From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Afghanistan, Pakistan, and American security.

Hello again, I'm Warren Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

At the White House today, two beleaguered presidents signed a trade agreement while looking over their shoulders at troubles back home.

In Pakistan, Asif Ali Zadari's peace deal with the Taliban has unraveled and 500,000 people are on the run.

In Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai faces an upcoming election as civilian casualties mount

from efforts to hold back the Taliban there. Does either leaders still have the confidence of his

own people or the Obama administration? What about Pakistan's nuclear weapons? On reporters'

notebook later on, will authors of the so-called torture memos face legal discipline?

First, here's the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica and from the Public Radio International Program Fund,

whose contributors include the Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation,

and the Rockefeller Foundation and its campaign for American workers. More at rockfound.org.

Hello again, Warren Alney, back with To the Point. In Washington, the Obama administration is hosting two weak leaders from strategic countries threatened by militant fundamentalists.

Can the presidents of Pakistan and Afghanistan make common cause against the Taliban?

On reporter's notebook, one of the lawyers who wrote the so-called torture memos is now a federal judge.

We'll look at what might happen in the wake of a Justice Department investigation.

First, this news update, the Labor Department's latest report on employment is not due until Friday,

but stocks rose today on news that the job declined during April was not as bad as expected.

John Authors is investment editor at the Financial Times, where he writes the short-view column.

John Authors, good to have you on our program.

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