To the Point
Future Hazy as Climate Talks Continue
Another UN Earth Summit is under way this week. Will they save the Kyoto protocol, or let it to expire even as the impact of climate change is being felt worldwide?
By Warren Olney • • 50m ListenAnother 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
In this episode
3 storiesFraying Diplomatic Ties between Iran and Britain
After its embassy in Tehran was vandalized this week, Britain withdrew its ambassador to Iran and reduced ties to what's being called "the lowest level of diplomacy." Other European nations have followed suit. Today in Brussels, EU finance ministers met to discuss intensifying sanctions against Iran's nuclear program.
Read the story8 minClimate Change and Low Expectations
The UN's Conference of Parties on Climate Change has been meeting for 17 years. In 1997, it produced the Kyoto Protocol , supposedly to hold industrial nations accountable for the impact of greenhouse emissions.
Read the story36 minUS-made Spying Technology Used in Syria and Iran
Eavesdropping has gone from peeking in windows to a $5 billion business. Western companies make sophisticated technology for what they call "lawful intercept." Is it also used for human rights abuses overseas and invasions of privacy at home?
Read the story7 min