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Obama optimistic about prospects for Iranian nuclear agreement

There's a chance for Iran to reach a comprehensive nuclear agreement that would benefit its people if the rights steps are taken, President Obama said Thursday.




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EU proposes relief from customs duties for Ukraine

The European Parliament said Thursday it was considering a unilateral move to give Ukraine relief from customs duties.




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Violence in CAR 'terrifying,' U.N.'s Navi Pillay says

The security situation in the Central African Republic remains dire, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said Thursday.




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British reconstruction team ends operations in Helmand

Thursday is the final working day for a British provincial reconstruction team in the Afghan province of Helmand, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said.




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Work at North Korea missile, nuclear sites ongoing, Johns Hopkins says

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University said Thursday work was ongoing at North Korean nuclear and missile sites, but no imminent threat is apparent.




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OPCW: Nearly half of Syrian chemical agents out of the country

Nearly half of the declared chemical weapons in Syria have been removed from the country, a U.N. monitoring mission said Thursday.




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Police in Pakistani province awaiting outside training

Officers in Punjab's police department, Pakistan's largest, are seen as undertrained and inefficient, but help may be on the way.




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Sudanese member of ICRC killed by stray bullet in Darfur

The International Committee of the Red Cross said Friday a Sudanese member of its staff was killed by a stray bullet in the restive Darfur region.




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EU critical of Turkey's decision to ban Twitter

European leaders said Friday they were frustrated by Turkey's decision to restrict access to the social media website Twitter.




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Low price supports may be souring Pakistani farmers on wheat

Pakistani farmers seem to be losing interest in growing wheat because the government has failed to increase wheat price supports enough, growers say.




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Chinese measure aims at easing pressure on students

Many in China think academic pressure on children is out of hand but it is not clear a measure to deemphasize cramming will work.




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Pakistani program would raise female literacy by cellphone

The provincial government in Pakistan's Sindh province is planning a literacy program to reach women and girls in remote areas via cell phones.




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Villagers in Pakistan face threat from rising seawater

The intrusion of the Arabian Sea into the mouth of the Indus River in Pakistanis forcing villages to relocate inland, and threatening livelihoods.




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UK Discrimination Law Review: Cases to watch

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UK Discrimination Law Review: Sexual orientation discrimination

In the case of Smith v Ideal Shopping Direct Ltd [2013], the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) considered the statutory definition of harassment. Facts Mr Smith was an openly gay employee of Ideal Shopping Direct Limited. He brought a claim allegin...




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UK Discrimination Law Review: Surrogacy and maternity leave

The issue of maternity rights for surrogate parents has recently caused confusion ‘’ with two Advocates General to the Court of Justice of the European Union (‘CJEU’) giving conflicting guidance.  Final rulings are expec...




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Eversheds' Discrimination Law Review: January 2014

Eversheds' Discrimination Law Review: January 2014 Introduction from Audrey Williams, Head of Discrimination Law Welcome to the latest edition of our Discrimination Law Review. Our focus, in this edition, is on recent significant cases.  As eve...




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UK Discrimination Law Review: Cases to watch

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UK Discrimination Law Review: Legislation tracker

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UK Discrimination Law Review: Religious discrimination and group disadvantage

In 2013 we had the long awaited decisions in the combined appeals brought in the cases of Eweida and others v The United Kingdom.  These comprised the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, applying the right to freedom of thought cons...




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UK Discrimination Law Review: Post-employment victimisation and the effects of Jessemy and Onu

Post-employment victimisation and the effects of Jessemy and Onu. The Court of Appeal has recently held that post-employment victimisation is unlawful, overturning the previous decision in Rowstock Ltd & another v Jessemey  and providing he...




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UK Discrimination Law Review: Dramatic decline in Employment Tribunal claims

Employment Tribunal statistics for the period October to December 2013 have shown a sharp decline in the number of Employment Tribunal claims brought since the fees regime was introduced last Summer. The statistics: in summaryThe latest statistics s...




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UK Discrimination Law Review: Post-natal depression: are there limits to the law’s protection from detriment?

Is it necessarily unlawful for an employer to dismiss an employee for incapability if she fails to return to work following the end of maternity leave, where the reason for the absence is post-natal depression (or other pregnancy-connected illness)?...




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UK Discrimination Law Review: Age discrimination and compulsory retirement

Since the removal of the default retirement age, there have been surprisingly few cases giving guidance as to when an employee might be lawfully retired.  Some employers have implemented their own ‘Employer Justified Retirement Age’...




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UK Discrimination Law Review: Caste Discrimination

In the case of Tirkey v Chandok and another [2013], an Employment Tribunal considered whether that the existing definition of “race” within the Equality Act 2010 was wide enough to capture discrimination on the basis of caste. Background...




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UK Discrimination Law Review: Surrogacy

In the recent cases of CD v ST and Z v A Government Department and the Board of Management of a Community School, the Court of Justice of the European Union  clarified the position regarding the protections and benefits that should be afforded ...




