Markets react to Trump healthcare failure, fake news in Michigan and unlocking a terrorist’s mind

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Markets are tempering their expectations of Donald Trump after his failure to repeal Barack Obama’s healthcare plan last week. The stock market and the US dollar index hit record highs at the beginning of March. But Mr Trump’s inability to unite his party around healthcare reforms have left traders less bullish on his ability to push through a host of other policies on tax cuts, deregulation and increased infrastructure spending.

Mr Trump lashed out at fellow Republicans on Sunday, blaming members of his own party for sinking his plan to overhaul Obamacare. The president has now blamed Democrats and Republicans, while his team has aimed its ire at House Speaker Paul Ryan, who has been badly damaged by the failure of the deeply unpopular bill. Here’s a long read on Mr Trump’s relationship with Congress, and what it means for his agenda. (FT, WaPo, NYT)

In the news

Prosecutors seek Park arrest South Korean prosecutors are seeking an arrest warrant for former president Park Geun-hye over her alleged role in a corruption scandal that led to her impeachment earlier this month. The request comes after Ms Park was interrogated for 14 hours last week. (FT)

Not quite hard Brexit Theresa May is looking to keep Britain under the remit of some EU agencies after Brexit, in an admission that the UK does not have the time or expertise to replace European bodies with a new British regulatory regime within two years. (FT)

Navalny in court Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny appeared in court on Monday, a day after he and hundreds of protesters were arrested after defying a police ban in some 80 Russian cities to march against corruption and demand the resignation of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. The protests were the largest scale demonstrations against Vladimir Putin’s policies in years and came after Mr Navalny released a film accusing the prime minister of large-scale corruption. Despite a blackout in national media, more than 11.5m people have viewed it on YouTube. (Guardian, FT)

Fake news in Michigan Nearly a quarter of web content shared on Twitter by users in the battleground state of Michigan during the final days of last year’s US election campaign was so-called fake news, according to a University of Oxford study. Researchers determined that these users shared as many fake news items as “professional news” over the same period. (FT)

Hedging bets on oil US independent oil companies have used derivatives to protect expected revenues against a fall in oil prices, to help them sustain capital spending and production even if the market continues to weaken. The hedges, which include swaps and collars using options, typically have strike prices of $50-$60 per barrel of benchmark Brent crude, and an average price of $54. (FT)

Pro-democracy arrests in HK Police in Hong Kong have put pro-democracy activists on notice that they will face charges for organising protests more than two years ago. The move comes a day after Carrie Lam, a divisive career civil servant was appointed to lead the city by a China-dominated committee. Her appointment was not surprising, but it presages further tensions between the semi-autonomous territory and Beijing. (Reuters, FT, NAR)

It’s a big day for

The United Kingdom UK prime minister Theresa May is to visit Scotland early this week as part of a commitment to consult all the devolved administrations ahead of triggering Article 50 for Britain to leave the EU. The visit comes after Mrs May rejected Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon’s calls for a second independence referendum for Scotland. John Lloyd argues that the case for Scottish independence is unclear. (FT)

Keep up with the important business, economic and political stories in the coming days with the FT’s Week Ahead.

Food for thought

May’s toughest test The UK’s Theresa May will trigger Article 50 this week, starting the process of exiting the EU. Negotiating Brexit will be the prime minister’s toughest challenge yet -— and it will not be helped by her reputation for eschewing personal contact for briefing papers. (FT)

Don’t sweat the small print Lucy Kellaway has broken the FT’s code of conduct in four different ways, one of which involved barefaced lying. “I am choosing to shop myself, partly because I have reason to believe I am in good company but also because the real wrongdoing was not done by me, but by the codes themselves — which breach the principles of common sense, human motivation and snappy writing.” (FT)

Black Donny Brascos In the 1960s, dozens of African-American New York police officers went undercover as members of radical groups, including the Black Panthers. No one knew their names — now they’re coming forward to tell their stories. (Esquire)

Unlocking a terrorist’s mind What turned petty criminal Adrian Russell Ajao into Khalid Masood, terrorist? Investigators are trying to discover the trail that led to Masood to kill at Westminster last week. Meanwhile, the FT goes to Northiam, a quaint East Sussex village, and the one-time home of Westminster attacker Khalid Masood. (FT)

Why refugees should be given the right to work The imagined needs of refugees have been reduced to two basics — food and shelter — generally given in camps, and accompanied by a host of restrictions, including a ban on working. But preventing refugees from working is economically inefficient and leads to exploitation. Canadians who helped sponsor Syrian refugees show how tricky it can be to integrate those fleeing war into new societies. (Guardian)

Video of the day

The week ahead Veronica Kan-Dapaah looks at some of the big stories to watch this week, including the most high-level US-Turkey meeting since President Donald Trump took power, German economic figures and pressure at clothes retailer H&M over its low-price strategy. (FT)