#uganda news this week

[batboyblog]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #19

May 17-24 2024

President Biden wiped out the student loan debt of 160,000 more Americans. This debt cancellation of 7.7 billion dollars brings the total student loan debt relieved by the Biden Administration to $167 billion. The Administration has canceled student loan debt for 4.75 million Americans so far. The 160,000 borrowers forgiven this week owned an average of $35,000 each and are now debt free. The Administration announced plans last month to bring debt forgiveness to 30 million Americans with student loans coming this fall.

The Department of Justice announced it is suing Ticketmaster for being a monopoly. DoJ is suing Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation for monopolistic practices. Ticketmaster controls 70% of the live show ticket market leading to skyrocketing prices, hidden fees and last minute cancellation. The Justice Department is seeking to break up Live Nation and help bring competition back into the market. This is one of a number of monopoly law suits brought by the Biden administration against Apple in March and Amazon in September 2023.

The EPA announced $225 million in new funding to improve drinking and wastewater for tribal communities. The money will go to tribes in the mainland US as well as Alaska Native Villages. It'll help with testing for forever chemicals, and replacing of lead pipes as well as sustainability projects.

The EPA announced $300 million in grants to clean up former industrial sites. Known as "Brownfield" sites these former industrial sites are to be cleaned and redeveloped into community assets. The money will fund 200 projects across 178 communities. One such project will transform a former oil station in Philadelphia’s Kingsessing neighborhood, currently polluted with lead and other toxins into a waterfront bike trail.

The Department of Agriculture announced a historic expansion of its program to feed low income kids over the summer holidays. Since the 1960s the SUN Meals have served in person meals at schools and community centers during the summer holidays to low income children. This Year the Biden administration is rolling out SUN Bucks, a $120 per child grocery benefit. This benefit has been rejected by many Republican governors but in the states that will take part 21 million kids will benefit. Last year the Biden administration introduced SUN Meals To-Go, offering pick-up and delivery options expanding SUN's reach into rural communities. These expansions are part of the Biden administration's plan to end hunger and reduce diet-related disease by 2030.

Vice-President Harris builds on her work in Africa to announce a plan to give 80% of Africa internet access by 2030, up from just 40% today. This push builds off efforts Harris has spearheaded since her trip to Africa in 2023, including $7 billion in climate adaptation, resilience, and mitigation, and $1 billion to empower women. The public-private partnership between the African Development Bank Group and Mastercard plans to bring internet access to 3 million farmers in Kenya, Tanzania, and Nigeria, before expanding to Uganda, Ethiopia, and Ghana, and then the rest of the continent, bring internet to 100 million people and businesses over the next 10 years. This is together with the work of Partnership for Digital Access in Africa which is hoping to bring internet access to 80% of Africans by 2030, up from 40% now, and just 30% of women on the continent. The Vice-President also announced $1 billion for the Women in the Digital Economy Fund to assure women in Africa have meaningful access to the internet and its economic opportunities.

The Senate approved Seth Aframe to be a Judge on the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, it also approved Krissa Lanham, and Angela Martinez to district Judgeships in Arizona, as well as Dena Coggins to a district court seat in California. Bring the total number of judges appointed by President Biden to 201. Biden's Judges have been historically diverse. 64% of them are women and 62% of them are people of color. President Biden has appointed more black women to federal judgeships, more Hispanic judges and more Asian American judges and more LGBT judges than any other President, including Obama's full 8 years in office. President Biden has also focused on backgrounds appointing a record breaking number of former public defenders to judgeships, as well as labor and civil rights lawyers.

[lemurchick]

Another 'wonderful news' from Russia for your consideration! This week, the BRICS forum on traditional values took place in Moscow. And it was fucking insane.

In short, the opening meeting was BRICS countries representatives verbally jerking off on how well they oppress or plan to oppress their people especially women. The only person who bothered to contradict this narrative was Egyptian female writer Doha Mustafa Assy.

I will translate some quotes from the russian article. https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/7311174

Russia: "At some point the roles for women have begun to change towards independence and self-sufficiency. We, of course, love and respect our women very much, but we want them to pay more attention to their families, men and children. We do not want them to strive for business, politics, economics, power, or culture. <...> The main traditional value is the preservation of natural purpose, where a woman continues the family line and a man inspires her to give birth to children."

Pakistan: "Any traditional religion upholds and promotes social values and traditions. No father would want to harm his family. No mother would want to break up or disintegrate her family. This <rejection of family values> is deliberately imposed on us and promoted by some power circles”

Ethiopia: "In our country it is traditionally women who do the cooking, teaching children and other family duties. So the man's role is not as big as the woman's, and this tradition gives the man the freedom to behave like a child." (?????)

Uganda: [This country experience is “extremely important to the discussion of legislative protection of religious values,” emphasized russian politician Dmitry Kuznetsov, referring to the fact that in Uganda same-sex relations are prohibited, and in some cases violators face life imprisonment or even the death penalty.] “We did this to make sure that the country would be preserved. I would encourage countries to behave in such a way that the culture that exists in each country is not imposed on others.” btw Brazil and South Africa representatives didn't say a word here even though their countries legalized same-sex mafrriage years ago.

Brazil: "Marriage in no longer a goal for our citizens and the country has the highest divorce rate in history. Meanwhile, children are most often left with their mothers, with fathers unwilling to take part in their upbringing. As a result, many Brazilian boys are growing up without a father figure and 9% of male inmates in prisons don't even know their father's name. Shifting the balance in favor of women leads to the fact that the position of feminism is growing, and the number of people who identify as LGBT people is growing.” At the end of his speech, he marveled, “This is my first time in Russia, and I didn't know you guys were so conservative. I'm so happy, it's so impressive!” He also admitted that “the people of Brazil know nothing about Russia,” and Dmitry Kuznetsov promised: “We will come to you and tell you all about our saving conservatism.”

Egypt: As I mentioned in the beginning the only person who actively argued against this trend was Doha Mustafa Assy. She said: "We on the contrary has a struggle against patriarchy. Tradition and religion are not on women's side, they help men. A lot of women in Egypt ask for divorce only because they feel like slaves at home. He (the husband) has the right not to let her leave the house according to tradition. BRICS is India, it's China, it's Russia, it's Egypt. We are very different. And maybe what you are trying to do in Russia has already became a problem for us”.

To be honest I don't know what will come out of this forum. Maybe it's just empty posturing, maybe BRICS countries just sent people who had free time on their hand here as a formality. But I despair reading these quotes; twenty years ago we sent a singing duet posing as lesbians to Eurovision; ten years ago I was watching lesbian drama Blue Is the Warmest Colour in a full theater. Soviet Union gave women some attempt in an equal rights in fucking 1917 and we were the first country to send a woman in space. What happened? How has it turned this way? We are now friends with some of the most patriarchal countries in the world and with fucking North Korea. They are planning to remove the Taliban's terrorist status.

