Top stories from DAWNS Digest
President Museveni Makes it Official
It finally happened. Ugh. “President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda significantly strengthened Africa’s antigay movement on Monday, signing into law a bill imposing harsh sentences for homosexual acts, including life imprisonment in some cases, according to government officials. The move came weeks after Mr. Museveni’s Nigerian counterpart, Goodluck Jonathan, took similar steps in his own country, threatening offenders with 14-year prison terms. The Uganda law seemed even tougher, calling for life terms for repeat convictions on the charge of “aggravated homosexuality” along with 14-year sentences for the “promotion or recognition” of homosexual relations.” (NYT http://nyti.ms/1gwo6Zu)
Key Scientific Discovery about Malaria Transmissions
Genome sequencing lead to this discovery. “Scottish researchers say they’ve unlocked the long-standing mystery of how the malaria parasite initiates the process of passing from human to human. The scientists, from the University of Glasgow, believe they’ve identified the factor the parasite must produce to begin the passage from human to mosquito and then onwards through the insect’s bite. The research involved the discovery of a ‘master switch’ triggering the development of specialised sexual cells responsible for the infection of the mosquito and initiation of transmission, the process of the parasite passing through the mosquito. It is hoped the find will open up the way to the development of new drug treatments to prevent transmission of the potentially fatal disease.” (SBS http://bit.ly/1ldbFYt)