Top stories from DAWNS Digest
The UN Climate Panel Gives US Another Reason to Worry….Scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change formally released their most up-to-date report at a big confab in Berlin. The big takeaway: unless emissions are sharply reduced in the next 15 years, the planet will reach a tipping point that “could potentially produce drastic effects, such as the collapse of ice sheets, a rapid rise in sea levels, difficulty growing enough food, massive die-offs of forests and mass extinctions of plant and animal species.” The Good News? The report says the costs of solar and wind power are declining, and since the last big scientific report in 2007 a number of countries and cities have undertaken ambitious emissions reduction plans. The Bad News? Even these measures are not enough to stop the impending doom, and it does not look at all like global leaders are prepared to agree to a grand international accord on climate change. Deeper Dive: New York Times http://nyti.ms/1ifVBmk
Ukraine Crisis Gets Deeper….A Pro-Russian forces have taken over a number of government buildings in eastern Ukraine and the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting Sunday night to discuss the crisis. (CNN http://cnn.it/1ifW7Ri)
Afghanistan Election Watch: Abdullah Abdullah is in the lead. He could face a run-off, likely with Ashraf Ghani if he does not exceed 50% of the vote. Right now he’s in the low 40s. (VOA http://bit.ly/1ifX6Ry)
Guinea Bissau Election Watch: Voting has ended in presidential and parliamentary elections in Guinea-Bissau with no reported problems or incidents. No results just yet, but the fact that things went relatively smoothly is a relief. These are the first elections since a 2012 coup and no president has ever completed a five year term. (BBC http://bbc.in/1ifXuPY)