Reuters reports that the head of the Syrian Red Crescent, Abdulrazak Jbero, was shot while traveling from Damascus to Idlib. Though too early to speculate over whether or not this was an assassination, circumstance remain unclear.

A Kenya-based gay publication is shedding new light on the nation’s clandestine gay and bisexual male population, members of which are being lured into Arab Gulf-based trafficking rings where they end up as sex slaves for the wealthy.

As reported by Identity, many gay and bisexual men from university campuses — particularly from Kenyatta University — have been transported to labor as sex workers for men in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. According to the magazine, many victims have been fooled into the trap by false promises of high-paying jobs, sadly not a difficult task for the traffickers given Kenya’s soaring unemployment rate.

+ here

ABC’s World News Now anchor Dan Kloeffler comes out on air.

+ here

thedailywhat:

Breaking Arrested Development News of the Day: Arrested Development creator Mitchell Hurwitz, at the New Yorker Festival cast reunion, just announced plans to bring back the critically acclaimed TV series for one more season — ahead of the long-anticipated Arrested Development movie.

The New York Times’ Dave Itzkoff reports that the new season will be composed of 9-10 “where are they now” episodes, providing context for the film.

[@newyorker / @ditzkoff.]

File under “Best News of the Day!”

anarchafeminist:

tainted-bliss:

demonicxavi:

dominic-scaia:

19 year old transman violently attacked for being trans

19-year-old transman, James Alexander, was violently attacked for being trans yesterday morning while going for a walk in his neighborhood. To get to his destination, he had to walk past the house of a girl he was once interested in who had turned him down in the past (saying that “she can’t be with him because he’s not a real man” and that “she’d consider him IF he had a penis.”, and also calling him a “faggot”.), but he didn’t think anything of it, as he’s lived in the area for three years. He certainly wasn’t expecting what was to come.

As he walked past the house of the girl, she came out, and told him she wanted to talk to him. James stopped, to be polite, and because he figured he’d let her say what she needed to say. She asked him if he is a man, to which he said “Yes.”. She then told him to prove he’s a man. He told her off, and began to walk away.  As he was walking away, he felt someone grab the back of his shirt. The person spun him around to face them, and he discovered that it was the girls six-foot-five, 25-year-old boyfriend, Mark. Mark yelled in his face and also told him to prove he was a guy. James told him to back off, and shoved him away. Both the girl and Mark called James a “faggot”, and he began to cry. The two of them then proceeded to make fun of James for crying, saying “Oh look, the little girl is crying”. James started to walk away again, as Mark approached him and punched him in the face, right in the eye.. and continued hitting him repeatedly, while laughing, because James was crying.

James, who is significantly smaller than Mark, at five-foot-eight, and is not a violent person at all, defended himself as best he could, and got away.. but not before he sustained injuries to his face and hand, as well as psychological trauma.

James’ mother called the police, and also had him take photos of his injuries.. but it would seem that Mark is not going to be charged, after all. James explains, “It’s his word against mine. He has his mom, his girl, and three other people saying he didn’t do anything.. so even though I have a broken face and can’t physically stop crying or shaking, he is just getting a warning. I’m pressing charges, but he won’t be arrested. Just told to go to court on a certain day I guess.”

The bottom line is that he was attacked for a specific reason; for being trans. That qualifies what happened to him as a hate crime. This was a violent transphobic attack, and the guy who did this to this 19 year old transman, needs to be charged and convicted accordingly. It’s unfortunate that they won’t arrest Mark.. but I do hope that once this goes to court, he’s punished. He shouldn’t be able to just get away with this. Too many times has an incident like this happened, and the attacker gone free. It’s time we (transgender individuals) started being taken seriously when things like this happen to us.

If anyone who is reading this knows of any resources that could help James to ensure his attacker is convicted (legal counsel for trans people, etc), he can be contacted at ericjames1302@yahoo.com.

Also, if you’re a journalist who would like to write about this, I encourage you to do so, as increasing awareness about this incident is very important. There needs to be a huge public outcry about this. This boy needs all the support he can get. Then, maybe something will be done.
Once again, James can be contacted at ericjames1302@yahoo.com.

Please reblog. Infinitely. The world must hear about this. 

No one should have to go through anything like this. Everyone has the right to be who they are, and accepted. I hope beyond hope that Mark is arrested for doing this.

On top of all that, Mark is pressing charges against James. Because he hit back. Once. In self-defense. And Mark doesn’t have a scratch on him. But the police still showed up at James’ door. He doesn’t deserve something this horrible, nobody does.

