Tom's Take

[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/11/09/art.amanpour.writer.jpg caption="Sr. Writer Tom Evans"]

On AMANPOUR. today, two people with legendary careers in newspapers and publishing share their stories with Christiane. Sir Harold Evans was the editor of the UK’s prestigious Sunday Times and The Times, revolutionizing British journalism by bringing to light many of the most important stories of our time. Tina Brown achieved fame as the first female editor of the New Yorker and Editor-in-Chief of Vanity Fair. Now she is making her mark on the web with Daily Beast. In their FIRST joint interview ever, the powerhouse couple sit down to talk about their life together and the future of the craft they helped shape. We are also paying attention to some other important stories. Here are some perspectives on some headlines in the news right now.

Tom Evans
Sr. Writer, AMANPOUR.

PAKISTAN – Will instability in Pakistan hinder the fight against terrorism?

– new bomb blast, in northwest Pakistan, kills 12 people outside a police compound in the city of Timargarah

– bombing the latest in a series of recent attacks in Pakistan that have killed hundreds of people

– new suspected U.S. drone strike in North Waziristan, Pakistan kills at least three people, day after two other attacks left 15 dead in the same area

– Pakistani Supreme Court strikes down an amnesty that had protected thousands of politicians and officials from corruption charges, raising possibility of new political and legal turmoil as opposition calls for ouster of President Asif Ali Zardari

QUESTION: Will legal and political challenges against government distract it from its offensive against the Taliban?

CLIMATE CHANGE SUMMIT – Can world leaders break the deadlock as the clock counts down?

– U.S. President Barack Obama, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, and other leaders hold emergency talks in last ditch attempt to end impasse hours before conference scheduled to finish

– U.S. and China, the world’s biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, so far not making any new commitments to cut emissions

– America tried to break deadlock yesterday by offering to pay into a fund to help poorer nations, but cash is dependent on agreement to cut emissions and China’s willingness to provide more transparency on pollution

– French President Nicolas Sarkozy says China is holding up progress at the talks, while China says “We will honor our word with action”

QUESTION: Is it too late for world leaders to reach an agreement on global climate change?

HACKING – Is there a cyber war underway against the U.S.?

– South Korea says it’s investigating a hacking attack that accessed secret joint defense plans with the U.S. and may have been carried out by North Korea

– Pentagon trying to downplay reports that insurgents hacked into video feeds of unmanned drones in Iraq, saying the hacking caused no significant military damage

– Hacking attack on Twitter by a group calling itself the “Iranian Cyber Army” temporarily leaves millions of people tweetless. Twitter and other social networking sites have enabled pro-democracy protesters in Iran to get their message out to the world

– Pentagon report last year raised concerns that China now has capability to infiltrate and manipulate computer networks around the world

QUESTION: How vulnerable are America’s military computer networks and civilian computer systems in key areas of the economy such as energy and water supply to hacking attacks?