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

Is America's thirst for imported oil fueling dictators?

I'm Jim Sterngold sitting in for Warren Only, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International,

a daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

Oil prices are hovering near $100 a barrel, hurting U.S. consumers but sending hundreds of billions of dollars to unfriendly countries like Venezuela and Iran.

Brazil is suddenly contemplating new riches.

How is this flood of petro dollars affecting U.S. security? How is the U.S. economy petrodollars affecting U.S. security?

How is the U.S. economy coping? And can the U.S. ever cut its oil dependence?

On reporter's notebook later on, Asia's tiger economies have long put business ahead of politics,

but now they must confront Myanmar's democracy crackdown. 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 and the John

D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. I'm Jim Sterngold sitting in for Warren

Olney back with To the Point from PRI. After a decade in which

oil producing countries struggled with weak markets, booming prices have rearranged global

politics. OPEC was all but forgotten during the 1990s, but now it's influencing decisions from

Washington to Beijing. How will Washington deal with powerful oil exporters who are determined to confront U.S. might?

On reporter's notebook, Southeast Asia's trading powers try to unite, but will concerns about Myanmar's military dictators leave them divided?

First, this news update. Two teams of scientists, one in Japan and one in Wisconsin, have solved a medical riddle.

They have produced stem cells for research without destroying human embryos in the process.

The discovery may allow scientists to get around ethical concerns about harming human life

and unleash greater federal funding.

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