Future Hazy as Climate Talks Continue

Another United Nations Earth Summit is under way this week with 195 countries in Durban, South Africa. Will they save the Kyoto protocol, or allow it to expire even as the impacts of climate change are being felt all over the world? Also, fraying diplomatic ties between Iran and Britain, and Western makers of high-tech surveillance equipment sell to their own governments — and to foreign countries as well. How much goes for "lawful intercept" and how much to violate privacy and human rights?

Banner image: A resident wades through neck-high floodwaters in Rangsit district, in the outskirts of Bangkok, on November 16, 2011. Such extreme weather is increasingly said to be the by-product of global warming. Photo credit should read Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty Images