EU to intensify maritime and aerial surveillance off the coast of Libya to deter people smugglers

People smugglers are posing a major problem for countries in Europe because it is not possible to refuse entry to the refugees of mid-eastern countries like Syria, Libya and accepting them on humanitarian grounds lead to problems related to housing and meeting other social benefits. Therefore, European Union ministers have decided to put a check to such illegal entry of migrants and have approved plans for an unprecedented naval force to fight people smugglers in the Mediterranean.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 18 May 2015.

The operation will involve maritime and aerial surveillance by the deployment of warships and aircraft off the coast of Libya which, at present, is the source of the problem.
As indicated by EU foreign policy Chief Federica Mogherini, the decision that has been taken in Brussels is expected to disrupt the business model of the network of smugglers and traffickers in the Mediterranean. Some statistics on the subject would reveal the magnitude of the problem – in the current year, some 51,000 migrants have entered Europe by crossing the Mediterranean Sea and nearly 30,500 have entered through Italy. Moreover, about 1,800 have lost their lives in this attempt, they have met a watery grave.
The mission is proposed to be called EU Navfor Med and it will be based in Rome. The tentative plan is to collect intelligence on the traffickers by the use of radar, satellite pictures and reconnaissance flights and raiding unflagged boats.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Putin pushed into a corner – Obama orders ban on trade with Crimea

The annexation of Crimea by Vladimir Putin in the month of March has forced world leaders to impose bans on it and people and agencies who have dealings with it.
After bans were announced by the European Union earlier this week and which have come into effect on Saturday, Canada announced its own sanction on Friday and US President Barack Obama has also added to the list by ordering ban on the export of goods, technology and services to Crimea.
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European court terms obesity as a disability

#Obesity The European Court of Justice has ruled #obesity as a disability. This would mean that all employers who come under the gambit of the 28-nation EU would have to take necessary to improve the working conditions of these disabled individuals by making available car parking spaces closer to the office, changes to workers' desks and other such modifications.
The ruling, which is binding across the EU, has such profound implications for employment law that experts expect EU nations to challenge it.
The ruling has been given in the case of a Danish childcare worker who weighed 159-Kg who had been fired because he was overweight and fat. The ruling was that if obesity hinders a "full and effective participation in professional life," it could count as a disability.
Hence, it now falls on the employers to ensure that necessary facilities be made available to this section of people since discrimination on grounds of disability is illegal under the laws of the European Union.
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