FT.com / UK - Unesco choice reveals north and south rift
The election of the new head of Unesco, the United Nations culture and learning arm, has exposed a deep rift between developed and developing countries after the Arab frontrunner surprisingly lost after coming under attack for alleged racism.
Late on Tuesday a rank outsider - Irina Bokova, Bulgaria's ambassador to France - was chosen as the first woman and the first eastern European to lead the agency. Ms Bokova, 57, emerged to beat Farouk Hosny, Egypt's long-serving culture minister, in the fifth round of a secret ballot after two countries on Unesco's executive board switched sides at the last minute and backed her.
"Nobody really took her candidacy seriously," said an EU diplomat in Paris.