What the hell.

[reasonsforhope]

Determined to use her skills to fight inequality, South African computer scientist Raesetje Sefala set to work to build algorithms flagging poverty hotspots - developing datasets she hopes will help target aid, new housing, or clinics.

From crop analysis to medical diagnostics, artificial intelligence (AI) is already used in essential tasks worldwide, but Sefala and a growing number of fellow African developers are pioneering it to tackle their continent's particular challenges.

Local knowledge is vital for designing AI-driven solutions that work, Sefala said.

"If you don't have people with diverse experiences doing the research, it's easy to interpret the data in ways that will marginalise others," the 26-year old said from her home in Johannesburg.

Africa is the world's youngest and fastest-growing continent, and tech experts say young, home-grown AI developers have a vital role to play in designing applications to address local problems.

"For Africa to get out of poverty, it will take innovation and this can be revolutionary, because it's Africans doing things for Africa on their own," said Cina Lawson, Togo's minister of digital economy and transformation.

"We need to use cutting-edge solutions to our problems, because you don't solve problems in 2022 using methods of 20 years ago," Lawson told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a video interview from the West African country.

Digital rights groups warn about AI's use in surveillance and the risk of discrimination, but Sefala said it can also be used to "serve the people behind the data points". ...

'Delivering Health'

As COVID-19 spread around the world in early 2020, government officials in Togo realized urgent action was needed to support informal workers who account for about 80% of the country's workforce, Lawson said.

"If you decide that everybody stays home, it means that this particular person isn't going to eat that day, it's as simple as that," she said.

In 10 days, the government built a mobile payment platform - called Novissi - to distribute cash to the vulnerable.

The government paired up with Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) think tank and the University of California, Berkeley, to build a poverty map of Togo using satellite imagery.

Using algorithms with the support of GiveDirectly, a nonprofit that uses AI to distribute cash transfers, the recipients earning less than $1.25 per day and living in the poorest districts were identified for a direct cash transfer.

"We texted them saying if you need financial help, please register," Lawson said, adding that beneficiaries' consent and data privacy had been prioritized.

The entire program reached 920,000 beneficiaries in need.

"Machine learning has the advantage of reaching so many people in a very short time and delivering help when people need it most," said Caroline Teti, a Kenya-based GiveDirectly director.

'Zero Representation'

Aiming to boost discussion about AI in Africa, computer scientists Benjamin Rosman and Ulrich Paquet co-founded the Deep Learning Indaba - a week-long gathering that started in South Africa - together with other colleagues in 2017.

"You used to get to the top AI conferences and there was zero representation from Africa, both in terms of papers and people, so we're all about finding cost effective ways to build a community," Paquet said in a video call.

In 2019, 27 smaller Indabas - called IndabaX - were rolled out across the continent, with some events hosting as many as 300 participants.

One of these offshoots was IndabaX Uganda, where founder Bruno Ssekiwere said participants shared information on using AI for social issues such as improving agriculture and treating malaria.

Another outcome from the South African Indaba was Masakhane - an organization that uses open-source, machine learning to translate African languages not typically found in online programs such as Google Translate.

On their site, the founders speak about the South African philosophy of "Ubuntu" - a term generally meaning "humanity" - as part of their organization's values.

"This philosophy calls for collaboration and participation and community," reads their site, a philosophy that Ssekiwere, Paquet, and Rosman said has now become the driving value for AI research in Africa.

Inclusion

Now that Sefala has built a dataset of South Africa's suburbs and townships, she plans to collaborate with domain experts and communities to refine it, deepen inequality research and improve the algorithms.

"Making datasets easily available opens the door for new mechanisms and techniques for policy-making around desegregation, housing, and access to economic opportunity," she said.

African AI leaders say building more complete datasets will also help tackle biases baked into algorithms.

"Imagine rolling out Novissi in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ivory Coast ... then the algorithm will be trained with understanding poverty in West Africa," Lawson said.

"If there are ever ways to fight bias in tech, it's by increasing diverse datasets ... we need to contribute more," she said.

But contributing more will require increased funding for African projects and wider access to computer science education and technology in general, Sefala said.

Despite such obstacles, Lawson said "technology will be Africa's savior".

"Let's use what is cutting edge and apply it straight away or as a continent we will never get out of poverty," she said. "It's really as simple as that."

-via Good Good Good, February 16, 2022

[quotesfrommyreading]

The ongoing war in Sudan and the ensuing humanitarian crisis has pushed people to the brink. At the borders of conflict zones, selling a kidney is becoming a currency of last resort for people seeking refuge. In June 2023, I managed to contact two young Sudanese women who had fled the fighting in Khartoum. In April 2023, Rania was with her friend Fatima, both students at the University of Khartoum, when the RSF raided the main campus, on the banks of the Nile. “We were trying to hide from the fighting,” Rania told me on the phone. “There were a lot of [female] students there who were afraid to leave. We thought we would be safe, but they found us and forced us to have sex with them.”

Soon after that they packed up their belongings and took a bus heading towards the border with South Sudan. They had heard the route south was cheaper than trying to go north to Egypt, and Rania had a brother living in Kampala, Uganda, whom they hoped to join. It was a seven-day journey from Khartoum to Renk, a small town in South Sudan close to the border where thousands of people had set up temporary camps in bleak conditions. A lack of food, water, healthcare and sanitation had left people at increased risk of disease, malnutrition and violence. There were hundreds of new arrivals each day. “People are crammed together under tarpaulins,” Rania said. “There are mosquitoes everywhere. There’s not enough food, water, soap. Everyone is desperate for assistance. It’s chaos.”

When Rania and Fatima arrived at a makeshift camp on the outskirts of the town, they were approached by soldiers in plain clothes selling tickets for flights from a small airstrip outside Renk to South Sudan’s capital, Juba, and the city of Nimule. The flights, which should form part of the humanitarian corridor, are being controlled by armed militias charging exorbitant fees to board them. “They wanted a lot of money,” Rania said. “The price would go up every day. They said if we didn���t have any money we could have sex with them.”

When they refused, they were told there was something else they could sell: a kidney. “They said that this was the only way we were going to get a flight out of here,” Fatima said. “There were two men who had agreed to this [selling a kidney], but I don’t know what happened to them. I was worried that they would kill me and take my kidney.”

