier this year has been fined.

Angela Thorpe, the Chair of the East Longmeadow Select Board has been ousted as head of that body amid a fusillade of allegations by one of her colleagues. William Gorman, who had nominated her to be chair of the three member board earlier this year, made a motion last week to restore Paul Federici as chair. The Reminder recounts a catty exchange of allegations primarily from Gorman about Thorpe.

The Fourth Estatements:

See the Twitter Chatter, but here is a formal story on David Bernstein’s impending departure from Massachusetts.

City Slickers:

While we are loath to give too much credence to the Pioneer Institute, general concern about funding Springfield’s obligations to its retirees is always appropriate and worthy of attention.

Police Commissioner John Barbieri says crime is down in the city and who your are friends are correlates more closely to your risk of being a victim of crime more than where you live.

Twitter Chatter:

First we lost Maureen Turner to the Yiddish Book Center. Now we are losing David Bernstein to Virginia. Last week the oft-irreverent, but always sharp political journo David Bernstein announced his wife had taken a job in Richmond and that they would be moving to the Old Dominion after this November’s elections. His current employers, WGBH and Boston Magazine want him to continue a role and we certainly hope he does, but at such a distance it will never be quite the same.

Big personal news to relate: after the November election I am moving to Richmond, VA, where my wife is starting an exciting new job. (1/x)

— David S. Bernstein (@dbernstein) September 18, 2014

In any event, we award this week’s tweet prize to Berntein, a frequent winner, for his original tweet, but also for this playful one about state politics, a prime example of what he contributes to the political conversation in the Bay State.

Retweet if you agree that at least one #magov debate should include midway games.

— David S. Bernstein (@dbernstein) September 22, 2014