Top stories from DAWNS Digest
Voting in Malawi spilled into a second day after riots sparked by the late opening of polls marred an election seen as a test of President Joyce Banda’s scandal-tainted rule. The military was deployed on Tuesday after irate voters burned polling stations amid allegations of rigging when some bureaus opened 10 hours late. (Guardian http://bit.ly/1nfdDK4)
Africa
An adviser to Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan says the declaration of war on Boko Haram by African leaders and the international community is a game changer that could help end the violence perpetrated by the Islamist militants. (VOA http://bit.ly/1m3Poe6)
Voting in Malawi spilled into a second day after riots sparked by the late opening of polls marred an election seen as a test of President Joyce Banda’s scandal-tainted rule. The military was deployed on Tuesday after irate voters burned polling stations amid allegations of rigging when some bureaus opened 10 hours late. (Guardian http://bit.ly/1nfdDK4)
Former finance minister Jose Mario Vaz won a high-stakes presidential run-off election in Guinea-Bissau meant to draw a line under a 2012 coup, the elections commission said, but the losing candidate rejected the result. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1kouzds)
Experts warn that significant trade imbalances exist amid China’s growing presence on the African continent. (IPS http://bit.ly/1m3Tcfr)
MENA
A severe shortfall in international support has left many Syrian refugees in Lebanon unable to access crucial medical care. The situation is so desperate that in some cases refugees have resorted to returning to Syria to receive the treatment they need. (Amnesty Internationalhttp://bit.ly/1m3Sv5T)
Thousands of separatists rallied in Yemen’s main southern city Aden Wednesday demanding renewed independence for the region on the 20th anniversary of a secession bid that was crushed by northern troops. (AP http://yhoo.it/1nfh8Am)
The Red Cross has begun a “major distribution” of emergency food rations on both sides of the front lines in the Syrian city of Aleppo, its first since October. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1jVgPlO)
Asia
Starting on May 12, over 200 workers at Chevron’s Caltex gas stations across Cambodia’s capital city ground the firm’s business to a halt, demanding their salaries be increased from $110 to $160 a month. (GlobalPost http://bit.ly/1m3QTsJ)
A U.S.-based human rights group said that a “death squad” targeting criminal suspects in a southern Philippine city was organized by a former mayor and was responsible for nearly 300 killings in recent years. (AP http://yhoo.it/1m3UTcT)
Indian authorities took a prominent anti-corruption campaigner into custody after he refused to pay bail in connection with a defamation case against him. (AP http://yhoo.it/1m3VOda)
Thousands of women, children and activists marched in Pakistan’s volatile province of Baluchistan on Wednesday in a protest against a campaign by an Islamist group to force schools to shut down across the region. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1m3Wkb9)
International bodies and local campaign groups have repeatedly criticised Russia for not doing anywhere near enough in terms of providing prevention services or access to medical treatment for HIV/AIDS sufferers. The fourth Eastern Europe and Central Asia HIV/AIDS Conference has not put a stop to that criticism. (IPS http://bit.ly/1koyCXd)
The Americas
US lawmakers joined forces on five bills to help state and local governments develop victim-centered programs and to train law enforcement officers to rescue victims and not to treat them as prostitutes. House Majority leader Eric Cantor called for bipartisan efforts to address the problem. (VOA http://bit.ly/1m3RvyL)
Thousands of police in at least 14 Brazilian states are holding a one-day strike over pay.The strike takes place less than a month before the beginning of the football World Cup, in another hiccup in preparations for the event. (BBC http://bbc.in/1kovESz
Brazil’s government, the World Wildlife Fund and various partners are expected to unveil an agreement on Wednesday that would establish a $215 million fund for conservation of protected jungle in the Amazon rainforest. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1m3Vw6j)
Climate change is forcing the nine-member Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States to choose between expending scarce resources to deal with its impact or other pressing development goals. (IPS http://bit.ly/1nfe7jo)
Opinion/Blogs
Despite becoming a stable democracy, Somaliland’s sovereignty is unrecognized (GlobalPost http://bit.ly/1m3QE0W)
Should HPV Testing Replace The Pap Smear? (NPR http://n.pr/1m3SS0c)
Who Wants to Farm? Hardly any young people, it seems. Should/Could that change? (From Poverty to Power http://bit.ly/1kowjU9)