Two weeks after Rania and Fatima first arrived in Renk, they messaged me from Kampala. “We received some money from family members in Uganda. They paid a smuggler $500 to take us to Kampala.” Raina said. “There were no humanitarian agencies or government officials transporting people. The drivers, the militias, they are exploiting people every step of the journey.”

In Renk, they had watched as large trucks carried hundreds of people further south to transit camps that were rumoured to be less crowded and better resourced. Others boarded cramped and overcrowded boats down the Nile to the city of Malakal, from which they would attempt to reach Juba, 970km to the south. Each stage of the journey would come at a cost.

“We are telling you this for a reason,” Fatima said. “We desperately need more support for people trapped in Sudan. In Darfur, there is genocide. But no one is talking about it. Women are being raped every day. Children have been killed and abducted. People are desperate. This is when you sell your kidney.”

  —  ‘For me, there was no other choice’: inside the global illegal organ trade

[thehopefuljournalist]

unrelated- what's your favorite news story recently?

Hello, thank you so much for asking!! I've had a hard time because this week was actually full of news stories and I'm working on releasing them all to you guys!

But let me tell you about my favourite one from today :)

As an activist, working within my own country and out especially in climate-related themes, I believe in people-power, fully. I know, of course, that some people have more power and influence than others, but there's no denying that there's strength in numbers.

This recent, huge, protest in New York is such a hopeful turn, I think. I love seeing that I'm not the only one worried, that I'm not alone in my fighting. With numbers, we have a bigger chance of winning over our world leaders, and by doing that, to protect ourselves and our futures.

Well, this is my favourite news story from the past two days.

This past Sunday, 75K climate activists took to New York's streets in a “march to end fossil fuels”

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticized the US continuing to approve fossil fuel projects, something which the Biden administration did earlier this year with the controversial Willow project in Alaska.

“We are all here for one reason: to end fossil fuels around the planet,” Ocasio-Cortez told a rally at the finish of the march, which ended close to the UN headquarters where world leaders will gather this week. “And the way we create urgency is to have people around the world in the streets.”

“The United States continues to be approving a record number of fossil fuel leases and we must send a message, right here today,” adding that despite record profits the support for the fossil fuel industry was “starting to buckle and crack”.

“This is an incredible moment,” said Jean Su of the Center for Biological Diversity, who helped organize the mobilization. “Tens of thousands of people are marching in the streets of New York because they want climate action,"

“This also shows the tremendous grit and fight of the people, especially youth and communities living at the frontlines of fossil fuel violence, to fight back and demand change for the future they have every right to lead,” she said.

The march came during Climate Week, as world leaders gather for this week’s UN general assembly, and a UN climate ambition summit on Wednesday.

On Friday, the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said Biden was not currently scheduled to take part in Wednesday’s UN climate summit. Biden has been praised by climate activists for last year passing a historic $369bn climate law but criticized for allowing oil drilling projects and the expansion of gas facilities in the Gulf of Mexico.

A decision for Biden to stay away from the UN climate ambition summit is “unacceptable”, said Su of the Center for Biological Diversity. “The time is now for Biden to lead on the world stage, and show he means it when he calls climate change the existential threat to humanity.”

During the march, the Rev Lennox Yearwood, head of the Hip Hop Caucus, likened today’s climate movement to the US fight for racial justice. 

Youth climate activist Vanessa Nakate, from Uganda, said: “When we say that we want climate justice, we’re not just talking about transitioning to solar panels. We are talking about leaving no one behind when you’re talking about addressing the injustices that come with the climate crisis."

Article published September 17, 2023 - The Gaurdian

Another article, interviewing a young climate activist

[mariacallous]

Less than two weeks before his 2020 election defeat, former U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration rolled out a document that purported to promote women’s health and rights while declaring that there was “no international right to abortion.”

“It’s the first time that a multilateral coalition has been built around the issue of defending life,” then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at a signing ceremony, conducted virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic. Brazil, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, and Uganda joined the United States in sponsoring the nonbinding directive, called the Geneva Consensus Declaration on Promoting Women’s Health and Strengthening the Family. Another 28 countries, many with authoritarian governments that repress women’s rights, signed it.

Abortion is one of the most pivotal issues that will determine whether Trump returns to the Oval Office. The Republican nominee routinely brags about his role—via three Supreme Court nominations—in overturning Roe v. Wade in a 2022 court ruling that inevitably limited abortion access for millions of people in the United States. Less known is the work that Trump and his appointees did to prevent women in other countries from obtaining the procedure.

The Geneva Consensus Declaration, which encourages governments to improve women’s health care without abortion, is one slice of Trump’s work to impose anti-abortion values on people overseas. It has garnered fewer concrete results than his expansion of the Mexico City policy, a perennial Republican rule that prevents foreign organizations that accept U.S. assistance from providing abortions or related services. But if Trump is elected, the declaration is expected to have renewed vigor. In fact, it could loom over all U.S. foreign assistance.

While the one-page document—with its emphasis on health and human rights for women—presents as nonthreatening, detractors assert that a Trump victory on Nov. 5 could make it very threatening indeed.

“I mean, sorry—to be brutal about it, women are going to die,” said Swetha Sridhar, a senior global policy research officer for Fòs Feminista, an international alliance that promotes sexual and reproductive health and justice. “That’s what we’re going to see.”

President Joe Biden withdrew the United States from the declaration upon assuming the presidency in 2021 because, his administration said, it “promotes anti-LGBTQI sentiment and undermines women’s health.” But Washington’s rejection of a document that it produced did not kill it. The declaration has been kept alive largely through the work of one former Trump administration official, Valerie Huber, who is known as its “architect.”

Sridhar and other abortion and gender rights advocates say that the Geneva Consensus Declaration represents a long-term, conservative attempt to create new international standards grounded in faith-based views of abortion and family structures.

“It has a big impact when you have these established global norms,” said Serra Sippel, the executive director of the Brigid Alliance, which provides logistical support for people who need to travel to obtain abortions within the United States. “Anti-gender, anti-rights folks can use this consensus as a tool to try to get countries to pass laws,” Sippel added.

The effort to export anti-abortion policies to other countries did not start under Trump. The Center for Family and Human Rights (C-Fam), an organization with ties to the Catholic Church, worked for 24 years to create a declaration, said its president—Austin Ruse—in a statement issued the day of the signing ceremony. In a summation of the declaration’s principles, Ruse said: “There is no international right to abortion. There is no international obligation to fund abortion. The United Nations has no business interfering in sovereign decisions when it comes to protecting life in the womb.”

C-Fam did not make anyone available for an interview for this story.

