- Mark Zuckerberg’s Political Awakening (BBG)
- Bank of Japan Sticks With Easy-Money Settings (WSJ)
- Bank of Japan board member demands more stimulus (FT)
- S&P downgrades China, says rising debt is stoking economic, financial risks (Reuters)
- Boston’s Fate Lies With a Zombie Hurricane as Maria Moves North (BBG)
- SEC says hackers may have traded using stolen insider information (Reuters)
- Equifax Hackers Roamed Its System Undetected for Months (WSJ)
- Spanish crackdown has undermined Catalan independence bid, regional leader says (Reuters)
- Nestlé Makes Billions Bottling Water It Pays Nearly Nothing For (BBG)
- Home Prices Soar in Disaster-Prone Areas (BBG)
- Mexican Schoolchildren Trapped After Quake (WSJ)
- Distrustful U.S. allies force spy agency to back down in encryption fight (Reuters)
- Energy Alliance Propels Russia-Saudi Cooperation (WSJ)
- Russia set to pipe more oil to China, stepping up race with Saudis (Reuters)
- Kimmel Spat Shows Confusion Over Rushed Health Bill’s Effects (BBG)
- Beat or Miss? MiFID Will Make It Harder to Tell on Earnings Day (BBG)
- Amazon Puts Whole Foods on Fast Track to Conventional Supermarket (WSJ)
- U.S. Airports Are More Popular Than Ever, Except in New York (BBG)
- Secret of Merkel’s Longevity: Strategic Flip-Flops (WSJ)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
– Alphabet Inc’s Google said it would buy part of Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC Corp, including its team that helped develop Google’s flagship Pixel smartphone, for $1.1 billion in cash. on.wsj.com/2xxyzG7
– The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosed Wednesday that hackers penetrated its electronic system for storing public-company filings last year and may have traded on the information. on.wsj.com/2xwEdID
– Toshiba Corp’s board on Wednesday voted to sell its memory-chip business to a group led by U.S. private-equity firm Bain Capital and includes Apple Inc and Dell Technologies Inc for 2 trillion yen ($17.79 billion). on.wsj.com/2xwv5DW
– Pfizer Inc filed suit against Johnson & Johnson , alleging J&J’s “exclusionary contracts” for Remicade with health insurers, hospitals and clinics effectively prevented them from offering Pfizer’s lower-priced copy. on.wsj.com/2xxeOyt
– Facebook Inc is adding more human reviewers to oversee its advertising system after a report showed that people could target ads at users interested in anti-Semitic and other hateful topics. on.wsj.com/2xx8eIb
– Albertsons Cos is buying the Plated meal-kit service, the first acquisition of a prepared-meals company by a national grocery chain. on.wsj.com/2xwELhF
– Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico, pounding the U.S. territory with huge waves, massive rain and fierce winds and shutting down the power grid across the entire island of 3.4 million people. on.wsj.com/2xxxIFk
– Soldiers, rescue workers and volunteers worked Wednesday to find the living and the dead beneath rubble left by a 7.1-magnitude earthquake that destroyed scores of buildings in Mexico’s capital and surrounding states, and killed at least 230 people. on.wsj.com/2xxrrtm
FT
Ryanair Holdings Plc pilots have dismissed an offer of a 12,000-pound ($16,184) payment to waive days off and stay for a year with the business, a move that could compound serious rota problems at the airline.
The UK is to invest 65 million pounds in a U.S. mega-physics project designed to investigate neutrinos, mysterious subatomic particles that pervade the universe.
Former CBI head Digby Jones is facing questions over his value to the House of Lords after claiming 15,000 pounds of expenses and allowances in a period when he did not speak in any debates or ask any questions.
Antony Jenkins, the former Barclays Plc chief executive, is planning to expand his bank technology service into Asia after gaining backing from Chinese insurer Ping An Insurance Co Ltd and consultancy firm Oliver Wyman.
