Friday News Roundup - International

So. Brexit. Will it happen?

Yesterday, members of Parliament voted down eight different options for Brexit — including a no-deal Brexit.

Prime Minister Theresa May also said she would resign once Parliament accepted a deal.

Will the members of Parliament and the European Union be able to agree on a deal? And if they don’t, and a hard Brexit happens, what could be the economic effects?

Facebook banned white nationalist and white separatist rhetoric this week, following a livestreamed massacre at two Christchurch, New Zealand, mosques.

More details from Vice’s Motherboard:

Specifically, Facebook will now ban content that includes explicit praise, support, or representation of white nationalism or separatism. Phrases such as “I am a proud white nationalist” and “Immigration is tearing this country apart; white separatism is the only answer” will now be banned, according to the company. Implicit and coded white nationalism and white separatism will not be banned immediately, in part because the company said it's harder to detect and remove.

Motherboard also learned that the social platform would “begin directing users who try to post content associated with those ideologies to a nonprofit that helps people leave hate groups.”

How will Facebook enforce this ban?

Ahead of the Israeli presidential election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at AIPAC. He’s experienced a boost from President Donald Trump recently, after Trump changed decades-old American foreign policy by recognizing the Israeli claim over the Golan Heights.

Netanyahu is embattled at home due to a sweeping federal investigation. The New York Times’ Jerusalem bureau chief analyzed his position in the upcoming election this way:

Running as Israel's indispensable man, Mr. Netanyahu argues that he is the only one who can keep Israel safe when Iran is making aggressive moves from nearly every direction. Because of him, he says, Israel's tech sector has become the envy of much of the world, formerly hostile capitals have opened to Israeli diplomats, and a thorough debunking has been administered to the idea that Israel, with its brutal treatment of the Palestinians, had to choose between its security and international acceptance.

But on Thursday, the attorney general announced plans to indict Mr. Netanyahu on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. He is accused of trading lucrative official favors for positive news coverage and gifts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, including cigars, jewelry and pink Champagne.

With the corruption case hanging over his head and a stiff challenge from Benny Gantz, a retired army chief of staff whose security credentials rival Mr. Netanyahu's, Israelis are starting to ask whether Israel can not only survive, but thrive, without the man who has come to dominate their national self-image.

What are Bibi’s chances to win the election?

And the fallout from a devastating cyclone in southern Africa continues. At least 460 people in Mozambique are confirmed dead, with the death toll expected to rise. In addition, the mayor of Beira, a city in Mozambique, said the government failed to warn the people in the hardest hit areas.

We’re wrapping up the busy week in international news.

GUESTS

Peter Bergen, CNN national security analyst; vice president and director of the international security program at New America; author of “United States of Jihad: Investigating America’s Homegrown Terrorists”; @peterbergencnn

Indira Lakshmanan, Executive editor, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting; columnist, The Boston Globe; @Indira_L

Ravi Agrawal, Managing editor, Foreign Policy; former New Delhi bureau chief, CNN; @ravireports

For more, visit https://the1a.org.

© 2019 WAMU 88.5 – American University Radio.

Copyright 2019 WAMU 88.5. To see more, visit WAMU 88.5.