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Key portions of the Kyoto Protocol are set to expire at the end of 2012. But many of the world's major greenhouse gas emitters have already set national targets to reduce emissions, and they're forging their own initiatives to meet those goals.

The basic idea is to have rich countries that emit lots of climate-warming gases pay poorer countries to keep their forests, or even expand them. That's because forests suck carbon from the atmosphere. But there's not yet a global system to make a plan like this work.

The United Nations climate conference in Durban, South Africa, was scheduled to wrap up Friday, but the negotiations have gone into overtime. Host Scott Simon talks with NPR's Richard Harris about what is still under discussion.

The nation's oldest black church reopens to the public this week after a $9-million restoration fueled in part by federal stimulus funds, and completed in painstaking detail despite the recession. Shannon Mullen tours Boston's African Meeting House with the woman who led the project.

This week, the Senate blocked the confirmation of Richard Cordray, the former Ohio attorney general chosen by President Obama to lead the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It boils down to yet another partisan fight: Republicans say the agency has too much power, and the White House says they won't weaken an agency that is supposed to protect consumers. Host Scott Simon talks with Joe Nocera, an op-ed columnist for The New York Times.

Astronomers at the University of California, Berkeley, recently discovered two massive black holes more than 300 million light-years away and 10 billion times the size of the sun. Host Scott Simon talks with Professor Chung-Pei Ma, who led the team that published the study.

Most of the names announced for induction to the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame this week are familiar. The name Laura Nyro, however, may need some explaining. Her songs outlasted their times, and today, a range of artists call her an inspiration.

Thousands of wreaths were laid around the country Saturday and at Arlington National Cemetery as part of the 20th anniversary of an effort honoring the nation's veterans for their service.

Who's backing whom? And do these official embraces matter anymore anyway? We catch up on all the presidential endorsements via reported poetry.

Are you size 4? A 6? An 8? Often women don't know — and can actually be all those sizes without gaining or losing an ounce. A clothing size and fit consulting firm works with brands to expand the number of people it can dress by focusing on not only size numbers but also body shapes.