Top stories from the DAWNS Digest mobile app and global news aggregation service.
Civilian Casualties Soaring in Gaza as Talks Stall in Cairo. Hillary Clinton Heads to Region
At least 113 Gazans have been killed by Israeli airstrikes. As these casualties mount, the parties are positioning themselves as ceasefire talks begin in Cairo. Meanwhile. Hillary Clinton is rushing to the region in a sharp escalation of US involvement. “Although Clinton may be able to pressure Israel to refrain from a ground offensive on Gaza, the United States does not have relations with Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the densely populated enclave. Clinton will instead meet with Palestinian leaders in the West Bank, who are largely peripheral to the unfolding crisis. Israel is negotiating through Egypt, whose President Mohamed Morsi is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, a cousin organization to Hamas. Obama spoke with Morsi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the phone Monday night, and he spoke again to Morsi on Tuesday morning, a White House official said. But there was scant evidence that an Egyptian-brokered truce is in sight.” (WaPo http://wapo.st/10515qm)
Rwandan-Backed Rebels Take Key Congolese Town
The provincial capital city of Goma has fallen to the M23 Rebel group. A humanitarian disaster is in the making. “Explosions and machine-gun fire rocked the lakeside city as the M23 rebels pushed forward on two fronts: toward the city center and along the road that leads to Bukavu, another provincial capital which lies to the south. Civilians ran down sidewalks looking for cover and children shouted in alarm…The United Nations peacekeepers, known by their acronym MONUSCO, were not helping the government forces during Tuesday’s battle because they do not have a mandate to engage the rebels, said Congolese military spokesman Olivier Hamuli, who expressed frustration over the lack of action by the peacekeepers.” (Boston Globe http://bo.st/1053IZg)
World Bank: Whole World Will Suffer due to Climate Change
The World Bank is jumping into the climate change conversation with a new report examining the adverse affects of climate change on developing world economies “The report, reviewed by some of the world’s top scientists, is being released ahead of the next comprehensive studies by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2013/14, and follows the Bank’s own Strategic Framework for Development and Climate Change in 2008 and the World Development Report on climate change in 2010. “Turn Down the Heat” combines a synthesis of recent scientific literature with new analysis of likely impacts and risks, focusing on developing countries. It chronicles already observed climate change and impacts, such as heat waves and other extreme events, and offers projections for the 21st century for droughts, heat waves, sea level rise, food, water, ecosystems and human health.” (World Bank http://bit.ly/RPwVmp )