Huber, the declaration’s most visible proponent and a former U.S. special representative for global women’s health in the Trump administration, has spent the past few years traveling the globe, sometimes working with foreign first ladies to bring more countries on board. Huber also founded the Institute for Women’s Health, which “identifies high-impact solutions to promote women’s health and thriving,” according to its website. The institute created a framework called Protego to partner with countries that sign the declaration and provide guidance as they implement “high-impact, low-cost interventions” to meet the needs of women and their families, Huber said in two statements issued in response to an interview request.

“The tenet of the GCD [Geneva Consensus Declaration] regarding abortion points to the sovereignty of nations to chart their own path on this issue—therefore, GCD coalition nations have differing laws regarding abortion,” Huber wrote. “The GCD accurately states that abortion is not an international right, but rather it is up to the country to decide on its own abortion policies—without external pressure.”

Of course, countries already have the ability to pass and enforce their own laws on abortion. Opponents of the Geneva Consensus Declaration, however, argue that the document would allow governments to ignore international accords related to abortion, such as the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, better known as the Maputo Protocol. That 2003 treaty recognizes abortion rights in cases of sexual assault, rape, incest, life-threatening fetal anomalies, and situations in which continuing a pregnancy would endanger the pregnant woman’s life or her mental and physical health.

Nevertheless, a handful of the countries that ratified the agreement do not permit abortion under any circumstances.

“The Maputo Protocol is an African instrument for Africans, created by Africans. No external pressure,” said Kemi Akinfaderin, who leads global advocacy work for Fòs Feminista and is based in Lomé, Togo.

To date, the Geneva Consensus Declaration does not appear to have many real-world consequences for women, according to abortion rights advocates in the United States and abroad. It is not an official treaty and, therefore, has no teeth. It also has had no consistent overseer, the secretariat having been passed from the United States to Brazil and then, after new leaders emerged in those countries, to Hungary.

But its trajectory—and implications for women worldwide—could change rapidly if Trump wins a second presidential term in the Nov. 5 election, abortion rights advocates who spoke with Foreign Policy said.

Trump, who has courted abortion opponents in his three presidential runs, has pledged to rejoin the coalition that signed the declaration, now numbering 39 countries (despite withdrawals from Brazil, Colombia, and the United States). In addition, Project 2025, a document seen by many in the United States as the blueprint for a new conservative presidency, proposes that U.S. foreign policy should align with the declaration’s tenets on abortion and the family.

“As soon as the next president is elected, we will reveal our priorities for the next four years,” Huber said in her statement.

For women in some of the world’s poorest countries, a return of Trump could signal real danger, according to abortion rights advocates in the U.S. and abroad.

Sridhar, who is based in Mumbai, might sound hyperbolic when she predicts an increase in deaths, but her fear is based on Trump’s track record. During his four-year term, he greatly expanded the Mexico City policy, forcing medical providers that received U.S. money to make a choice: Either they stopped providing abortions and related services, such as counseling or referrals—even if they were subsidized by non-U.S. money—or they lost what was often the bulk of their funding. Many clinics that provided a full array of services, including HIV/AIDS testing and treatment, closed.

A report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences estimated that Trump’s reinstatement of the policy between 2017 and 2021 led to 108,000 maternal and child deaths and 360,000 new HIV infections.

Project 2025, which was drafted by the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank with the help of Trump administration alumni, including Huber, would expand the Mexico City policy considerably further. Starting with former President Ronald Reagan in 1984, every Republican president has invoked the policy, dubbed the “global gag rule” by opponents, and applied it to foreign assistance for family planning services. (Every Democratic president has rescinded the policy.)

Trump extended it to all health care aid and changed the policy’s name to the “Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance” policy. Project 2025 would extend the practice to apply it to all foreign assistance, including humanitarian aid.

Layered on top of that would be the Geneva Consensus Declaration. Project 2025 proposes applying the anti-abortion, pro-family doctrine not only to foreign nongovernmental organizations and governments, but also to large international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO), which have programs that support reproductive rights and health.

Lynn Morgan, a professor emeritus of anthropology at Mount Holyoke College and an expert on the declaration, said that Trump could use it to undermine the work of U.N. agencies and the WHO, which sets international standards for health care.

“It’s going to empower a coalition of countries who might want to say, ‘We don’t want to participate in the World Health Organization anymore. We’re going to stop funding the World Health Organization because of their advocacy around abortion,’” Morgan said.

The declaration would gain potency if Trump made it a condition of foreign assistance, said Gillian Kane, the director of policy and advocacy at Ipas, an international organization that supports access to contraception and abortion. “I think what the Trump administration could do is say, ‘Hey, if you don’t sign onto this, or if you sign off of this, you’re not going to get foreign aid,’” Kane said. “I think this can be a real cudgel and sort of force people to align to this ideology.”

Huber said in her statement that no matter who becomes president, the Institute of Women’s Health seeks to build consensus. “We don’t want anything to stand in the way of improved health and wellbeing for women and families,” she wrote.

But it’s difficult to fathom Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, working with Huber and other proponents of the declaration. Harris has been outspoken in her support of abortion rights, and advocates say that they hope she will go further than Biden has to promote access abroad.

Although Biden rescinded Trump’s version of the Mexico City policy and withdrew from the Geneva Consensus Declaration, abortion rights advocates said his administration was slow to communicate with foreign aid recipients. Akinfaderin, of Fòs Feminista, said that some U.S. agencies were implementing Trump’s restrictions well into Biden’s term.

Akinfaderin said that she would like a Harris administration to view reproductive rights and justice “more holistically” to include such issues as infertility, comprehensive sex education, and maternal mortality. And, she said, Harris should stop conservatives from “rolling back everything that we’ve done—every single thing that we’ve done.”

Beirne Roose-Snyder, the director of the Preclusion Project, an independent legal organization that supports gender rights, said that supporters of abortion and gender rights would relish working with a President Harris, whom she described as “a very public advocate on reproductive rights and sexual orientation and gender identity.”

“This is not someone who is going to take to the creation of fake documents particularly well,” Roose-Snyder said in reference to the declaration. “So I think we would expect to see continued distance and maybe even further engagement with other countries about diminishing the role and power of the future of the Geneva Consensus Declaration. I think we’d expect to see that.”

[afeelgoodblog]

1. Girl with incurable cancer recovers after pioneering treatment

A girl’s incurable cancer has been cleared from her body after what scientists have described as the most sophisticated cell engineering to date. Alyssa, whose family do not wish to give their surname, was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in May 2021.

Scientists at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London gave her pre-manufactured cells edited using new technology to allow them to hunt down and destroy cancerous T-cells without attacking each other. Less than a month after being given the treatment, she was in remission, and was able to have a second bone marrow transplant.

