Top stories from DAWNS Digest
Jordan’s Massive Refugee Challenge
UNHCR said yesterday there were now over two million Syrian refugees. Here is a fascinating radio interview with the aid worker charged with managing one of the most complex refugee situations in the world. “While the United States mulls over the decision to attack Syria, nearly 5,000 people flee that country daily. The United Nations Refugee Agency announced Tuesday that the number of refugees from Syria has reached the 2 million mark. Melissa Block talks to Andrew Harper, who heads the U.N.’s refugee agency in Jordan, about the exodus.” (NPR http://n.pr/1ectnGo)
Food Shortages in Zimbabwe Affect 2.2 Million
This is the highest number of Zimbabweans needing food assistance since 2009. “Zimbabwe faces its worst food shortages in four years following a drought and poor harvest, the U.N. World Food Programme said on Tuesday, a month after veteran President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF disputed re-election. The agency said it was working with the government and other international aid organizations to provide food assistance to about a fifth of Zimbabwe’s 13 million people from October until the next crop harvest in March/April 2014.” (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1ecsFZO)
Scores Killed in Bombings – Just Another Day in Iraq
A now familiar pattern. “A string of coordinated car bombs struck around Baghdad at dusk on Tuesday, killing at least 46 people, in the latest burst of violence that appears to be steadily pulling the country back toward the worst days of the last decade. Earlier in the day, five Iraqis were killed when gunmen stormed a house in a Sunni district and used silenced pistols to kill a family: mother, father and three children…The bombings in Baghdad, most likely carried out by Iraq’s resurgent Al Qaeda affiliate, mostly struck Shiite neighborhoods. The attacks followed a similar round of bombings less than a week ago in the capital that killed at least 65 people.” (NYT http://nyti.ms/1ecso95)