The Pentagon assessment makes sobering reading. It

depict

s an enemy which has the support of Iran and continuing access to safe havens along the Pakistan border. The Western allies have something like 150,000 troops in Afghanistan, around two thirds of them American. The enemy they are fighting emerges from the Pentagon report as resilient, adaptable and sophisticated. The report says the Taliban is drawing strength from a belief among the Afghan people that Nato forces will soon leave the country,

clearing the way for

a Taliban victory.

A report from the United Nations Environment Programme suggests voluntary pledges on cutting carbon emissions have been so ineffective that global temperatures could double to 4C. That's twice the figure most governments see as leading to dangerous levels of global warming. More from Richard Black.

Researchers have been calculating what pledges are likely to mean

in terms of

a global temperature rise. They conclude that even the most optimistic reading of the pledges suggests they are not enough to prevent temperatures rising beyond levels that most governments consider dangerous. A rise of up to 4C over the course of this century is

feasible

. The UN is putting an optimistic slant on the figures, saying they represent a good first step, but many would argue that scientific understanding of climate change means the time for first steps is long gone.