Nation & World Glance
CHP: Deadly SUV cliff crash may have been intentional
MENDOCINO, Calif. — The cliff-side plunge that killed a Washington state family riding in an SUV may have been intentional, California Highway Patrol officials said Sunday night.
Information pulled from the SUV’s software shows the vehicle was stopped at a flat, dirt pull-off area before it accelerated straight off the cliff, said Capt. Greg Baarts with the CHP Northern Division.
Baarts said the electronic information combined with the lack of skid marks or signs the driver braked led authorities to believe it was intentional.
Authorities don’t know exactly when the wreck took place. A passing motorist discovered the wreck Monday, three days after social service authorities opened an investigation apparently prompted by a neighbor’s complaint that the children were being deprived of food.
Five members of the Hart family were found dead. The search continued for three more children believed to have been in the vehicle when it went over a scenic coastal overlook and landed on rocks in the Pacific Ocean below. The missing children may have been washed out to sea, authorities say.
China raises tariffs on U.S. pork, fruit in trade dispute
BEIJING — China raised import duties on a $3 billion list of U.S. pork, fruit and other products Monday in an escalating tariff dispute with President Donald Trump that companies worry might depress global commerce.
The Finance Ministry said it was responding to a U.S. tariff hike on steel and aluminum that took effect March 23. But a bigger clash looms over Trump’s approval of possible higher duties on nearly $50 billion of Chinese goods in a separate argument over technology policy.
The tariff spat is one aspect of wide-ranging tensions between Washington and Beijing over China’s multibillion-dollar trade surplus with the United States and its policies on technology, industry development and access to its state-dominated economy.
Forecasters say the immediate impact should be limited, but investors worry the global recovery might be set back if it prompts other governments to raise import barriers. Those fears temporarily depressed financial markets, though stocks have recovered some of their losses.
On Monday, stock market indexes in Tokyo and Shanghai were up 0.5 percent at midmorning.
Malala Yousafzai ending 1st visit to Pakistan since shooting
ISLAMABAD — Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai is ending her first visit to Pakistan since being shot in 2012 by Taliban militants trying to kill her for promoting girls’ education.