Openly gay Canadian Member of Parliament Svend Robinson, 52, announced April 15 that he will take a medical leave from politics after he stole a $50,000 diamond ring from a sale he attended.

Robinson, who has represented a Vancouver-area district for 25 years, was not apprehended at the time of the theft. He went to the police and confessed four days later.

The following day, Federal Auction Services said it had provided video evidence of the crime to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police before Robinson turned himself in.

“For some time now, I have been suffering from severe stress and emotional pain,” Robinson told reporters. “I have experienced great inner turmoil. The reasons for this are of course intensely personal, and I am not prepared to discuss them, but among others relate to the cumulative pressures of dealing with the emotional consequences of a nearly fatal hiking accident [in 1997].

“This accumulated stress culminated last Friday in my engaging in an act that was totally inexplicable and unthinkable. While attending a public jewelry sale, I pocketed a piece of jewelry. ... Something just snapped in this moment of utter irrationality.

“Immediately upon leaving the premises I realized that I must return the jewelry. Too afraid to go back, and unable to contact the owners by telephone, during the long weekend, I spent a weekend of great anguish, determined to return the jewelry at the first opportunity. On Tuesday morning, I attempted to contact the owners, and not being able to do so directly, I went to the police and gave them a full account of what I had done, and returned the jewelry to them. ... I await the decision of Crown Counsel and will not seek to in any way avoid full responsibility for my actions should charges be laid in these circumstances.

“I have sought and am receiving professional medical help to understand and deal with these issues ... and I look forward to full healing and recovery with the excellent professional assistance I am receiving,” Robinson said. “As you can imagine this has been a nightmare. I cannot believe that it has happened, but I am human and I have failed.”

Federal Auction Services said April 16 that it will not press the authorities to lay charges and “accepts Mr. Robinson’s apology,” which was offered in a letter that was not made public.

Canada’s national gay lobby group, Egale, expressed distress at the news.

“We are all deeply saddened to hear about the ordeal that Svend Robinson is now going through,” said Executive Director Gilles Marchildon. “Svend has been a bold and effective champion of equality and a role model for countless lesbian, gay, bi and trans people. He has made Canada a better place for all those who are different. Despite the difficulties he is now facing, he continues to demonstrate his personal integrity in the way he is handling this matter.”

The legislature of the Indian Ocean island of Zanzibar, which is part of the nation of Tanzania, voted unanimously April 14 to ban homosexuality.

Gay male relationships will be punished with 25 years in prison and lesbian relationships with seven years in prison. A spokesman for President Amani Karume said Karume will sign the measure into law.

Tanzania already bans gay sex nationwide but the law is rarely enforced and only allows for 14 years in prison.

Zanzibar is predominantly Muslim and may be moving in the direction of Islamic fundamentalism, news reports suggested.

British pop singer Robbie Williams, 30, is gay, his former manager says.

According to the April 13 edition of the Daily Mail, Kevin Kinsella said: “It was clear to me that he is gay. I think Robbie has the same problems as [TV entertainer] Michael Barrymore. They know they are gay, they know what they want to do. But they are controlled by parameters which say that you can’t come out and say you are gay because it will affect your career and sales, and people may not love you. So what happens is that these demons inside of them come out in drink and drugs.”

Kinsella made the remarks in a documentary on Williams’ rise to fame with the boy band Take That. Williams’ spokesman declined to comment on the reports.

African Anglican bishops, meeting in Kenya April 15, declared they will not accept donations from Anglican churches that welcome gay clergy.

The decision applies in particular to the U.S. Episcopal Church which supported the recent election of Gene Robinson as bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire. He is openly gay and sexually active with his partner.

Around 70 percent of African Anglican dioceses’ income is believed to come in the form of gifts from the U.S. church.

“If we suffer for a while to gain our independence and our freedom and to build ourselves up, I think it will be a good thing for the church in Africa,” said Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola, who also chairs the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa. “We will not, on the altar of money, mortgage our conscience, mortgage our faith, mortgage our salvation.

“We do not want any money from the Episcopal Church of the United States of America. This is not rhetoric. It is not a matter of a joke. We mean what we say.”

About half of the world’s Anglicans live in Africa. The Anglican Communion is composed of 38 independent national churches – such as the U.S. Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada – that have ties to the Church of England.