Reuters World News - Gay in Uganda: A life or death situation

Episode Date: April 20, 2023

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni must this week either sign, veto, or send back to parliament one of the world’s toughest anti-gay bills. Whatever he decides, life for the country’s LGBTQ community is a dangerous endeavor. A corruption scandal at FC Barcelona and the war of words over Spain’s fascist past. Abortion activists and doctors look for alternatives as the Supreme Court considers the future of abortion pill Mifepristone. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices.  You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt-out of targeted advertising Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, when home is where the hate is. There is a lot of justice that is happening, beating people out, hitting people. We hear about the dangers facing the LGBT community in Uganda. As we await a Supreme Court ruling on the abortion pill, abortion rights groups and doctors prepare for an alternative. And from messy to a real mess, the corruption scandal engulfing FC Barcelona. It's Thursday, April 20th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes.

I'm Kim Vinal in London. First, the news making headlines around the world. At least 78 people have been killed in a stampede in Yemen, has a huge crowd gathered to collect cash donations during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Video from the capital, Sana'a, shows people desperately being put. pulled from the crush. It happened in a school as the donations were being given out. Aid deliveries are crucial in Yemen, where an eight-year civil war has pushed millions into hunger. Federal judge has ruled a former prosecutor who led the Manhattan District Attorney's criminal

investigation into Donald Trump must testify before a congressional committee. The subpoena for Mark Pomerantz to appear came from the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, chaired by Jim Jordan. Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg had tried to block the move, claiming Republicans are trying to interfere with his investigation of Trump. South Korean singer Moonbin, a member of K-pop boy band Astro, has died aged 25. Local media reported that the singer was found dead in his home in the Gangnam District of Seoul and that suicide was suspected.

Police declined to comment. People lost content. in the importance of routine childhood vaccines during the pandemic. UNICEF says in 52 of the 55 countries it surveyed, public perception of vaccines for killer diseases like measles and polio declined between 2019 and 2021. In the US, the abortion pill Mipiphras stone can remain on the shelves for now. The Supreme Court says it needs two more days to consider what to do

with the lower court's ruling banning it. banning it. But as Mepiphristone is tied up in legal battles, abortion rights groups and medical providers are looking for an alternative. And there's already one in the wings. Reuters health reporter Ahmed Aboulnain wrote about the increasing use of a one drug regimen of misoprostol. Okay, Ahmed, as we wait for a ruling from the Supreme Court, abortion providers are preparing. Tell us how. So the court is ruling really on one half of the regiment currently used for medication abortion in the United States. Right now, as things stand, the way the FDA has approved medication abortion as you take

the drug Mephypristone, which is the subject of the court case, in conjunction with another drug misoprostol. However, in other countries, a one drug regimen of just misopristol is also an approved method of medication abortion, and that is what providers here in the United States are gearing up to switch to. So why haven't anti-abortion providers gone after misopristol on its own then, if you can use that one drug to have an abortion? They have, but they're not seeking to pull it because it has other approved uses. When the FDA first approved misoprostol in 1988, it was to treat patients with gastric ulcers.

However, it's often prescribed off-label to treat miscarriages, induce abortions, or even when necessary induce labor. Ahmed, thanks so much. Thanks, Kim. Two financial markets now, and investors expect the Bank of England to hike rates relentlessly over the next few months. Why double-digit inflation rates? Our editor for financial industry and financial markets in EMEA, Elisa Matanutsi, on why prices are so. high. There are a number of reasons that point to this number being sticky and being, you know, the highest in Europe, supply chains, tight labour, of course, and tight labour, particularly being acute

post-pandemic and post-Brexit. And that will take a while to resolve unless there are, you know, some policy shifts potentially in terms of bringing in more labour. So it does seem that, you know, the UK has a particular problem on its hands. For queer Ugandan's living abroad, returning home is dangerous. The country's parliament has passed some of the most stringent anti-gay laws in the world, with punishments including the death penalty. Now it just needs the president's sign off. He's meeting with lawmakers today to discuss the bill. A reporter in South Africa, Rachel Savage, met with Papa D, a Ugandan activist stuck in South Africa. And heads up for listeners, there is a curse word in this report.

Our team went to a protest in Pretoria, South Africa's capital. There were about 50 people also gathered outside a United Nations building. They were dancing, linking arms, holding hands, singing. Among these protesters was Kapadi Di Lavi Kwagala. If your own country rejects you and tries to erase you and dismiss your existence, where the fucker are we supposed to go. So Papadie is a queer, non-binary photographer from Uganda. And their photography is part of their activism.

We showed two works. This is part of my kingdom project. In 2021, Papadie got a South African visa and so that they could live between Johannesburg and Campaul. So they came back to South Africa for a week just to get a document that they needed to apply for a new South African visa, which had to be done in Uganda. The day that I was flying out, I was notified that I can't go back into the country because I was awaiting arrest money because fundraising and helping queer people and supporting them, it's considered terrorism. Kakadhi said that it was very common that there are queer Ugandans living outside of Uganda who feel that they can't go home.

They said they'd received messages from other queer Ugandans, other LGBTQ Ugandans who are also stuck outside of the country. So right now they said they don't know what they're going to do. Spain has been gripped by a multi-million dollar bribery scandal involving one of its star soccer clubs, FC Barcelona. Spanish prosecutors have filed a complaint against the team over payments of nearly $8 million to firms owned by senior refereeing official Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira. The club says the payments were for technical advice

and not for any advantage on the pitch. Our sports reporter Fernando Halas breaks it down for us. Okay, Fernando, how did the scandal unfold? First of all, you have the investigation that started kind of accidentally when the companies owned by Rosa Maria Enriqueznegreira had a tax inspection and they found all these payments over the years and they wanted to know why they were coming

and they'd realized that they were coming from Football Club Barcelona and then the tax agency from Spain, they alerted the prosecutor's office and then the prosecutors started investigating in Barcelona. And there are some people that think that there is a big possibility that WERFA exclude Barcelona from European competition for at least one season. Wow. Okay, that would be a big blow for the club in terms of reputation and their finances, right? It's something that tarnished their reputation for, you're going to be talking about it for many years, many years.

They had the best team in the world for almost a decade, you know, with Messi, with Chavi, with Iniesta, with Guard Guardiola, it was the biggest show on earth. But the thing is that they depend on the tickets and they earned the biggest money in the world during that time, but at the same time they spend the most. And it's also heated up tensions off the pitch. with their main rival Real Madrid, right? We've even had insults flying about Spain's fascist past. Yeah, because Real Madrid joined the prosecutors on the case.

Barcelona is saying that they are being hypocrites and they also attacked and called back and on Monday the president of Barcelona. He said that Real Madrid was the team of the regime

for many years and trying to relate Real Madrid to the Franco's detectorship. And it's something that Real Madrid responded quickly with the video, also pointing the relationship that Barcelona had with Franco during their dictatorship. So the rivalry is escalating to levels that nobody expected at this stage. Many thanks, Fernando.

That's it for today. Before you go, we would love for you to tell us what you think about the show. There's a survey in the pod's description on the Reuters app or on your preferred podcast platform. We'll be back tomorrow on Reuters World News.