Facebook announced on Friday that it has removed two networks "for engaging in foreign and government interference."
Why it matters: Social media companies are under pressure to keep up with the deluge of state-linked online messaging aimed at altering popular opinion and voter behavior.
U.K. lawmakers approved Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit deal on Friday with a 358-234 vote, showcasing the power of Johnson's new majority after last week's general election, per the BBC.
Why it matters: The vote puts the country on course for a Jan. 31 exit from the European Union. It'll also lock in a transition period through the end of 2020 — in which the U.K. will have left the EU but remain subject to many of its rules — in order for the government to flesh out new international trade deals and relationships.
In an announcement that will infuriate Israel and could have far-reaching international consequences, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced today that there is a basis for opening an investigation regarding the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.
But, but, but: The prosecutor referred the issue to the court’s judges and asked for their opinion within 120 days as to whether the Hague-based court has jurisdiction in the matter. Today's announcement follows a five-year preliminary examination, launched at a Palestinian request.
Top executives and researchers from a Florida cancer center were forced out amid problems with a Chinese partnership that could have put American-funded research at risk, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Why it matters: The FBI and other federal agencies are on high alert for potential Chinese theft of American cancer research, and prominent researchers from other institutions have already been forced to step down. The CEO, a vice president and four researchers from the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute in Florida stepped down after an internal investigation.
Senators Rick Scott and Josh Hawley have called on NBCUniversal, which has broadcast rights for the Olympics, to refuse to air the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, according to a letter obtained exclusively by Axios.
Why it matters: Consider this the opening shot in the struggle between human rights advocates, who believe that a country currently operating concentration camps should not host the Olympics, and the Chinese Communist Party, which will defend its successful bid to host the 2022 games at all costs.
The Canadian Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in favor of Alexander Vavilov, the Toronto-born son of two Russian spies, and said he has the right to Canadian citizenship, the Washington Post reports.
Context: Vavilov's parents, Andrey Bezrukov and Elena Vavilova, worked for a Russian spy agency, and were arrested in the United States in 2010, per the Post. Their family's story inspired the FX series "The Americans."
