An anonymous reader quotes the Wall Street Journal: Boeing Co. is considering either suspending or cutting back production of the 737 MAX amid growing uncertainty over the troubled plane's return to service and could disclose a decision as soon as Monday, according to people familiar with the matter. Boeing management increasingly sees pausing production as the most viable among difficult options as the plane maker's board began a meeting Sunday in Chicago, these people said. Support for halting production comes days after U.S. regulators warned the aerospace giant it had been setting unrealistic expectations for when the jet would be allowed to fly again, these people said. Boeing has already "signaled to U.S. aviation officials last week that it anticipates a production-related announcement this week amounting to at least a significant rollback of MAX output," the Journal reports, citing a source "familiar with the matter." Updated on Monday, 21:45 GMT: WSJ and other media outlets are now reporting that Boeing will suspend the production of 737 Max aircraft next month.

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People are too judgmental, which is a shame because in the end, which is coming soon enough for all of us, your opinion of other people couldn’t matter less. Sorry if I’m telling you something you don’t already know.

A group of researchers are working to find a bigger, better way to predict how the world's deadliest blazes will behave. One mathematical model provides the spine for almost every computer program used to analyze wildfire behavior in the US, yet there are a number of factors it doesn't include, Technology Review reports. As a result, fire behavior analysts have been bolting an almost endless series of adjustments onto it. Today the model can't deal with everything the environment is throwing at it, from the number of dead trees now standing in America's forests to fluctuating wind speeds. So the Fire Lab is trying to build a brand new model for the first time in half a century. Inside the lab, the team is trying to better understand and predict fire behavior, in all its complexity. The big prize? A complete theory that can explain fire behavior, not just predict it.he number of dead trees now standing in America's forests to fluctuating wind speeds. So the Fire Lab is trying to build a brand new model for the first time in half a century.

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Carles Puigdemont may be entitled to immunity as a member of the European Parliament.

Nations fail to resolve differences over how to handle climate change, but scientists and civil society keep fighting.

Judge orders former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to appear for sentencing on January 28.

The U.S. has enjoyed its longest economic expansion on record without triggering inflation as interest rates remain historically low [Editor's note: the link may be paywalled]. From a report: [...] So in 2013 Larry Summers, a former top adviser to Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and now an economist at Harvard University, advanced an alternative explanation: "secular stagnation." He borrowed the phrase from an earlier Harvard economist, Alvin Hansen who used it in 1938 to describe the Great Depression's persistently weak growth and high unemployment. Mr. Hansen tied it to weak investment due to slow population growth: Businesses had less need to invest when there were fewer new workers and customers and when aging households bought fewer big-ticket products like houses. Slow population growth is once again weighing on growth and interest rates, Mr. Summers noted, and he added several other factors: the fastest-growing businesses, such as social-media platforms, invest little of their rich profits. Higher inequality meant more income flows to the high-saving, low-spending rich. Though initially skeptical of Mr. Summers's thesis, many economists have since warmed to it, at least for other parts of the world, if not the U.S. In some countries like Germany a persistent excess of savings manifests itself as a trade surplus which flows into other countries' bonds, holding down interest rates around the world. Secular stagnation has several profound implications. First, with interest rates closer to zero, central banks are less able to combat future recessions. Second, a structural shortage of private borrowing means governments can run big deficits without pushing up interest rates. Indeed, given central banks' lack of ammunition, governments should run deficits, or the economy will stagnate. Reducing entitlements such as future Social Security benefits in the name of fiscal prudence may worsen the problem by encouraging households to save more.

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Billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is selling one of his sports-technology investments to the owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers. From a report: Atrium Sports, a technology company backed by Todd Boehly and other Dodgers owners, has acquired data and video analytics company Synergy Sports Technology, in which Cuban is the biggest investor, the companies said Monday. Synergy provides its analytics tools to a number of National Basketball Association franchises, as well as Major League Baseball and college basketball and baseball clubs. Boehly is chairman of Eldridge Industries, which made the lead investment in the Synergy transaction. Elysian Park Ventures, which includes Boehly and fellow Dodgers owners Mark Walter, Magic Johnson and Peter Guber, also invested. Financial terms weren't disclosed, but a person familiar with the transaction said the total purchase price was about $90 million.

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The UN is again pushing its peace plan for Libya, but Khalifa Haftar is threatening a final offensive on Tripoli.

Harvey Weinstein slammed after he said he has been a pioneer in advancing women's careers in the film industry.

Former president's political party announces his return after six years, says he will address countrymen in coming days.

British ex-journalist detained in Dublin and ordered to face extradition hearing over murder of French film producer.

Gideon Saar kickstarts bid to take over from PM Netanyahu as head of Israel's Likud party.

Russia's third-largest internet company is suing streaming service Twitch for 180bn roubles ($2.8bn) over pirate broadcasts of English Premier League games. From a report: Rambler Group alleges its exclusive broadcasting rights were breached by the service more than 36,000 times between August and November. It is seeking to permanently ban the Amazon-owned platform in Russia. Twitch's lawyer has called Rambler's case "unfounded." Russia is the third-largest user of Twitch, which has more than 15 million daily active users worldwide. Its terms and conditions state users cannot share content without permission from the copyright owners, including films, television programmes and sports matches. The streaming giant's lawyer, Julianna Tabastaeva, told Russian-language news website Kommersant Twitch "only provides users with access to the platform and is unable to change the content posted by users, or track possible violations." She added the company took "all necessary measures to eliminate the violations, despite not receiving any official notification from Rambler." Further reading: Why Twitch Is Still the King of Live Game Streaming.

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Police say 41-year-old, one of the most wanted men in the Netherlands, entered the UAE using a fake identity last year.