IVF staff accused of misleading UK parents about sperm and egg donors in northern Cyprus
IVF staff accused of misleading UK parents about sperm and egg donors in northern Cyprus. The KRAK 11 News hour: The World Desk, Criminal Intent, Happy Animals, Sports. Real stories from named sources, read by Chip Marlowe and Deb Sarkissian.
Aired 2026-08-18 08:03 UTC · 5 segments · 15 min · complete transcript below
Rundown
KRAK 11 NEWS
Good evening, I'm Chip Marlowe.
And I'm Deb Sarkissian. This is KRAK 11 News, wall to wall coverage of the stories that matter to Wexler County and the world beyond.
Tonight: Russia issues a warning to the UK over drone support to Ukraine. We'll have the latest diplomatic developments on The World Desk.
A Palestinian-American family trapped in their West Bank home by settlers. That story is ahead on Criminal Intent.
Job vacancies hit a five-year low. What that means for workers and employers, coming up on Happy Animals.
Happy Animals is about animals.
It's a flexible format. And thirteen surprise stars to watch in the new Premier League season. That's Sports, and that is the hour ahead on KRAK 11.
We begin at The World Desk. Russia says the United Kingdom will pay for supplying long-range attack drones to Ukraine.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence responded by saying Britain stands shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine. Still ahead on The World Desk: what a five-year low in job openings means for the economy.
That's next.
So.
So what.
Nothing. Just a day. Like any other day.
Okay.
Although some days are more significant than others.
Is today significant.
I didn't say that.
Happy birthday, Chip.
How did you know.
You do this every year. I hope you have a wonderful day..
THE WORLD DESK
Good evening, I'm Chip Marlowe.
And I'm Deb Sarkissian.
Deb, before we begin. The phrase 'around the world in eighty seconds' — does that read as authoritative or accessible?
It reads as four minutes and thirty seconds.
It's aspirational.
We begin tonight with a developing story from the Mediterranean, where British authorities are investigating fertility clinics in northern Cyprus accused of misleading parents about sperm and egg donors.
Northern Cyprus has become a popular destination for British couples seeking fertility treatment, largely because the Mediterranean climate is considered ideal for these procedures.
The climate has nothing to do with it. Northern Cyprus operates under different regulations than the European Union.
That too.
Multiple children are now feared to have been conceived using donors that were not the ones selected by parents who paid for in-vitro fertilization procedures at these facilities.
Investigators say clinic staff may have deliberately misled parents about which donors were used during treatment, raising serious questions about informed consent and medical ethics across the region.
British authorities are working with officials in northern Cyprus to determine the scope of the alleged misconduct. No charges have been filed at this time.
Also from Europe tonight, German police have conducted their first major raids under new anti-smuggling legislation, seizing equipment from criminal networks operating along the country's borders.
Authorities confiscated dinghies, life jackets, and other equipment during coordinated operations they describe as the first enforcement action under domestic legislation passed eight months ago.
The raids demonstrate Germany's commitment to using the full authority of European law to disrupt organized crime at its source.
German law.
Germany is in Europe.
Germany wrote its own law.
Collaboratively.
From the United Kingdom, disabled residents in England will receive twenty-four-hour free bus travel beginning in April, removing current restrictions that limit free travel to off-peak hours only.
Campaign groups have welcomed the expansion, calling it a long-overdue recognition of mobility needs for people who work non-traditional hours or require medical appointments outside standard travel times.
The policy takes effect nationwide across England on April first.
Also from the United Kingdom tonight, Russia has issued what it calls a formal warning over Britain's decision to supply long-range attack drones to Ukraine, the latest in an ongoing series of diplomatic protests.
This is Russia's twenty-sixth formal protest to the United Kingdom this year over military support for Ukraine.
A British Ministry of Defence spokesperson responded by saying the United Kingdom stands shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine and will continue providing defensive support as long as necessary.
The drones in question are capable of striking targets more than one hundred fifty miles from launch points, significantly extending Ukraine's ability to counter Russian military operations inside contested territory.
And from the Pacific, the United States Navy is facing renewed questions about deployment schedules after reports of challenging conditions aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.
The Lincoln has been at sea since December eleventh as part of a carrier strike group operating in the western Pacific, with no scheduled return date announced by the Navy.
Concerns have mounted about conditions aboard the vessel as the deployment extends past four months in what are often difficult operating environments across the Pacific theater.
The Navy has not commented publicly on the timeline for the carrier's return to port or addressed reports about crew morale during the extended deployment.
