QUOTE OF THE DAY “I think we’re going to see an increase in cross-border traffic for those hoping to access our brothels.” Don Hutchinson, vice president of the Evangelical
Fellowship of Canada, a religious group that opposes the decriminalization of prostitution, on the ruling that struck down Canada’s laws against the sex trade Article, this page
Uganda legislators adopt anti-gay bill
KAMPALA, Uganda - Ugandan lawmakers Friday passed an anti-gay bill that calls for life imprisonment for certain homosexual acts, drawing criticism from rights campaigners who called it “the worst in the world.”
The legislation sets life imprisonment as the penalty for gay sex involving an HIV-infected person, acts with minors and the disabled, as well as repeated sex offenses among consenting adults, according to the office of a spokesman for Uganda’s parliament.
The bill also prescribes a seven-year jail term for a person who “conducts a marriage ceremony” for same-sex couples.
President Yoweri Museveni must sign the bill within 30 days for it to become law.
Although in the past he spoke disparagingly of gays, in recent times Museveni has softened his position, saying he is only opposed to gays who appear to “promote” themselves.
The passage of the bill makes it “a truly terrifying day for human rights in Uganda,” said Frank Mugisha, a prominent Ugandan gay activist, who called the legislation “the worst in the world.” He urged the country’s president not to sign it into law.
Libyan intelligence official shot dead
TRIPOLI, Libya - Gunmen shot and killed a top Libyan military intelligence official Friday outside his home in an eastern city known as a stronghold for an Islamic extremist militia, the latest in a string of assassinations targeting government officials and others.
Col. Fatallah Abdel-Rahim al-Qazeri died outside his home in Darna after a relative’s wedding, a security official said. Al-Qazeri had been named as head of military intelligence in the restive city of Benghazi earlier this month, the official said.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he feared being targeted in a reprisal attack.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for al-Qazeri’s killing, though Darna is known as a stronghold of Ansar al-Shariah, a hard-line group suspected of having been behind the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S.
Consulate in Benghazi that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
Ex-Russian tycoon freed from prison
BERLIN - Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Russia’s richest man, arrived in Germany a free man Friday, hours after being pardoned by President Vladimir Putin and freed from a northwest Russian prison colony.
Khodorkovsky, who landed at Schonefeld airport outside Berlin, issued a statement that he has not acknowledged guilt.
“On November 12 I asked the president of Russia to grant me a pardon on family reasons, and I am glad that he made a positive decision,” he said. “There never was a question of me recognizing guilt.”
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said Thursday that a request for pardon means an admission of guilt.
The businessman and government critic left the prison colony 20 minutes after Putin’s decree was published.
Front Section, Pages 7 on 12/21/2013