"Forward Party" (you can google it I won't link to them).

Think there's some serious spoiler action there? Or just (as I think) a way to get money?

93% of Ghanaians can't stand same-sex relationships – Afrobarometer survey

An Afrobarometer survey by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) has found that even though the majority of Ghanaians are tolerant of ethnicities other than theirs, “fewer than one in 10 (7%) are tolerant toward people in same-sex relationships”.

“Ghanaians, generally, tend to express more nationalistic than ethnic sentiments, and most think they are more united as a people than divided”, the report concluded, adding: “Although discrimination is not an uncommon occurrence, Ghanaians express high levels of tolerance toward foreigners and citizens from different ethnic groups or religious faiths, though they are highly intolerant toward people in same-sex relationships."

...

Intolerance toward people in same-sex relationships is pervasive across age groups, religious affiliations, and urban as well as rural locations. Citizens with no formal education are slightly less likely to express intolerance (88%) than their more educated counterparts (91%- 95%).

U.S. House passes abortion rights bill, outlook poor in Senate

WASHINGTON, Sept 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation on Friday to protect abortion services against growing Republican-backed state restrictions, including a Texas law that imposes a near-total ban on abortion, but the bill is unlikely to pass the Senate.

The Democratic-controlled House voted 218-211 largely along party lines to pass the legislation called the Women's Health Protection Act. Just one Democrat, Representative Henry Cuellar of Texas, voted against the proposal.

The bill would protect abortion services and pre-empt many restrictions Republicans have passed at the state level, such as those requiring ultrasounds or other tests.

The Senate will vote on the legislation "in the very near future," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.

It is not expected to pass the evenly divided Senate, where Democrats would need at least 10 Republicans to support it. Republican Senator Susan Collins, a moderate who supports abortion rights, has said she opposes it. She said the House bill would weaken exceptions provided to healthcare providers who refused to perform abortions on moral or religious grounds.

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Emphasis added. Always with the religion with these people.

China to reduce abortions for 'non-medical purposes' (Reuters via CNN)

China will reduce the number of abortions performed for "non-medical purposes," the country's cabinet announced in new guidelines issued Monday that it said were aimed at improving women's reproductive health.

China has already enacted strict measures aimed at preventing sex-selective abortions, and health authorities also warned in 2018 that the use of abortion to end unwanted pregnancies was harmful to women's bodies and risks causing infertility.
The State Council said the new guidelines would also aim to improve women's overall access to pre-pregnancy health care services.

National Health Commission data showed that between 2014 and 2018, there had been an average of 9.7 million abortions per year, rising about 51% from the 2009-2013 average despite a relaxation of family planning policies in 2015. The data didn't specify how many abortions were for medical reasons.

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Looks like the Chinese authorities want more babies, or else.

Russia bans film about lesbian nun

Warning: From a Russian source that approves of this.

The Russian Ministry of Culture has refused to allow a new French-Dutch drama about a 17th-century lesbian nun to be shown in Russia.

Benedetta, co-written and directed by Paul Verhoeven, is loosely based on the 1986 book Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy, about Benedetta Carlini (1591-1661), a Catholic abbess and mystic who was found guilty of having relations with one of her nuns and stripped of her rank and imprisoned.

The film is entitled Temptation in Russian.

“There is a scene of provocative content in the film, which is regarded as a violation of the legislation on freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, and religious associations,” Assistant to the Minister of Culture Anna Usacheva explained to gazeta.ru.

The Ministry did not specify to which scene it was referring, but critics of the film note that there are several with nudity and eroticism.

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German millionaires rush assets to Switzerland ahead of election (Reuters)

ZURICH (Reuters) - A potential lurch to the left in Germany's election on Sunday is scaring millionaires into moving assets into Switzerland, bankers and tax lawyers say.

If the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), hard-left Linke and environmentalist Greens come to power, the reintroduction of a wealth tax and a tightening of inheritance tax could be on the political agenda.

"For the super-rich, this is red hot," said a German-based tax lawyer with extensive Swiss operations. "Entrepreneurial families are highly alarmed."

