Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Monday 11 Mar 2019

1. Airlines ground Boeing jets after disaster

Ethiopian Airlines and all carriers in China and the Cayman Islands have grounded their Boeing 737 Max 8 jets following Sunday’s crash in Ethiopia, in which all 157 people on board died. The disaster was the second involving the new Boeing aircraft in recent months – another crashed off Jakarta in October, killing 189. Seven Britons died in the latest crash.

2. Tories urge May to postpone Brexit vote

Senior Conservative MPs have urged Theresa May to put off tomorrow’s Commons vote on her Brexit plans if she cannot secure significant concessions from Brussels beforehand, The Times reports. The newspaper says “leading Tories” fear the prime minister risks a second humiliating defeat if she carries on regardless.

3. Kim Jong Nam murder: Indonesian freed

Charges against one of two women accused of murdering the half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un have been dropped without explanation. Indonesian Siti Aisyah said she and her co-accused, Doan Thi Huong, believed they were taking part in a prank when they wiped liquid on Kim Jong Nam’s face at a Malaysian airport. He died from exposure to nerve agent VX.

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4. Boy of 15 charged over knife stabbing of Jodie Chesney

A 15-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of 17-year-old Jodie Chesney in a park in Essex on 1 March. The arrest of the boy, who cannot be name due to his age, comes after Manuel Petrovic, 20, was charged with the same offence on Saturday. An 18-year-old is also being held over the stabbing, and three people aged 50, 38 and 17 have been detained on suspicion of assisting an offender.

5. Schools excluding poor pupils before exams

New research shows that schools are more likely to exclude pupils in the autumn term of the year that they sit their GCSEs - just in time to stop their exam results counting towards school league table rankings. A survey of 80 local authorities by the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) found that 1,238 pupils were excluded in their first term of Year 11 in 2016-17, compared with 748 in the spring term.

6. Cycling world champion Kelly Catlin dies

Top US cyclist Kelly Catlin has been found dead at the age of 23. Catlin helped the US team to three consecutive world titles and won silver at the 2016 Olympics. The Minnesotan sports star was also a high-achieving student and artist. Her father, Mark Catlin, told US media that she had taken her own life.

7. NatWest trials fingerprint debit cards

A bank card that uses fingerprint technology to verify transactions over £30 is being trialling by NatWest. A total of 200 customers are testing the new cards, which contain an electronic copy of their fingerprint on the corner. If the customer places their finger on that part of the card while waving it at a retailer’s payment terminal, it will authorise payments above the current £30 contactless limit without them needing to type in their pin number.

8. Jaguar attacks woman taking selfie in zoo

A woman was attacked by a jaguar in an Arizona zoo on Saturday after she climbed over a barrier to take a selfie in front of its enclosure. The big cat was able to reach through the bars of its cage to lacerate the woman’s arm, only letting go when other visitors distracted it. The woman, in her 30s, has since returned to the zoo to apologise.

9. Papillon Dylan crowned best at Crufts

A papillon called Dylan was crowned Best in Show 2019 at Crufts on Sunday. Judges said the dog, owned by Kathleen Roosens, had “everything you look for in the breed, plus personality”. The four-day event was the 128th Crufts, with around 27,000 dogs taking part, and more than 200 different breeds competing for Best in Show.

10. Briefing: what is colourism?

The decision to cast Will Smith as the father of tennis players Venus and Serena Williams in an upcoming Hollywood film has triggered allegations of “colourism”.

Angry critics claim Smith “is too light-skinned for the part”, and say the role should go to an actor with a darker skin tone, reports the BBC.

What is colourism and how does it work?