England to defy FIFA over poppy ban - FA

Yahoo – AFP, Nov 2, 2016

The English and Scottish football associations had been negotiating with the
 world governing body, which bans political, commercial and religious symbols
on team outfits during matches (AFP Photo/Glyn Kirk)

London (AFP) - England's players will wear black armbands bearing the red poppy when they face Scotland in a World Cup qualifier on Armistice Day, despite the threat of sanctions from FIFA.

The English and Scottish football associations had been negotiating with the world governing body, which bans political, commercial and religious symbols on team outfits during matches.

But the FA insisted Wednesday that the wearing of a poppy represents an "appropriate tribute" to Britain's war dead.

"The poppy is an important symbol of remembrance and we do not believe it represents a political, religious or commercial message, nor does it relate to any one historical event," said an FA statement.

"The FA intend to pay appropriate tribute to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice by having the England team wear black armbands bearing poppies in our fixture on Armistice Day."

England play Scotland in a World Cup qualifier at Wembley on November 11, the day when Britain traditionally remembers its war dead.

Many Britons wear red poppies as a tribute to those who have died in conflicts which have involved the country.

British Prime Minister Theresa May brands as "outrageous" FIFA's opposition

to the wearing poppies on their shirts (AFP Photo/Daniel Leal-Olivas)

Earlier Wednesday, British Prime Minister Theresa May branded as "outrageous" FIFA's opposition to the wearing poppies on their shirts.

"It is utterly outrageous," May said when asked about the matter in parliament.

"Our football players want to recognise those who gave their lives for our security.

"It is absolutely right that they should be able to do so. A clear message is going from this house before they (FIFA) start telling us what to do they jolly well ought to sort their own house out."

FIFA was linked with scandal that led to its president Sepp Blatter being ousted in December. A new regime is now in place.

But a FIFA statement issued Wednesday reiterated their stance.

"FIFA fully respects the significance of commemorating Remembrance Day on November 11 each year," it said.

"The laws of the game are overseen by the International Football Association Board (composed of the four British FAs and FIFA) and applicable to all 211 member associations.

"The relevant Law 4, para. 4, clearly states that the players equipment should not carry any political, religious or commercial messages.

"The laws are applied uniformly in the event of similar requests by any member association to commemorate similar historical events."

However, FA chairman Greg Clarke said it was inconceivable poppies would not be worn.

"My personal opinion and actually the same opinion I hold as Chair of the FA is of course we should wear poppies," he told ITV.

"We are commemorating millions of people who gave their lives in wars over the last hundred years and they deserve that.

"The people who lost relatives deserve that. That’s our plan. We'll be wearing poppies at Wembley."

In 2011, FIFA agreed to let England wear a poppy symbol on black armbands when they played Spain in a friendly on November 11.

The strength of feeling against FIFA was reflected when by Wednesday nearly 200,000 people had signed a petition urging a rethink.

The petition was launched by former RAF navigator John Nichol -- who was shot down with pilot John Peters and taken prisoner during the first Gulf War with Iraq in 1991.

"The poppy is not a political statement at all. It could not be further from a political statement," said Nichol, who along with Peters was tortured while being held prisoner.

Francis says John Paul II ruled out women as priests

The current pope, too, appears to have ruled out women's ordination. Francis says the "last word" on the question was delivered two pontiffs previous, by St. John Paul II, and that he does not foresee any changes.

Deutsche Welle, 1 Nov 2016

Pope Francis said he believed the Catholic Church's ban on female priests would endure - possibly forever. "The last word was clear and was given by St. John Paul II, and it stands," Francis said.

In his 1994 apostolic letter, Pope John Paul II declared that "the church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the church's faithful."

The Catholic church bans the ordination of women because Jesus chose only men as his apostles, but supporters of women in the priesthood say Christ, the faith's central figure, had only followed the cultural norms of his time. Equality activists say the church's global priest shortage could lead a future pope to overturn John Paul II's decision.

In August, Francis set up a commission to study the role of women deacons in early Christianity, raising hopes among equality campaigners that women could one day have a greater say in the church that regularly claims around 1.2 billion members worldwide.

