President Barack Obama performed one more awkward hello-goodbye ritual at the White House last night when he confirmed that General James Jones, who had been his National Security Advisor since the start of his tenure, was clearing his desk.

The likely departure of the White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, to run for Mayor of Chicago is part of a half-term reshuffle of top aides that will signal a new chapter in the history of Barack Obama's increasingly embattled presidency.

With the usual procedural stymieing and partisan politicking, the US Congress showed off its talent for inaction last night by failing to pass legislation to repeal the law that bars gays from serving openly in the military even though both the president and Pentagon leaders have voiced support for it.

It is a measure of the interconnected nature of the world that a decision by a small-time Florida pastor could be met with relief around the globe. Terry Jones suspended his plan for a Koran-burning to mark today's anniversary of the attacks of 9/11 in response to a report, not subsequently confirmed, that the controversial Islamic Centre would be moved from its intended site near Ground Zero.

A suicide bomber perched on the back of a motorcycle killed five Afghan policemen and one civilian in the increasingly violent northern province of Kunduz today.

One can only wish Robert Gates well in his latest effort to bring America's military spending under control. If they are approved by Congress – a very big if – the cuts the US Defence Secretary is outlining, notably the elimination of an entire military command and a thinning of the Pentagon's bloated parallel army of private contractors, will save around $20bn annually over the next five years. Set against the current defence budget of some $700bn a year, the reduction is less than breathtaking. But it is a step in the right direction.

Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, faces a fierce political battle after announcing cuts in America's military spending of $100bn over the next five years, at the cost of thousands of outsourced civilian contracting jobs, and the elimination of an entire military command.

I left town earlier this month for a holiday with the headlines full of one spy scandal. I returned this week to be greeted by another. The first of course was the uncovering of a network of Russian "illegals", operating in the US under deep cover as innocuous suburbanites, tasked to scoop up secrets for Moscow Centre. In reality they seem to have scooped up next to nothing, but no matter. It was a splendid tale, redolent of a simpler Cold War age.

The US military, still recovering from the shock of the sacking of General Stanley McChrystal, its top commander in Afghanistan – is facing fresh problems over revelations that another top commander declared that it was "fun to shoot people" in Afghanistan.

General David Petraeus told the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday that Nato faces an "industrial strength insurgency" in Afghanistan and indicated that as the next top commander there he would consider "certain tweaks, refinements, perhaps significant changes" to get to the point where a withdrawal of US forces can begin.

David Cameron offered extra funds to combat roadside bombs taking a relentless toll on British lives during his first visit to Afghanistan as Prime Minister yesterday, but ruled out sending any extra troops to help turn the tide of the war against the Taliban.