Although the murder of Ugandan gay rights advocate David Kato and the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, AZ, occurred 9,000 miles apart, there are many who believe that American hate speech is to blame for both crimes. In Uganda, Kato ‘s death is being called tthe direct result of the hateful words of American evangelicals who have publicly fought against homosexuality and homosexual rights.

The American conservatives accused of making inflammatory remarks in the months leading up to the Tucson massacre seem to have successfully rebuffed the allegation that they bear any responsibility for that crime. They’ve been helped by the mass media, which has focused heavily on the mental illness of shooter Jared Loughner.

But the Americans accused of fueling the homophobia that many are blaming for Kato’s brutal murder—he was bludgeoned to death with a hammer— will have a much harder time convincing the world that they have nothing to do with his death.

Over the last few years, homophobia has soared hroughout Africa but especially in Uganda, where a controversial 2009 Anti-Homosexuality Bill proposed the death penalty for some homosexuals. The evidence suggests that American evangelicals were involved in the drafting of the bill. In March 2009, an American evangelist named Scott Lively led an anti-gay conference in Kampala. A few days later, David Bahati, a lawmaker and a close friend of Lively, introduced the bill in Parliament.

Rev. Kapya Kaoma, a Zambian priest who went undercover to the “viciously homophobic” conference to conduct research on the rise of homophobia in Africa, quoted one Ugandan attendee: “Dr. Scott told us about Brazil where, 10 years ago, homosexuality was unheard of. Today, it is the capital. There are people that have been against homosexuality that are having to leave because of the pressure and the threats that they are putting on them. That is how serious it is.”

To solidify their lies, evangelicals took advantage of Ugandans’ devotion to Christianity. They knew that Africa’s nearly 500 million Christians practice their religion with more zeal than the foreigners who introduced it to them. Such people are more likely to act on anything that supposedly comes from the Bible. This is evident in the words of another man whom Rev. Kaoma quoted after Lively’s speech: “The man of God told us about…a movement behind the promotion of homosexuality. … I got to know that there is a force behind homosexuality, which we need to tackle with force. He also told us that these people who are behind this…evil, they have all resources that they need…to spread this evil. We need to stand firm to fight homosexuality.”

It is true that for decades there have been laws in the Uganda forbidding homosexuality. But like many laws in African countries, these were never enforced. And as the existence of those laws obviously suggests, Ugandans have known all along that some of their fellow citizens are gay. It wasn’t until American evangelicals began flocking to the East African country that Ugandans began to see homosexuality as something new and evil.

Human rights activists and governments from around the world pressured Uganda to shelf the anti-homosexuality bill, albeit temporarily. But the damage was already done. Politicians, journalists and other Ugandans became increasingly intolerant of people they had lived with peacefully for decades. Outing gays became the fashionable thing to do. A little-known tabloid called Rolling Stone gained international notoriety for publishing the front page headline “100 PICTURES OF UGANDA’S TOP HOMOS LEAK.” Kato’s photo was among them.

“Hang them,” the paper urged.

Lively and other evangelicals vehemently deny that they have a hand in igniting homophobia in Uganda. They point to some media reports quoting Ugandan police saying that Kato’s death might have been a robbery gone awry. But it isn’t hard to find stories in the same media about the corruption and incompetence of the same police.

The irony is that as Ugandans were getting ready to “stand firm to fight homosexuality,” Lively was moving from California to Massachusetts— a state where gay marriage is legal—to open a coffee shop. If it turns out that Kato was murdered because of his sexuality, nothing will wash his blood off Lively’s hands— not even fair-trade coffee from Uganda.

More than 8,000 Sudanese refugees living in the United States voted overwhelming in favor to split their homeland, Southern Sudan, from the north in a referendum that could create the world’s newest country.

The Southern Sudan Referendum Commission on Tuesday announced the preliminary results for votes taken in eight U.S. cities.

Benaiah Duku, a U.S. representative for the group overseeing the voting, said 8,412 people voted in favor of secession and 75 voted to keep the country united.

The referendum is part of a peace deal that ended the 1983-2005 civil war between Sudan’s north and south that left about 2 million dead. Many of those who voted in the United States were among the 3,800 war orphans known as the Lost Boys of Sudan.

Refugees lined up at polling places in Boston, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Nashville, Tenn., Omaha, Neb., Dallas, Phoenix and Seattle. Of the 8,791 people who registered, 8,504 showed up for the voting that started Jan. 9 and ran until Sunday. Duku said seven votes were invalid and another 10 were unmarked.

Duku called the voting orderly, but emotional.

Voting was also held in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Egypt, United Kingdom and Australia, as well as in Sudan. Duku said the votes from the United States will be consolidated into the final vote to be released later.

“I would like to sincerely thank the governments and the people of these countries for their generous assistance in this undertaking,” Duku said.

Southern Sudan is one of the world’s poorest regions, but is oil rich. The people there have resented their region’s underdevelopment and have accused the northern Sudan government of taking their oil money.

The Tri-Valley University’s head office on Boulder Court wore a deserted look after it was raided and shut down Jan. 19 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on charges of massive immigration fraud.

Tri-Valley University is said to have had 1555 students and as many as 95 percent of these students are Indian nationals, mostly from Andhra Pradesh. These students, theoretically enrolled in various degree courses at the university, are now left to face a bleak future with a possible loss of their student immigrant status.

Tri-Valley’s Pleasanton campus is locked up with black plastic sheets and blinds covering the glass-panel windows from the inside, while the main entrance has a rotten banana peel hanging from the door handle. A UPS delivery message dated Jan. 24 for founder Susan Su is pasted on the door.

While neighboring businesses in the community maintained they only knew of the university’s alleged misdemeanor from news reports, a parent of a toddler, who attends an art class on the same street, remarked to India-West, “I have rarely ever seen anyone here.”

According to the complaint filed by the U.S. District Attorney’s Office noted, “Since its inception, Tri-Valley University has been a sham university, which Su, and others, have used to facilitate foreign nationals in illegally acquiring student immigration status that authorizes them to remain in the United States.”

The complaint further alleges that Tri-Valley University has made millions of dollars in tuition fees for issuing visa-related documents, which enable foreign nationals to obtain illegal student immigration status under a fraudulent scheme.

India-West was unable to contact Su or any other university authority before press deadline. ICE has also refused to comment on what course of action it will take against the university and students.

During the course of the investigation, ICE found that while students were admitted to various residential and online courses of the university and on paper lived in California, in reality they illegally worked in various parts of the country as far away as Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Texas, according to a Times of India report.

ICE found that the university gave its own residential address for its students to allegedly conceal that they did not live in California.

For a student to maintain an active immigration status, they must show proof that they are making reasonable progress towards completing coursework and physically attend classes.

Federal authorities are reportedly trying to contact individuals who paid money to obtain student visas and student work permits, resulting in a panicked reaction among the Indian student community.

Many of these students, fearing a probe, are fleeing the country as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, many of the new students from Andhra Pradesh, who were planning to join the university for the new semester Jan. 10 after the winter break, have cancelled their U.S. travel plans. ?The university has been offering on-site and online courses in law, medicine, art, business and engineering to students since 2008, and boasted a faculty list of more than 50 educated professionals on its Web site.

ICE agents have executed search warrants at three other properties that have allegedly been bought with tuition money, including the university’s Pleasanton campus.