Though they cannot celebrate Mass, deacons can preach, teach, and conduct baptisms, wakes and funeral services.

Pope Francis: The ban on women’s ordination will continue forever https://t.co/JXIBIrOx0y pic.twitter.com/cnOyfZNgVA

— ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) November 1, 2016

'Receive a refugee'

Francis received a warm welcome from the 18,000 people who braved the weather to see him at Malmo's soccer arena on All Saints' Day. The pope called on Catholics and Protestants to unify in "a way of living and acting that draws us close to Jesus and to one another." He invoked Swedish saints Bridget of Vadstena (1303-73), who founded the Order of The Most Holy Saviour, canonized in 1391, and Elizabeth Hesselblad (1870-1957), whom he canonized this year.

The pope had arrived Monday for a joint commemoration of the Reformation - the origin of the Catholic-Protestant schism. Sixty-four percent of Sweden's 9.9 million people belong to the country's Lutheran Church, which is led by a woman. "Our separation has been an immense source of suffering and misunderstanding," the pope said in his sermon in Lund cathedral on Monday.

On Tuesday, Francis - who has called on the EU to take in more displaced people - allowed that governments could assess their integration capacities when accepting new residents. In 2015, 1 million people sought asylum in the EU. Sweden granted refugee status to 245,000 people in 2014 and 2015.

"I think that, in theory, you can't close your heart to a refugee," the pope said. "It isn't human to close the doors and the hearts."

mkg/msh (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)

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Church of England General Synod approves female bishops

Jubilation as Church of England's synod votes to allow female bishops

Clerics at the Church of England synod in York take a 'selfie' as they celebrate

after the vote to allow female bishops. Photograph: Lindsey Parnaby/AFP/Getty

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God/Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… I gave you a channelling years ago when Pope John Paul was alive. John Paul loved Mary, the mother. Had John Paul survived another 10 years, he would have done what the next Pope [The one after the current one, Benedict XVI] will do, and that is to bring women into the Church. This Pope you have now [Benedict XVI] won't be here long.* The next Pope will be the one who has to change the rules, should he survive. If he doesn't, it will be the one after that.

There is a large struggle within the Church, even right now, and great dissention, for it knows that it is not giving what humanity wants. The doctrine is not current to the puzzles of life. The answer will be to create a better balance between the feminine and masculine, and the new Pope, or the one after that, will try to allow women to be in the higher echelon of the Church structure to assist the priests.

It will be suggested to let women participate in services, doing things women did not do before. This graduates them within church law to an equality with priests, but doesn't actually let them become priests just yet. However, don't be surprised if this begins in another way, and instead gives priests the ability to marry. This will bring the feminine into the church in other ways. It will eventually happen and has to happen. If it does not, it will be the end of the Catholic Church, for humanity will not sustain a spiritual belief system that is out of balance with the love of God and also out of balance with intuitive Human awareness.  …”

"Listening to the Voice of Spirit" (2) - Feb 20, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (DNA Efficiency is on average at 35 percent now) - (Text version)

“… With free choice, the percentage of DNA efficiently started to go down as humanity grew. As soon as the DNA started to lose percentage, the gender balance was dysfunctional. If you want to have a test of any society, anywhere on the planet, and you want to know the DNA percentage number [consciousness quota] as a society, there's an easy test: How do they perceive and treat their women? The higher the DNA functionality, the more the feminine divine is honored. This is the test! Different cultures create different DNA consciousness, even at the same time on the planet. So you can have a culture on Earth at 25 percent and one at 37 - and if you did, they would indeed clash. …”

“… You're at 35. There's an equality here, you're starting to see the dark and light, and it's changing everything. You take a look at history and you've come a long way, but it took a long time to get here. Dear ones, we've seen this process before and the snowball is rolling. There isn't anything in the way that's going to stop it. In the path of this snowball of higher consciousness are all kinds of things that will be run over and perish. Part of this is what you call "the establishment". Watch for some very big established things to fall over! The snowball will simply knock them down. …”

EU Commissioner defends Chinese 'slitty eyes' comment

Yahoo – AFP, October 30, 2016

EU-Commissioner for Energy German Guenther Oettinger was secretly filmed
at a Hamburg event earlier this month while mocking a delegation of Chinese
ministers (AFP Photo/Odd Andersen)

Frankfurt (AFP) - Germany's European Commissioner Guenther Oettinger on Sunday defended his use of the term "slitty eyes" for Chinese people which triggered outrage after they were revealed in a leaked recording of a speech to business leaders.