Can I get a fuck cancer?

2. The UK has made gigabit internet a legal requirement for new homes

Updated regulations require new properties to be built with gigabit broadband connections and make it easier to install into existing blocks of flats across the UK. Connection costs will be capped at £2,000 per home, and developers must still install gigabit-ready infrastructure (including ducts, chambers, and termination points) and the fastest-available connection if they’re unable to secure a gigabit connection within the cost cap

3. US cancer death rate falls 33% since 1991

The rate of people dying from cancer in the United States has continuously declined over the past three decades, according to a new report from the American Cancer Society.

The US cancer death rate has fallen 33% since 1991, which corresponds to an estimated 3.8 million deaths averted, according to the report, published Thursday in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. Partly due to advances in treatment, early detection and less smoking, report says

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4. Lab-grown retinal eye cells make successful connections, open door for clinical trials to treat blindness

Retinal cells grown from stem cells can reach out and connect with neighbors, according to a new study, completing a “handshake” that may show the cells are ready for trials in humans with degenerative eye disorders.

Over a decade ago, researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison developed a way to grow organized clusters of cells, called organoids, that resemble the retina, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. They coaxed human skin cells reprogrammed to act as stem cells to develop into layers of several types of retinal cells that sense light and ultimately transmit what we see to the brain.

5. The ozone layer is on track to recover in the next 40 years, the United Nations says

The Earth's ozone layer is on its way to recovering, thanks to decades of work to get rid of ozone-damaging chemicals, a panel of international experts backed by the United Nations has found.

The ozone layer serves an important function for living things on Earth. This shield in the stratosphere protects humans and the environment from harmful levels of the sun's ultraviolet radiation. In the latest report on the progress of the Montreal Protocol, the U.N.-backed panel confirmed that nearly 99% of banned ozone-depleting substances have been phased out.

6. Uganda declares an end to Ebola outbreak

The Ugandan government has declared an end to its Ebola outbreak, less than four months after cases were first reported. Since 20 September, 56 people have died from the virus, which is spread through body fluids, and there have been 142 confirmed infections.

The country has reported no new infections in more than 42 days – twice the maximum incubation period of the virus, a World Health Organization benchmark for a country to be declared Ebola-free.

7. Doggy ‘daycare’ bus in Alaska goes viral on TikTok

Check them out here:

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[ape-apocalypse]

can you reccomend some of the documentaries you watched about apes?

Funny enough, I've been planning on making a list of documentaries so thanks for the push! I’ve watched a bunch to hype up for Kingdom and I’ll keep watching as we wait for POTA news. These are what I've been able to find with my various subscription services and internet access in the USA so their availability may vary for you. Also a warning that, due to these being non-fiction documentaries there is very real footage of animal injuries and death (from both humans and natural circumstances).

Monkey Business (Amazon Prime) - A long running show (9 seasons) about a primate rescue center in the UK. I really loved this one because you got to follow apes of the course of years. I even cried when one ape who had been there from the first season passed away in the final season. The show mostly focuses on chimps and orangutans but also features lemurs, woolly monkeys, gibbons and other species. The center focuses on giving the animals in their care the most natural life they can in captivity, and also assists in breeding programs for several endangered species. Jane Goodall even comes out in one episode to present them with an award for excellent enclosure construction. The theme song is very loud and distinctive, the point that my roommate asked how long this series was because she could hear the theme song coming from my room for weeks as I went through all 9 seasons. Highly recommend this one because the personalities of the apes really stand out when you spend literal years with them; it's worth the time commitment, I loved it.

(Also in making sure I had all the details about this show right, I learned there was a follow up show called Monkey Life that featured Andy Serkis himself narrating the first season and they seem to all be available on YouTube for free so I have a new multi-season show to watch now, thank you!!!)

Orangutan Jungle School (YouTube) - Rescue group dedicated to teaching young orangutans how to survive in the wild so they can be released when they're older. Only the first two episodes of this show are available on YouTube for free but I also devoured any clips I could find. I found this show particularly hilarious because the baby orangs are adorable. They cry when they don't get their cups of milk fast enough or when they can't figure out how to crack into a coconut. I always see adult orangutans as slow moving, so the activity and demanding personalities of the babies delighted me. If nothing else, watch these two clips because I have watched the clips of the babies screaming and the humans overreacting to fake snakes on repeat for ages.

Chimp Empire (Netflix) - Two chimpanzee groups in Uganda's Ngogo forest face off over territory and food, while each group faces their own struggles from within. This one is about wild chimps and it is fascinating to see their natural ways outside of rescue centers. The cinematography is gorgeous; I'd love to know how they got all these shots without disturbing the chimps. It's only 4 episodes; I wish it was longer but it packs a lot into its short run time.

Meet The Chimps (Disney+) - A one season show focusing on chimps living in a rescue center in Louisiana. A single season show so you don't get a lot of time with the chimps but it's got a much smaller number of chimps to get to know than Monkey Business. Also the troops are housed near each other so it's interested to see the dominance displays, even through a fence. My favorite part was near the end with the mystery of who was the father of an accidental baby. I guessed wrong!

Kingdom Of The Apes: Battle Lines (Disney+) - Two separate ape groups, one of chimps and the other of gorillas, sort out fights for dominance and leadership of the troop in their own ways. Personally I didn't like this one. Jumping back and forth between gorillas and chimps in a documentary less than an hour didn't leave me very invested, but I thought I'd add it if anyone was interested.

I'll throw in a couple podcasts too, should be free on your preferred podcast app:

Ologies, one episode on primatology and a separate episode on gorillaology

National Park After Dark, a two-part episode on the life, work, and murder of Dian Fossey, a primatologist who worked with gorillas and wrote the book 'Gorillas In the Mist'

The Wild With Chris Morgan, an episode on orangutans called People Of The Forest

There are a lot more documentaries I want to watch, especially several for free on YouTube. I hope this list is of interest to you and I welcome recommendations from anyone else.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Mira Lazine at LGBTQ Nation:

A House committee just passed a bill that would forcibly out trans students. It was introduced by Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI), who previously advocated for Uganda’s gay death law, the Anti-Homosexuality Act.

