Brexit: "the prodigal son" - EU tells UK its door still 'open'

France and Germany have said the UK could still stay in the EU, as Britain confirmed that Brexit talks would start on Monday (19 June).

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, made the comment after meeting British prime minister Theresa May in Paris on Tuesday.

Of course, the [EU] door remains open, always open, until the Brexit negotiations come to an end”, he said.

The German finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, told the Bloomberg news agency in Berlin the same day that “if they [the British government] wanted to change their decision, of course, they would find open doors”.

Macron and Schaeuble said they “respect” Britain’s decision to leave.

The French leader said: “I would like the negotiation and then the discussions on the future relationship with the United Kingdom to be launched as soon as possible.”

But he added: “Let us be clear … once negotiations have started we should be well aware that it will be more and more difficult to move backwards.”

Schaeuble added that Germany did not want to punish the UK for leaving. “We will minimise the potential damage and maximise the mutual benefit [of Brexit]”, he said.

May’s Brexit manifesto said Britain would quit the single market and impose curbs on EU freedom of movement.

But she said on Tuesday June 13 “we want to maintain a close relationship and a close partnership with the EU and individual member states into the future”.

Read more: EU tells UK its door still 'open'

France election: Macron party set for big parliamentary win

The centrist party of French President Emmanuel Macron looks on course to win a landslide victory following the first round of parliamentary elections.

Projections show La Republique en Marche (Republic on the Move) and its MoDem ally set to win up to 445 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly.

The final outcome will be decided at a run-off next Sunday.

Mr Macron's party was established just over a year ago and many candidates have little or no political experience.

Read more: France election: Macron party set for big parliamentary win - BBC News

Shariah Law: Marches against archiac Islamic law to be held in many US cities - by A. Selsky and J.Karoub

Must Sharia Law become integrated in Western Societies?

The group organizing the rallies, ACT for America, claims Shariah "is incompatible with Western democracy and the freedoms it affords."

But most Muslims don't want to replace U.S. law with Islamic law, known as Shariah, and only "radical extremist groups" would call for that, said Liyakat Takim, a professor of Islamic studies at McMaster University in the Canadian city of Hamilton, Ontario.

Shariah, Takim said, refers to guidelines or principles — how Muslims should live. "Fiqh" refers to jurisprudence, or specific laws. The values embedded in Shariah do not change and are shared among Muslims, he said, while fiqh is open to interpretation and change, and in fact differs among Islamic sects and communities.

"In the public domain, Muslims are not required or expected to impose their laws on the country in which they live as the minority," Takim said, adding there has never been an understanding "that the same laws would be applicable at all times in all places."

"The Quran allows slavery, so does the Old Testament. That doesn't mean we allow it today, too," he said. "Laws are amenable to change."

The marches come amid a rise in reports of anti-Muslim incidents in the U.S., including arson attacks and vandalism at mosques, harassment of women wearing Muslim head coverings and bullying of Muslim schoolchildren.

But while there is little likelihood that Shariah would ever supplant U.S. law, some states have already moved to insulate themselves against the possibility.

Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Louisiana, Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Tennessee have enacted laws prohibiting the use of foreign law in state courts, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The group organizing the rallies, ACT for America, claims Shariah "is incompatible with Western democracy and the freedoms it affords."

ACT for America has chapters around the country and says it is focused on fighting terrorism and promoting national security. It says it condemns bias against religious groups and is "proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with peaceful Western Muslims as well as peaceful Muslims worldwide."

Note EU-Digest: Even though scholars and others say the USA protesters are stoking unfounded fears and promoting a distorted and prejudiced view of Islam, it must be said that if it goes unchecked, like it did in Britain, this discriminatory archiac Muslim law can become part of national laws, which should not be allowed in democratic Western Societies respecting human right laws.
 
Read more: Marches against Islamic law to be held in many US cities

British elections and Brexit: EU leaders closing in on May - by Eric Maurice

In the wake of her failure to get a parliamentary majority at Thursday's (8 June) election, EU political leaders are putting pressure on UK prime minister Theresa May over a possible derailing of Brexit talks.

"We don't know when Brexit talks start. We know when they must end. Do your best to avoid a 'no deal' as result of 'no negotiations'," warned European Council president Donald Tusk, in a post on Twitter on Friday morning.

May's Conservative government won 318 seats in the House of Commons, falling short of a majority by 8 seats.

May has asked Queen Elizabeth for permission to form a minority government with the support of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which won 10 seats.

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour Party's leader, said however that May should resign and let another party form a government.

"There isn’t a parliamentary majority for anybody at the present time, the party that has lost in this election is the Conservative Party," he said.

Read more: EU leaders closing in on May

France Wants Row Between Arab States, Qatar Settled Through Talks

The French government said on Tuesday it wanted a diplomatic row between Arab states and Qatar to be resolved through dialogue and that it would talk with key regional powers to try to help diffuse the crisis.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on Monday cut ties with Qatar, which denounced the move as based on lies about it supporting Islamist militants.

"France wishes that the current tensions are resolved through dialogue," the foreign ministry said in a daily online briefing.

Read more: France Wants Row Between Arab States, Qatar Settled Through Talks | World News | US News

London mayor calls for cancellation of Trump visit to UK

London Mayor Sadiq Khan is calling on the British government to cancel a state visit from President Trump after Trump criticized his response to this weekend’s terror attacks in London.

“I don’t think we should roll out the red carpet to the president of the USA in the circumstances where his policies go against everything we stand for,” Khan said in an interview with Britain’s Channel 4 News.

“When you have a special relationship it is no different from when you have got a close mate. You stand with them in times of adversity but you call them out when they are wrong. There are many things about which Donald Trump is wrong.”

Read more: London mayor calls for cancellation of Trump visit to UK | TheHill

Britain-Theresa May is a disaster Could Labour’s Corbyn Actually Win the British Elections? - by  Maria Margaronis

 This may be the strangest election of my lifetime. Called by Prime Minister Theresa May after she vowed repeatedly that she’d do no such thing, it seemed at first like an assured triumph for the Tories—and possibly the coup de grâce for Jeremy Corbyn’s divided and floundering Labour Party. But six days before the vote, the poll gap has shrunk from 22 points to an astonishing four, with some projections even predicting a hung Parliament.

Corbyn, seems to have found his voice. Always happier on the campaign trail than in Parliament, he comes across as direct, relaxed, and confident. The sanctimonious tinge has gone; so has the nervous pretense of being above the game. He’s being allowed to go for broke and campaign (for the most part) on what he believes. For the first time since the Blair era, the Labour manifesto makes a wholehearted argument against austerity. It promises to restore the welfare state through public investment in the health service, energy, and transport; universal childcare; and free university tuition—to be financed by reversing cuts to corporation taxes and raising taxes for those earning £80,000 or more. Zero-hours contracts will be banned. The minimum wage will go up to £10 an hour. Borrowing will fund a national investment bank for infrastructure development.

Note EU-Digest: Vote for Corbyn and make Britain really great again by rejoining the EU  

Read  more: Could Labour’s Corbyn Actually Win the British Elections? | The Nation