Top stories from DAWNS Digest, a mobile app and news clips service.
Coup Attempt in Eritrea
About 100 mutinous soldiers failed to topple the entrenched president. “According to several people with close contacts inside Eritrea, the coup attempt failed, with government troops quelling the would-be rebellion and no one rising up in the streets. But many analysts said it was only a matter of time before President Isaias Afwerki, Eritrea’s brash and steely leader for the past 20 years, is overthrown — and most likely from within. ‘There’s a lot of dissatisfaction within the armed forces,’ said Dan Connell, a professor at Simmons College in Boston and the author of several books on Eritrea. ‘If this is suppressed, it won’t be the end.’” (NYT http://nyti.ms/Xuc5Jf)
Israel Elections: What You Need to Know
Right wing parties are expected to do well in today’s national elections. Click the link to read a very useful rundown of the parties, players and positions driving the elections today. “Likud is expected to win the most seats, but it has not performed as strongly in polls compared to previous elections. This could lead smaller right-wing and ultra-Orthodox parties to exert greater influence as they prop up the Likud/Yisrael Beiteinu coalition. The difficulty of maintaining a broad and stable coalition means that small groups with very specific agendas not supported by a wide swath of the electorate can exert undue pressure on more centrist groups.” (PBS http://to.pbs.org/XucECV)
Open Letter Applies Pressure on UNCTAD Appointment
A group of development experts want the secretary general to appoint an internationally respected figure to boost UNCTAD’s lagging profile. “Ban will nominate a new secretary general to Unctad this year to succeed Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi, who has held the post since 2005. The UN body has been a voice in the wilderness as the Washington consensus on the primacy of free markets has dominated modern economic thinking. The organisation’s supporters argue that Unctad, the historical standard bearer for developing countries, requires a strong figure at a time when – with the western liberal postwar paradigm of international economic co-operation waning, partly under the weight of successive economic, financial, environmental and social crises – the world desperately needs fresh thinking.” (Guardian http://bit.ly/Xud5wZ)