Australia: Women From 10 Flights Had 'Invasive' Exams in Qatar

A baby was born and abandoned at an airport in Doha, Qatar, and now officials are apologizing over their controversial attempt to find the mother amid the revelation that there may have been more women involved than initially reported. After a newborn girl was found Oct. 2 in a trash bin at Hamad International Airport, and "grossly inappropriate" and "invasive" exams were conducted on at least 13 Australian women, Australian officials are now saying five other women from other, undisclosed countries were pulled off the same flight, per the BBC and CNN. To make matters worse, Australia says women from nine other flights were also forced to do this.

And now, an apology from Qatar. "While the aim of the urgently decided search was to prevent the perpetrators of the horrible crime from escaping, the State of Qatar regrets any distress or infringement on the personal freedoms of any traveller caused by this action," the nation's government says in a statement. Per the Guardian, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who notes his country will wait to see what Qatar's investigation into the incident turns up before deciding what steps to take next, says, "As a father of daughters, I could only shudder at the thought that any woman, Australian or otherwise, would be subjected to that." (More Qatar stories.)