Hungary to ban LGBTQ parades – Orban
Pride parades will no longer be allowed to take place on the streets of Budapest, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban declared in an interview with local radio on Friday. He argued that such events are detrimental to children.
Speaking to Radio Kossuth, Orban stated that the only reason the LGBTQ events took place in the capital was because they were being led by former American ambassador David Pressman, “which clearly expressed that the world’s great powers support this.”
“But now there has been a change in the world,” Orban noted. He added that since Pressman left the country in January ahead of the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, Pride parades are “no longer under international protection.”
“So, this kind of thing is no more. It’s over now,” Orban said, adding that such events “shouldn’t have been necessary before either.”
Makes one wonder what the consequences would have been had Orban stood up to Pressman.
The prime minister further stressed that events such as the Pride parade go against the “opportunity for our children’s healthy, balanced development as desired by their parents,” pointing out that despite immense pressure from the Western world, most people in Hungary have not given in to the gender “craziness” and still believe that there are only two genders.
During a state address last Saturday, Orban also suggested that the Pride organizers in Hungary “should not bother preparing” for the event, initially scheduled for June, arguing that it would be “a waste of time and money.”
On Thursday, Orban’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, also stated during a press briefing that Hungary “does not have to tolerate Pride marching through downtown Budapest” and that the event will no longer be held “in the public form in which we have known it in recent decades.” He previously suggested that Pride should be held in a “closed venue.”
Behind closet doors?
Organizers of the LGBTQ festival have responded to Orban’s threat to shut down the event by issuing a statement that they still plan to hold it, arguing that it would become a “litmus test for Hungarian democracy,” Reuters reported.
In 2021, Hungary updated its child protection laws to prohibit the promotion of LGBTQ topics in media, advertising, and educational materials accessible to minors. The measure sparked a backlash in Brussels, which launched legal action against Budapest, referred the case to the European Court of Justice, and also froze billions in EU funds intended for Hungary over what it claimed were violations of fundamental human rights.
Bangladesh faces never-ending battle
against child marriage
Bangladesh is the country in Asia with the highest ratio of child marriages to its population. Some 38 million women are married before the age of 18, according to UNICEF – amounting to one in two women. This is despite the fact that child marriage has been illegal since a British empire-era law from 1929, with the legal age set at 18 for women and 21 for men.
Despite the efforts of national and international organisations, the scourge persists. In recent years, the number of child marriages has remained alarmingly stable.
FRANCE 24's Lisa Gamonet and Nabeel Ahmed report.
Transgender clinic in India shuts down after USAID funding freeze – media
India’s first transgender clinic has been shut down, according to local media reports. Called Mitr, the Indian word for ‘friend’, the clinic provided general health consultations, HIV testing and treatment, mental health support, and helped transgender individuals access legal and social services.
Mitr Clinic had been supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which provided healthcare services to the transgender community.
The clinic’s closure comes after US President Donald Trump’s 90-day freeze on all US foreign aid, which includes over $40 billion in funding for international projects through USAID, according to reports. This action led to thousands of programs globally being suspended and numerous USAID officials placed on leave.
A trans health expert affiliated with the clinic quoted by The Hindu said that operations were suspended shortly after the funding cut was announced at the end of January. Mitr was established in Hyderabad in January 2021, and has two additional clinics in the western Indian cities of Mumbai and Pune.
Funding for the transgender clinic was recently questioned by US Republican Senator John Kennedy. “USAID gave money to a transgender clinic in India. I didn’t know that. I bet the American people didn’t know that,” he stated earlier in February.
Republican Representative Nancy Mace, meanwhile, pointed at a $750,000 grant by USAID to an organization linked to Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor’s brother-in-law’s company Shahi Exports for “alleviating loneliness among migrant workers in India.”
Yikes! Sounds a little like prostitution!
On Monday, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar raised concerns about possible foreign interference in India’s elections, following US President Donald Trump’s statement that USAID had allocated $21 million to increasing voter turnout in India.
He had said that New Delhi is investigating the matter and that the “facts will eventually come out.” On the same day, India’s Finance Ministry’s 2023-24 annual report disclosed that USAID was funding seven projects in India, totaling $750 million. These projects, implemented in collaboration with the Indian government, received a total of $97 million from USAID in the last fiscal year. They cover various sectors such as agriculture, water and sanitation, renewable energy, disaster management, and health, officials said.
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25 arrested in international AI-generated
child sex image ring
Feb. 28 (UPI) -- A worldwide police operation resulted in the arrest of 25 people on charges related to producing and distributing images of minors entirely generated by artificial intelligence, authorities confirmed Friday.
The operation spanned 19 countries including the United States, with arrests taking place earlier in the week, EUROPOL, the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation said in a statement.
"(This) has been one of the first cases involving AI-generated child sexual abuse material, making it exceptionally challenging for investigators, especially due to the lack of national legislation addressing these crimes," EUROPOL said in its statement.
The agency, which was founded in 1999, calls this kind of crime "one of the most threatening manifestations of cybercrime in the European Union."
In addition to the arrests this week, authorities searched 33 houses and seized 173 electronic devices.
The operation remains ongoing and police expect more arrests in the coming weeks, the agency said in the statement.
"These artificially generated images are so easily created that they can be produced by individuals with criminal intent, even without substantial technical knowledge," EUROPOL Executive Director Catherine De Bolle said in the agency's statement.
"This contributes to the growing prevalence of child sexual abuse material, and as the volume increases, it becomes progressively more challenging for investigators to identify offenders or victims. Law enforcement will need to develop new investigative methods and tools to address these emerging challenges."
Authorities from Denmark led the operation, which also involved officials in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Britain, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
"The main suspect, a Danish national who was arrested in November 2024, ran an online platform where he distributed the AI-generated material he produced. Following a symbolic online payment, users from around the world were able to obtain a password to access the platform and watch children being abused," EUROPOL said in the statement.
Last August, a U.S. Army soldier in Alaska was arrested for using AI to produce explicit images of children.
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