Must-Reads from Around the World

Venezuela's electoral body will audit the votes cast in the presidential election, almost 5 million people live in New Delhi's illegal settlements and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is traveling to Russia

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Rodrigo Abd / AP

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles gestures during a press conference in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Mar. 10, 2013.

Voting Audit — The electoral council of Venezuela will audit the votes cast in the presidential election earlier this month, notes the BBC. The audit from May 6 to Jun. 4 is not the full recount that was demanded by opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, who lost by a margin of less than two percentage points to President Nicolas Maduro. Capriles, according to the broadcaster, called the audit fake and vowed to challenge Maduro’s victory in the Supreme Court.

New Delhi — The New York Times reports that as many as five million of New Delhi’s 17 million residents live in unauthorized colonies without government approval or city services. Because 2013 is an election year, the state could grant legal status to scores of unauthorized colonies, giving them access to new or improved sewer lines, electricity and water supplies and better roads. In India, illegal settlements have formed over the years in the absence of affordable, low-income or middle-class housing for migrants who flocked to cities for work and opportunity, writes the paper.

Abe in Russia – Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is traveling to Russia – the first such visit by a Japanese premier in a decade, reports Bloomberg. Russia, which has seen a fall in demand for its natural gas — one of its key exports — will use Abe’s visit to promote gas exports to Japan, writes the Japan Times, noting that Abe may use that leverage to persuade President Vladimir Putin to open fresh negotiations on Russian-held disputed islands off the Japanese coast. Ahead of the visit, the Kremlin said that “dialogue should be aimed at finding the mutually acceptable solution” to the disputed islands, reports Russia Today. Abe’s week-long trip will also take in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey.

Displaced People – The number of Internally Displaced People (IDP) is at a record level, reports the Guardian. The wars in Syria and the Democratic Republic of Congo contributed to more than 6.5 million people being forced to move within their own countries in 2012, taking the global total to 28.8 million last year – the highest figure recorded by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) in Geneva. IDP are not eligible for international protection, as they have not crossed borders and are as such not classed as refugees. The IDMC said that until the conflict is resolved in Syria — which is second only to Colombia in its number of IDPs — internal displacement will continue to grow, as has been seen in other countries with ongoing conflicts, writes the Guardian.