- EU, U.K. Reach Brexit Transition Deal (BBG)
- ECB debate shifting to interest rate path from QE (Reuters)
- Trump’s Attacks on Mueller Prompt Senator Warnings (WSJ)
- EU lawmakers to investigate alleged misuse of Facebook users’ data (Reuters)
- Congress Braces for Battle Over Massive Spending Bill (WSJ)
- Zuckerberg Under Pressure Over Breach, Facebook Shares Fall (BBG)
- Facebook Ignites Debate Over Third-Party Access to User Data (WSJ)
- Weakening FANG Stocks Stir Overnight Volatility in U.S. Futures (BBG)
- Hedge Funds Suffer Worst Month in Two Years (BBG)
- Powell’s Fed to show policy caution, shun political friction (Reuters)
- For Companies in Puerto Rico, Return to Business as Usual is Painfully Slow (WSJ)
- Trump Calls for Death Penalty for Drug Traffickers to Combat Opioids (BBG)
- Higher Deposit Rates May Finally Be Coming to Your Bank Account (WSJ)
- Russian Observers Charge Fraud in Putin’s Landslide Re-Election (BBG)
- ‘Where can I buy?’ – Google makes push to turn product searches into cash (Google)
- Supermarket Casualties Begin to Pile Up in Amazon-Fueled Battle (BBG)
- Grubhub Expands Pact With Yelp, Aiming for Cheaper Deliveries (WSJ)
- Wynn Attorney Claims Woman Advanced Extortionist Demands (WSJ)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
– U.S. President Donald Trump and his legal team over the weekend intensified attacks on the special counsel’s probe into possible Russian election interference, departing from a previously more cooperative posture and prompting more urgent warnings from senators not to undermine the investigation. on.wsj.com/2pmT6sh
– Facebook Inc ignited a firestorm over how it manages third-party access to its users’ information, after the social network said a firm with ties to the 2016 Trump campaign improperly kept data for years despite saying it had destroyed those records. on.wsj.com/2pn1BDz
– Russian President Vladimir Putin won re-election by a wide margin Sunday, according to preliminary results, strengthening his hand amid an escalating confrontation with the West. on.wsj.com/2pp8XGw
– Cleared to stay in power indefinitely, Chinese President Xi Jinping has discarded the leadership structure he inherited and is kicking off his second term with a handpicked team of trusted lieutenants. on.wsj.com/2pm5SHd
– A North Korean official will hold unofficial talks in Finland with a delegation from the U.S. and former South Korean government officials, Seoul’s foreign ministry said, amid a flurry of recent diplomatic activity before an expected U.S.-North Korean summit by the end of May. on.wsj.com/2pmxUTg
– CACI International Inc has made a roughly $7.2 billion bid to buy CSRA Inc in an attempt to break up the information-technology provider’s sale to General Dynamics Corp. on.wsj.com/2pn5atv
FT
The head of TalkTalk’s ultrafast broadband division, Richard Sinclair, is leaving the company to join Virgin Media in the coming months as executive director of connectivity.
The UK will get one of Europe’s largest 3D printing factories through a 27 million euros ($33.12 million) investment by Siemens in a technology billed as key for the future of British manufacturing.
British engineering company Weir Group Plc will revive the push to reform executive pay in Britain with a plan to drop a controversial kind of reward scheme linked to excessive boardroom remuneration.
NYT
– As soon as the first robot arrived at a FedEx Corp shipping hub in the heart of North Carolina tobacco country early last year, talk of pink slips was in the air. nyti.ms/2GFgXe4
– China plans to name a new leader for its central bank chief on Monday in a move signaling that Beijing will continue an ambitious — and, some say, much needed — financial shake-up to get the country’s debt under control and keep its economy growing. nyti.ms/2GHhufI
– Ola is expanding overseas for the first time, to Australia, in a major test of whether India’s new breed of technology start-ups can survive in a developed country. nyti.ms/2FRS65C
– Faced with questions about its commitment to safety, the Interior Department sent teams to the Gulf of Mexico last week to inspect giant cranes used in offshore oil and gas operations that are a significant source of accidents. nyti.ms/2IAGxBI
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** Canada’s Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, faced with the threat of a growing number of Canadian provinces balking at her government’s climate action plan, is pleading for a truce in the pipeline dispute between the B.C. and Alberta governments. (tgam.ca/2G5agUN)
** Ottawa is set to announce funding on Monday for a network of test beds for 5G wireless technology in Ontario and Quebec. (tgam.ca/2FS48fi)
** Three former directors of Canada’s key national security agencies are urging the federal government to heed the warnings of U.S. intelligence services and cut Canadian ties with Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, the Chinese smartphone and telecom equipment maker. (tgam.ca/2G5K3Fr)
NATIONAL POST
** Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office is again sharing few details about his vacation this week, though questions about how the prime minister spends his private time have caused problems for the Liberal government in the recent past. (bit.ly/2GzBosU)
Britain
The Times
Klepierre made a 5 billion pound ($6.97 billion) takeover approach for Hammerson Plc, in a move that threatens to derail the British property company’s proposed merger with Intu Properties Plc, but Hammerson rebuffed the bid almost immediately, arguing that it undervalued a group. bit.ly/2IApHmm
Dana Inc, the U.S. automotive group in talks to buy GKN’s driveline division, is to seek a secondary listing in London as it bumps up its efforts to win over shareholders in the engineering group. bit.ly/2IxGc2q
The Guardian
Britain’s biggest business lobby group Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is seeking to prevent the loss of as much as 1 billion euros in annual European funding for scientific research and technological development, which has been thrown into doubt by Brexit. According to a briefing paper seen by the Guardian, the CBI is calling for the government to state its intention to renew its membership of the EU framework programme for research and development after Brexit. bit.ly/2pouA9l
Ministers have been urged to bring forward their 2040 ban on new diesel and petrol car sales by a decade, a move which an environmental think tank said would almost halve oil imports and largely close the gap in the UK’s climate targets. The Green Alliance said a more ambitious deadline of 2030 is also needed to avoid the UK squandering its leadership on electric cars. bit.ly/2pknJ0y
The Telegraph
Rolls-Royce is joining the race to build the next generation of energy storage “batteries” using the same material originally designed for hard-wearing contact lenses. Rolls-Royce said it will work with Superdielectrics, a research company, to use the material to challenge the dominance of traditional batteries. bit.ly/2pqiso2
The Government has been urged to use Brexit to slash red tape for small banks to boost competition and follow the deregulatory path set by the United States. Paul Lynam, the influential boss of challenger bank Secure Trust Bank said leaving the EU would enable Britain to level the field for smaller lenders and help break the dominance of the big five – Barclays, Lloyds, RBS, HSBC and Santander. bit.ly/2plVyOM
Sky News
Around 90 million pounds seized from dormant British bank accounts will be used to tackle racial inequality among jobseekers. The fund will be announced by Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday as part of a drive to help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds into work. bit.ly/2Iz4Akj
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