Oettinger -- the commissioner for digital economy who was last week named to the more powerful post of budget commissioner -- also made disparaging remarks about women and gay marriage.

In the comments, secretly filmed at a Hamburg event earlier this month, he mocked a delegation of Chinese ministers, "their hair combed from left to right with shoe polish".

Anonymous YouTube user "Sebas Travelling", who uploaded the clip on Friday, said Oettinger had used the words "slitty eyes" and "chiselers" to refer to Chinese people.

"That was a somewhat sloppy expression that was not meant in any way disrespectfully towards China," Oettinger told Die Welt newspaper on Saturday.

The comments were made during a speech focusing on EU relations with China, the world's second largest economy.

"Nine men, one party. No democracy, no female quota, and no women -- which follows logically," he said, referring to the delegation which had recently visited the Commission.

Oettinger insisted to Die Welt that his comments were taken out of context and that he had "received a lot of positive reaction" to the speech.

In his comments to the Hamburg forum, he also took aim at the political agendas of domestic German politicians, including more generous pensions and child benefits, a controversial road toll for foreign vehicles, and "soon to come, compulsory gay marriage".

"I have nothing against same-sex marriage," he said on SWR public radio on Sunday.

"But while we're all talking and arguing about that, there is no time for other, critical questions, which would keep Germany and Europe ahead in a dynamic world."

In the secretly-recorded speech, he said Germany and other EU nations were allowing Chinese firms to buy up European companies and their valuable know-how and intellectual property, while China did not allow Europeans to invest there as freely.

"The same rules should go for China and for Europe. We should open our markets to one another to the same extent," he told Die Welt.

The comments come at an embarrassing time as they emerged just after European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker announced Friday he had tapped Oettinger to take over the budget portfolio from Bulgaria's Kristalina Georgieva.

Juncker and German Chancellor Angela Merkel should "impose an adequate punishment in the face of this behaviour unworthy of a member of the European Commission", French activist group SOS Racisme said in a statement Sunday.

"Someone who openly spreads racist and homophobic opinions has disqualified themselves for top political positions," Katarina Barley, secretary-general of Germany's centre-left Social Democratic Party, told Spiegel Online on Saturday.

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EU, Canada sign delayed trade deal

Yahoo – AFP, Danny Kemp, October 30, 2016

(L-R) European Council President Donald Tusk, Canadian Prime Minister
 Justin Trudeau and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker during
 the EU-Canada summit meeting at the EU headquarters in Brussels on October 30,
2016 (AFP Photo/John Thys)

Brussels (AFP) - The EU and Canada finally signed a landmark free trade deal seven years in the making on Sunday, after overcoming last-minute resistance from a small Belgian region that nearly torpedoed the entire agreement.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew to Brussels for a ceremony that had been pushed back from Thursday after Wallonia with its population of 3.6 million initially vetoed a pact affecting more than 500 million people.

But in a sign of the fierce passions aroused by the giant Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), protesters burst through riot police lines and hurled red paint at the EU's headquarters.

"That I be here today or three days ago is not going to make a huge difference in the grand scheme of the real impact it's going to have for this good deal to move forward," Trudeau said after signing the pact with leaders of the EU institutions.

Cheers and applause erupted as they inked a long-anticipated deal that will remove 99 percent of customs duties between the two sides, linking the single EU market of 28 nations with the world's 10th largest economy.

'Disintegration of West'

The leaders hailed the pact as good news after the Belgian drama, which sparked dire warnings for the EU's credibility as it wrestles with Britain's shock vote to leave, a huge migration crisis and the threat of a resurgent Russia.

