The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a UN body comprised of hundreds of scientists specializing in climate and set up in 1992 to monitor the process of climate change, had its most recent draft report leaked to the press. Although only a draft, and therefore subject to revision, the report is sobering. It finds that the panel “is 95 to 100 percent confident that human activity — largely from burning fossil fuels — is the main cause of global warming since the 1950s.” The strong statement is unlikely to change the minds of those who profit from the sale and use of fossil fuels, but the science is becoming overwhelmingly persuasive.
Pakistani ex-President Pervez Musharraf has been charged with the murder of Benazir Bhutto in 2007. Musharraf ruled Pakistan for seven years after he led a coup in 1999. He was ousted from power and left the country, only to return this year to compete in the national elections. The political situation in Pakistan is already fragile and the charge is certainly going to unsettle the politics of Pakistan even more.
The Indian economy, a rapidly growing one in recent years, has seen a very rapid decline in recent months. The growth rate of the GDP has slowed down, the rupee has sunk to record low rates, bonds yields are rising rapidly, and the stock markets have declined by over 10 %. The Indonesian economy is also being rattled, and the general view in South and South East Asia is that the economic situation is deteriorating largely because of the slowdown in China. Generally speaking, the regional situation seems very dicey, but few are confident that the data being published by the governments are accurate.
World Politics News 
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