On the evening  of Sept. 11, 2011, Sembereka, a Malawian Episcopalian, found his house reduced to unrecognizable rubble by a petrol bomb. A month later, he borrowed money for airfare so he could attend a conference at Union Theological Seminary, a Manhattan institution with a long history of social activism.  He arrived wearing a clerical collar and a smile that belied the horror of seeing his home and nearly everything his family owned destroyed. At the two-day conference in New York, he would meet and strategize with other Christian leaders in the fight against Africa’s perilous and increasingly prevalent brand of homophobia.

Continue Reading...

Continue Reading...

Fred, a lanky Ugandan, became a refugee in December 2009 after he was brutally assaulted by a mob in Kampala for being gay.

Fred, who asked that his last name not be used, bought a one-way ticket to Nairobi days after the assault with the intention of never returning. “It’s OK to kill me,” he said. “People would be happy to see me dead, even some of my family.” I asked what he meant by OK, and he explained that no one would ever have to pay a price for his murder.

Within the last decade, rancorous anti-gay rhetoric has infiltrated public discourse in many African  countries. Just last week, the Ugandan parliament revived a proposal to legalize capital punishment for people who engage in homosexual acts. This is new for Africa. In the past, homosexuality was rarely brought up privately let alone in the public sphere. The new acrimonious tone against homosexuality espoused by politicians and religious leaders has percolated across all strata of African society including the media. It has also given rise to increasing homophobic and transphobic violence, which for a growing number of gay Africans has meant that life in their own countries has become untenable.

Continue Reading...

Before the first attack, he admonished, "Now I am going to teach you how to be a lady." He threatened to kill her if she told anyone.

Nono, who has asked that her last name not be used, learned two years ago that her cousin had been shot and killed in an unrelated incident.

"In my heart I was so happy," the 29-year-old said of her cousin's death. "I thought, 'Now I can live my life like I want as a lesbian.'"

Nono said she never reported her abuse to police. She belongs to a silent majority of gay South African women who have been victimized by "corrective rape," a controversial term describing the practice of straight men raping lesbians to "correct" their sexual orientation.

Continue Reading...

Rebels and pro-regime troops fought fierce street battles in several parts of the city, a day after opposition fighters swept into the capital with relative ease, claiming to have most of it under their control.

Thick clouds of gray and white smoke filled the Tripoli sky as heavy gunfire and explosions shook several districts of the city of 2 million people. Some of the heaviest fighting was around Gadhafi's Bab al-Aziziya main compound and military barracks.

The compound, which has been heavily damaged by NATO airstrikes, has emerged as one of the centers of government resistance since tanks rolled out Monday and began firing at rebels trying to get in.

Seif al-Islam's sudden -- even surreal -- arrival at a Tripoli hotel where foreign journalists are staying threw the situation in the capital into confusion. The appearance of Gadhafi's son and former heir apparent underlined the potential for the longtime Libyan leader, whose whereabouts remain unknown, to strike back even as his grip on power seemed to be slipping fast.

Continue Reading...

Leaders across Europe welcomed the rebels' dramatic advances in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, after six months of fighting, and urged Gadhafi to surrender and avoid a bloodbath. Hundreds of Libyans living abroad celebrated in the streets, burning images of the Libyan strongman.

Though Gadhafi's whereabouts was not known, leaders set in motion plans for Libya's future. Britain said its frozen Libyan assets will soon be released to help the country's rebels establish order; France announced plans for an international meeting next week; Italy has sent a team to the rebels' base of Benghazi to help plan reconstruction and the restoration of oil and natural gas production.

"The time is up. There is no alternative to surrendering and handing himself in to justice," Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Monday.

"His regime is falling apart and in full retreat. Gadhafi must stop fighting, without conditions," Cameron said in London. He vowed that Britain and others would now assist Libya's "effective transition to a free, democratic and inclusive" nation.

Continue Reading...

The missile launch was detected by U.S. forces shortly after midnight Sunday and the Scud landed in the desert about 50 miles outside Brega, said one official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.

Rebel and regime forces have battled over the strategic port city of Brega throughout the conflict, and control has swung back and forth between the two sides.

The strike comes as rebel forces continue to advance, working in recent days to block key supply routes around Tripoli. The Obama administration said Monday that it is encouraged by recent rebel progress, but stopped short of predicting victory for the opposition forces after months of inconclusive battles.

According to the military, the Scud missile was launched from a location about 50 miles east of Surt, a city on the Mediterranean coast about 230 miles east of Tripoli. Noting that Scuds are not precision guided missiles, officials said they couldn't tell if Brega was the target.

Brega is about 450 miles southeast of Tripoli.

Continue Reading...