NYT
– Special Counsel Robert Mueller has asked the White House for documents about some of U.S. President Donald Trump’s most scrutinized actions since taking office, including the firing of his national security adviser and F.B.I. director, according to White House officials. nyti.ms/2fBnzOq
– Less than two weeks after Hurricane Irma, a new storm, Hurricane Maria, made a direct hit on Puerto Rico, knocking out its power grid. nyti.ms/2xooPh9
– Alphabet Inc’s Google said late Wednesday it is spending $1.1 billion to hire a team of engineers from the smartphone business of struggling Taiwanese manufacturer HTC Corp in a bid to bring more hardware expertise to its own mobile technology operations. nyti.ms/2xgPHjD
– The Securities and Exchange Commission said it was a victim of a computer hack last year in which attackers could have exploited private information for trading purposes. nyti.ms/2wBfh3G
– The board of Japanese conglomerate Toshiba Corp has approved a plan to sell its microchip business to a group of American and Japanese buyers. nyti.ms/2wzr2aC
– Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, promised to add more oversight to the company’s automated systems to make sure offensive terms are not used to target ads. nyti.ms/2xhhHUy
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** The winds are blowing against Bombardier Inc in its trade war with Boeing Co as some analysts expect a preliminary ruling from the U.S. Department of Commerce early next week to go against the Canadian planemaker. tgam.ca/2hkRjip
** A Canadian Federation of Independent Business survey of small-business owners shows strong opposition to the federal government’s proposed tax rules. tgam.ca/2hl06B2
** Opposition Members of Parliament are accusing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau of shielding their family assets from the tax hikes they want to impose on small businesses. tgam.ca/2hlk1zZ
NATIONAL POST
** The stain of bankruptcy protection filings on both sides of the border could confuse Toys R Us (IPO-TOYS.N) Canada customers and spook toy suppliers already worried about the debt-plagued U.S. division, industry analysts say. bit.ly/2hkJo4I
** Canadian retail landlord First Capital Realty Inc and its partners have hired real estate firm CBRE Group Inc to sell a collection of 19 key urban assets. bit.ly/2hlbkW6
Britain
The Times
Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal is raising his stake in Anglo American Plc after announcing plans to buy up to 1.5 billion pounds-worth of new shares in the company. (bit.ly/2fC7V5m)
About 480 jobs will be cut at Mitie Group Plc as the struggling outsourcer responds to a series of setbacks including profit warnings, restated accounts, the overhaul of its board and regulatory inquiries. (bit.ly/2fBRNkp)
The Guardian
India’s Tata Steel Ltd has paved the way for a merger of its European operations with the German steel manufacturer ThyssenKrupp AG, creating Europe’s second largest steel group after ArcelorMittal. (bit.ly/2fBS4Ut)
Bidders for UK stock market listed companies must lay out more detailed plans for their target, including location of its head office and research and development investment, under proposed rules put forward by the takeover watchdog and backed by the government. (bit.ly/2fCabcN)
The Telegraph
The City’s top lobby group has urged Theresa May to get a move on with a Brexit transition deal as she prepares for a landmark speech in Italy on Friday. TheCityUK has slammed the lack of progress made on agreeing a transitional arrangement since the EU referendum and called for urgent action to limit damage to the City. (bit.ly/2fALmh9)
German energy giant Eon is in talks to sell its stake in the fossil fuel and trading company Uniper to Finnish utility Fortum for 3.8 billion euros ($4.51 billion). (bit.ly/2fBUu5v)
Sky News
Dominic Chappell, the businessman at the helm of BHS when it collapsed last year, has denied charges linked to an investigation by The Pensions Regulator. (bit.ly/2fBVeHP)
The finance director of the Co-operative Bank, John Worth, is to step down weeks after the lender concluded a 700 million pound ($944.58 million) rescue deal designed to secure its long-term future. (bit.ly/2fzUeDN)
The Independent
A London and San Francisco-based cyber security firm, Digital Shadows, has raised $26 million in a funding round led by Octopus Ventures, an early backer of Zoopla and LOVEFilm, to support its expansion into markets such as Asia. (ind.pn/2fBIJfm)
via http://ift.tt/2wIEkNm Tyler Durden