The bill, H.R. 736, also known as the “PROTECT Kids Act,” would require elementary and middle schools to forcibly out trans kids to their parents if they ask to go by new pronouns or a new name or use the facilities associated with their gender. If schools failed to comply, they would risk losing all federal funding. “As a condition of receiving Federal funds, any elementary school… or school that consists of only middle grades… that receives Federal funds shall be required to obtain parental consent before— (1) changing a minor child’s gender markers, pronouns, or preferred name on any school form; or (2) allowing a child to change the child’s sex-based accommodations, including locker rooms or bathrooms.” The bill was introduced in February of last year and was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce. It was voted out of committee on a 22 to 12 vote this week and will now be going to the House floor for a possible vote. H.R. 736 was introduced by Walberg in the House and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) in the Senate.

Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI)’s federal anti-LGBTQ+ forced outing bill HR736 (aka the “PROTECT Kids Act”) would require elementary and middle schools across the US to enact student safety-endangering forced outing policies. The bill passed the Education and the Workforce Committee 22-12, and could be set for a full House vote.

The bill has NOTHING to do with “protecting kids”, but an excuse to harass LGBTQ+ students, especially if they do not have supporting parents.

[kickthecan-revolution]

I’ve had a beautiful day today, I saw this massive olive tree on my walk that canopied the air, it’s so beautiful. Even with pausing for a minute or so before each big hill, I shaved about two minutes off my overall walk time to radiation. Today’s appointment was a breeze, I was in and out within 15m - nine more to go.

I decided to walk hills in my way home to reduce the cost of the Uber ride back and ended up at the Fairmont Hotel at the very top of San Francisco. I haven’t been inside of it, ever I think? If so I can’t remember. It’s old and ornate, they are decorating for the holidays. It’s beautiful.

I got home and saw this bouquet of flowers had arrived from my friend Kelly in Seattle - it has little bananas in it! I think it’s one of the coolest flower deliveries I have ever received in my life, I can even eat part of it!

We ended up FaceTiming and got caught up with each other. She got married a little later in life and her husband is so great – a lot more conservative than probably I’d be comfortable with, and such a kind man at his core. They traveled last year, taking a couple of honeymoon trips they’d postponed because of Covid and spent three weeks in Uganda. They visited a school where Kelly learned that the only protein kids get is one egg a week and a quarter cup of milk a week. When Kelly asked what they could give for Christmas, the Director clapped her hands and said oh if we could get them a second egg that week to celebrate it would be so incredible. Later on that evening, Kelly and her husband were driving back to where they were staying and saw a little boy in the street and short story long they couldn’t get them out of their mind, and went to the school to see if they could sponsor him. It’s a boarding school, the school actually limits class and said they were full, but a Ugandan woman was advocating for him and they ended up calling the owner of the school who happens to be in Chicago right now jetlagged, who said yes to the exception.

I asked her to send me some information. There’s a lot of kids in America right now who need a lot of help. And, one egg a week and an education for 75 bucks a month? That just seems like a no-brainer but you can’t be emotional with these decisions, these kids need you to commit for a decade. So I’m sitting with it. I was initially leery about donating to a Christian school but it really works in this area and I trust Kelly. At minimum, it was such important perspective. One egg a week. Goddamn.

Then I chatted with a work colleague - I’m definitely sensing people at my level not wanting me to come back as a manager. We have….. a lot of managers. Too many, I get it. And I think this is just even more fuel to the motivation to leave next year, don’t go to a party where you aren’t wanted. And I don’t take it personally, or I’ll try not to, I’m kind of glad for it. I’m a great leader and could be even better but being a leader has never been my primary motivator. Creating things, explaining things, solving problems, making things - that’s what I really love.

Last call was with my sister just making plans for my trip there on Saturday where I’ll make some introductions between she and the new tenants.

It’s cloudy and cold, sunny earlier but now it feels like rain. My kittens are snuggled in and so am I. I’m making a little “thank you” video to send on Thanksgiving to those in my life who really helped me, I’m a little nervous that it will be cheesy but being vulnerable is something I’m going to practice more.

[batboyblog]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #14

April 12-19 2024

The Department of Commerce announced a deal with Samsung to help bring advanced semiconductor manufacturing and research and development to Texas. The deal will bring 45 billion dollars of investment to Texas to help build a research center in Taylor Texas and expand Samsung's Austin, Texas, semiconductor facility. The Biden Administration estimates this will create 21,000 new jobs. Since 1990 America has fallen from making nearly 40% of the world's semiconductor to just over 10% in 2020.

The Department of Energy announced it granted New York State $158 million to help support people making their homes more energy efficient. This is the first payment out of a $8.8 billion dollar program with 11 other states having already applied. The program will rebate Americans for improvements on their homes to lower energy usage. Americans could get as much as $8,000 off for installing a heat pump, as well as for improvements in insulation, wiring, and electrical panel. The program is expected to help save Americans $1 billion in electoral costs, and help create 50,000 new jobs.

The Department of Education began the formal process to make President Biden's new Student Loan Debt relief plan a reality. The Department published the first set of draft rules for the program. The rules will face 30 days of public comment before a second draft can be released. The Administration hopes the process can be finished by the Fall to bring debt relief to 30 million Americans, and totally eliminate the debt of 4 million former students. The Administration has already wiped out the debt of 4.3 million borrowers so far.

The Department of Agriculture announced a $1 billion dollar collaboration with USAID to buy American grown foods combat global hunger. Most of the money will go to traditional shelf stable goods distributed by USAID, like wheat, rice, sorghum, lentils, chickpeas, dry peas, vegetable oil, cornmeal, navy beans, pinto beans and kidney beans, while $50 million will go to a pilot program to see if USAID can expand what it normally gives to new products. The food aid will help feed people in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Yemen.

The Department of the Interior announced it's expanding four national wildlife refuges to protect 1.13 million wildlife habitat. The refuges are in New Mexico, North Carolina, and two in Texas. The Department also signed an order protecting parts of the Placitas area. The land is considered sacred by the Pueblos peoples of the area who have long lobbied for his protection. Security Deb Haaland the first Native American to serve as Interior Secretary and a Pueblo herself signed the order in her native New Mexico.

The Department of Labor announced new work place safety regulations about the safe amount of silica dust mine workers can be exposed to. The dust is known to cause scaring in the lungs often called black lung. It's estimated that the new regulations will save over 1,000 lives a year. The United Mine Workers have long fought for these changes and applauded the Biden Administration's actions.

The Biden Administration announced its progress in closing the racial wealth gap in America. Under President Biden the level of Black Unemployment is the lowest its ever been since it started being tracked in the 1970s, and the gap between white and black unemployment is the smallest its ever been as well. Black wealth is up 60% over where it was in 2019. The share of black owned businesses doubled between 2019 and 2022. New black businesses are being created at the fastest rate in 30 years. The Administration in 2021 Interagency Task Force to combat unfair house appraisals. Black homeowners regularly have their homes undervalued compared to whites who own comparable property. Since the Taskforce started the likelihood of such a gap has dropped by 40% and even disappeared in some states. 2023 represented a record breaking $76.2 billion in federal contracts going to small business owned by members of minority communities. This was 12% of federal contracts and the President aims to make it 15% for 2025.