NATO said in a statement that it was aware of the reports that Khamis Gadhafi had been killed, but it did not confirm his death. It said alliance strikes on Thursday night hit an ammunition depot and military police facility in Zlitan, which is the main front of fighting between rebels and Gadhafi's troops, 90 miles (140 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli.

Mohammed al-Rajali, a spokesman for the rebel leadership in the eastern stronghold of Benghazi said there were unconfirmed reports Khamis was among 32 troops killed when NATO hit a government operations center early Friday.

"We want to capture all of these criminals and try them and bring them to justice but if killing them this way will stop the bloodshed I think it is another option," al-Rajali told The Associated Press.

Libyan government officials could also not be reached for comment.

The death of the 27-year-old Khamis Gadhafi would be a significant blow to the regime's efforts to fight off the rebels. He commands the 32nd Brigade, also known simply as the Khamis Brigade, one of the best trained and equipped units in the Libyan military.

Continue Reading...

Mubarak has denied all charges.

The spectacle, aired live on state television, was the biggest humiliation for Egypt's former president since his ouster nearly six months ago. But it went a long way to satisfy one of the key demands that has united protesters since Feb. 11, the day the regime was toppled.

It was the first time Egyptians have seen Mubarak since Feb. 10, when he gave a defiant TV address refusing to resign.

"I am delighted that I see them in a cage. I feel that my son's soul is finally starting to be at rest and that his blood will cool," said Saeeda Hassan Abdel-Raouf, the mother of 22-year-old protester who was among those killed in the uprising. She spoke outside the trial venue at a Cairo police academy.

Mubarak, his former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly, and six top police officers are charged with murder and attempted murder in connection with the protesters killed during the uprising, according to the official charge sheet. All eight could face the death penalty if convicted.

Continue Reading...

A group of scientists from the University of Minnesota have released a new study analyzing the specifics of more than 500 lion attacks in Tanzania dating back to 1988. In particular, the researchers were looking to uncover patterns between lion attacks and the moon; the resulting study amounts to an "extensive analysis of predatory behavior across the lunar cycle on the largest dataset of lion attacks ever assembled." And simple number crunching revealed something quite extraordinary: You're more likely to be eaten by a lion immediately after a full moon.

Per the Public Library of Science:

[This study] found that African lions are as sensitive to moonlight when hunting humans as when hunting herbivores and that lions are most dangerous to humans when the moon is faint or below the horizon. At night, people are most active between dusk and 10 p.m., thus most lion attacks occur in the first weeks following the full moon (when the moon rises at least an hour after sunset). 

Continue Reading...

The meeting was not a negotiating session and there were no plans to meet with the Gadhafi regime again, the officials said. The meeting followed a decision Friday by the U.S. and several other nations to formally recognize Libya's main opposition group as the country's legitimate government, a major boost for the rebel movement.

A senior U.S. official traveling with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in India said the U.S. agreed to meet the Libyans only after the U.S. officially recognized the rebels. The meeting followed what the official described as several phone calls from Libyan officials that the U.S. interpreted as a misguided attempt to repair relations.

The official said the meeting took place Saturday in an unnamed third country and brought together three senior U.S. diplomats, including Jeffrey D. Feltman, the top State Department official in charge of Middle East policy, along with four members of Gadhafi's inner circle. A Gadhafi spokesman said the meeting happened in Tunisia.

Continue Reading...

Shot largely in the Sepedi language in a remote South African town called Elandsdoorn, "Life, Above All" follows the difficult adolescence of Chanda, played by the amazing first-time actress Khomotso Manyaka, a lovely young woman with a sober, centered manner. After her infant sister dies of an unknown illness, Chanda begins to understand that her mother, Lillian (Lerato Mvelase), is also getting sick and that no one in Elandsdoorn wants to talk about it honestly. Their neighbor, Mrs. Tafa (the impressive Harriet Manamela), who owns both a television and a telephone and serves as the village's main conduit of information, seems suspiciously devoted to developing cover stories for the baby's death and Lillian's absence.

Continue Reading...

Nodding syndrome exclusively afflicts children -- usually between the ages of 5 and 15 -- inhibiting "both physical growth and cognitive development," according to Nature's Meredith Wadman. The malady is most clearly visible in the eponymous seizures it causes: "Abnormal brain activity causes a brief lapse in neck muscle tone, causing the head to fall forwards." In short, victims freeze up, except for their bobbing heads, sometimes for seconds, sometimes longer.

Continue Reading...

While the battle is far from won, the officials point to three key indicators: dwindling fuel supplies, a cash crisis and reports of low morale among regime troops.

The assessment comes as French authorities describe overtures from Libyan emissaries reportedly seeking sanctuary for the Libyan leader, who has survived sustained bombing by NATO war planes and U.S. armed drones since mid-March.

