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Vox Sentences: Another blow for Boeing

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Boeing warns that some of its planes may have faulty wing parts; as the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre approaches, Taiwan wants China to apologize.


Safety becomes an issue for Boeing, again

David Ryder/Getty Images
  • Boeing is facing yet another obstacle while trying to get its once-popular 737 Max back in the air: faulty wing parts. [AP]
  • The aircraft manufacturer warned on Sunday that 41 737 Max and Next Generation planes have faulty slat tracks — a part of the wing that is important for takeoff and landing — that could prematurely fail or crack. It has also urged for almost 300 other planes to be checked in case they are affected. [Business Insider / Alexandra Ma]
  • While a faulty slat track will not cause a plane to crash, it could lead to aircraft damage during the flight. There have been no accidents reported due to this faulty part. [NPR / David Schaper]
  • The Federal Aviation Administration plans to issue a directive that orders airlines to inspect their planes within 10 days. [Fox Business / Joe Williams]
  • Following two crashes of its planes that ended up killing more than 300 people, Boeing has struggled to regain the public’s trust –– and this newest safety issue isn’t helping. [CNN / David Goldman]
  • With peak travel season beginning, airlines are scrambling to ensure they have enough aircraft to meet demand. Some airlines that used the Max have had to cancel thousands of flights while the planes remain grounded. [CNBC / Leslie Josephs and Spencer Kimball]

30 years since Tiananmen Square

  • Taiwan is urging China to apologize for the Tiananmen Square massacre, as Tuesday marks the 30 years since the bloody crackdown. [Taipei Times / Lu Yi-hsuan and Sherry Hsiao]
  • Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council denounced the Chinese government for the incident on June 4, 1989, when the government fired on student-led demonstrators who were protesting for democracy in the communist country. The estimated death toll varies from several hundred to several thousand. [Reuters / Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard]
  • Despite speculation, the Chinese government has been tight-lipped about the number of deaths and the details of the incident. Leading up to the anniversary, the government often erases references of the crackdown from the internet and arrests activists. [BBC]
  • Taiwan said China must face its historical mistake and apologize for the tragedy. Taiwan also called for political reform, as it often does around the anniversary of the massacre. [Al Jazeera]
  • Prior to the statement, China made a rare acknowledgment of the Tiananmen protests. Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe called the crackdown “correct policy” and said that China’s development since the incident is proof that the government made the right choice. [Al Jazeera]
  • Taiwan and China are no strangers to political tension, and it doesn’t seem like their relationship will smooth out anytime soon: Taiwan claims independence from China following a civil war in 1949, while China has threatened to “resolutely take action” to defend its claim to Taiwan and the South China Sea. [AP]

Miscellaneous

  • Fans may have been unhappy with the last season of Game of Thrones, but they still raised more than $125,000 for charity to thank the show’s stars. [BuzzFeed News / Ellie Hall]
  • The durian fruit is famously smelly — and wildly popular in China. And Malaysia is trying to expand its foothold in the market. [NPR / Michael Sullivan]
  • A YouTuber made a video in which he gave a homeless man an Oreo filled with toothpaste. He’s now been given a 15-month jail sentence and a 20,000-euro fine. [Business Insider / Isobel Asher Hamilton]
  • In April, R&B artist SZA said she was racially profiled when a Sephora staff member accused her of stealing. In response, Sephora will close all its stores and corporate offices Wednesday to hold inclusion workshops. [CNN / Hollie Silverman]
  • You’ve already heard about meatless meat. Now get ready for lab-grown fish. [WSJ / Laura Forman]

Verbatim

“It proves that them keeping saying ‘Chinese people don’t attack Chinese people’ is a gargantuan lie.” [Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council response to China’s justification of theTiananmen Square crackdown]


Watch this: The race to save endangered food

Wild animals aren’t the only ones facing extinction. [YouTube / Liz Scheltens]


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