The next round of climate talks begins on Monday in Durban, South Africa. The last climate conference in Copenhagen was an unmitigated disaster–no agreements of note were reached, and the division between rich and poor countries on mutual responsibilities in protecting the climate deepened. The Durban meeting opens with very low expectations, but the urgency of the issue is acute.
The European economic situation became sharply worse this week, and today was dramatically bad. Italian 10-year bonds rates rose to almost 8%, Hungary’s bonds were classified as “junk,” and Belgium’s credit status was downgraded from AA+ to AA. European banks are trying to sell assets to raise capital, but there are no buyers–no one wants to be holding euros. Pressure is building on the European Central Bank to buy sovereign debt from European countries, but Germany adamantly refuses to allow that course of action.
You’ve heard of the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, and China), but now people are talking about a group of countries with even faster growth rates: the CIVETS (Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, and South Africa). Keeping up with acronyms in world politics is an impossible task.
The Arab League’s ultimatum to Syria will be tested soon. Odds are that Syria will not submit to the League’s ultimatum.
World Politics News 
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