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rpannier

(24,342 posts) Sat Mar 9, 2024, 08:05 AM Mar 9

Five Stories From Europe You May Have Missed

5. Religious And Social Conservatives In Kosovo Block Controversial IVF Bill

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"Secular state, where?" one of the signs read, signaling the demonstrators' fear that public policy is falling prey to outsized religious influence in the Balkans' newest state. "Does IVF in private hospitals destroy the family?" read another at the February 29 protest in front of Kosovo's parliament, organized by the We March, We Don't Celebrate collective and joined by other groups.

The protest was part of an emerging legislative and regulatory battle over in vitro fertilization (IVF) -- a medical procedure where an egg is fertilized by sperm outside the body, typically in a laboratory dish -- and other fertility treatments in Kosovo, a male-dominated, mostly Muslim country of around 2.2 million people.

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But a smattering of lawmakers, including those from Prime Minister Albin Kurti's ruling Self-Determination party, are leading opposition to the bill in its current form. They want IVF and other assisted pregnancies restricted to couples in order to safeguard the institutions of marriage and family. They say they fear "accidental incest" -- where people who were conceived with the assistance of sperm or egg donors unintentionally enter into sexual relationships with their biological relatives -- and have argued that children conceived outside the womb should have the right to know their father.

The opponents of the reproductive-health bill, in its more inclusive wording, have so far successfully fended off a plenary vote that would likely result in passage. Long-running efforts at passage failed again last week and once more on March 7, when parliament failed to muster a quorum each time.

https://www.rferl.org/a/kosovo-ivf-religious-social-conservatives-block-bill/32854191.html

4. MoD paid millions into Saudi account amid BAE corruption scandal

Britain’s Ministry of Defence moved questionable payments through its own bank account amid one of the biggest corruption scandals in history, despite concerns the money could be pocketed by the Saudi royal family.

Previously confidential documents show how the MoD agreed to make the payments to a Saudi bank account after the transactions came under scrutiny following an investigation by the UK anti-corruption agency, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

The documents reveal a senior MoD official expressing concern that turning down the Saudi requests for payments could risk “displeasing key Saudis” and emphasising the need to “keep the Saudis on side at this critical time”.

The new payment system, detailed in the documents, was set up after the SFO began investigating allegations that BAE, Britain’s biggest arms company, had paid large bribes to the Saudi royal family to land the notorious UK-Saudi al-Yamamah contract.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/08/mod-paid-millions-into-saudi-account-amid-bae-corruption-scandal

3. Theresa May to step down as MP at general election

The former prime minister Theresa May will step down as an MP at the next general election after 27 years in parliament, becoming one of the most high-profile Conservatives to join a wave of departures from the House of Commons.

In a statement to the Maidenhead Advertiser, the Maidenhead MP said she wanted to focus on causes close to her heart, including her work on the Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking.

She also criticised the current political climate, saying in an article for the Times that she had “seen a coarsening of our debates and less respect for others’ views”.

“Democracy depends on us being able to debate key issues that affect people’s everyday lives seriously and respectfully. It needs politicians who put those they represent first and themselves second. It needs MPs who are there to serve,” she said.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/mar/08/theresa-may-to-step-down-as-mp-at-next-general-election

2. Chinese-Made Surveillance Cameras At Romanian Military Sites Raise Security Concerns

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For less than $1,000, a Romanian Defense Ministry employee ordered an eight-port switch and two surveillance cameras for the security network at a military base in the sleepy southern village of Deveselu that is home to NATO's Aegis Ashore, land-based, missile-defense system.

The cameras were made by Hikvision, a partly state-owned Chinese company with alleged links to the country's military whose equipment has been blacklisted by the United States and Britain due to data and security vulnerabilities.

While there's no evidence the cameras at Deveselu have resulted in any breaches, a monthslong investigation by RFE/RL's Romanian Service shows that surveillance equipment made by Hikvision and Dahua -- another company that is partly owned by the Chinese government -- is used by at least 28 military facilities in the country. The equipment is also used by hundreds of other public institutions involved in national security, ranging from the coast guard to sites operated by the intelligence service.

Unlike the United States, Britain, or some other NATO partners, there is no prohibition on the use of Hikvision or Dahua equipment in Romania and the country's Defense Ministry and other national-security institutions using the brands told RFE/RL they were on closed-circuit systems that do not have cloud or Internet connections and that strict security protocols are followed.

https://www.rferl.org/a/romania-china-cameras-security-concerns/32853039.html?withmediaplayer=1

1. Serbian LGBT Activists, Supporters Protest Alleged Police Brutality In Belgrade

BELGRADE -- Several hundred Serbian LGBT activists and their supporters protested in central Belgrade against alleged police brutality on March 6 following reports of abuse against two LGBT persons and what demonstrators say was official inaction in the incident.

Participants in the protest -- dubbed We Will Not Be Silent! -- called for the criminal prosecution of police officers for what they say was abuse, torture, and sexual harassment in the February 26 incident, as well as quicker sanctioning of police officers who commit violence.

Organizers from the Da se zna! (To Be Clear!) rights group also called on authorities in Serbia to condemn violence against the LGBT community.

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Activists charge that police officers abused two LGBT persons during a search of an apartment in Belgrade that was suspected of having drugs in it.

https://www.rferl.org/a/serbia-lgbt-protest-police-brutality/32851329.html