Early Briefing: Nearly $500,000 in crashed Indonesian plane; fighting flares in Ukraine

An Indonesian passenger plane that crashed with 54 people on board in Papua province was carrying cash worth around $470,000 for remote villages, Reuters reports a post office spokesman said on Monday as rescue teams headed to the mountainous site where it went down.

Two explosions in the Chinese port city of Tianjin that killed more than 100 people last week could generate total insurance losses of between $1-billion and $1.5-billion,Reuters reports.

Insurance companies including Zurich and Allianz said on Friday they had received claims from clients that had been affected by the disaster.

Fighting flared between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatists in two separate parts of eastern Ukraine overnight with several civilians killed by shelling, Reuters reports.

The clashes near Mariupol formed part of an upsurge in violence which put further strain on a fragile ceasefire between the two sides.

The popular ride-hailing service, Uber Technologies Inc, will increase its security team to more than 100 employees by the end of the year to boost the company’s defenses against data breaches and attacks from hackers, Reuters reports.

The company, which was recently valued at $50 billion, would hire around 25 additional employees.

Police are investigating the fatal stabbing of actor Morgan Freeman’s step-granddaughter on a Manhattan street, The Associated Press reports.

Officers responding to a 911 call around 3 a.m. Sunday found 33-year-old Edena Hines lying on the street with multiple stab wounds to the chest. Freeman issued a statement saying that “The world will never know her artistry and talent, and how much she had to offer.”