The EPA announced (just now as I write this) that it plans to add PFAS, known as forever chemicals, to the Superfund law. This would require manufacturers to pay to clean up two PFAS, perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid. This move to force manufacturers to cover the costs of PFAS clean up comes after last week's new rule on drinking water which will remove PFAS from the nation's drinking water.

Bonus:

President Biden met a Senior named Bob in Pennsylvania who is personally benefiting from The President's capping the price of insulin for Seniors at $35, and Biden let Bob know about a cap on prosecution drug payments for seniors that will cut Bob's drug bills by more than half.

[tomorrowusa]

There are a number of threats to the LGBTQ+ community around the world. And with Pride Month on the horizon, federal law enforcement in the US is urging people to be more alert.

Authorities warned US citizens abroad to "exercise increased caution". "Stay alert in locations frequented by tourists, including Pride celebrations," a warning issued by the state department said. The advisory came on Friday, a week after a similar alert issued by US law enforcement agencies. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said: "Foreign terrorist organizations or supporters may seek to exploit increased gatherings associated with the upcoming June 2024 Pride Month." Although no specific gatherings or locations were mentioned in the warnings, the law enforcement agencies noted that messages from the Islamic State (IS) group distributed in English in February 2023 included rhetoric against LGBTQI+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and intersex) events and venues.

Being concerned about anti-LGBTQ+ violence is not paranoid even during "normal" times. Remember the Pulse massacre in 2016?

During Pride Month in June 2016, a man inspired by IS ideology shot dead 49 people and wounded 53 more at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. The FBI and DHS warning also noted that three IS sympathisers had been arrested for attempting to attack a Pride parade in Vienna, Austria in 2023. The Counter Extremism Project, a New York-based non-profit group, noted that anti-LGBTQ ideas had been taken up by both Islamist and far-right extremists. "It is no surprise that neo-Nazis and jihadis often express mutual admiration for their shared anti-gay visions," Mark D Wallace, the project's chief executive, said in a statement.

The narrowly averted attack on a Pride march in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho in 2022 was a close call. A heads up by a concerned citizen prevented violence.

The 31 people arrested in Idaho have ties to a White nationalist group and planned to riot at a Pride event, police say. Here’s what we know

After an alarmed 911 caller reported a group dressed like a “little army” getting into a moving truck, police in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, arrested 31 men believed to be linked to a White nationalist group, who had plans to riot at a weekend Pride event, authorities said. The large group – which police believe was affiliated with Patriot Front – was seen at a hotel piling into a U-Haul with riot gear, the caller told a 911 dispatcher. They were later pulled over and arrested, Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee White said.

When becoming aware of an immediate threat inside the United States, call 911. If you discover credible evidence of anti-LGBTQ+ violence being planned for some future time, call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324). Hate crimes are against the law. All threats of violence should be taken seriously.

If you're abroad, remain alert and pay attention to local advisories and those from embassies.

There's an axis of homophobia which includes Russia, Iran, Uganda, and the far right in the West. Islamic State and (so called) Patriot Front are essentially on the same side. It's sad, but such threats, regardless of source, cannot be ignored.

[flagbridge]

PoTOmer 2024/5784 Masterpost

From April 23 -June 11, I am posting 49 days of POTO content to mark the Omer, except on Shabbat.

Follow POTOMER for the posts.

(Gif of @lilykerhoas is from @or-what-you-will and @hyperfixatra January 2024 (2) video)

Day 49: PHANART-Phantom Returns to Broadway (as a Lego)

Day 48: PHANFIC-No Vows, POTO Queer Week 2024

Day 47: PHANART-Journey to the Lair made with Legos

Day 46: (No Post, Shabbat)

Day 45: PHANFIC-Mes Amicales Pensees (Young R/C)

Day 44: GIFSET-West End '23-'24 Phantoms having a mental breakdown during AIAOY.

Day 43: PHANFIC-Phantom of the Capitol Crack AU Idea

Day 42: GIFSET- Jon Robyns & Lily Kerhoas, West End 2024

Day 41: PHANFIC-Sangfroid, a Raoul Navy POTO Dark Week Fic

Day 40: AUDIO-Connor Ewing Phantom Debut Full Audio Gift

DAY 39 (no post, Shabbat)

Day 38: GIFSET-Jon Robyns unique acting choice

Day 37: PHANART: POTO Lego Figurines (Again)

Day 36: GIFSET-NEW BOOT (Jon/Lily/Mikey)

Day 35: GIFSET-MOTN Goodness (Jon/Lily)

Day 34: GIFSET-The Boatride

Day 33: (Lag B’Omer Special): PHANFIC All Vows FINALE

Day 32: (No post, Shabbat)

Day 31: PHANFIC- All Vows Finale Teaser

Day 30: LIVE SHOW-POTO Vienna Goes Wrong

Day 29: COSPLAY-Meg Giry

Day 28: PHANART-POTO Lego Figurines!

Day 27: HEADCANON-My Raoul is a Composite Character

Day 26: PHANART-Erik x Mirrorbride

Day 25: (no post, Shabbat)

Day 24: GIFSET-Random POTO Broadway Phantom Gifs

Day 23: PHOTOSET/HEADCANON-La Sorelli in ALW

Day 22: VIDEO-Moisten the Lad

Day 21: PHOTOSET- POTO Uganda

Day 20: PHANART: Erik and his Violin

Day 19: FANFIC - All Vows Chapter 39

Day 18: (no post, Shabbat)

Day 17: PHANART- Various crack posts and inside jokes illustrated by @bonzlydoo

Day 16: PHOTOSET-Joe-Griffiths Brown feeding the people what they want as Raoul

Day 15: HEADCANON/Raoul Navy Uniform Musings

Day 14: GIFSET-Ethan Freeman bows to the monkey.

DAY 13: LEROUX: HAPPY BIRTHDAY GASTON LEROUX (Ethan Freeman Reads Leroux)

Day 12: FANFIC: All Vows Chapter 38: my longfic that will be concluding at the end of May.