The signing was also further delayed when Trudeau's plane from Canada suffered "mechanical issues" and had to turn back for repairs.

"Patience is a tree whose root is bitter, but its fruit is very sweet," EU President Donald Tusk said. "Today's decisions demonstrate that the disintegration of the Western community does not need to become a lasting trend."

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker meanwhile said the deal was an "international standard that will have to be followed by others" -- not least an even bigger agreement that the EU is negotiating with the United States.

But the fate of the Canada-EU deal -- so close to the finish line after seven gruelling years of negotiations -- had been hanging by a thread until just days ago because of Belgium.

French-speaking Wallonia had for two weeks resisted huge pressure to back the deal until it won concessions for regional farming interests and guarantees that international investors will not be able to force governments to change laws.

Following marathon talks led by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, the Walloons finally agreed on Thursday evening, and a day later, Trudeau agreed to fly in for the delayed signing.

The pact required all EU member states to endorse it and in some cases such as Belgium's for regional governments to agree too, giving tiny Wallonia an effective veto.

Minister-President of Belgium's Walloon Region Paul Magnette leaves the stage

 after a speech about the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement 

(CETA) (AFP Photo/Bruno Fahy)

'Trojan horse'

Concerns in the declining industrialised region in Belgium's south reflect wider worries in Europe about globalisation, as well as fears among activists that such deals erode consumer, social and environmental protections.

On Sunday, around 100 protesters banged drums and shouted slogans outside the European Council building while Belgian riot police backed by water cannon looked on, AFP reporters said.

The glass front doors of the building were also daubed with red paint after some protesters briefly managed to break through police lines, with a number of them arrested.

The activists also see CETA as a Trojan horse for the even larger -- and more controversial -- deal between the EU and the United States.

Negotiations for that deal, known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), have however stalled in recent weeks, and the goal of approving it by the end of President Barack Obama's term in office now having been abandoned.

The troubles with the Canadian deal have meanwhile been seen as a possible harbinger of things to come for Britain as it tries to negotiate a new trade pact with the EU after it leaves the bloc -- most likely in 2019.

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Denmark's feminist mosque founder challenges norms

Yahoo – AFP, Sören Billing, October 26, 2016

Sherin Khankan is one of five female imams-in- training at the Mariam
Mosque in Copenhagen (AFP Photo/Betina Garcia)

Copenhagen (AFP) - The founder of Scandinavia's first female-led mosque is a soft-spoken "imama" who has riled conservatives with her views on marriage but others say her project is not progressive enough.

The Mariam Mosque opened in March and held its first Friday prayer in August, when Danish-born imam Saliha Marie Fetteh spoke to around 60 women -- just over half of them Muslim -- about female scholars in Islam and women's rights.

"It was fantastic and very moving," said Ozlem Cekic, a Turkey-born Danish commentator and former lawmaker, who attended the sermon.

"I believe it will strengthen Islam."

Christian and Jewish community leaders also attended the prayer.

"Talking about women's rights is not a Western phenomenon, it's an Islamic ideal," Sherin Khankan -- one of the five female imams-in-training -- told AFP in a sparsely furnished room where the weekly prayers are held.

Arabic calligraphy and Islamic literature adorn its white walls, but the sounds of a bustling Copenhagen street permeate into the apartment.

An "anonymous donor" is paying the lease of the mosque, located in a building in an area that is one of the most expensive in Copenhagen.

The 42-year-old mother of four was born in Denmark. She describes her father, a Syrian political refugee who married a Finnish woman, as "a feminist icon".

Her Christian mother would fast during Ramadan with the rest of the family, while Muslim family members would join her in church on special occasions.

Inter-faith dialogue has always been vital to Khankan who earlier this year publicly met with French female rabbi Delphine Horvilleur in Copenhagen.

In 2001 she founded "Critical Muslims", a group promoting "a democratic and pluralistic approach to Islam."

