Top stories from DAWNS Digest.
Muslim Brotherhood Claim Egyptian Presidency Win…BUT
A comfortable lead of one million votes has led Mohammed Morsi to declare victory in the presidential run-off. The Muslim Brotherhood candidate has over 52% of the vote, ahead of opponent Ahmed Shafiq. Shafiq has not conceded victory quite yet. “Turnout was lower than during the first round of voting in May, according to Hatem Bagato, the secretary-general of the presidential election commission, who held a press conference in Cairo on Sunday. Around 46 per cent of Egypt’s 51 million eligible voters cast their ballots during the first round…Morsi’s opponent, Shafiq, the final prime minister under deposed president Hosni Mubarak, took a more aggressive tone, accusing the Brotherhood of fraud in a statement sent to reporters.” (Al Jazeera http://aje.me/KFOWUt)
***BUT…the ruling Military Council passed a sweeping decree stripping the newly elected president of much of his power, late Sunday night. The stage has been set for a constitutional clash that could define Egypt’s post-revolutionary period (CNN http://bit.ly/N9hMLl)
UK Pushes Back Spending Pledge By 2 Years
Aid advocates are vocally disappointed by the announcement by the UK that it will push back its commitment to spend 0.7% of its national income on international aid. The pledge to do so by 2013 was largely applauded at the time of announcement. “Labour now plans to put the government on the spot by offering cross-party co-operation to get the bill through parliament. The Labour MP Mark Hendrick has written to international development secretary Andrew Mitchell, offering to use time allotted for a private member’s bill to advance the government’s bill. Labour’s shadow development secretary Ivan Lewis said the government’s attitude was “extraordinary”, adding that there was now not a “cat in hell’s chance” of a bill being taken forward by the coalition alone.” (Guardian http://bit.ly/N7DejR)
Church Bombings and Reprisal Attacks: Yet Another Bloody Sunday in Nigeria.
This is getting to be a more and more common occurrence. “Multiple suicide attacks on churches in northern Nigeria and subsequent rioting by Christian youths targeting Muslims killed at least 36 people on Sunday, officials said. Bomb blasts struck three churches in the northern Kaduna state in the space of an hour, the latest in a string of Sunday attacks that has threatened to ignite wider sectarian strife across the divided country. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bloodshed but the attacks were likely to be blamed on Boko Haram, an extremist group bent on creating an Islamic state and responsible for scores of recent bombings. Officials put the state — which last year saw sectarian violence that left more than 600 people dead — under curfew for 24 hours “to assess the situation”, banning Kaduna’s seven million inhabitants from leaving their homes for a full day. Suicide bombers attacked two churches in the city of Zaria and one in Kaduna City, killing at least 16 people, national police spokesman Frank Mba said in a statement.” (AFP http://bit.ly/N9mOaQ)
Rio+20*
The Inclusive Wealth Index, which includes natural resources into other traditional growth factors, was released by the United Nations University’s International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change and the United Nations Environment Programme. Major economies were projected to have lower than expected growth rates. (Reuters http://bit.ly/Me8Pj8)
Inaction on economic, climate and resource threats raising anxieties at Rio+20 (AlertNet http://bit.ly/LohYY7)
What Rio Can Do – Thomas Lovejoy of GMU in the New York Times http://nyti.ms/Lvjox5