Boeing executives rejected pleas from U.S. pilots to fix problems with its 737 Max airplanes prior to the fatal crash of an Ethiopian Airlines flight in March, The New York Times reported Tuesday. Malfunctions by sensors and anti-stall software played a role in the Ethiopian disaster and an October 2018 Lion Air crash in Indonesia that combined killed 346 people.

Second in a series on changing cities

Walking along the long narrow stretch of Ochheuteal Beach on the Cambodian coast of Sihanoukville is like walking between two worlds. On one side, a small boy runs gleefully into the waves as the golden sun dips down to the ocean, the sky awash in purples and pinks. On the other, trash piles up on construction sites as the skeletons of buildings and tower cranes stretch to the sky.

Herb Kelleher, the eccentric co-founder of Southwest Airlines, died Thursday. He was 87. Not many CEOs dress up as Elvis Presley, settle a business dispute with an arm-wrestling contest, or appear on TV wearing a paper bag over their head, but Kelleher did all of those things. And along the way he practically invented the low-fare airline sector. Kelleher became Southwest’s chairman in 1978 and CEO in 1982, leading the company through its period of greatest growth. He stepped down as chief executive in 2001 and retired as chairman seven years later.

General Motors announced Monday plans to lay off up to 14,000 factory and white-collar workers in North America and possibly close five plants. The reduction includes about 15 percent of the company’s North American white-collar workers, some of whom will take buyouts and others who will be laid off. Some U.S. factory workers could transfer to truck or SUV factories that are increasing production. GM CEO Mary Barra told reporters the move was a response to shifts in the auto industry, which is moving toward electric propulsion, autonomous vehicles, and ride-sharing.

Authorities in Japan on Monday arrested Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn on charges he underreported his income and misused company funds. Prosecutors said they were holding Ghosn, 64, and another Nissan executive, Greg Kelly, for collaborating to falsify securities statements and underreport $44.6 million in income from 2011 to 2015. Ghosn is also chairman and CEO of the Renault-Nissan alliance, which formed in 1999 and allows both companies to share engineering and technology costs. Mitsubishi joined the alliance two years ago.

Amazon announced Tuesday plans to split its highly anticipated second headquarters between New York and northern Virginia. North American cities waged an intense competition to land the Amazon expansion, which is expected eventually to bring 50,000 jobs with it. The company said 25,000 of those jobs will go to Queens, N.Y., and the other 25,000 will go to Arlington, Va. Amazon also plans to open an operations hub in Nashville, creating 5,000 jobs. The online retailer plans to keep its main office in Seattle, where it currently has more than 40,000 employees.

Once America’s retail giant, Sears filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday after 132 years in business. The company plans to close 142 of its 700-plus remaining stores and lay off thousands of workers. Founded as a watch store, Sears blossomed into the Amazon of the early 1900s as a mail-order business. “What Sears did was make big-city merchandise available to people in small towns,” economist and author Marc Levinson said. The retailer at one time sold everything from build-your-own-house kits to grave markers.