Day 11: (no post, Shabbat)

Day 10: FANFIC: All Vows Chapter 10 (Catch Up)

Day 9: ADAPTATION: Ghost of Zariya Hollow

Day 8: HEADCANON: Christine's Swedish Accent

Day 7: COSPLAY Hannibal Slave Girl Bodice Construction

Day 6: GIFSET: Raouls who make choices appreciation post

Day 5: PHIC UPDATE: All Vows Chapter 37! (And a bonus gif of Lily and Jon)

Day 4: (No post, Shabbat)

Day 3: GIFSET: Cape Twirl Comparison, Current West End Phantoms ('23-'24)

Day 2: BRAINWORM: "Ne Me Touchez Pas"

Day 1: GIFSET Robyns/Kerhoas: The Kiss

[follow-up-news]

Some health officials say mpox cases in Congo appear to be “stabilizing” — a possible sign that the main epidemic for which the World Health Organization made a global emergency declaration in August might be on the decline. In recent weeks, Congo has reported about 200 to 300 lab-confirmed mpox cases every week, according to WHO. That’s down from nearly 400 cases a week in July. The decline is also apparent in Kamituga, the mining city in the eastern part of Congo where the new, more infectious variant of mpox first emerged. But the U.N. health agency acknowledged Friday that only 40% to 50% of suspected infections in Congo were being tested — and that the virus is continuing to spread in some parts of the country and elsewhere, including Uganda. While doctors are encouraged by the drop in infections in some parts of Congo, it’s still not clear what kinds of physical contact is driving the outbreak. Health experts are also frustrated by the low number of vaccine doses the central African nation has received — 265,000 — and say that delivering the vaccine to where it’s needed in the sprawling country is proving difficult. WHO estimates 50,000 people have been immunized in Congo, which has a population of 110 million.

[beardedmrbean]

Burkina Faso's military junta has announced a ban on homosexual acts, making it the latest African state to crack down on same-sex relations despite strong opposition from Western powers.

Homosexuality was frowned upon in the socially conservative West African state, but it was never outlawed.

Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala said the junta's cabinet had now approved legislation to make it a punishable offence, but he did not give further details.

The military seized power in Burkina Faso in 2022, and has pivoted towards Russia after drastically reducing ties with former colonial power, France.

Homosexual acts were decriminalised in Russia in 1993, but President Vladimir Putin's government has been cracking down on the LGBTQ community, including banning what it calls "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations".

The doctor forced to fight jihadists in Burkina Faso

Nigeria-EU deal sparks false claims over LGBT rights

The Nigerian queer parties that offer liberation

Burkina Faso's decision to outlaw homosexual relations is part of an overhaul of its marriage laws.

The new legislation, which still needs to be passed by the military-controlled parliament and signed off by junta leader Ibrahim Traoré, only recognises religious and customary marriages.

"Henceforth homosexuality and associated practices will be punished by the law," the justice minister was quoted by AFP news agency as saying.

Capt Traoré took power in September 2022 after overthrowing another military ruler, Lt Col Paul-Henri Damiba, accusing him of failing to quell an Islamist insurgency that has gripped Burkina Faso since 2015.

Burkina Faso was among 22 out of 54 African states where same-sex relations were not criminalised.

Unlike in many former British colonies, it did not inherit anti-homosexuality laws after independence from France in 1960.

Muslims make up around 64% of Burkina Faso's population and Christians 26%. The remaining 10% of people follow traditional religions or have no faith.

Many African states have been taking a tougher stand against the LGBTQ community in recent years.

Uganda is among those that have adopted legislation recently to further crack down on the community, despite strong condemnation from local rights groups and Western powers.

In May, its Constitutional Court upheld a tough new anti-gay law that allows for the death penalty to be imposed for “aggravated homosexuality”, which includes having gay sex with someone below the age of 18 or where someone is infected with a life-long illness such as HIV.

Activists said they would appeal against the ruling.

The World Bank has halted new loans to President Yoweri Museveni's government while the US has stopped giving Ugandan goods preferential access to its markets, following the adoption of the legislation last year.

Mr Museveni defended the legislation as preserving traditional family values, and said Uganda would not allow the West to dictate to it.

The daughter of Cameroon's president drew mixed reaction after she came out as a lesbian last week.

Brenda Biya, who lives abroad, said she hoped that her coming out would help change the law banning same-sex relations in the country.

Cameroon has been ruled with an iron-hand by her 91-year-old father, Paul Biya, since 1982.

In Ghana, parliament passed a tough new bill in February that imposes a prison sentence of up to three years for anyone convicted of identifying as LGBTQ+.

However, President Nana Akufo-Addo has not signed it into law, saying he will wait for the courts to rule on its constitutionality.

The finance ministry has warned him that if the bill became law, Ghana could lose $3.8bn (£3bn) in World Bank funding over the next five to six years.

Ghana is suffering a major economic crisis and received a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last year.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Inside Climate News:

Amid the corporate events pervading New York’s “Climate Week,” an international people’s tribunal held an emotional hearing that spotlighted the ecosystems and people living in the shadow of fossil fuel projects. 

Representatives from communities around the world, scientists and advocates told stories of human and nonhuman forced displacement, degraded heath, ruined economies and lost histories to the International Tribunal on the Rights of Nature on Sunday. 

In India, coal mines are degrading the habitat of endangered elephants sacred to Adivasi Indigenous people. In Louisiana, petrochemical facilities are being built on sacred grave sites. In East Africa, construction of a new oil pipeline is displacing communities and slicing through the homes of giraffes, lions and hippopotamuses. And in Peru, communities that have endured decades of crude oil production and more than 1,000 oil spills are facing down installation of a new refinery and expanding operations.

The testimonies, sweeping in both their global reach and in the harms alleged, were gathered to create a repository of evidence linking the “fossil fuel era” to violations of humans’ and nature’s rights. 

The tribunal, now in its sixth session since 2014, is designed to probe alleged violations of the 2010 Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth, which recognizes nature as a living being with inherent rights, including the rights to exist and evolve.  

“Just as human beings have human rights, all other beings also have rights which are specific to their species,” the nonbinding declaration says. The declaration was written during a 2010 people’s conference in Cochabamba, Bolivia, following a disappointing United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen a year earlier.

The tribunal is part of the growing “rights of nature” movement, which since 2006 has also created binding laws and judicial precedent recognizing nature’s rights. Today, more than a dozen countries have such laws on the books, including Ecuador, Panama, Spain, New Zealand, Brazil, Colombia and Uganda. But few countries have taken steps to enforce the laws. 

The advocacy group Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature created the tribunal to showcase how a legal system recognizing nature’s rights might work. Past hearings have taken on cases like the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, lithium mining in Chile’s Atacama Desert and the impact of free trade agreements on the environment. In each case, “defendant” companies and governments are invited to participate but generally decline to do so. Though the rulings are nonbinding, the tribunal’s website says its work pressures governments by drawing international attention to issues.