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UK Discrimination Law Review: Discrimination based on obesity

Later this year the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) is expected to give a ruling addressing, for the first time, the extent to which EU law protects workers against discrimination on grounds of obesity.  In the meantime, one of the CJEU&rsquo...




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UK Discrimination Law Review: Legislation tracker

When What



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UK Discrimination Law Review: Equal Pay Audits: new Tribunal powers

We have been through a very significant period of change for Employment Tribunals over the past two years: with the introduction of fees, pre-claim conciliation and new Tribunal Rules, all of which are likely to reduce the number of Tribunal claims ...




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UK Discrimination Law Review: Code of practice for employers: Avoiding unlawful discrimination while preventing illegal working

Employers have a duty to carry out document checks on individuals before employing them.  The aim of the checks is to ensure that individuals have the legal right to work in the UK.  Correctly carrying out document checks gives employers a...




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UK Discrimination Law Review: Age discrimination and retirement: Seldon – the final chapter

In the latest, and what we can now assume is the last, chapter in the long running Seldon case concerning compulsory retirement, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has upheld the Tribunal’s decision that compulsory retirement, in this case i...




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UK Discrimination Law Review: Age Discrimination – pay and pay protection

The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has recently given another decision on the subject of age discrimination and justification.  Whilst many of the previous judgments have focused on issues around retirement age, unusually the Specht case dea...




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UK Discrimination Law Review: Shared parental leave: an update

On 1 December 2014 we are expecting legislation to come into force that will give effect to the new shared parental leave regime. The new regime will apply to employees in England, Scotland and Wales whose babies are due, or who will adopt a child, ...




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Uk Discrimination Law Review: Redundancy and reasonable adjustments

The Employment Appeals Tribunal (“EAT”) has recently given an interesting ruling on  redundancy selection which could open the door to more claims from disabled employees. Background <...




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Discrimination based on obesity following Kaltoft

Advocate General (AG) Jääskinen has concluded that there is no general principle of EU law prohibiting discrimination in the labour market, and that includes discrimination on grounds of obesity as a self-standing ground of unlawful discri...




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New SAFE regulations expected to aid offshore bond financings

On 1 June 2014, China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (the SAFE)’s Provisions on the Administration of Foreign Exchange for Cross-Border Security (??????????) and the Administration of Foreign Exchange for Cross-Border Securit...




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UK Discrimination Law Review: Legislation tracker

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UK Discrimination Law Review: Cases to watch

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UK Discrimination Law Review: Tax on discrimination compensation

In a recent case the First-tier Tribunal (Tax) confirmed that a compensation payment that was made to an employee on the termination of their employment was taxable, notwithstanding that the payment related to discrimination and injury to feelings. ...




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UK Discrimination Law Review: Mental illness, culpability and gross misconduct

Mental illness, culpability and gross misconduct A recent appeal case illustrates the difficulties that can arise when dealing with instances of apparent misconduct where a mental impairment could have affected an employee’s ability to control ...




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UK Discrimination Law Review: Wheelchair users and public transport

The Court of Appeal has dismissed a claim of disability discrimination brought by a wheelchair user who was unable to travel on a bus because the designated wheelchair space was already occupied by a passenger with a child in a buggy. The Court of A...




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UK Discrimination Law Review: Disability, diet and diabetes

A recent ruling from the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) suggests that it will be difficult for an individual with type 2 diabetes (or some other impairment) to show that the condition, in itself, constitutes a disability if he or she can eliminate...




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UK Discrimination Law Review: Mandatory gender pay reporting

By March 2016 new regulations will be in place that will require larger employers in the private and third sector to publish details of their gender pay gap ie the difference in pay between male and female employees. The new rules, which will come a...




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UK Discrimination Law Review: Trivial pursuit: minor upsets and non-harassment

A recent decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal has stressed that trivial acts, even if related to a protected characteristic, will not constitute unlawful harassment. The case of Henderson v GMB is a useful reminder that the Equality Act is not...




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UK Discrimination Law Review: Disability discrimination and bonus schemes

Bonus schemes operated by employers will often make eligibility dependant on matters such as attendance. A recent case illustrates how such schemes can fall foul of disability discrimination law. Background The Land Registry operated a discretionary...




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UK Discrimination Law Review: Changing terms of employment: indirect age discrimination

Imposing changes to terms and conditions of employment is rarely a straightforward exercise.  As well as dealing with issues such as collective and individual consultation, the risk of unfair dismissal and breach of contract claims, and (in som...




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UK Discrimination Law Review: Equality law forecast

Full Article



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UK Discrimination Law Review: Indirect discrimination - analysing the nature of and reason for disadvantage

A recent judgment of the Court of Appeal suggests that in some indirect discrimination cases there should be a greater focus on the nature of and reason for the claimed disadvantage than has previously been the case. The ruling may make it harder fo...




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UK Discrimination Law Review: English (or Welsh) fluency in the public sector

In August the Government announced plans for new laws to ensure all public sector workers in public-facing roles speak fluent English (or, in Welsh authorities, English or Welsh). Further details of the proposals have now been revealed in the Immigr...




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UK Discrimination Law Review: Equality law forecast