Museveni’s anti-gay law comes with consequences. “The White House said on Thursday the United States would impose visa restrictions on Ugandans it believes have been involved in human rights violations, including gay rights.The United States will halt $2.4 million in funding for a Ugandan community policing program in light of a police raid on a U.S.-funded health program at Makerere University and reports of people detained and abused while in police custody.In addition, Washington will shift some funding for salaries and travel expenses of Ugandan health ministry employees to non-governmental agencies involved in health programs.It will also reallocate $3 million in funding for a planned national public health institute in Uganda to another African country, which it did not name. A National Institutes of Health genomics meeting would be moved from Uganda to South Africa, the White House said.” (Reuters http://reut.rs/1iMweWP)
And here’s the official statement from the White House. http://1.usa.gov/UjczIh
Obama to Send Military Advisors to Iraq…”President Obama announced Thursday that he is sending up to 300 U.S. troops to Iraq to help Iraqi military forces deal with an onslaught by radical Islamist fighters inspired by al-Qaeda.Addressing the Iraq situation in a statement from the White House Briefing Room, Obama insisted that he would not send combat troops back into Iraq. He said the contingent he is sending would operate as “advisers.” He stopped short of openly calling for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to step down.” (WaPo http://wapo.st/1iMxXLu)
And here’s what the Iraq crisis looks like from the perspective of the United Nations. (Global Dispatches Podcast bit.ly/1sqXT9d)
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Africa
Ten bodies showing signs of torture have been found this week in a river in the troubled Central African Republic, a security official said Thursday. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1kSbQ6h)
Across a swath of South Sudan, fields where green shoots should be poking through the wet soil lie untilled and overgrown; herds of cattle that would sustain communities through the lean season have been lost or stolen; food stores have been looted or burned. (IRIN http://bit.ly/1kS3fRc)
Chronic shortages of antiretrovirals across Mozambique are endangering the health and the lives of tens of thousands of HIV positive people on treatment. (IPS http://bit.ly/1kS4Hmy)
Some residents of the South Sudanese capital are heeding the call of health officials and taking extra measures to fight cholera as the number of cases of the diarrheal disease continues to rise. But others are ignoring messages from health officials and continue as before — not washing their hands and not treating the water they drink. (VOA http://bit.ly/UhywaL)
Police fired teargas and rubber bullets on Thursday in Kenya’s main port city of Mombasa to disperse a demonstration about poor security called after gunmen killed about 65 people in attacks on the coast this week. (VOA http://bit.ly/1kS6jg7)
As Ivory Coast strives to put more than a decade of bloody conflict behind it, courts in the agrarian west African nation are overwhelmed by quarrels over land ownership. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1kSb2y8)
A United Nations human rights investigator says 4,000 Eritreans flee the country every month — almost double from just a year ago. (AP http://yhoo.it/UhGj8s)
MENA
The number of Syrians who are housed in refugee camps and cities in neighboring Turkey has reached 1.05 million. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1kS7Tyl)
Sunni refugees from northern Iraqi towns overrun by jihadists and other militants say they are afraid to return because of Iraqi air force bombing runs and the threat of U.S. airstrikes. (VOA http://bit.ly/UhzfbW)
Syrian warplanes Thursday launched 23 air raids on Mleiha southeast of Damascus, a key rebel bastion President Bashar al-Assad’s regime has struggled for weeks to recapture, a monitor said. (APhttp://yhoo.it/UhE1WK)
Asia
India is cracking down on foreign-funded charities after receiving an internal report alleging they are costing the country up to 3 percent of its GDP by rallying communities against polluting industries. (APhttp://yhoo.it/UhCtw3)
Thousands of refugees poured out of Pakistan’s North Waziristan on Thursday, terrified by both state troops and Taliban insurgents fighting for control of the troubled region. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/UhCbFh)
China’s Communist Party crackdown on dissent and freedom of expression appears to be intensifying. (VOA http://bit.ly/1kS3ueS)
Tensions are rising as the deteriorating humanitarian situation and limited access to livelihoods for Muslim Rohingya in Myanmar’s largely Buddhist Rakhine State lead to accusations that some are smuggling drugs across the border into neighbouring Bangladesh. (IRIN http://bit.ly/Uhu5fP)
The Americas
After declining for some years, the number of Indian students heading to the United States for graduate and undergraduate studies is surging. (VOA http://bit.ly/1kS3U4S)
A severe water crisis in the financially bankrupt city of Detroit in the US state of Michigan has prompted several non-governmental organisations and activists to appeal for U.N. intervention in one of the world’s richest countries. (IPS http://bit.ly/Uhvxiy)
The US Treasury Department lifted economic sanctions on Thursday against 308 people and entities with suspected links to a now-defunct Colombian drug cartel. (AP http://yhoo.it/1kSbz37)
Opinion/Blogs
Providing Aid in Conflict Zones Keeps Getting More and More Dangerous (VICE Newshttp://bit.ly/1lCY1ie)
No More Excuses for Africa at World Cup (The Daily Vox http://bit.ly/UhseYt)
Is the UN turning its back on the human right to water? (Guardian http://bit.ly/1kS3jjR)
First Development Impact Bond Is Launched (CGD http://bit.ly/1kSeeK9)
Why we made a film about the images and myths that cast a continent as a victim (Africa is a Countryhttp://bit.ly/1iLLV0g)
Nicholas Kristof wants to save the world with his New York Times columns. Why are so many of them wrong? (Slate http://slate.me/1lCXXz0)
The danger of free artistic expression in Belarus (Humanosphere http://bit.ly/1iLMjvN)
Epidemiologists now feared to have spread worldwide (The Allium http://bit.ly/1lCY8dx)
Research/Reports
Rebuilding governance for natural resources vital for long-term peace (UNEP reporthttp://bit.ly/1kSex82)
What political economy factors affect funding decisions in protracted humanitarian emergencies? (Governance and Social Development Resource Centre http://bit.ly/1kSeBVh)