Still ahead on KRAK 11 News, a Wexler County man is facing charges for the fourth time in twelve months, and prosecutors say this time the evidence includes his own voice on a recorded line.
That story and more when Criminal Intent continues in just a moment.
Around the world in — how long was that?
Four minutes.
Ford wants to sponsor your mustache.
My face is not available for naming rights.
How much.
Eight hundred a month. You have to call it the F-150.
The mustache is part of the journalist.
Sell the chin. Nobody believes that belongs to journalism.
We can't sell that chin.
For nine hundred, put mud flaps under my tits.
The mustache remains public broadcasting.
CRIMINAL INTENT
Good evening. I'm Chip Marlowe.
And I'm Deb Sarkissian. Chip has been reviewing the segment open for twenty minutes.
I have been refining the segment open. There is a difference.
You stood in front of the camera and said 'Good evening, I'm Chip Marlowe' fourteen times.
Consistency matters, Deb. Police in three states are warning parents tonight about a social media challenge that has sent two teenagers to the hospital.
The so-called door-kicking challenge involves kicking in a stranger's front door, filming the reaction, and posting it online. Authorities say what starts as a prank can turn fatal in seconds.
In Ohio, a seventeen-year-old was shot after kicking in a door in what prosecutors say he believed was a harmless prank. The homeowner, a retired corrections officer, was not charged.
Police say homeowners have the right to defend their property. Investigators say the homeowner had no way of knowing the intruder was unarmed.
The teen remains in critical condition. His family has asked for privacy.
In New Hampshire, a high-speed chase ended on Interstate Ninety-Five when troopers stopped a driver alleged to have been traveling at one hundred twelve miles per hour.
The driver told troopers he was late for a dentist appointment in Waterville. The appointment was for a cleaning.
Prosecutors allege the driver had three prior license suspensions and was driving on a permit that required a sober adult in the passenger seat. There was no passenger.
He has been charged with criminal operating under the influence, reckless endangerment, and evading. The dentist rescheduled.
In Oregon, a woman has been arrested after police say she mailed herself forty-seven pounds of methamphetamine using her own return address.
Postal inspectors became suspicious when the package began leaking a white crystalline powder in the sorting facility. They traced it back to the sender, who was also the recipient.
She told investigators she thought it would be safer to mail it than to carry it. Prosecutors say she used priority mail and included insurance.
The package never left the state. She has been charged with possession with intent to distribute and misuse of the postal service. Bail was set at fifty thousand dollars.
The insurance claim was denied.
Still ahead, the story of a Seattle dog who rides public transit alone, a macaque who courted his mate for three weeks, and the cat named after a musical legend who finally found a home.
Happy Animals is next.
You're watching KRAK Eleven News.
We need one more.
For what.
Fantasy league.
I don't do fantasy football.
It's fun.
It's make-believe. I have a real life.
It's football.
It's pretend football. I deal in reality, Larry. I report actual events.
Calm down guys. Chip.. What are you doing this weekend?
Playing Dungeons and Gragons with some friends
You have got to be fucking kidding me.
What?
HAPPY ANIMALS
Welcome back to KRAK 11 News.
Before we begin, I would like it noted that I have been reviewing the segment open for twenty minutes and it is now perfect.
You've been reviewing the same four words for twenty minutes.
Precision takes time, Deb.
A zoo in Melbourne has introduced a blind koala named Myrtle to a custom habitat designed entirely by sound and scent.
The habitat uses eucalyptus oil diffusers to mark pathways, and textured bark panels that Myrtle follows with her paws. She navigated the entire space in under four minutes on her first attempt.
Four minutes.
The zoo says Myrtle is settling in well.
A golden retriever in Illinois has learned to ring a bell at a nursing home to alert staff when residents need assistance. The dog's name is Biscuit, and he was trained by a resident who used to work with service animals.
Biscuit has successfully alerted staff forty-two times in the last three months.
In Scotland, a sheep named Houdini has escaped from the same farm seven times in two years. The farmer has now given up and built Houdini his own adjacent paddock with a viewing platform for tourists.
The viewing platform opened last month and has attracted three hundred visitors.
Three hundred people went to Scotland to look at a sheep.
They went to Scotland and then looked at a sheep.
A pelican in Florida has been returning to the same dock every morning for six years to greet a fisherman who once removed a hook from its wing. The fisherman says the pelican waits on the dock until he arrives, and leaves ten minutes after he does.
