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Ghanaian lawmakers are facing backlash over a bill before Ghana’s parliament that aims to make gay rights advocacy illegal.Eight lawmakers are sponsoring the bill, which was introduced in parliament Monday. The bill would impose a maximum 10-year prison sentence on people who support and advocate for same-sex and gay rights. Individuals or groups would also not be allowed to provide social or medical support to LGBTQ+ people.   Word of the bill had spread in recent weeks even before it was officially presented, prompting outrage among many Ghanaians.  Kwasi Prempeh, the head of the Ghana Center for Democratic Development, which defends gay rights, told VOA the bill is a distraction.   “We’re in almost a post-COVID situation and there are a lot of challenges to deal with,” Prempeh said. “This is not the kind of distraction we need at this time. And unfortunately, it is being foisted on us by these crusaders who really will not stop.”     Prempeh added that even if the bill is passed, it will be legally challenged.  “In parliament it may well pass, but I doubt very much it will survive executive scrutiny, hopefully not,” Prempeh said. “If it does get presidential assent, I’m almost certain that it will be challenged judicially.”  But opposition lawmaker Sam George, who is leading the effort to pass the bill, said it is not aimed at infringing on the sexual preference of individuals as long as they do not force it on others.  “I don’t care what you do in the confines of your room or the privacy of your home,” George said. “But when you want to make that a way of life, when you then want to demand that the rest of us accept your perversion and when you want to demand that the rest of us accept to your way of life and target our children, then we’re not going to allow you to do that.”  FILE – A police officer stands guard before the bail hearing of 21 people who were detained by police and accused of unlawful assembly and promoting an LGBTQ agenda, in Ho, Volta region, Ghana, June 4, 2021.In January, police raided Ghana’s first LGBTQ+ community center in Accra. Twenty-one gay rights advocates are now on trial after having been arrested at a workshop for allegedly championing LGBTQ+ rights.  The head of LGBTQ+ Rights Ghana, Alex Kofi Donkor, described the bill as backward and wants the international community to pressure the government to withdraw it.  “This is simply absurd and simply unacceptable in the 21st century,” Donkor said. “I think this is the time that organizations and countries that believe in human rights begin to speak out about this hate bill that is being introduced in Ghana. Ghana needs to be called out on the international level.”  In coming weeks, the Constitutional and Legal Committee of Ghana’s parliament plans to consult the general public for possible amendments.  
 
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Wildfires scorching some of Turkey’s most popular destinations have upended a nascent recovery in the country’s tourism sector hobbled for more than a year by the COVID-19 pandemic.Scenes of happy beachgoers flocking to coastal areas turned nightmarish as fires forced mass-evacuations of tourists and locals alike in cities such as Bodrum and Marmaris.Tuesday marked the seventh consecutive day Turkish firefighters battled the blazes, fueled by abnormally high summer temperatures and strong winds. The fires have been blamed for at least eight deaths and forced numerous residents, many of them farmers, to flee. 10,000 Flee Turkey Wildfires; Greece Power Grid Threatened At least 8 people have been killed in Turkey since Wednesday; EU sends firefighters Beyond physical destruction, the economic impact is already costly.“We are devastated,” said Huseyin Aydin of Bordum Tour, a travel agency that books boating excursions in the Mediterranean Sea. “All the routes for the boat tours have been canceled as of now, and they will also be canceled into next year because all the nature sightseeing parts of our tours are completely burned.”Aydin told VOA his business will have to shift to other tourist ventures or risk shutting completely.
 
Elsewhere in the country, things look less grim.Tourists visit the 150A.D Roman temple dedicated to Apollo the Greek and Roman god of music, harmony and light, in Antalya, southern Turkey, June 20, 2021In Istanbul, crowds of tourists can be seen strolling the streets after the Turkish government lifted almost all pandemic-related restrictions to boost economic activity and stimulate the country’s vital tourism sector.
 