One month later, the 9/11 attacks in New York had a dramatic impact on how Muslims were viewed around the world, and she found herself spending more time defending Islam.

The role of Islam in Denmark came under renewed focus last year after a Danish-Palestinian gunman killed a filmmaker and a Jewish security guard in twin attacks in Copenhagen.

Changing power balance

Not everyone is a fan. Khankan said she had received threats from right-wing extremists on social media.

Public reaction from conservative Muslims has been muted, possibly because of the fear of wading into Denmark's high-pitched debate on Muslim immigration, which has often dominated political debate over the past 15 years.

"When you are changing structures in religious institutions, you are changing the power balance. You are challenging men's monopoly," Khankan said.

"Of course you will meet resistance, that's obvious and we were aware of that. But I think the opposition we have met has been quite moderate," she added.

Representatives from some of Copenhagen's major mosques did not respond to requests for comment.

After the opening of the Mariam Mosque, Waseem Hussein, an imam from one of the city's biggest mosques, suggested there was no need for it.

"Should we also make a mosque only for men? Then there would certainly be an outcry among the Danish population," he told the Politiken daily.

"According to the Koran, men and women are equal spiritual partners," said Khankan, wearing a long, white skirt and a long-sleeved top but no veil, which she said she only wears while praying.

"We are re-reading the Koran according to our times and our society," she added.

The mosque is inspired by Sufism, a mystic form of Islam, and mostly caters to Sunni Muslims, although "everyone is welcome".

Female imams have existed in China since the 19th century, and are currently active in a handful of countries including Germany, Belgium, Canada and the United States, where The Women's Mosque of America opened in Los Angeles last year.

Denmark is home to around 284,000 Muslims, according to an estimate by Brian Arly Jacobsen, an associate professor at the University of Copenhagen specialising in religion.

Islamic feminism

Islamic feminism is at the heart of the Copenhagen project, and a concrete example of that was the mosque's marriage contract, Khankan said.

The marriage agreement states that women have the right to divorce, polygamy is prohibited, men and women have equal rights to their children in case of a divorce, and that the marriage is annulled in the event of mental or physical violence.

Five couples have been married at the mosque, of which two were inter-faith unions. Another three ceremonies are in the pipeline.

Khankan admits that she had to compromise on some of her initial plans to avoid "burning bridges" with the rest of the Muslim community.

Both men and women are allowed to take part in the mosque's activities, but Friday prayers have been reserved for women, as having a mixed audience would have been more controversial.

"Burning bridges" would only "create chaos," she said.

Syria-born Danish lawmaker Naser Khader told Danish media that in a country like Denmark, with its high level of gender equality, barring women from preaching to a mixed crowd was simply not "good enough".

But Khankan said the mosque will appeal to "a new generation of young Muslims who feel homeless and who do not feel at home in the existing traditional mosque communities."

Related Article:

Woman mosque leader seeks new Muslim in Europe

Yassmine el Ksaihi poses in the prayer hall of the Polder Mosque in Amsterdam, 

Netherlands, Tuesday, March 2, 2010. Uniquely in the Netherlands, men and women

 pray together in her mosque, albeit segregated, with the women praying in the back

 of the prayer hall. Devotions and sermons are conducted mostly in Dutch rather 

than Arabic. And non-Muslims are welcome. Across Europe Muslims are seeking a f

ormula that lets them be an inseparable part of their country while maintaining their 

loyalty to their faith and origin. (AP Photo/ Evert Elzinga)

EU parliament strips far-right FN founder Jean-Marine Le Pen of immunity

MEPs have revoked the elderly far-right leader's immunity over anti-Semitic comments made in 2014. It is a move likely to be hailed by French prosecutors, who have sought to charge him with inciting racial hatred.

Deutsche Welle, 25 Oct 2016

European lawmakers agreed on Tuesday to remove parliamentary immunity for France's far-right patriarch Jean-Marie Le Pen.  The decision has long been sought by French state prosecutors who want to see the founder of the National Front tried for inciting racial hatred.

