Kampala, Uganda
Anti-gay witch hunt: Gays in Uganda can now be imprisoned for life, after President Yoweri Museveni this week signed a sweeping anti-gay law. Unlike the bill’s first draft, the new law does not include a death penalty, but it provides prison terms for anyone who has gay sex or counsels gay people, which could include any international human rights group. “Aggravated homosexuality,” including sex with a minor or while HIV-positive, brings a life sentence. Museveni said homosexuality is a choice, and he railed against the imposition of “Western values,” saying, “Outsiders cannot dictate to us.” The next day, a tabloid printed what was effectively a hit list of gays, under the headline “EXPOSED! Uganda’s 200 Top Homos Named.” The U.S., which gives Uganda $400 million a year, said it would reassess its aid policy.
Bangui, Central African Republic
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Muslims flee: Christian militiamen armed with guns and machetes are killing and terrorizing Muslims in the Central African Republic. Tens of thousands of Muslim families have fled to neighboring Chad or Cameroon, leaving behind their possessions to be looted or burned. The Christian militias say they are retaliating for anti-Christian violence by the Muslim Seleka rebels, who took power last year. The French government agreed this week to extend its peacekeeping mission in the C.A.R. indefinitely, but critics say the country needs a much larger U.N. intervention. Some 1,600 French troops are trying to protect hundreds of thousands of refugees in a nation the size of France.
Cairo
Mubarak ally in: An ally of ex-dictator Hosni Mubarak is the new prime minister of Egypt. Ibrahim Mehlib, a construction magnate who once served as housing minister, was asked to form a new government after the military-backed government abruptly quit this week. “We will work together to restore security and safety to Egypt and crush terrorism in all corners of the country,” Mehlib said. The government’s resignation was expected to pave the way for the popular military chief, Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, to launch his campaign for the presidency. He will have to resign as defense minister in order to run.
Ankara, Turkey
‘Son, get rid of the money’: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is on the defensive after the release of secret phone recordings in which he seems to be telling his son to hide some $1 billion in bribes. Erdogan said the recordings were “an immoral product of montage” and “completely false.” They were purportedly made in December on the day police raided the homes and offices of Erdogan allies in a large corruption probe. Suspects in that investigation include the sons of three of Erdogan’s cabinet ministers as well as his business allies and the chief of a state bank. Erdogan’s government contends that the allegations are being orchestrated by his rival, U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen. Hundreds of police and bureaucrats believed to be sympathetic to Gulen have been fired.
Beijing
Like nuclear winter: The smog that has settled across six provinces of China has made life “unbearable,” Chinese officials said this week. Particulate concentration, considered unsafe over 25 micrograms per cubic meter, is well over 500 in Beijing, where the government told people to wear masks or stay indoors. He Dongxian, a professor at China Agricultural University, said that if the current levels persist, China will experience conditions “similar to a nuclear winter,” as smog blocks out the sun and stunts crops. The government said it was checking to make sure that local authorities had closed polluting factories, as ordered last year.
Bangkok
Monks call for calm: Buddhist monks this week called on all sides to renounce violence after attacks on anti-government demonstrations left three children dead. “Hopefully, conscience and mindfulness will prevail and quickly be restored,” said Phra Phaisal, a prominent abbot. The Bangkok protests against Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra have been going on for months, with protesters saying she is a front for her brother, ex-leader Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup amid corruption allegations. Last week, an anti-corruption panel filed charges against Yingluck that could lead to her removal from office over excesses in a rice purchasing program,
which is popular among farmers who back her.
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