While the rebels face their own supply problems, they have captured towns from Nalut to Kikla in Libya's western Nafusa mountains and cut a key crude oil pipeline that feeds one of the regime's major refineries in the town of al-Zawiya, the U.S. officials told the AP. They cited U.S. intelligence estimates that fuel shortages could occur within as little as a month.

Gadhafi is also facing a cash crisis after Turkey cut off his access, on July 4, to hundreds of millions in Libyan funds held in a Turkish-Libyan bank, the U.S. officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters of intelligence.

Continue Reading...

In the new country capital, Juba, residents are dancing in the streets, banging on drums and chanting the name of the country's president, Salva Kiir.

South Sudan earned independence at 12:01 a.m. local time Saturday, after voting overwhelmingly in January to form its own country.

That vote was guaranteed in a 2005 peace deal that ended the most recent north-south war.

Later Saturday, world leaders will attend a celebratory ceremony. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon already has arrived. Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell will also attend, as will Sudan President Omar al-Bashir.

Continue Reading...

LIBYA

Turkey's foreign minister recognizes Libya's rebel leaders as the country's legitimate representatives and promises them an additional $200 million in aid during a visit to an opposition stronghold in eastern Libya. Turkey's show of support for the rebels marks a further policy shift. Initially, NATO member Turkey balked at the idea of military action against the regime of Moammar Gadhafi.

------

SYRIA

Syrian forces carry out arrests in the western city of Hama, an opposition stronghold. The arrests come two days after some 300,000 protesters gathered in the city in the largest demonstration yet in a three-month-old anti-government uprising.

------

MOROCCO

Around 1,000 pro-democracy demonstrators march through the capital to protest a new constitution that they say fails to deliver reforms. It is the first major protest since Moroccans voted Friday to approve the constitution in a referendum.

------

BAHRAIN

Bahrain's highest criminal court adjourns the trial of three former editors for the main opposition newspaper accused of unethical coverage of anti-government protests earlier this year in the Gulf kingdom.

Continue Reading...

The February 20 democracy movement, whose demonstrations over the past few months prompted King Mohammed VI to initiate his own reforms, showed it could still bring thousands into the streets.

The movement, which is calling for a parliamentary monarchy, has rejected the amended constitution, saying it still leaves most powers in the king's hands and does little to address society's problems.

At least 2,000 people marched through downtown Rabat chanting slogans decrying corruption and tyranny as well as the new constitution.

Small pockets of government supporters could be seen in the streets near the demonstration, but police kept the two groups separated.

In Morocco's largest city of Casablanca, however, the two groups clashed, with supporters of the king hurling stones and chasing democracy activists through the streets.

An Associated Press photographer was at one point set upon by a gang of government supporters and beaten and his equipment damaged before he was rescued by a police officer.

Continue Reading...

The Libyan leader, sought by the International Criminal Court for brutally crushing an uprising against him, delivered the warning in an audio message played to thousands of supporters gathered in the main square of the capital Tripoli.

It was one of the largest pro-government rallies in recent weeks, signaling that the embattled Libyan leader can still muster significant support. Gadhafi addressed the mass gathering in Green Square, speaking from an unknown location in a likely sign of concern over his safety.

Addressing the West, Gadhafi said Libyans might take revenge.

"These people (the Libyans) are able to one day take this battle ... to Europe, to target your homes, offices, families, which would become legitimate military targets, like you have targeted our homes," he said.

"We can decide to treat you in a similar way," he said of the Europeans. "If we decide to, we are able to move to Europe like locusts, like bees. We advise you to retreat before you are dealt a disaster."

Continue Reading...

Judges announced that Gadhafi is wanted for orchestrating the killing, injuring, arrest and imprisonment of hundreds of civilians during the first 12 days of an uprising to topple him from power after more than four decades, and for trying to cover up the alleged crimes.

Presiding judge Sanji Monageng of Botswana said Monday there were "reasonable grounds to believe" that Gadhafi and his son are both "criminally responsible as indirect co-perpetrators" for the murder and persecution of civilians.

Continue Reading...

They were sentenced to 35 years each in prison.

The conviction of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Leila Trabelsi followed a day-long trial before the Tunis criminal court. The couple went into exile on Jan. 14 in Saudi Arabia after a month-long uprising that sparked a string of other uprisings in the Arab world.

Ben Ali, 74, vigorously denied the charges in a statement through his French lawyer, calling the proceedings a "shameful masquerade of the justice of the victorious."

Saudi Arabia did not respond to an extradition request, and some Tunisians expressed frustration that he would not be present for his judgment.

Continue Reading...