LONDON: Five years ago Friday, two crowds of people gathered near Britain’s Parliament — some with Union Jacks and cheers, others European Union flags and tears.
On Jan. 31, 2020 at 11 p.m. London time – midnight at EU headquarters in Brussels — the UK officially left the bloc after almost five decades of membership that had brought free movement and free trade between Britain and 27 other European countries.
For Brexit supporters, the UK was now a sovereign nation in charge of its own destiny. For opponents, it was an isolated and diminished country.
It was, inarguably, a divided nation that had taken a leap into the dark. Five years on, people and businesses are still wrestling with the economic, social and cultural aftershocks.
“The impact has been really quite profound,” said political scientist Anand Menon, who heads the think-tank UK in a Changing Europe. “It’s changed our economy.
“And our politics has been changed quite fundamentally as well,” he added. “We’ve seen a new division around Brexit becoming part of electoral politics.”
A decision that split the nation
An island nation with a robust sense of its historical importance, Britain had long been an uneasy member of the EU when it held a referendum in June 2016 on whether to remain or leave. Decades of deindustrialization, followed by years of public spending cuts and high immigration, made fertile ground for the argument that Brexit would let the UK “take back control” of its borders, laws and economy.
Yet the result — 52 percent to 48 percent in favor of leaving — came as a shock to many. Neither the Conservative government, which campaigned to stay in the EU, nor pro-Brexit campaigners had planned for the messy details of the split.
The referendum was followed by years of wrangling over divorce terms between a wounded EU and a fractious UK that caused gridlock in Parliament and ultimately defeated Prime Minister Theresa May. She resigned in 2019 and was replaced by Boris Johnson, who vowed to “get Brexit done.”
It wasn’t so simple.
A blow to the British economy
The UK left without agreement on its future economic relationship with the EU, which accounted for half the country’s trade. The political departure was followed by 11 months of testy negotiations on divorce terms, culminating in agreement on Christmas Eve in 2020.
The bare-bones trade deal saw the UK leave the bloc’s single market and customs union. It meant goods could move without tariffs or quotas, but brought new red tape, costs and delays for trading businesses.
“It has cost us money. We are definitely slower and it’s more expensive. But we’ve survived,” said Lars Andersen, whose London-based company, My Nametags, ships brightly colored labels for kids’ clothes and school supplies to more than 150 countries.
To keep trading with the EU, Andersen has had to set up a base in Ireland, through which all orders destined for EU countries must pass before being sent on. He says the hassle has been worth it, but some other small businesses he knows have stopped trading with the EU or moved manufacturing out of the UK
Julianne Ponan, founder and CEO of allergen-free food producer Creative Nature, had a growing export business to EU countries that was devastated by Brexit. Since then she has successfully turned to markets in the Middle East and Australia, something she says has been a positive outcome of leaving the EU.
Having mastered the new red tape, she is now gradually building up business with Europe again.
“But we’ve lost four years of growth there,” she said. “And that’s the sad part. We would be a lot further ahead in our journey if Brexit hadn’t happened.”
The government’s Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts that UK exports and imports will both be around 15 percent lower in the long run than if the UK had remained in the EU, and economic productivity 4 percent less than it otherwise would have been.
Brexit supporters argue that short-term pain will be offset by Britain’s new freedom to strike trade deals around the world. Since Brexit. the UK has signed trade agreements with countries including Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
But David Henig, a trade expert at the European Center for International Political Economy, said they have not offset the hit to trade with Britain’s nearest neighbors.
“The big players aren’t so much affected,” Henig said. “We still have Airbus, we still have Scotch whisky. We still do defense, big pharmaceuticals. But the mid-size players are really struggling to keep their exporting position. And nobody new is coming in to set up.”
A lesson in unintended consequences
In some ways, Brexit has not played out as either supporters or opponents anticipated. The COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine piled on more economic disruption, and made it harder to discern the impact of Britain’s EU exit on the economy.
In one key area, immigration, Brexit’s impact has been the opposite of what many predicted. A desire to reduce immigration was a major reason many people voted to leave the EU, yet immigration today is far higher than before Brexit because the number of visas granted for workers from around the world has soared.
Meanwhile, the rise of protectionist political leaders, especially newly returned US President Donald Trump, has raised the stakes for Britain, now caught between its near neighbors in Europe and its trans-Atlantic “special relationship” with the US
“The world is a far less forgiving place now than it was in 2016 when we voted to leave,” Menon said.
