US aircraft manufacturer Boeing has pleaded guilty to defrauding the US government to avoid a court case concerning two fatal crashes involving the 737 Max aircraft, according to a document from the US Department of Justice for a court in Texas. The deal, which was agreed late Sunday evening, means the company must pay a multi-million-dollar fine and will also be monitored by a government watchdog. The accidents in October 2018 and March 2019 claimed the lives of 346 people. At the time, Boeing avoided prosecution by promising to implement a compliance and ethics programme. The company also pa…