⏳ Wednesday Fix: Brexit is back
Morning all,
Brexit is back in the headlines, Hancock is back in a job, and an exiled uncle is back in Syria.
Until tomorrow,
Your Fixers
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TUESDAY'S TOP LINES
Irish author Sally Rooney has sparked debated after turning down an offer to have her new book translated into Hebrew by an Israeli publisher.
What's this all about? Rooney supports the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. While she is not against the book being translated into Hebrew, she doesn't want the translation rights to go to a company "that does not publicly distance itself from apartheid and support the UN-stipulated rights of the Palestinian people".
The Palestinian movement said they "warmly welcomed" Rooney's decision, and accused the Israeli publisher she turned down as being "complicit in Israel’s regime of apartheid".
Worth noting: In April of this year, a Human Rights Watch report accused the Israeli government of crimes of apartheid and persecution against the Palestinian people. The Israeli government reacted to the report by calling it "preposterous and false".
American travel blogger Gabby Petito was strangled to death, an autopsy revealed. A coroner also said decomposition suggested her body had been in the wilderness for three to four weeks before she died.
Remember: This case has really gripped Americans. Gabby was on a months-long road trip around the US with her long-term partner, Brian Laundrie. He is a person of interest in the case, but has been missing since mid-September.
Ireland's budget was rolled out Tuesday. Above is a very helpful explainer post from RTÉ News.
Opposition overview: Sinn Féin's line was "never has a government spent so much to achieve so little".
Twitter's top talking points: free contraception for 17 to 25-year-olds. Some say it's a positive stop, others wonder why only a certain age bracket can avail of it.
Free contraception in #Budget22 restricted to 17-25 year olds. Cos Irish adults stop having sex after 25 when they have to move back in with the parents to save for a house until the end of time.
— Oliver Callan (@olivercallan) October 12, 2021
A British radio presenter claims she was flashed by Wayne Couzens back in 2008 - 13 years before he murdered Sarah Everard.
Emma B said she recognised Couzens' face when he was charged with murder earlier this year.
According to Emma B, Couzens exposed himself to her as she walked past an alleyway in London. She also claims police "laughed" at her when she made the complaint. A BBC News report suggests Couzens was a "volunteer officer with Kent Police" at the time.
On this topic... Channel 4 News aired an exclusive report, saying more than 20 indecent exposures were reported every day last year - that's 50,000 cases in the past six years.
Matt Hancock has a new job.
The former Health Secretary - who left amid revelations of an extramarital affair over the summer - was appointed a new role with the UN, helping with Africa's economic recovery from the pandemic.
Sky News noted the new role is unpaid, and he will remain a Tory MP.
Matt, sit down if you're excited...
Syria's President Bashar al Assad has welcomed an exiled uncle back to the country so he can avoid jail in France, The Times reported.
Rifaat al-Assad was sentenced to four years for allegedly collecting €90m worth of assets "in a fraudulent way".
Why was he in exile? Back in 1984, Rifaat led a failed attempt to overthrow his older brother - the current president's late father - in an unsuccessful coup attempt. At this point, Rifaat was known as the "butcher of Hama".
Middle East Eye say this was related to his "alleged role in the brutal crushing of the 1982 uprising in central Syria," which resulted in the deaths of about 20,000 people.
ON TODAY'S AGENDA...
The European Commission is expected to publish new measures today, in an effort to ease the impact and tensions around the Northern Ireland protocol.
Remember: As part of the Brexit agreement between the UK and the EU, both parties signed a deal that included a Northern Ireland protocol. This was an effort to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland - a key part of the Good Friday Agreement - and avoid the need for checks going north and south.
In order for this to happen, some goods travelling from Britain had to be subject to checks before arriving in Northern Ireland. Unionists in particular had issues with this, arguing it effectively created a border down the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.
UK Government stance: Despite signing up to the protocol, the British government has not ruled out "unilaterally suspending" parts of it if the EU do not compromise enough.
EU stance: The European Union has consistently said the protocol is not up for renegotiation, but has alluded to a reduction in the volume of checks on goods being possible. In fact, The Guardian's lead story this morning suggests the EU is "ready to scrap most post-Brexit checks on British goods entering NI".
SOCIETAL SHIFTS
Dutch royals can marry someone of the same-sex without having to give up the throne, according to the country's prime minister, Mark Rutte.
The conversation came about because of a book suggesting old laws would prevent the possibility of it happening, despite same-sex marriage being legal in The Netherlands for 20 years.
Worth noting: While the book was about the country's current heir, 17-year-old Princess Amalia, she "has not made any comments on the matter, and little is known of her personal life".
MOST READ
- BBC News: UK's biggest ever lottery jackpot rolls over (184m)
- The Guardian: EU ready to scrap most post-Brexit checks on British goods entering Northern Ireland
- The Financial Times: SpaceX: How Elon Musk's new rocket could transform the space race
- Al Jazeera: Brazil's Bolsonaro says he is 'bored' with Covid death questions
- The Irish Times: Kathy Sheridan: David Frost is running out of road despite his contrived palavers
WATCHING OUT FOR...
The trailer for an upcoming Wayne Rooney documentary has been released by Amazon Prime ahead of its 2022 release.
In the clip, Rooney speaks candidly about his tough upbringing, and it appears no topic is off limits - with his wife Coleen even appearing to address his previous indiscretions.