Can Britain and the EU be friends again?
Polls suggest UK public opinion has soured on Brexit, with a majority of people now thinking it was a mistake. But rejoining seems a distant prospect. With memories of arguments and division still raw, few people want to go through all that again.
Labour Party Prime Minister Keir Starmer, elected in July 2024, has promised to “reset” relations with the EU, but has ruled out rejoining the customs union or single market. He’s aiming for relatively modest changes such as a making it easier for artists to tour and for professionals to have their qualifications recognized, as well as on closer cooperation on law enforcement and security.
EU leaders have welcomed the change of tone from Britain, but have problems of their own amid growing populism across the continent. The UK is no longer a top priority.
“I completely understand, it’s difficult to get back together after quite a harsh divorce,” said Andersen, who nonetheless hopes Britain and the EU will draw closer with time. “I suspect it will happen, but it will happen slowly and subtly without politicians particularly shouting about it.”
5 years after Britain left the EU, the full impact of Brexit is still emerging
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5 years after Britain left the EU, the full impact of Brexit is still emerging
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- People and businesses are still wrestling with the economic, social and cultural aftershocks of a decision that divided the country
- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has promised to “reset” relations with the EU after years of acrimony
Pope Francis doing some work as condition slowly improves, Vatican says
Francis, known to work himself to exhaustion, has continued leading the Vatican from hospital
VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis is doing some work in hospital while undergoing various treatments for double pneumonia, a Vatican official said on Thursday.
The 88-year-old pontiff was spending his 14th day in Rome’s Gemelli hospital with the severe respiratory infection, which triggered various complications.
The Vatican said he had spent a restful night, after saying on Wednesday evening that there had been a “further, slight improvement” in his condition.
It said a “mild kidney insufficiency” had been resolved but that his prognosis was still “guarded,” meaning he was not out of danger.
Francis, known to work himself to exhaustion, has continued leading the Vatican from hospital, as staff appointments requiring his approval are announced daily.
On Wednesday, it said he had created a commission to encourage donations to help address
a widening gap in finances
, including an 83-million-euro ($87 million) budget shortfall.
The Vatican has been much more forthcoming about the pope’s health than in the past, trying to
pre-empt the spread of misinformation. Brief early-morning statements are followed daily by more detailed evening updates.
A Vatican official, who did not wish to be named because he was not authorized to discuss the pope’s condition, said Francis was alert, continuing his treatments, and able to eat normally and move about his room.
The official said it was unclear how long Francis would remain in hospital. He was still receiving supplementary oxygen from a small tube under his nose, but was breathing on his own.
The Vatican said a public audience on Saturday had been canceled, but did not say whether he would lead his usual weekly prayer with pilgrims on Sunday. Francis has not been seen in public since being admitted to hospital.
On Wednesday, the Vatican said for the first time that he was receiving respiratory physiotherapy, normally aimed at improving lung function, clearing secretions and making breathing more efficient.
Francis has suffered several bouts of ill health over the past two years. He is prone to lung infections because he developed pleurisy as a young adult and had part of one lung removed.
Double pneumonia is a serious infection of both lungs that can inflame and scar them, making it difficult to breathe. The Vatican said Francis suffered a “prolonged asthma-like respiratory crisis” on Saturday, but there have been no repeats.
Hundreds of people have assembled in St. Peter’s Square over the past three evenings for prayer vigils, while well-wishers have also gathered outside the hospital.
“At this moment, I think I feel confident. I am happy with the news that I’m getting from Vatican News, that he is getting better,” said one of those, Sister Theodosia Baki from Cameroon.
Influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate head to US after travel ban is lifted in Romania
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- The brothers are avid supporters of President Donald Trump
- The case hasn’t been closed, and there is also a separate legal case against the brothers in Romania
FLORIDA: A travel ban was lifted on influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate, who are both charged with human trafficking in Romania, and they are headed to the United States, officials said Thursday.
The brothers are avid supporters of President Donald Trump and have millions of online followers. It wasn’t clear under what conditions the Tates were allowed to leave Romania, or where in the United States they were headed.
Andrew Tate, 38, and Tristan Tate, 36 are dual US-British citizens.
Andrew Tate is a former professional kickboxer and self-described misogynist who has amassed more than 10 million followers on X. He also runs an online academy where he says he teaches young men how to get rich and attract women. Tristan Tate is also a former kickboxer.