(via projectqueer)

A fascinating report on a recent piece in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology where online gamers help create a 3D model of the monomeric protease enzyme in retroviruses, including HIV.

DOJ doing something good for the people! I’m sincerely shocked.

Many of the migrants who slipped into Europe after perilous sea journey earlier in the year receive little support.

Yasmine Ryan

August 4, 2011

[Briag Courteaux/Al Jazeera]

Mizo, left, was in the first boatload of migrants who left the southern Tunisian coastal town of Zaris after the Tunisian Uprising led the Tunisian costal guard to halt its sea patrols. Having worked as a fisherman, he found places for himself, his brother and his cousin, $1,400 a head, on January 29.

The three of them are now part of a group of 30 migrants living in the Buttes-Chaumont Park in northeast Paris, after having been evicted from an abandoned building nearby belonging to the former regime. As many as 20,000 migrants are reported to have landed at Lampedusa, many of them homeless in Marseilles, Lyon and the French capital.

[Briag Courteaux/Al Jazeera]

“I want to find honest work, build a future, a home, earn a living and not to remain in this situation,” Mizo says. He says the Tunisian authorities should be doing more to negotiate with the French government about the plight of the recent migrants. The revolution may have brought political freedom, but Mizo and the other migrants Al Jazeera may have to wait many years before that turns into economic development.

[Briag Courteaux/Al Jazeera]

Dozens of young Tunisian men spend their days and nights in another park in northeastern Paris, Belleville Park. Some pass their time in groups, while others, like Kamel, are alone. “In Tunisia, the French sleep in five-star hotels, but in France, Tunisians sleep on the streets,” says the 24-year-old, who is from the southern Tunisian town of Tataouine.

He took a boat to Lampedusa in March, and travelled to Paris by train, via Marseille. He hopes to find work as a plumber. The Italians give him a six month visa for the EU’s Schengen zone, so he says he should be able to work in France.

[Briag Courteaux/Al Jazeera]

Khaled Nefati, centre, a Tunisian who has lived legally in France for many years, regularly visits groups of migrants with his 7-year-old son to bring food and company. “Through human solidarity, we can find a solution for any problem,” he says.

The local council has done everything it can do, in his opinion. “As for the [French] politicians, both on the right and on the left, they really haven’t done much,” he says.

[Briag Courteaux/Al Jazeera]

The migrants say they want housing, work and residency permits. The Islamic month of Ramadan began on August 1, which means that members of the group are fasting during daylight hours. Life on the streets will be particularly tough for many Tunisian migrants during this period.

[Briag Courteaux/Al Jazeera]

The youngest members group in Buttes-Chaumont Park sleep on a ledge, giving them more protection from outsiders. The police make regular intrusions into the camp, destroying their gear, arresting them for short periods of time, and even teargased the migrants in the park one night.

Many of the Tunisians who have been living without any shelter in France since earlier this year are minors. The youngest member of the group in Buttes-Chaumont is 15 years old. 

[Briag Courteaux/Al Jazeera]

“One has the impression that they have been abandoned,” says Mona Hammami, another volunteer who visits the group in Buttes-Chaumont almost everyday. Hammami, a member of Al Majd, a centrist political party founded in March, says that Tunisia’s state of political flux means that no one from the government or the consulates is stepping up to help the migrants find a solution.  

She worries that with summer here, many of the volunteers working with the migrants to provide food, medical help and support authorities will go on holiday, and they will be in an especially difficult situation.

[Briag Courteaux/Al Jazeera]

Bilal came to Paris in early March, after he managed to get a free ticket over on a boat to Lampedusa. We find him laughing with friends at the Belleville market, in the 20th arrondisement, a part of Paris which has a long history of welcoming working-class migrants, particularly those from North Africa, Eastern Europe, and more recently, Asia.

Bilal is sharing a small apartment with three other friends, and has been able to find odd jobs. He hopes to work in IT, but says finding stable employment would be far easier if he had French residency papers.

[Briag Courteaux/Al Jazeera] 

“Nearly everyday, we do exactly the same thing,” says one migrants, who prefers not to be quoted by name. Some migrants say they have had enough of life on the streets of Paris and would like to go home.

The local council offered to give each migrant who agreed to leave $1,000, along with $430 from the French government, but then informed applications that they must have accommodation if they wish to be eligible - ruling out the homeless migrants who were the most desperate to take up the offer.

Source: Al Jazeera

[via:androphilia]

This startling and disturbing news piece reports how impoverished rural populations living with HIV have resorted to eating cow shit so that they can “properly” take their anti-retroviral medications to keep them alive.