Globe Trot: Brexit creates a worldwide uproar

BREXIT: The world is in an uproar after Brits voted yesterday—by 1 million votes—to leave the European Union. The results became clear shortly before midnight EDT (5 a.m. in London), and hours later Prime Minister David Cameron—who allowed the resolution invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to be brought to a popular vote—resigned, saying it would be wrong for him “to be the captain that steers our country to its next destination.”

To understand the impact on the EU, imagine Texas leaving the United States.

International markets are in freefall at the moment, as some fear Brexit will signal the biggest upset in financial markets since the 2008 meltdown.

Boris Johnson, the far-right Conservative MP who supported the “Leave campaign,” and who’s long been compared to Donald Trump in both looks and publicity stunts, may be the country’s next prime minister.

The vote does not fall along party lines, though a number of conservatives (see John Bolton and Heritage Foundation in the U.S. and Tim Montgomerie in the U.K.) support the exit. Those opposing it point to the mess ahead (Brits just ended, for example, their right to travel on EU passports), the possible disintegration as Scotland and others (perhaps including London’s new Muslim mayor) revisit independence, and that the U.K. isn’t the stand-alone empire it once was. Christopher Caldwell has a good on-the-ground report of the circus.

Here’s a further breakdown among commentators I respect: Peggy Noonan tweeted this morning, “Leave is longterm good for UK (can now govern themselves) and for the EU - a shock that forces reform,” while Max Boot tweeted, “If Leave wins, big losers will be E Europe, big winner Putin. Long term impact depends on whether EU survives.” I will just add to that mix: I have a lot less respect for the will of voters given the election season we’re enduring in the U.S.

NIGERIA: Leading Nigerian oilmen, including Texas billionaire (and Clinton bundler) Kase Lawal, stand to benefit from terrorist group Boko Haram’s war on Christians in the north. This is part two of a series on Nigeria and Hillary Clinton I co-wrote with WORLD’s J.C. Derrick.

A coalition of lawmakers and human rights advocates today are calling for a special envoy to Nigeria to quell the violence. Here’s a full report on the crisis.

PAKISTAN: A massive manhunt is on for Ovais Ali Shah, the son of the Sindh High Court chief justice—as thousands turned out to mourn Amjad Sabri, a well-known musician killed in a targeted attack by Islamic jihadists.

ZIKA: Secular and faith-based organizations announced a #MosquitoWeek campaign to draw attention to the deadly threat mosquitoes pose. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 820 cases of Zika virus in the United States, as of this week.

IRAQ: The UN Human Rights Council’s special report on ISIS war crimes against Iraq’s Yazidi population is going to be my special focus over the next weeks. Here’s one snippet of what happened two years ago:

“Regardless of where the Yazidi families were captured, ISIS fighters swiftly ordered the separation of males and females, with the exception of boys who had not reached puberty, who were allowed to remain with their mothers. Within an hour, those who survived capture were forcibly transferred to temporary holding sites. ISIS operational commanders communicated these primary transfer locations, located within the Sinjar area and in Hasakah governorate in Syria, to their fighters and checkpoints by walkie-talkies and mobile phones.”

“After we were captured, ISIS forced us to watch them beheading some of our Yazidi men. They made the men kneel in a line in the street, with their hands tied behind their backs. The ISIS fighters took knives and cut their throats.” —Girl, aged 16 at capture, held for 7 months, sold once.

BOOK NEWS: Just in time for a Brexit trade war, the British version of my book, They Say We Are Infidels, is out, available throughout the Commonwealth and (for now) in some European markets, too.