Europe

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/65694934

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/65694750

As short-term rental regulations grow, investors are shifting towards so-called 'mid-term' accommodation. With legal frameworks often ignoring rentals longer than 30 days, rising demand from students and mobile workers has created a new haven for real-estate capital — deepening pressure on housing markets.

Archived version: https://archive.is/20250601062623/https://euobserver.com/health-and-society/ar2ed4b648

Poland holds a knife-edge second round of the presidential election on Sunday as the country chooses between a centrist liberal and a right-wing nationalist.

Turnout holds the key to the contest between Rafal Trzaskowski of ruling centrists Civic Coalition (KO) and Karol Nawrocki, backed by nationalists Law and Justice (PiS).

Parliament holds most power in Poland but the president can veto legislation so the vote is being watched closely in neighbouring Ukraine, as well as in Russia, the U.S. and across the EU.

Voting began at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) and is due to end at 9 p.m., with exit polls published soon afterwards. The electoral commission says it hopes final results will be announced on Monday morning or early afternoon.

Almost 29 million Poles are eligible to vote. Over 32,000 district electoral commissions were established in the country and 511 abroad.

Opinion polls show that the difference between the candidates is within the margin of error.

#Election silence

Poland observes strict election silence laws (otherwise known as an election blackout), which ban political agitation and canvassing, as well as the publication of poll results. The election silence period went into effect at midnight at the turn of Friday and Saturday, and will conclude at the moment the polling stations close.

The only data regarding the vote that can be expected to be released during the day by the National Electoral Commission (PKW), a permanent body tasked with overseeing the organization and validity of the electoral process, are the results regarding the turnout at noon and 5 p.m.

Exit poll results can therefore be expected at 9 p.m., unless PKW extends the election silence period.

This is a rare occurrence, however, usually connected to the electoral process being in some way hampered, for example, in cases when a polling station had to be closed due to unforeseen circumstances, preventing the voters from casting their ballots.

#Results

PKW will subsequently release official partial results as the individual polling stations submit their tallies, with the final outcome of the vote most likely to be expected sometime on Monday.

Three doctors have been charged over the death of a pregnant woman, named only as Dorota, while she was in hospital under their care. Prosecutors found that “there was a failure to undertake appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, which led to the patient’s death”.

Dorota’s death in 2023 prompted mass protests against Poland’s near-total abortion ban, which activists blamed for the doctors’ decision not to terminate the pregnancy despite it threatening the woman’s life. It also led the then government to take action to ensure pregnant women receive appropriate medical care.

Dorota, who was aged 33, was admitted to John Paul II Hospital in the city of Nowy Targ in May 2023 while five months pregnant after her waters had broken prematurely. She died a few days later as a result of septic shock.

According to the findings of prosecutors, a few hours before her death, an ultrasound scan showed that the foetus had already died, reports the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

The state commissioner for patients’ rights concluded that Dorota’s rights had been violated both in terms of not receiving appropriate medical care and not being provided with correct information about her health condition.

On Friday, prosecutors announced that they had filed charges against three gynaecology and obstetrics doctors involved in Dorota’s care, one of whom was at the time head of the hospital department.

All were charged with exposing the patient to immediate danger of loss of life and one was additionally charged with unintentionally causing her death. Both of those crimes are punishable by up to five years in prison.

A lawyer representing Dorota’s family, Jolanta Budzowska, welcomed the charges but added that the “liability of medical personnel is only one dimension of this tragedy”.

“The source of medical errors is often unclear law, which requires change,” said Budzowska. “The arbitrary interpretation of the applicable regulations creates a risk for both doctors and patients.”

Budzowska is also representing the family of another woman, Izabela, whose death in hospital in 2021 while pregnant also prompted mass protests against the abortion law.

“After Izabela’s death, recommendations were issued by the health minister,” noted the lawyer. “But these did not prevent Dorota’s death, and subsequent positions and standards issued by medical associations do not solve the problem of the lack of safety for women.”

Earlier this year, a medical court suspended three doctors from practising medicine after finding negligence in their treatment of Izabela, including their decision not to terminate her pregnancy despite signs of the development of sepsis.

Supporters of Poland’s strict abortion law argue that it is not to blame for such incidents because it stillincreas allows pregnancies to be terminated if they threaten the mother’s life or health. They say the tragedies are the result of medical malpractice.

However, protests against the law, which was toughened in 2021 after a constitutional court ruling, argue that it has created an atmosphere in which doctors are fearful of legal consequences for performing abortions.

In 2021, only 107 legal abortions were carried out in Poland (and most of them before the new law went into force in late January) compared to over 1,000 in 2020, when the previous law was in place. Since then, the number of terminations has increased, though remains well below the previous level.

The current government, which came to power in December 2023, has pledged to liberalise the abortion law. However, it has so far failed to do so, as it has been unable to find agreement between more conservative and liberal elements of the ruling camp on what form the new law should take.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/65474221

https://archive.is/Htwxm

The EU is launching a new age verification app in July, establishing a tool that will potentially allow for tighter enforcement of rules requiring online platforms to protect minors online.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/65387935

Data analysed by the BBC show that Ukraine's Western allies have paid Russia more for its hydrocarbons than they have given Ukraine in aid.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/65469467

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/65394872

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/45454272

Irish soldiers, who are serving as peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, have come under fire while on a joint patrol with the Lebanese Armed Forces, the Tánaiste (Irish deputy prime minister) has said.

The incident happened near the Blue Line in South Lebanon.

A number of small arm rounds were fired in the vicinity of the area in which the patrol was operating, the Irish Defence Force said.

There were no reported injuries and no damage to the armoured vehicles they were operating from.

Germany’s socialist party Die Linke has been revitalized by its recent election breakthrough. With the Social Democrats cravenly backing Friedrich Merz’s conservative and militarist agenda, Die Linke has to offer a bold oppositional message.

cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/31188988