Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Monday 22 Apr 2019

1. At least 290 killed in Sri Lanka terror attacks

At least 290 people are now known to have been killed in a series of terror attacks in Sri Lanka on Sunday. Around 500 others were injured and at least 35 foreigners are among the dead. Reports say suicide bombers targeted three hotels and three Christian churches. It is not known who was behind the killings but police have arrested 24 people.

2. Comedian becomes Ukraine’s next president

In a show of despair with the country’s political class, Ukrainians have elected a comedian with no experience in politics as president. Volodymyr Zelensky won a landslide victory in the run-off, taking 73% of the vote to rival Petro Poroshenko’s 24%. The 41-year-old comic plays a character on TV who becomes president by mistake.

3. British NGO worker killed in Nigeria attack

A British woman, Fay Mooney, was one of two people killed by gunmen in a Nigerian holiday resort on Friday, diplomats say. Police said a Nigerian man was also killed and three people were kidnapped. Mooney was a communication specialist for the NGO Mercy Corps. Kidnap for ransom is common in the West African nation.

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4. Police clear protesters from Waterloo Bridge

The Met Police last night removed the last demonstrators demanding action on climate change from Waterloo Bridge after the central London thoroughfare was closed for a week by protest group Extinction Rebellion. The last protester to be removed was a woman of 70 who had already been arrested. Hundreds remain at Marble Arch.

5. Tesla investigates car exploding in Shanghai

Electric car maker Tesla says it has “sent a team” to Shanghai to investigate after video was posted on the internet apparently showing one of its vehicles bursting into flames there. The firm said: “According to current information, there are no casualties.” The video shows the white parked car first smoking then erupting in flames.

6. Seriously ill man denied benefits dies

A man of 64 with several debilitating chronic illnesses including pulmonary disease and osteoarthritis who was judged to be fit to work and denied benefits has died. Shocking pictures of Stephen Smith, of Liverpool, whose benefits were stopped by the government in 2017, showed him emaciated in hospital suffering from pneumonia.

7. Call for Stormont to resume after murder

The leader of Northern Irish political party the SDLP, Colum Eastwood, has called for talks on resuming the power-sharing assembly in Stormont to begin at once in the wake of the murder of 29-year-old journalist Lyra McKee. DUP leader Arlene Foster and Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald attended a vigil for McKee.

8. Stephen Lawrence Day: education plea

The mother of the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence has called for tolerance to be taught in schools, writing in The Guardian on the first national commemorative day to mark her son’s racist killing in London 26 years ago. Dame Doreen Lawrence said children have to be taught “to challenge racism and discrimination”.

9. Harry and Meghan ‘might live abroad’

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are considering living abroad for a period after the birth of their first child, The Times reports. The newspaper says they could spend some time in an African country, with advisers seeing the move as a way to harness Prince Harry’s international appeal. The Prince is said to have fallen out with his brother.

10. Extinction Rebellion: who are they and what do they want?

Almost 970 people affiliated with climate change activist group Extinction Rebellion have been arrested after protests caused significant disruption in central London last week.

What is Extinction Rebellion and what does it want?