Brexit, India, Lion Air: Your Wednesday Briefing

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Good morning.

The Lion Air crash underscores the aviation industry’s lack of transparency, Prime Minister Theresa May reaches across the aisle and Vietnam’s diverse wildlife comes under threat. Here’s the latest:

Lessons not learned from a Boeing crash

After Lion Air Flight 610 plunged into the Java Sea last October, killing all 189 people onboard, urgent questions confronted the aviation industry.

After another crash five months later of the same plane model, Boeing’s 737 Max 8, it became clear that Lion Air, Boeing, subcontractors, investigators and regulators all put up barriers that made it difficult to share information about what went wrong. Airlines, passengers and even Indonesian regulators were left in the dark.

How we know: Our journalists interviewed government officials, aviation experts and company executives to uncover this climate of distrust and lack of communication.

Why it matters: “Lifesaving lessons are only life saving if we learn from them,” said a lawyer representing some families of Lion Air victims in a suit against Boeing.

A fix: Boeing’s software update for the troubled 737 Max that was expected this week has been delayed by several weeks.

Prime Minister Theresa May proposes a compromise

In a surprise announcement, the British leader said she’d seek another extension for Brexit and work with the opposition Labour Party to come up with a joint plan.

The move is a significant gamble for Mrs. May, who has so far pushed only her own blueprint for the withdrawal, as it would involve shifting toward a softer Brexit. For live updates on the ground, follow our London correspondent Ellen Barry on Twitter. It’s still unclear if Mrs. May’s compromise will work or if the E.U. would even grant her the extension.

View from Europe: Earlier in the day, the E.U.’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, warned Britain’s Parliament that there was no alternative to Mrs. May’s thrice-rejected plan and that the possibility of a chaotic “no-deal” exit was becoming “day after day more likely.”

Full disclosure: Protesters in the viewing gallery of Parliament on Monday stripped nearly naked to call for more climate change policies, a sight that lawmakers couldn’t ignore.

India’s antisatellite test could wreak havoc in space

NASA said that debris created by India’s test last week, in which it shot down its own satellite with a rocket, could threaten the International Space Station. Six crew members are currently aboard.

The U.S. space agency identified 400 pieces of debris from the test, some of which pose a risk to the station because of the speed at which they travel. In 2011, the space station’s crew had to take refuge because of an unidentified piece of debris that whizzed past the station at 29,000 miles (46,670 kilometers) per hour.

Such debris usually disintegrates and falls back to Earth but it takes time: Much of the waste from China’s antisatellite test in 2007 is still in orbit.

Reminder: Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the successful test in a rare televised speech last week, lauding the achievement as a win for the country’s space agency. Some suspected he was trying to drum up support for his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of elections that begin on April 11.

Quebec: A proposed law in the Canadian province would bar public sector employees in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols, including the Muslim head scarf, the Jewish skullcap or the Sikh turban. The proposal has sparked widespread backlash.

Sweden: An off-duty, naked police officer who was at a sauna arrested a fugitive last week who was sitting next to him — also naked. The situation “was as stripped down as it gets,” said a deputy police chief in Stockholm.

The Arctic: The findings of the only test well ever drilled in Alaska’s Arctic refuge have been closely guarded for three decades. Was it dry or a gusher? Our reporters found answers in Cleveland, Ohio.

Mars: The planet periodically emits methane, a finding that has been perplexing scientists around the world because, on Earth, the gas is usually produced by living creatures.

Equal Pay Day: Women in the U.S. had to have worked until April 2 this year to earn what their male counterparts did in 2018, according to a pay equity group. The Times’s gender team breaks down some of the myths about unequal pay.

Talking with The Times: Our executive editor, Dean Baquet, and our top newsroom lawyer, David McCraw, are discussing press freedom at 7 p.m. Eastern as part of our TimesTalks series. Join here for a YouTube stream, or go to @nytimes to watch the livestream on Twitter.

Smarter Living

Tips for a more fulfilling life.

Last year, The Pilot was a finalist for the Pulitzer in investigative reporting, for documenting injustices in Virginia’s parole system. Who knows what 2019 might bring?

James K. Williamson wrote today’s Back Story.

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