Monday Morning Briefing: Manafort's L.A. bankruptcy fight may offer new avenue for Mueller probe

Highlights

Federal prosecutors may have additional leverage against Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, arising from a loan he received while engaged in the bankruptcies of properties in California. Reuters has found new information about Manafort’s handling of the loan and its potential link to the bankruptcies.

The board of directors of The Weinstein Company said yesterday the New York film and TV studio planned to file for bankruptcy after talks to sell it collapsed, several media outlets reported.

A Florida sheriff came under mounting criticism yesterday for his deputies’ response to this month’s deadly high school shooting and potential warning signs as dozens of state lawmakers called for his removal and the governor ordered an independent inquiry.

Commentary: How to stop social media from supercharging hate speech. Last year, human rights researchers documented an alarming rise in state-sponsored hate speech online, writes Sherif Elsayed-Ali, director of global issues at Amnesty International. “Donald Trump’s retweets of anti-Muslim videos first circulated by an anti-immigrant, far-right British party were just the tip of the iceberg…. In 2017, politicians in many countries deployed social media to spread hate-filled agendas.

world

Chinese speculators pounced on stocks with “emperor” in their name after the ruling Communist Party set the stage for President Xi Jinping to stay in office indefinitely. China’s plan has sparked social media opposition, drawing comparisons to North Korea’s ruling dynasty and charges of creating a dictator by a Hong Kong pro-democracy activist.

A family of nine was killed in Syrian government bombardment of the rebel enclave of eastern Ghouta overnight, where air strikes and fighting have persisted despite a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding a ceasefire, a war monitor said today.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the United States and North Korea should both give ground so they can sit down to talks to try to resolve a nuclear standoff, a day after Pyongyang expressed willingness for dialogue.

 

Italy's uncertain election: Five questions on investors' minds http://reut.rs/2EXE9CQ

8:08 AM - FEB 26, 2018

Business

Corporate America’s new dilemma: raising prices to cover higher transport costs

The drive for cost cuts and higher margins at U.S. trucking and railroad operators is pinching their biggest customers, forcing the likes of General Mills and Hormel Foods to spend more on deliveries and consider raising their own prices as a way to pass along the costs.

10 Min Read

Qualcomm proposes due diligence, price talks with Broadcom

Qualcomm urged Broadcom to enter into direct negotiations on a price for merging the two companies and said they had made progress on regulatory and other deal certainty issues at a meeting last week

1 min read

Samsung launches Galaxy S9 with focus on social media

Samsung unveiled its flagship Galaxy S9 smartphone yesterday with an emphasis on visual applications for social media, hoping to attract tech savvy young consumers to weather a market slowdown. Read more tech news and coverage from the Mobile World Congress here.

5 min read

Crypto 'noobs' learn to cope with wild swings in digital coins

Meet those who are dubbed by longtime crypto-investors as “the noobs”– online lingo for “newbies” – they are ordinary investors hopping onto the latest trend, often with little understanding of how cryptocurrencies work or why they exist.

6 min read

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