Top stories from the DAWNS Digest global news aggregation service and mobile app.
Egyptians Flock to Tahrir Square to Protest President Morsi’s Power Grab
Last week, President Morsi issued a decree greatly expanding the legislative and constitutional powers of his office. Many Egyptians see this a cynical power grab harkening back to the days of yore. After massive protests yesterday, tensions are high.“Clashes erupting on streets near Tahrir Square spilled into the square on Wednesday morning, with canisters falling into the crowd forcing protesters to run and sending clouds of tear gas over the tents housing the demonstrators. Al Jazeera’s Hoda Abdel-Hamid, reporting from Cairo, said that there was a huge difference between today and Tuesday’s turnout, which was a huge success for the opposition in terms of the amount of people they were able to rally. ‘Today, you have those die-hards who say that they will stay in the square until the president retracts its constitutional declaration.’” (Al Jazeera http://aje.me/QLlwaq)
Poverty Rates in Latin America Drops to Lowest Levels in 30 Years
The countries that experienced the sharpest declines are Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Panama. “The number of people living in poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean has dropped to its lowest level in three decades due to higher wages, the UN’s regional economic body said on Tuesday. Despite lower poverty levels overall, 167 million people in the region are still considered poor. That’s one million fewer than in 2011, and it represents about 29 percent of the region’s population. Of those, 66 million people remain stuck in extreme poverty, the same as last year.” (WaPo http://wapo.st/Y1vQy5)