World Digest: Nov. 25, 2014

The U. K. House of Commons will vote Tuesday on the “Tobacco and Vapes Bill” that would make it illegal for anyone born in 2009 or beyond to buy tobacco and add restrictions to vaping. Its passage would amount to an effective lifetime ban on smoking for those under the age of 15.

A quarter of the way into the most consequential election year in living memory, tech companies are failing their biggest test. Such is the charge that has been leveled by at least 160 rights groups across 55 countries, which are collectively calling on tech platforms to urgently adopt greater measures to safeguard people and elections amid rampant online disinformation and hate speech. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “Despite our and many others’ engagement, tech companies have failed to implement adequate measures to protect people and democratic processes from tech harms that include disinformation, hate speech, and influence operations that ruin lives and undermine democratic integrity,” reads the organizations’ joint letter, shared exclusively with TIME by the Global Coalition for Tech Justice, a consortium of civil society groups, activists, and experts.

A blaze has broken out in Copenhagen’s historic former stock exchange in Denmark’s capital on Tuesday, as its spire was engulfed by flames and collapsed. The fire began in the morning, starting in the copper roof of the Old Stock Exchange. The 17th century Børsen—one of the Danish capital’s oldest buildings—is now used as a headquarters for the Danish Chamber of Commerce.

It was a dramatic, film-worthy display of sportsmanship—or cheating, depending on how you see it. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] In the last stretch of a half-marathon in Beijing on April 14, two runners from Kenya, one from Ethiopia, and one from China were in the lead—reportedly pacing with each other since the beginning.

That was astoundingly unprecedented. American, British, French, and an assortment of Arab countries’ warplanes and air defenses teamed up with Israel to block Iran’s massive wave of missiles and drones. Now let’s recognize that Joe Biden deserves credit for his immediate follow-up. The President saved the world from coping with an awful war in the Middle East, by calling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and twisting Israel’s arm so that it didn’t immediately retaliate against Iran. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] While Israeli war cabinet consultations are secret, we can confirm that the group of five top decision-makers was moving toward ordering a powerful retaliation against sites in Iran—some connected with that country’s nuclear program—that have been on Israel’s standby target list for years.

The Iranian attack on Israel was historic. For the first time since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the Ayatollah regime violated Israeli sovereignty directly without using any of its proxies, such as Hezbollah or Hamas. Iran, in this sense, has created a new equation for its conflict with Israel. Likewise, the ability to counter hundreds of Iranian missiles and drones was also unprecedented, as it resulted from an American-led coalition—which included the U.