News Headlines - 21 April 2019
▽At least 138 Killed in Sri Lanka in Easter Attacks
Sri Lanka has imposed a curfew, effective immediately, following a series of Easter Sunday explosions at churches and hotels... At least 138 people were killed and hundreds more hospitalized from injuries in near simultaneous blasts that rocked three churches and three luxury hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter, a security official told The Associated Press, in the worst violence in the South Asian country since its civil war ended a decade ago.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party was dealt a crushing blow Sunday after losing the Lower House by-elections in Okinawa and Osaka, viewed as a harbinger for the Upper House election just a few months away, Kyodo News projections showed.
The loss of both national races in the second wave of the unified elections marked a significant setback for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who doubles as head of the ruling party.
It is the first time the LDP has lost a national by-election since Abe’s second term began in 2012, excluding the uncontested Lower House by-election in Kyoto Prefecture in 2016.
▽Sir Graham Brady to tell Theresa May: Stand down or be ousted | The Sunday Times
Theresa May will be told this week that she must step down as prime minister by the end of June or her MPs will change the Tory party leadership rules to force her out.
Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the back-bench 1922 committee, is set to visit May to tell her that 70% of her MPs now want her to resign for botching Brexit and presiding over a collapse in Tory support.
MPs on the executive of the committee will meet on Tuesday to decide whether to tear up the rules to allow a new vote of no confidence in May before December. Insiders say “swing voters” are leaning towards changing the rules unless she agrees to go by June 30.
▽Claims of Shoddy Production Draw Scrutiny to a Second Boeing Jet - The New York Times
When Boeing broke ground on its new factory near Charleston in 2009, the plant was trumpeted as a state-of-the-art manufacturing hub, building one of the most advanced aircraft in the world. But in the decade since, the factory, which makes the 787 Dreamliner, has been plagued by shoddy production and weak oversight that have threatened to compromise safety.
A New York Times review of hundreds of pages of internal emails, corporate documents and federal records, as well as interviews with more than a dozen current and former employees, reveals a culture that often valued production speed over quality. Facing long manufacturing delays, Boeing pushed its work force to quickly turn out Dreamliners, at times ignoring issues raised by employees.
▽Beavers released in Yorkshire anti-flooding trial - BBC News
Two beavers have been introduced into a Yorkshire forest in an effort to naturally manage water flows.
The pair of Eurasian beavers will be monitored to see how they affect the landscape and whether their actions can help prevent flooding.
The five-year Forestry England project will check if the creatures maintain dams and boost biodiversity.