“It’s been an overwhelmingly positive experience,” said Tania Nel, a resident of Qatar who has spent almost a month traveling Turkey.“It was a country that I could enter easily, with just a PCR [COVID test], and obtain a visa for online. I’ve always wanted to see Turkey and, with other countries being closed, it seemed like a very obvious choice,” she told VOA. “Things being comparatively cheap here also meant I could stay longer and see quite a lot of regions in the country.”Turkey sought to remain an international tourist destination throughout the pandemic, requiring only a negative COVID-19 test to enter the country and exempting foreigners from some restrictions, such as curfews and travel limitations within the country. Nel said ease of access drew her to Turkey.“I had originally planned to travel to South Africa in July to see my family, but they experienced a spike in cases and stricter restrictions, hence the decision to come to Turkey,” Nel said, who is originally from Cape Town, South Africa.Lagging recoveryTurkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism says incoming foreigners in June of this year barely topped 2 million, less than half the total recorded in June 2019 which saw over 5 million foreign visitors.That hits especially hard in Turkey, where tourism is a key contributor to the national economy. The Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation describes Turkey’s tourism economy as “one of Turkey’s most dynamic and fastest growing sectors,” accounting for more than two million jobs and more than 7% of total employment.Arriving tourists report receiving especially warm greetings by cash-strapped hospitality workers.“They welcomed all tourists like royalty,” Nel said.
 
Low tourism levels have capped the economic stimulation usually expected during the summer. Many businesses report continued and intense financial hardship.“We are in a really hard time economically at the moment,” said Turgay Karahan, who owns two gift shops in an area of Istanbul frequented by tourists.Foreign tourists visit Buyukada, the largest of the Princes’ Islands in the Sea of Marmara, off Istanbul, Turkey, July 14, 2021. 
A lack of customers forced Karahan to let employees go and work longer hours for a fraction of pre-pandemic earnings.
 
“We’re working more but we’re also earning less. Most of the money we make is spent on taxes and rent. Therefore, as an employer I am in a very hard spot,” Karahan told VOA.Numerous cafes, restaurants, and bars in Istanbul and elsewhere have permanently closed since the pandemic first struck.  
 
Karahan spoke wistfully of the throngs of tourists that used to pack into his gift shops.“In the past, Turks felt like foreigners on this street because so many international tourists were here. Before the pandemic, you’d see tourists from England, Germany, France, Italy all crowding the streets in the summer. Nowadays, it’s not like this at all,” he said.  
 Lost earningsThe financial pain is also felt by Kuzey Yucehan, who owns a restaurant around the corner from Galata Tower, a top Istanbul tourist attraction.
 
“For months we were only operating for takeaway [orders], but the business that brought was not sustainable. Because of that, we have many problems with making ends meet and being profitable,” Yucehan told VOA, adding that many businesses have had to fend for themselves.
 
“Although in the media the government presented themselves as helpful and generous toward businesses in Turkey, we did not receive any financial relief as an independent business,” Yucehan said. “We hope that COVID passes and the world will get back to normal soon.”This report includes some information from Reuters.
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Huan Huan, a giant panda on loan to France, gave birth to twin cubs very early Monday, according to the Beauval zoo.  The twins, born around 1 a.m., are Huan Huan and her partner Yuan Zi’s second and third cubs, after the first panda ever born in France, Yuan Meng, in 2017. “The two babies are pink. They are perfectly healthy. They look big enough. They are magnificent,” said Rodolphe Delord, president of ZooParc de Beauval in Saint-Aignan, central France. WATCH: Using Pandas for DiplomacySorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 16 MB480p | 23 MB540p | 33 MB720p | 74 MB1080p | 134 MBOriginal | 725 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioPanda reproduction, in captivity or in the wild, is notoriously difficult. Experts say few pandas get in the mood or even know what to do when they do.  Further complicating matters, the window for conception is small since female pandas are in heat only once a year for about 24-48 hours. Huan Huan and her partner Yuan Zi — the star attractions at Beauval — thrilled zoo officials in March when they managed to make “contact,” as they put it, eight times in a weekend. Veterinarians also carried out an artificial insemination, just to be sure. Huan Huan’s first cub, Yuan Meng, now weighs more than 100 kilograms (220 pounds) and is to be sent this year to China, where there are an estimated 1,800 giant pandas living in the wild and another 500 in captivity. Huan Huan’s newborns will not be named for 100 days, with Peng Liyuan — the wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping — set to choose what they will be called, the zoo said.  
 
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