Top of the Morning: Humanitarian Evacuation of Homs Begins

Top stories from DAWNS Digest

600 People Evacuated from Homs by UN and Red Crescent

The first humanitarian evacuations of the besieged city have begun. “Six hundred people left the besieged ruins of rebel-held central Homs on Sunday, escaping more than a year of hunger and deprivation caused by one of the most protracted blockades of Syria’s devastating conflict. The evacuees, mainly women, children and old men, were brought out by the United Nations and Syrian Red Crescent on the third day of an operation during which the aid convoys came under fire and were briefly trapped themselves in the city.” (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1joFg0u)

The Harsh New Reality for Nigeria’s Gays

The New York Times takes a deep look into the consequences of Nigeria’s new anti-Gay laws. “Since Nigeria’s president, Goodluck Jonathan, signed a harsh law criminalizing homosexuality throughout the country last month, arrests of gay people have multiplied, advocates have been forced to go underground, some people fearful of the law have sought asylum overseas and news media demands for a crackdown have flourished…Gay sex has been illegal in Nigeria since British colonial rule, but convictions were rare in the south and only occasional in the mostly Muslim north.” (NYT http://nyti.ms/1bdM4vq)

credit: syrian red creascent