Today's world news: What you need to know

The international stories making headlines around the world today:

Australia cracks down on social media

Australia will fine social media companies up to 10 percent of their annual global turnover and imprison executives for up to three years if violent content is not removed "expeditiously" under a new law passed by the country's parliament on Thursday.

The new law is in response to a lone gunman attack on two mosques in Christchurch on March 15, killing 50 people as they attended Friday prayers.

The gunman broadcasted his attack live on Facebook and it was widely shared for over an hour before being removed.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that timeframe was unacceptable.

- Reuters

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Christchurch terror attacks: Australia law adds violent content penalties for social media companies

British MPs vote to delay Brexit

MPs have voted by a majority of one to force the prime minister to ask the EU for an extension to the Brexit process, in a bid to avoid any no-deal scenario.

Labour's Yvette Cooper led the move, which the Commons passed in one day.

It will need Lords approval to become law, while it would be up to the EU to decide whether to grant any extension.

A government spokesperson said it was "disappointed" that MPs backed the bill, which came after Prime Minister Theresa May met Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for Brexit talks.

- BBC

Panama Papers helps recover more than $1.77bn

On the third anniversary of the Panama papers investigation into the offshore finance industry, response has gathered pace with hundreds of separate investigations into undisclosed wealth.

First-time gains in Panama, France, and Iceland have pushed the global tally of fines and back taxes resulting from the revelations uncovered by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists above $1.77 billion.

The first American charged in relation to the Panama Papers, 74-yearl-old Massachusetts accountant Richard Gaffey, is due to be tried in October for conspiracy to commit tax evasion, money-laundering and wire fraud, and two Panamanian lawyers have been charged also.

Criminal charges were laid against two Bulgarians in late 2018, and there are also at least seven people in jail in Ecuador, one minister, three managers and some contractors, in relation to the Petroecuador bribery scheme, reported by El Universo.

And just last month, a former South Korean army general and a former executive of a major defense manufacturer were indicted on bribery charges stemming from a multi-million dollar case based on reporting by ICIJ's local partner, Newstapa.

Read the full story:

Panama Papers helps recover more than $1.7b around the world

Boeing software re-activated before Ethiopia crash

Ethiopian investigators will release their first report into the deadly crash of an Ethiopian Airlines jet, a new Boeing 737 MAX, tomorrow.

The 10 March disaster - the second crash of that model of plane - prompted a worldwide grounding of Boeing's best-selling plane and scrutiny of its certification process.

Boeing said today it had successfully tested an update of the MCAS anti-stall software which two investigations into the crash are focusing on.

People familiar with the matter said the report may shed light on how the software reactivated after pilots initially switched it off as they tried to save the doomed jet.

- Reuters

Poor diet now the biggest killer

The food we eat is putting 11 million of us into an early grave each year, an influential study shows.

The analysis, in the Lancet, found that our daily diet is a bigger killer than smoking and is now involved in one-in-five deaths around the world.

Salt - whether in bread, soy sauce or processed meals - shortened the highest number of lives.

Researchers say this study is not about obesity, but "poor quality" diets damaging hearts and causing cancer.

- BBC