Six years.
Still ahead, Sports.
That is next.
I need one of you to witness a wedding in the loading dock.
Whose wedding.
Couple from the mattress store. I got ordained at lunch.
You cannot marry people with sandwich breath.
The state doesn't ask.
Why the loading dock.
The groom's ankle monitor won't reach the courtyard.
I'll witness.
Fine. I am going to go hang around by the methadone clinic. The people outside always have great merchandise for sale.
SPORTS
Time now for the KRAK 11 Scoreboard.
Good evening. Before we get to the scores, I want to acknowledge that tonight's banner reads exactly as it has for six years, and I believe we are leaving opportunity on the table.
The banner says The KRAK 11 Scoreboard.
It does. And I have been reviewing alternatives that communicate authority. The authoritative scoreboard for Wexler County sports. That reads as definitive.
We're the only scoreboard in Wexler County.
Which is why it should say so. College football. The Southeastern Conference has confirmed its scheduling format for the twenty twenty-seven season and beyond.
The league will move to a nine-game conference schedule starting that year, with opponents rotating every two seasons to ensure competitive balance across the expanded sixteen-team league.
Alabama and LSU will continue to play annually regardless of the rotation.
That matchup is protected under a separate agreement and will not be subject to the two-year cycle. The SEC begins its first season as a sixteen-team conference this fall.
In professional football, the Los Angeles Rams continue to climb in ESPN's projections. They are now ranked fifth in the network's Future Power Rankings, up from eighth a year ago.
The improvement is attributed to roster strength and coaching stability, not salary cap management, where they remain ranked eighteenth.
Salary cap management being a factor ESPN weights separately in its overall formula. The Rams open their season September eighth against the Seattle Seahawks.
In mixed martial arts, lightweight champion Islam Makhachev has responded to questions about why he carries two championship belts to public appearances.
Makhachev clarified that the second belt is a ceremonial award presented to him by Abu Dhabi officials following his title defense in June, and is not a second championship.
The U-F-C has one lightweight champion. Abu Dhabi has its own belt.
Correct. The confusion arose after former champion Max Holloway questioned the practice on social media, asking why Makhachev was, quote, walking around with two belts.
In Formula One, Max Verstappen has extended his dominance with a victory at the Belgian Grand Prix, his twelfth win in fourteen races this season.
Verstappen finished nine seconds ahead of Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc taking third. The championship leader now holds a commanding eighty-point advantage with ten races remaining.
Eighty points with ten races. He would need to score zero points in the next three races and still lead the championship.
That is the level of dominance we are seeing from the defending champion this year. Next race is the Dutch Grand Prix in two weeks.
In soccer, the English Premier League begins its new season this weekend, and analysts across Britain have named their breakout candidates for the year.
BBC Sport commentators have identified thirteen players they believe could define the coming season, including Arsenal midfielder Ethan Nwaneri and Chelsea's Kendry Paez.
Nwaneri is seventeen. Paez is sixteen.
Both have been training with their first teams since January and are expected to feature in the opening fixtures. The league kicks off Saturday morning.
And in basketball, the Buss family's decision to sell the Los Angeles Lakers has raised questions about the future governance structure of the franchise.
Sources tell ESPN that current team governor Jeanie Buss will be removed from that role when the sale completes, though no timeline has been announced for finding a buyer.
The Buss family purchased the team in nineteen seventy-nine for sixty-seven point five million dollars. It is now valued at seven point one billion.
A return of more than ten thousand percent over forty-seven years. That is a return most franchises will never see.
Coming up at the top of the hour on the next KRAK 11 News, we continue our coverage of Hurricane Lala, which has now left more than eighty-nine thousand homes without power across Hawaii.
That's the next KRAK 11 News, at the top of the hour.
I'm Chip Marlowe.
I'm Deb Sarkissian. Good night.
Do you believe in prayer.
What.
Prayer. Manifestation. The power of positive thinking.
What did you do.
I sent an email.
To who.
The station owner.
What did it say.
It was meant for you.
Oh god.
Ya, it was late, I was drunk, what can I say.
Reporting behind this episode
- Russia says UK 'will pay' for supplying drones to Ukraine
- IVF staff accused of misleading UK parents about sperm and egg donors in northern Cyprus
- Inside secret police warehouse as Germany targets small boats gangs
- What it's like to be on a warship like the USS Abraham Lincoln
- Disabled people in England to get 24-hour free bus travel
- Breakouts & wildcards - 13 surprise stars for new season