“Being homosexual isn’t a crime,” Francis said.

by labeling what authorities called the LGBTQ+ “movement” operating in Russia as an extremist organization and banning it.The measure restricting LGBTQ+ rights in Georgia came shortly after the parliament adopted

that critics denounced as borrowed from Moscow’s playbook. The measure requires media and nongovernmental organizations to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad.Opponents of gay rights burn LGBTQ+ flags to counter a pride event in Tbilisi, Georgia, on July 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze, File)Opponents of gay rights burn LGBTQ+ flags to counter a pride event in Tbilisi, Georgia, on July 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze, File)

That measure ignited weeks of protests and was widely criticized as threatening democratic freedoms and jeopardizing Georgia’s chances of joining the European Union. It formally applied for membership in 2022, after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but the bloc halted its accession in response to the “foreign influence” law and froze some of its financial support. Theon dozens of Georgian officials in response to the law.

With opposition lawmakers boycotting, the Georgian Dream-dominated parliament adopted a law earlier this month that made not registering as a foreign agent a criminal offense punishable by up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both. Georgian Dream said the measure matched the Foreign Agents Registration Act in the U.S.

Parliament also adopted amendments to existing laws replacing the word “gender” with “the equality of women and men.”That research is creating a library of genetic data for scientists and clinicians. Patients in Senegal are benefiting, too, with a path to diagnosis.

Fatoumata Sané holds her daughter Aissata, 8, who suffers from a rare genetic disease, at their home in Dakar, Senegal, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)Fatoumata Sané holds her daughter Aissata, 8, who suffers from a rare genetic disease, at their home in Dakar, Senegal, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

In Guediawaye, Fatoumata Binta Sané’s daughter Aissata has glutaric acidemia type I, an inherited disorder in which the body can’t process certain proteins properly. Her arms and legs are tightly drawn up toward her chest. She can’t walk or reach for things, speak, sit on her own or hold her head up. Sané cradles Aissata in her arms constantly, and the 8-year-old smiles at the sound of her mother’s voice.In the U.S., newborns are screened for treatable genetic conditions. In Senegal, newborn screening is not routine. Infants who appear healthy at birth might go undiagnosed and experience irreversible decline. Glutaric acidemia type I, for example, can cause brain damage, seizures, coma and early death.