Headlines 20/04/2016

Headlines

• Benefit and Harm the Ultimate Criteria for Brexit

• Saudi Slavery Rewarded with Lawsuit

• The Politics of a ‘Handshake’

Details

Benefit and harm the ultimate criteria for Brexit

On 18th April 2016, UK Chancellor George Osborne announced that leaving the EU will reduce Britain’s GDP by 6.2% due to its impact on the UK financial services sector. The Brexit situation is currently being discussed all over the EU where arguably one of its strongest nations is weighing up whether to stay or leave. The Conservative government continues to make a case to stay with the Chancellor also warning the population of a reduction in £4,300 annually per household if the UK decides to leave.

The Brexit debate happens despite the EU member states sharing the same ideology as it as a bloc originally united to become an economic competitor to countries like the USA. However, when viewing the discussion objectively it is clear that despite this shared view, the UK like other member states judge their inclusion on the basis of benefit and harm. This is the same as what happened to Greece where despite also being a capitalist country, it was excluded from major decisions on the basis of being harmful to the EU. It will therefore, be this same criteria which will decide whether the British public will vote for or against leaving the EU.

Saudi Slavery Rewarded with Lawsuit

Saudi Arabia has warned it will sell off billions in American assets if the US Congress passes a bipartisan bill that would allow victims of 9/11 and other terrorist attacks to sue foreign governments. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir issued the warning to US lawmakers last month during a visit to Washington, which has only now been made public. A source with knowledge of the Saudis' said investments would be put in jeopardy if this bill passes.

The bipartisan bill, called the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, would allow families of victims of the 9/11 massacre and other attacks to sue foreign governments in cases “arising from a terrorist attack that kills an American on American soil.” The bill aims to expose Saudi connections to the 9/11 attacks and would deny government immunity in legal cases where suspects are found culpable for attacks that kill Americans on U.S. soil.

Because the bill involves the highly charged issue of the 9/11 attacks, it is an appealing rallying point for US presidential candidates. But US government has tried to play down the bill and warned of its consequences on US foreign policy around the world. “This is a matter of how ... the United States approaches our interactions with other countries,” Obama said Tuesday 19th in an interview with CBS This Morning. The president argued that allowing Americans to “routinely start suing over governments” would open the floodgates to lawsuits by individuals in other countries against the US government. This incident reveals clearly the reliance of the US. It is also a slap in the face of the Saudi monarchy who have acted as slaves in carrying out US instructions, but are now rewarded with this possible new law.

The Politics of a ‘Handshake’

Switzerland has suspended the citizenship process for the family of two teenage Muslim brothers who refused to shake hands with female teachers. The brothers aged 14 and 15 said physical contact with women who were not family members was against their faith. Officials in Therwil then told them not to shake male teachers' hands to avoid gender discrimination. But politicians insisted that shaking hands was part of the national culture. The case has sparked a debate about religious freedoms, and the Basel-Country canton has requested an expert legal opinion on the matter. A spokesman for the canton said naturalisation proceedings for the family had been put on hold.