The Tates are avid supporters of President Donald Trump.
What are they charged with in Romania?
The Tate brothers and two Romanian women were arrested in Bucharest in late 2022.
The Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism alleged the four defendants formed a criminal group in 2021 “in order to commit the crime of human trafficking” in Romania as well as the United States and Britain.
They were initially formally indicted last year. In April, the Bucharest Tribunal ruled that a trial could start but didn’t set a date.
In December, a court in Bucharest ruled that the case against the Tates and the two Romanian women couldn’t go to trial because of multiple legal and procedural irregularities on the part of the prosecutors.
The case hasn’t been closed, and there is also a separate legal case against the brothers in Romania.
Andrew Tate has repeatedly claimed that prosecutors in Romania have no evidence against him and that there is a political conspiracy to silence him. But they were charged with forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women, among other charges.
What led to the travel ban being lifted?
DIICOT, Romania’s anti-organized crime agency, said in a statement Thursday that prosecutors approved a “request to modify the obligation preventing the defendants from leaving Romania,” but that judicial control measures remained in place. The agency didn’t say who had made the request.
The control measures include the requirement to “appear before judicial authorities whenever summoned,” the statement read.
The agency said the Tates were “warned that deliberately violating these obligations may result in judicial control being replaced with a stricter deprivation of liberty measure.”
Their departure came after Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu said this month that a US official in the current Trump administration had expressed interest in the brothers’ legal case in Romania at the Munich Security Conference. The minister insisted it didn’t amount to pressure.
Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza resumes inpatient services
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- Hospital administration is working to reach 50 percent capacity by July
- Facility will be main referral hospital in north Gaza, parts of Gaza city
JAKARTA: The Indonesia Hospital in northern Gaza has resumed inpatient services, the Jakarta-based NGO that funded it said on Thursday, as the facility races to resume full operations after repairs to the building and equipment that were destroyed by Israeli forces.
The health facility in Beit Lahiya, funded by the Indonesian NGO Medical Emergency Rescue Committee, was one of the first sites hit when Israel began its assault on Gaza in October 2023.
As relentless Israeli attacks pushed the enclave’s healthcare system to the brink of collapse, the Indonesia Hospital stood as one of the last functioning health facilities in the north.
Since the ceasefire began on Jan. 19, the hospital has been gradually resuming essential services, with inpatient treatment being the latest.
“The Indonesia Hospital is resuming its operations to handle sick patients,” Sarbini Abdul Murad, chairman of MER-C’s board of trustees in Jakarta, told Arab News.
“We hope to renovate and rebuild every part of the facility that was destroyed, as well as fully supply the hospital to meet all of the patients’ needs.”
Israeli forces targeted and heavily damaged most of the medical facilities in the Gaza Strip.
The Indonesia Hospital was treating about 1,000 people at one point during Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed more than 48,300 people and injured over 111,000.
Since last month, it has resumed services for emergencies, surgeries, radiology, laboratory, outpatient and inpatient treatments, and is now operating at 30 percent of full capacity
“Six months from the beginning of the ceasefire, we are aiming to reactivate essential services to reach at least 50 percent of full capacity,” Dr. Hadiki Habib, chairman of MER-C’s executive committee, told Arab News.
The Indonesia Hospital will be the main referral hospital in northern Gaza and some parts of Gaza City, after the former main referral hospital, Al-Shifa, was destroyed by Israeli siege and attacks.
“There is a great need for essential services,” Habib said. “Over a year of displacement and limited access (to healthcare), many Palestinians with chronic illnesses need quality treatments.”
Leaked calls cast doubt on Greek account of 2023 migrant boat disaster
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- Rescue officials appear to have coached boat captains on narrative later used by authorities
- Survivors say witnesses forced to stay silent, 9 Egyptian men framed
LONDON: Leaked audio conversations involving Greek rescue officials have cast new doubt on the country’s claims surrounding one of the Mediterranean’s worst maritime disasters, when a migrant boat sank with up to 650 people onboard in 2023.
After leaving Libya days earlier, the Adriana capsized on June 14, 2023, in international waters that are part of Greece’s rescue zone, the BBC reported on Thursday.
Authorities recovered 82 bodies but the UN has estimated that about 500 other people, including 100 women and children, died in the disaster.
