TIME

Sri Lanka bans face coverings as it scrambles to respond to Easter attacks

ENTER THE KING Japan’s Emperor Naruhito begins his reign with a speech at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on May 1, a day after his father, 85-year-old Emperor Akihito, became the nation’s first monarch to step down in more than 200 years. After 30 years as the 125th Emperor of Japan, Akihito was given special dispensation to step down because of declining health. Naruhito, 59, promised to act as a “symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people.”

EIGHT DAYS AFTER THE APRIL 21 BOMBINGS in Sri Lanka left at least 253 dead, the government announced that all face coverings would be banned in public, saying the move would help the search for those involved.

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