Latest - Donald Trump puts pressure on China over trade, Boeing admits an error on its planes, a possible truce in Gaza and more.
Trump moves to increase China tariffs
The US President Donald Trump has dramatically increased pressure on China to reach a trade deal by announcing he will push up tariffs on $2 billion worth of Chinese goods this week and target billions more soon.
The tariffs will rise from 10 to 25 percent on Friday.
Mr Trump made the announcement via Twitter.
It marked a change in tone as earlier he had cited good progress in trade talks with China aimed at preventing a full-scale trade war and praised his relationship with the Chinese president Xi Jinping.
- CNN
Boeing admits knowledge of sensor warning fault
The Boeing Corporation has admitted it knew well over a year before the first crash of a 737-MAX aircraft in Indonesia last year that a warning light linked to a key sensor on the 737-MAX wasn't working on many of the planes.
The warning light alerted pilots to a malfunction in one of the jet's sensors, a fault that began the sequence of events which has been found to have caused two crashes of the MAX-8.
In a statement, Boeing said it did not inform the airlines involved, or the Federal Aviation Administration, until after the October crash.
The alert only worked on planes flown by airlines that had bought optional software, added to the main flight display panel.
- Boeing/CBC
Possible truce in Israel-Gaza fighting
Palestinian media have reported a cease-fire in the latest spate of violence.
Rockets and missiles from Gaza earlier killed four civilians in Israel, while Israeli strikes killed 23 Palestinians, more than half of them civilians, in surging cross-border fighting.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the military to continue "massive strikes" against Gaza's ruling Hamas group and Islamic Jihad, in the most serious border clashes since a eruption of fighting in November.
- BBC
41 reported killed after Russian passenger plane crash-lands in Moscow
Forty-one people on board a Russian Aeroflot passenger plane were killed, after the aircraft caught fire as it made a bumpy emergency landing at a Moscow airport, Russian investigators have said.
Television footage showed the Sukhoi Superjet 100 crash, bouncing along the tarmac at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport before the rear part of the plane suddenly burst into flames.
- Reuters
Brunei scraps capital punishment for gay sex
Brunei has backtracked on enforcing laws introduced last month that would have made sex between men and adultery punishable by stoning to death.
Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has now extended a moratorium on the death penalty to cover the new legislation.
The rethink follows global outcry over the laws, including boycotts and celebrity protests.
While still on the statute books for some crimes, no executions have been carried out in Brunei since 1957.
Last month Brunei rolled out a strict new interpretation of Islamic laws, or Sharia.
- BBC