The MEPs were able to gather the requisite number of votes after showing some footage from 2014 in which Le Pen slights Jewish singer Patrick Bruel and makes a pun alluding to gas chambers at Nazi concentration camps.

Le Pen has often been in the headlines over the past few years, not only for similar remarks downplaying the Holocaust, but also for his very public feud with daughter Marine, who now leads the populist party he created.

The legal affairs committee of the EU parliament said that immunity barring lawmakers from prosecution was not meant to "allow for slandering, libeling, inciting hatred or pronouncing statements attacking a person's honor."

According to French news agency AFP, parliament president Martin Schulz was moved to hand the complaint to the committee following complaints about Le Pen's Twitter account. He has been known to post disturbing images of crimes carried out by "Islamic State," such as the decapitation of American journalist James Foley.

Marine Le Pen, who has worked hard to try and recapture the headlines from her father's anti-Semitic views, called the video a "political error" and openly condemned the elder Le Pen for his statements. With an eye to the 2017 general election in France, Marine Le Pen has been hoping to position the National Front as a right-wing alternative to the conservative Republican party.

es/rc (AFP, dpa)

Sweden wants EU to switch to emission-free cars by 2030

Yahoo – AFP, October 22, 2016

Sweden's environment minister urged the European Union to ban petrol and
diesel-powered vehicles from 2030 (AFP Photo/Fred Tanneau)

Stockholm (AFP) - Sweden's environment minister on Saturday urged the European Union to ban petrol and diesel-powered vehicles from 2030.

Speaking to the Aftonbladet daily, Isabella Lovin of the Green Party hailed a non-binding resolution adopted by Germany's upper house of parliament to switch to emission-free cars by 2030.

"It's a really interesting proposition ... In order to achieve it, we will need to implement an EU-wide ban along the same lines," she said.

"As the environment minister, I do not see any other way than to relegate vehicles powered by fossil fuels to the dustbin of history."

The Swedish government aims to produce all of its power from renewable energy sources by 2040.

Ryanair hits Brexit headwind as profit forecast cut

Yahoo – AFP, 18 October 2016

Ryanair cut its full-year profit forecast by five percent Tuesday due to the pound's slump since Britain voted in June to exit the EU, heaping more turbulence on a troubled sector.

"The primary cause of this slightly lower growth in full year (net) profitability is the 18 percent fall of sterling post Brexit which will reduce second half average fares," the Irish no-frills airline said in a statement.

The pound's tumble is reducing the amount Ryanair earns from its key British market once the currency is converted into euros -- the unit of Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) and which the Dublin-based airline uses to price its earnings.

Ryanair said it was cutting its 2016/17 profit after tax forecast by five percent to between 1.3 billion euros and 1.35 billion euros ($1.4 billion and $1.5 billion). Its financial year runs to the end of March.

Ryanair is not alone in being hit, with fierce rival EasyJet (Other OTC: EJTTF - news) suffering a 40-percent dive in its share price since late June and warning that annual profits would slump by almost a third on Brexit and because of industrial action and unrest in key markets Egypt and Turkey.

British Airways-parent IAG has meanwhile lost nearly one-third of its share price value since June 23.

Irish no-frills airline Ryanair will put the brakes on new UK connections for the 

coming months given the uncertainty caused by the British vote to leave

the EU, says its CEO.

Elsewhere, British airline Monarch last week won a cash injection from its owner, allowing it to continue flying holidaymakers and fund growth plans.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said Tuesday that "stronger traffic growth and better cost control" would contribute to offsetting the hit in revenues, adding that the British market represents about one-quarter of the group's total income.

Traders did not appear too surprised by the update, with Ryanair's share price down only 0.7 percent at 11.73 euros in Dublin morning deals.

"Ryanair's problem is a microcosm of Ireland's post-Brexit conundrum -- huge exposure to the UK market and sterling, but earnings booked in euros," said Neil Wilson, market analyst at ETX Capital.

"The airline derives 26 percent of its earnings in pounds, while around a third of Irish exports head to the UK."

The pound has tumbled to 7.5-year lows against the euro and 31-year troughs versus the dollar since Britain voted in favour of leaving the European Union, as markets price in future economic uncertainty.

