May makes last-ditch Brexit plea
Brexit might never happen if lawmakers vote down the deal the British government has negotiated with the European Union, British Prime Minister Theresa May warned Monday.
Making a last-minute plea to save her beleaguered deal, Ms. May warned that a rejection in parliament Tuesday could destroy people’s trust in politics, lead to the reversal of Brexit and even the breakup of the United Kingdom.
She urged lawmakers to take a “second look” at her deal and warned that historians would judge them harshly if they didn’t support it.
The prime minister said that while her deal was “not perfect” and “a compromise,” it was the only one that would deliver the Brexit the British people voted for in the 2016 referendum.
Despite Ms. May’s efforts, it looks likely that her deal will be decisively rejected when members of the House of Commons vote on it Tuesday.
Macron letter doubts
PARIS — Anti-government protesters and political rivals of President Emmanuel Macron criticized a sweeping “letter to the French” he issued after two months of weekly demonstrations, saying Monday his response was inadequate to quell anger over his economic policies.
The letter released Sunday explained how Mr. Macron wants to address the concerns roused by the yellow vest movement with a “grand debate” on taxes, public services, climate change and democracy.
The three-month initiative is supposed to take place at local meetings around the country and on the internet starting Tuesday. The French leader said no topics are prohibited and he listed more than 30 questions.
Yellow vest representative Jeremy Clement told BFM television the president’s letter “settles part of the problem” but doesn’t go far enough to address the sinking purchasing power of French citizens. Others criticized Macron for ruling out restoring a wealth tax on households with assets above 1.3 million euros ($1.5 million).
Opposition leaders also criticized the letter. The spokesman of farright National Rally party, Sebastien Chenu, called it “hypocritical claptrap.” Far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon called the letter “a failure” that doesn’t address the French’s concerns.
Cockpit recorder found
HONG KONG — Indonesia has found the cockpit voice recorder of a Lion Air plane that crashed off the country’s coast last year, Indonesian officials said Monday, raising hopes that recordings could help explain how the pilots battled an apparent mechanical failure.
Lion Air Flight 610 plummeted into the Java Sea shortly after takeoff from Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, in late October, killing all 189 people on board. The plane was a brand-new Boeing 737 Max 8, the latest model of Boeing’s workhorse 737 fleet. Its black box, which records flight data, was recovered in November.
Data from the plane’s flight data recorder appears to support a theory among investigators that a computerized system Boeing installed on its latest generation of 737 jets to prevent them from stalling instead forced the nose down.