Top stories from DAWNS Digest
Darfur in the Midst of the Worst Violence in a Decade…A militia is wreaking havoc in parts of Darfur and no-one is stopping it. About 200,000 people have been displaced, and now the group has taken over the city of El Fashir. What is this militia group? The Rapid Support Forces is made up of remnants of janjaweed militias that helped the government carry out the Darfur Genocide 10 years ago. At one point, the RSF was directly plied with arms by the government. But now Khartoum seems to have lost control over the group. What do they want? It would appear at this point they are mostly mercenaries and do not have much of political agenda. Deeper Dive: “Militia’s Out of Control in Darfur” AFP http://yhoo.it/1lFDkz9)
The world’s largest democracy goes to the polls. The Indian election has kicked off. Chances are the ruling congress party will lose to BJP. By the Numbers: “India’s elections, which run fromMonday to May 12, will cover 28 states and seven union territories, which are governed by the central government. These elections will see some of the country’s 814.5 million voters exercise their franchise. The votes will be counted on May 16. NYT http://nyti.ms/1h9LK1r)