World news of February 8, 2022

Some news around the world, in short:

• In the Netherlands, a fourth fertility doctor has used his own sperm in artificial inseminations without telling future parents. More cases are expected to arise soon.
• The ban on the Indian broadcast Media One will continue. The Kerala High Court rejected the plea filed against the central government’s order, noting that the broadcast was banned based on an intelligence report with serious information. Media One is said to promote Islamic terrorism in the state of Kerala. As the 10-year permission for Media One TV was to expire on September 29, 2021, the company applied for its renewal for another 10 years in May last year but the Ministry of Home Affairs denied security clearance. On January 31, Media One was barred from transmitting.
• Australian PM on February 8 apologized to victims of sexual harassment, assault or bullying while working in federal parliament. Brittany Higgins alleged she was raped in Parliament House in 2019 and spoke out about the way her complaints were handled by the government afterward. An independent report shows one in three staff working across parliamentary offices had experienced sexual harassment.
• Russia assures that military aid provided to Venezuela will not be used against Colombia.
• In a new provision in the Online Safety Bill, the UK government expands the range of pornography websites that need to verify the age of visitors. It also closes the “OnlyFans loophole”. The site could legitimately argue that it was not covered by the law because children did not constitute a significant portion of its user base. But such a measure is no short of bypassing techniques and technological challenges. Some argue having to verify the age may foster the use of cookies and third-party data gathering, in the end increasing risks of exposing users’ privacy.
• According to Bild, Vladimir Putin’s luxury yacht “Graceful” left the port of Hamburg allegedly fearing the €87-million boat could be seized.
• Swiss doctors used electrical implants in the spiral cord of three paraplegics. Combined with artificial intelligence it allowed them to make steps again.
• In Ghana, some boycotted phone calls during the #NoCallsDay. Seven thousand people signed an online petition in support of the boycott.