Survivors later told the BBC that Greek coast guards had caused the overcrowded fishing vessel to capsize after attempting to tow it.
Greek authorities also forced witnesses to stay silent, and framed nine Egyptian men who were accused of causing the disaster, survivors said.
The Greek coast guard has denied these claims and insisted that the Adriana was not in danger, and that those onboard wanted to reach Italy, not Greece.
The leaked phone call, however, shows that rescue coordinators coached the migrant boat’s captain and the crew of a nearby vessel on the version of events that was later highlighted officially by Greece.
Greek website News247.gr obtained the audio, which involves calls between the Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Athens and the Adriana, as well as the Lucky Sailor.
The first call sees an officer from the center telling the Adriana’s captain that a “big red ship” will soon approach the migrant boat to hand over supplies.
The officer says: “The boat proceeding to you in order to give you fuel, water and food. And in one hour we send you a second boat, OK? Tell captain to big red ship ‘We don’t want to go Greece.’ OK?” No reply is heard from the Adriana’s captain.
A second call involves a different rescue officer speaking to the captain of the Lucky Sailor, the “big red ship” mentioned in the first call.
The officer says: “OK, captain, sorry, before I couldn’t hear you. I couldn’t understand what did you say to me. You told me you gave them food, water and they told you that they don’t want to stay in Greece and they want to go to Italy, they don’t want anything else?”
The captain replies: “Yes because I asked them by megaphone ‘Greece or Italia?’ and everybody there screaming ‘Italia.’”
He was then instructed by the Greek rescue official to record the Adriana’s request in a logbook.
The Greek coast guard did not comment on the leaked recordings, but told the BBC that all relevant materials had been transferred to the Maritime Court Prosecutor’s Office, which is investigating the disaster.
Previous BBC analysis of the capsizing suggested that the Adriana had not moved for at least seven hours before it sank.
The Greek coast guard has maintained that the boat was on course to Italy and did not require assistance.
A Greek court last year threw out charges against nine Egyptian men accused of causing the disaster, who survivors say were framed by authorities.
Dimitris Choulis, a human rights lawyer who represented some of the accused Egyptians, said: “We know about the coast guard’s tactics of either pushing back or not rescuing people.”
There has been “an attempted cover-up from day one,” he added. “They (Greek authorities) told the story ‘they did not want to be rescued’ and so have insulted the memory of so many dead people.”
Leading human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have cast doubt on Greece’s official version of events and have called for an international investigation into the disaster.
As well as the Greek Naval Court, the Greek Ombudsman is also investigating the allegations of a cover-up.
City University of New York ordered to remove Palestine studies job advert by state governor
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- Staff union: ‘It is an overreach of authority to rule an entire area of academic study out of bounds’
- Staff union: ‘It is an overreach of authority to rule an entire area of academic study out of bounds’
LONDON: City University of New York has been ordered to remove a job advertisement for a Palestinian studies professor by the state’s governor, Kathy Hochul.
The listing, for the university’s Hunter College, said CUNY was looking for “a historically grounded scholar who takes a critical lens to issues pertaining to Palestine including but not limited to: settler colonialism, genocide, human rights, apartheid, migration, climate and infrastructure devastation, health, race, gender, and sexuality.”
Hochul instructed the advert be removed after a backlash from several Jewish groups. Pro-Israel group StopAntisemitism posted on X that the listing was an “antisemitic blood libel.”
A spokesperson for Hochul told the New York Post that the governor had directed CUNY “to immediately remove this job posting and conduct a thorough review of the position to ensure that antisemitic theories are not promoted in the classroom.”
In a joint statement, the university’s chancellor, Felix Rodriguez, and its board of trustees chair, William Thompson Jr., said they “strongly agree with Governor Hochul’s direction to remove this posting, which we have ensured Hunter College has since done.”
However, the decision has prompted complaints from faculty members at CUNY, with the staff union saying in an open letter to Hochul and Rodriguez: “We strongly object to your removal of a job posting for a Palestinian Studies faculty position as a violation of academic freedom at Hunter College.
“We oppose antisemitism and all forms of hate, but this move is counterproductive. It is an overreach of authority to rule an entire area of academic study out of bounds.”
CUNY has been the setting for multiple pro-Palestine protests since the Gaza war started. Numerous demonstrators have been arrested on campus, while The Nation reported earlier this month that members of the student body were being investigated by the university for their roles in leading protests and boycotts of Israel.