The move shows how many rich people still see Switzerland as an attractive place to park wealth, despite its efforts to abolish its image as a billionaires' safe haven.

No country has more offshore assets than Switzerland and inflows accelerated in 2020, to the benefit of big banks such as UBS, Credit Suisse and Julius Baer. Geopolitical tensions and fears of the COVID-19 pandemic's economic fallout made Switzerland's political stability attractive.

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You will notice for all the Republican rhetoric about "Commies", nothing like that is happening here.

Kenya bans film for 'advocating same-sex marriage' (AFP via Deutsche Welle)

Authorities in Kenya have pulled the plug on a film depicting romantic love between men. "I Am Samuel" is being called an affront to the country's constitution.

Kenya's Film Classification Board (KFCB) has banned a documentary about two gay lovers.

The film, I Am Samuel, is a movie about the romantic relationship between two men who live in Nairobi.

What did the film regulator say?

In a statement on Twitter, the board's head, Christopher Wambua said the documentary "propagates values that are in dissonance with our constitution, culture, values and norms."

In his review of the film Wambua said: "By deliberately advocating same-sex marriage in Kenya, the film blatantly violates Article 165 of the Penal Code that outlaws homosexuality."

Wambua also said the film was an affront to the country's religious values.

"Worse still, the production is demeaning of Christianity as two gay men in the film purport to conduct a religious marriage invoking the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit," he said.

... Homosexual relations are against the law in the conservative, largely Christian state. ...

https://twitter.com/bigmanbazuKE/status/1441007373682872326

Especially notice two things about this story:

1) It is a Kenyan film production, not an import.
2) Heavy on the religion.

China orders gaming giants to cut 'effeminate' gender imagery (France 24)

Chinese authorities have ordered gaming giants Tencent and NetEase to end their focus on profits and cut content perceived to be breeding "effeminacy", as Beijing tries to direct youth culture, gender ideals and the reach of big tech.

The move is the latest by authorities to tighten their grip on the embattled technology sector and sent shares in some of the industry's biggest names plunging.

Officials on Wednesday summoned gaming enterprises including Tencent and NetEase, the two market leaders in China's multi-billion-dollar gaming scene, to discuss further curbs on the industry, which has already been ordered to limit gaming time to three hours a week.

Among the new targets are media representations of men, which experts say are a cause for anxiety among the conservative, older generation of Communist Party leaders.

In recent days, regulators have ordered broadcasters to resist "abnormal aesthetics" such as "sissy" men, calling for more masculine representations in programming.

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Amazon to open 2 cashier-less Whole Foods stores next year (AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — There will be something missing at two Whole Foods stores opening next year: the rows of cashiers.

Amazon, which owns the grocery chain, said Wednesday that it will bring its cashier-less technology to two Whole Foods stores for the first time, letting shoppers grab what they need and leave without having to open their wallets. Cameras and sensors track what’s taken off shelves. Items are charged to an Amazon account after customers leave the store with them.

But there will be an option for those who want to shop the old-fashioned way: Self-checkout lanes will be available that take cash, gift cards and other types of payment.

Amazon first unveiled the cashier-less technology in 2018 at an Amazon Go convenience store and has expanded it to larger Amazon supermarkets. But it will be the first time it has appeared at Whole Foods, a chain of more than 500 grocery stores Amazon bought four years ago.

One of the new stores will be in Washington, D.C.; the other in Sherman Oaks, California. They will be stocked with the typical Whole Foods fare, including seafood, fresh-squeezed orange juice and organic vegetables.

Even with the technology, Amazon said it will still hire about the same number of workers for the stores that it normally would, except they will have different roles, helping shoppers in the aisles or at counters instead of standing behind a register. The company declined to say how many people it will hire.

The company also declined to say if it plans to bring the technology to more Whole Foods locations.

Not laying anybody off just yet, and no talk of wages being too high (as Walmart did when they introduced self-checkout).

Amazon are simply betting people will prefer not having to deal with cashiers.