Daily Dot: The top six plot twists in British politics after the Brexit referendum

People have been comparing the post-referendum fallout to Game of Thrones, a clichéd but worryingly accurate parallel. This story has everything: feuding aristocrats, racism, international rivalries, and the collapse of a once-great empire. It's also unfolding very fast, so here's a quick guide to the key events from this weekend.  [...]

On the day after the referendum, leaders of the Leave campaign quickly began to sidestep their promises about transferring that mythical £350 million to the NHS. UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage described it as "a mistake," while the prominent Conservative politician Iain Duncan Smith said the figure was "an extrapolation." [...]

This one is more of an outlier than Scottish independence, not least because of the political complexities in the region. Aside from the fact that people in Northern Ireland were more likely to vote Remain in the referendum, it's the only part of the U.K. that has a land border with Europe. Would the Republic of Ireland (which is part of the EU, and uses the Euro) have to set up border checkpoints between itself and Northern Ireland? Could the two halves of Ireland potentially reunify into a single state? Basically, nobody knows. But over the past few days, a lot of U.K. citizens have started thinking about applying for Irish passports, just in case.

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Deutsche Welle: Scotland to do 'whatever it takes' to stay in EU

"What's going to happen with the UK is that there are going to be deeply damaging and painful consequences ... [of Britain leaving the EU] I want to try and protect Scotland from that," Sturgeon said Sunday.

Asked whether she would consider requesting the Scottish parliament to block its consent for the move, she told the BBC: "Of course." [...]

But one analyst has suggested that Scotland could declare independence before Britain's departure from the EU is finalized.

It could then define itself as a "successor state" and effectively inherit Britain's EU membership, including the budget rebate, said Andrew Scott, a professor of European Union studies at the University of Edinburgh.

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Deutsche Welle: 'Apart from Erdogan, there is a great, modern Turkey'

Can Dundar: I'll summarize what I said with a few items: One, the agreement that you forged with Turkey is a shameful agreement and Europe will be ashamed of this down the road. Two, this agreement is not working anymore. You aren't granting visa exemption, Turkey is not moving towards changing (terror) laws, and, as far as I can see, Europe does not have a plan B. Three, Turkey does not exclusively consist of Erdogan - you are making this mistake. In fact, apart from Erdogan, there is a great, modern Turkey that believes in Western values, democracy, the rule of law and press freedom, and you are disregarding it. This is the Turkey that needs to be supported and that Europe needs. [...]

There are lots of problems, but Erdogan is at the outset of all of these problems. On multiple levels, we have never faced such an oppressive leader in our history. We are facing a leader who disregards the law, does not attach importance to democracy and has nearly exported this understanding to Europe. Turkey's sole problem is not Erdogan, but its biggest problem is Erdogan.

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The Guardian: Pope Francis says Christians should apologise to gay people

“I think that the Church not only should apologise … to a gay person whom it offended but it must also apologise to the poor as well, to the women who have been exploited, to children who have been exploited by (being forced to) work. It must apologise for having blessed so many weapons.” [...]

The pope did not elaborate on what he meant by seeking forgiveness for the Church “having blessed so many weapons”, but it appeared to be a reference to some religious leaders who actively backed wars in the past.

In other parts of the conversation, Francis said he hoped the European Union would be able to give itself another form after the United Kingdom’s decision to leave. [...]

Francis said he had heard that when some Church officials had gone to Benedict to complain that Francis was too liberal, Benedict “sent them packing”.

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Quartz: The simple reason so many US businesses openly support LGBT rights

The “competitive edge” pertains both to commodities and labor. Reflecting upon the hundreds of businesses that supported the marriage equality movement, Todd Sears, the founder of Out Leadership, explains how company cohesion and sustainability is linked to employee equality. “Businesses that had already adopted policies that treated every employee equally [prior to marriage equality in 2015] saw the negative effects of a state-based patchwork policy on marriage equality,” he said. “It complicated their strategies and made it more difficult to locate talent in states that lacked protections for married LGBT couples.” [...]

“We’re already seeing that businesses are standing up for equality when it comes to the Religious Freedom Restoration Acts and other discriminatory legislation that are rapidly proliferating in states around the country,” Todd observes. “In Indiana, opposition from the business community forced the government to back down from the RFRA they passed last year; in Georgia, Governor Deal listened to the voice of business and vetoed the bill that came before him.” [...]

Importantly, allies are also incredibly attentive to corporate treatment of the LGBT community. The Center for Talent Innovation’s 2016 report, Out in the World: Securing LGBT Rights in the Global Marketplace, found that “71% of LGBT individuals and 82% of allies say they are more likely to purchase a good or service from a company that supports LGBT equality.”

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