The day when Britain officially exited. Brexit.

#Britain #Brexit #EU #Brussels #DonaldTusk #TheresaMay #Europe

Sir Tim Barrow, Britain’s new envoy to the EU rode to the European Council in his ambassadorial Jaguar, and then at 11:25 GMT, gave the narrow white envelope, that bore the Prime Minister’s Theresa May Brexit notification, to Donald Tusk, who chairs summits of EU leaders.

A few minutes later, Tusk tweeted that After nine months, the UK has delivered #Brexit. This was one topic on the routine weekly agenda for the 28 EU national envoys, and now that Brexit is underway – Barrow will get used to not being invited to all the EU discussions.

Commissioned in happier times when the EU seemed destined to go on expanding, it was no little irony that the first great moment of history, witnessed by the EU Council’s newly opened Europa Building, should be the unprecedented shrinking of the Union.

Read the full article here.

Donald Tusk did sum up the moment in some short words: What can I add to this? We already miss you. Thank you and goodbye.

Companies can ban employees from wearing religious accessories

#Europe #EU #discrimination #business #religion #political #ECJ

European companies can ban employees from wearing religious or political symbols including the Islamic headscarf.

Although this might be strange and too professional for a workplace to ban all employees from wearing “any political, philosophical or religious sign”, I do not understand the reason to raise statements such as “companies can ban employees from wearing headscarves.” Please understand that the statement is valid for all employees, regardless of their religion or dressing, and is not a way of discriminating people. EU, as a whole, is promoting it’s own culture at workplace. (Then again, different people might see this news in different light)

In 2003, Samira Achbita, a Muslim, was employed by G4S security services as a receptionist. The company had an “unwritten rule” that employees should not wear any political, religious or philosophical symbols at work.

Samira told G4S that she wanted to wear the Islamic headscarf but wasn’t allowed to. Consequently, the unwritten rule was converted into a formal ban and was valid for all employees. Samira went to court claiming discrimination.

However, considering that G4S has a ban on all the employees, regardless of their religion, the case cannot be held true and ECJ ruled in the favor of G4S.

Read the full article here.

France rebukes Russian support for Syria, Aleppo seeking for EU help

French President Francois Hollande accused Russia of reneging on its pledges in Syria. Hollande told the reporters in Brussels that Russia doesn’t honor the commitments it makes. During the summit of EU leaders in Brussels he also expressed his concern over leaving women, men and children to suffer bombing, and being treated in an undignified manner. The regime of Bashar Assad needs to take total responsibility of the situation.

The head of the local council of Aleppo, Brita Haj Hassan, warned that about 50,000 civilians in eastern Aleppo are about to be victims of a general massacre by government soldiers. He called for EU’s help, to send some troops to monitor the evacuation of civilians. He also mentioned that around 5,000 people who are hurt are currently in need of urgent evacuation.

This evacuation is part of a cease-fire deal reached between the opposition (rebels) and the Syrian government forces, so as to provide a safe passage for the civilians to leave the war-ridden Aleppo. Till now, hundreds of civilians have been killed and thousands displaced in the Russian-backed Syrian government campaign to retake Aleppo. Read the full article here.

Brexit rift among Britons remains wide

Many of the British citizens are still divided between leave the European Union or either to stay. Many Britons have had to wrestle with unsettling realities of what BREXIT actually means. The initial vote for the Brexit split the Britons vote into 52% and 48%, which led Britain to leave the EU.

The Liberal democrats want a second referendum on the final terms of the exit deal. If the exit negotiations become complicated, then the 2020 general election could be effectively run as a second referendum.

Under the pressure of her Conservative party and EU leaders, PM Theresa May of UK has promised to begin talks about the exit beginning March. However, the cabinet itself is divided on the question of staying in the single market or not. Remainers say that quitting the biggest trade bloc of the world will destroy British jobs, while the Brexit supporters say that Britain can easily forge new deals with the world.

Read the full article here!