What will Theresa May as British Prime Minister mean for Ireland?

The office of British Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday sought to downplay cabinet tensions over Brexit after reports her finance minister is antagonising colleagues with his warnings about the economic dangers.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has reportedly been pushing to delay measures designed to control immigration, which would likely be viewed by EU leaders as incompatible with continued membership of the single market.

O'Leary has meanwhile previously said that Brexit uncertainty would more than halve Ryanair's UK growth.

Europe's royals enjoy strong, but fragile, support

Yahoo – AFP, Alice Ritchie, October 14, 2016

The death of long-serving King Bhumibol Adulyadej is being marked by an intense

 period of national mourning in Thailand, where he was seen as a stabilising father

figure in troubled times (AFP Photo/Lakruwan Wanniarachchi)

London (AFP) - The adoration felt by his people for the late king of Thailand was unique, but several modern monarchs have proved remarkably adept at maintaining public support for what many see as an outdated institution.

The death of long-serving King Bhumibol Adulyadej is being marked by an intense period of national mourning in Thailand, where he was seen as a stabilising father figure in troubled times.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, who now takes over the mantle of the world's longest reigning monarch after 64 years on the throne, is also hailed as a constant, unifying presence.

She celebrated her 90th birthday in April with public approval ratings in Britain of 76 percent -- "ratings that politicians would die for", noted Professor Robert Hazell of University College London's Constitution Unit.

Many other European monarchs are also enjoying strong public support, with the notable exception of Spain -- which acts as a cautionary tale.

The former king Juan Carlos won widespread respect after playing a major role in the transition to democracy after the death of longtime dictator Francisco Franco in 1975.

But he abdicated two years ago amid a corruption scandal involving his daughter, and his son King Felipe VI is struggling to clean up the royal family's image.

"Each generation has to renew the contract between the monarch and the people. Monarchy cannot be taken for granted. It has to earn respect," Hazell said.

Details of the longest reigning monarchs since Louix XIV 

(AFP Photo/K. Tian/S.Malfatto)

'Vulnerable to scandals'

Denmark's Queen Margrethe II, who in 1972 became the first woman to take the helm of the oldest European monarchy, has managed to survive without any major controversies -- and is wildly popular.

King Harald V, who has reigned Norway for 25 years, has similar approval ratings of 82 percent.

But Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf has struggled for more than 40 years to shed his image as a car-mad playboy, and allegations of affairs have taken their toll on his popularity.

The latest poll, in March, found 65 percent of Swedes wanted to keep the monarchy and 24 percent wanted to abolish it.

In Spain, the corruption scandal surrounding Juan Carlos's daughter Cristina came after the king outraged Spaniards in 2012 by going elephant hunting in Botswana at the height of the country's recession.

"There is a paradox here," said Professor Philip Murphy, director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies.

"On one hand they seem often like permanent fixtures but in today's climate of 24-hour news they are quite vulnerable to personal scandals undermining their popularity quite seriously."

'Reinventing themselves'

Queen Elizabeth II has not always been so popular, suffering a public backlash over her apparently cold response to the 1997 death of Diana, the ex-wife of her son Prince Charles.

But her reputation recovered and now the next generation, Charles' son William and his wife Kate, are injecting a new lease of life into the institution

"Monarchies frequently have to reinvent themselves, and find a new way of attracting popularity," said Murphy.

"You could do so quite easily around the very attractive and rather glamorous figures of prince William and Kate."

In the Netherlands, Queen Beatrix won many hearts in her 33 years on the throne. But after abdicating in 2013, her 46-year-old son Willem-Alexander took over with a promise to be a 21st century king.

Outside Europe, Morocco's King Mohammed VI marked a break with his feared father Hassan II while providing stability at a time of turmoil as the Arab Spring swept across North Africa and to the Middle East.

Although he retains overall power as head of state and the military, he takes time to meet his people -- as well as to indulge his love of jet skis.

Related Article:

Dutch royals get financial compensation for paying tax: RTL Nieuws