QATAR has referred officials at the Doha airport to prosecutors for possible charges after women on Qatar Airways flights faced forced vaginal examinations after workers found an abandoned baby. Australia has expressed outrage over the October 2 incident. In Qatar, where childbirth outside of marriage is criminalised, migrant workers in the past have hidden pregnancies and tried to travel abroad to give birth.
POLAND Nationwide protests have been held since October 22 when a constitutional court barred abortions of foetuses with congenital defects, further narrowing one of Europe’s most restrictive abortion laws in the predominantly Catholic nation. It means an abortion is only permitted when a pregnancy threatens the mother’s health or is the result of crime.
US Walt Disney World plans to lay off over 11,000 unionised workers because of COVID-19, bringing the number of pandemic-related job casualties at the Florida resort to almost 18,000. Disney’s parks closed last spring as the coronavirus began spreading in the US. The Florida parks reopened this summer with restrictions.
