DINNER PARTY INTEL...

The topics you have to be able to discuss this week

1. Art vs politics

Lobby groups say Brexit might give Greece the upper hand in a 200-year-old spat with Britain. In the early 1800s, a British ambassador took sculptures from the Parthenon to England. Greece has demanded their return ever since, but the British Museum has refused to entertain Greece’s right of ownership.

Before Brexit can be finalised, each EU state must vote on the deal. This means Greece — or any other EU member — has the power to stall Brexit. But will Greek politicians demand the return of the

Parthenon art?

2. Odinga’s long road

Kenya’s opposition leader Raila Odinga won the first round of a court battle giving him access to the country’s electoral commission servers. Odinga has gone to the supreme court to challenge Kenya’s election results, but he has a long way to go to prove, as he has claimed, that Kenya’s elections were rigged. He claims the compilation of the results was flawed, some results were fabricated, and state resources were misused during campaigning. Incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta won last month’s election with 54% of the vote.

3. Court supports privacy

India’s supreme court has ruled that citizens have a fundamental right to privacy. The ruling is a blow to a biometric identification system pushed by prime minister Narendra Modi. Called Aadhaar, the system creates a database that links iris scans and fingerprints to an individual’s personal data. The government had made the identity card mandatory for citizens receiving welfare benefits. Modi’s government extended that to include tax filing, school admissions, bank accounts, securing loans and even employment details.