5 Things posted Apr 6, 2021 @ 08:00am by Iain Burns

5 things you need to know this morning: April 6, 2021

Start your day off right with five things you need to know this morning.

Five things you need to know

1. North Korea drops out of Olympics

North Korea will not be taking part in the Tokyo Olympics this year. The totalitarian government said it wanted to protect its athletes from COVID-19. South Korea had hoped to use the games to improve its relationship with the belligerent hermit regime.

North Korea will drop out of the Tokyo Olympics because of concerns over coronavirus, state media sayshttps://t.co/FFbEktLQCX
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) April 6, 2021

2. Sri Lanka beauty contest descends into brawl

A woman who won the "Mrs Sri Lanka" beauty contest has been attacked live on TV by a rival who claimed she was divorced. Pushpika De Silva was later cleared of being a divorcee, however, and confirmed as the competition's winner.

(1) Mrs. Sri Lanka 2021 held at the Nelum Pokuna Theatre earlier today, ended a short while ago in a brawl.

Contestant number 20, Mrs. Pushpika De Silva was announced as the Winner and was crowned by Mrs. Shiranthi Rajapaksa, Mrs. Rosy Senanayake and Chandimal Jayasinghe. pic.twitter.com/ttsxxJRVpz
— DailyMirror (@Dailymirror_SL) April 4, 2021

3. COVID-19 cases surging in South America

A surge in COVID-19 cases in South America is being attributed to a variant of the virus first discovered in Brazil. The variant is thought to be twice as transmissible as the original Wuhan virus. Uruguay and Paraguay have reported record daily death numbers, while Brazil's health system remains in a perilous state.

Covid surge in South America as Brazil variant spreads https://t.co/nyikOw3U6G
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) April 6, 2021

4. Netanyahu asked to form government in Israel

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has been asked to attempt to form a new government by the country's president. It comes after his coalition failed to win a clear governing majority in the March election, the fourth one held in two years.

Israel’s president has named Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the party leader to try to cobble together a governing majority as the embattled premier's corruption trial resumed across town. https://t.co/yH4XzUWE7n
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 6, 2021

5. Man arrested after Van Gogh painting stolen

Dutch police have arrested a man on suspicion of stealing two paintings from a museum last year. The Van Gogh and Frans Hals paintings are thought to be worth millions of dollars.