Top stories from DAWNS Digest.
Uganda Doubles Down After Threat From Obama Over Anti-Gay Laws
With the Ugandan President is poised to sign a harsh new anti-homosexuality bill into law, President Obama said such a move would cause the US to re-evaluate its relationship with Uganda, which receives $400 million in aid from the US. A government minister took aim at the US: “‘We don’t like to blackmail others. It’s very dishonest, very irresponsible and unfriendly of persons to attach behavior of another community to their sharing resources,’’ [Minister] Lokodo told Reuters TV in Kampala. Homosexuality is taboo in many African countries. It is illegal in 37 nations on the continent and activists say that few Africans gays dare to live their sexuality openly, fearing imprisonment, violence and loss of their jobs. In one of those countries, Gambia, President Yahya Jammeh called homosexuals “vermin” on Tuesday and said his government would fight them like malaria-causing mosquitoes. (Reuters http://reut.rs/1fwHT9z)
Venezuelan Opposition Leader Arrested
Intense protests and a violent crackdown have been ongoing all week. “Venezuelan security forces arrested opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez on Tuesday on charges of fomenting unrest that has killed at least four people, bringing tens of thousands of angry supporters onto the streets of Caracas. Crowds of white-clad protesters stood in the way of the vehicle carrying the 42-year-old Harvard-educated economist after he made a defiant speech, said an emotional farewell to his family, and gave himself up to soldiers. The vehicle eventually reached a military base.” (Reuters http://reut.rs/1fwHQKL)