Power Said to Have Sought 'Unmasking' Almost Daily
Fox News
Samantha Power, President Obama's United Nations ambassador, was "unmasking" Americans who turned up in foreign intelligence reporting at such a rapid pace that she averaged more than one request for every working day in the final months - and even sought information in the days leading up to President Trump's inauguration, multiple sources said. Manafort Offered Briefings on 2016 Campaign to Russian
Washington Post
Less than two weeks before Donald Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination, his campaign chairman Paul Manafort sent an email offering "private briefings" on the race to a Kremlin-tied Russian billionaire, according to people familiar with Manafort's emails. There is no evidence that anything came of the offer. But Trump-Russia investigators believe Manafort's outreach created a potential opening for Russians at the highest level of a U.S. presidential campaign. Mueller Focuses on Trump Actions as President
New York Times
Special counsel Robert Mueller is seeking White House documents about some of President Trump's most scrutinized actions since taking office, including the firing of his national security adviser and F.B.I. director, White House officials say. Mueller's inquiry is about Russian election meddling, but now much of it is focused squarely on Trump's behavior in the White House.
Far-Off Speculators' Strategy: Let Vacant Houses Rot
New Republic
In cities with large stocks of vacant, decaying houses like Detroit, Cleveland, and Baltimore, real estate speculators from afar are buying up properties. But instead of fixing up these eyesores, the absentee owners often let them continue to rot until someone else offers to buy them. Community groups in Baltimore are fighting back.
New York City's 'Dirty' Laundries
Dissent
As commercial laundry services grow in New York, their mostly female and immigrant workers often fall victim to wage theft, threats of deportation, and injuries in dangerous work environments. This is an investigation by Dissent, the quarterly described by the New York Times as "a pillar of leftist intellectual provocation."
British Slaughterhouses Contaminated
Bureau of Investigative Journalism
A whistelblowing meat inspector says British consumers have been exposed to meat contaminated with potentially dangerous bacteria because of lax hygiene and controls in some abattoirs. More than a quarter of British slaughterhouses failed a key hygiene regulation, the authorities say. But the problems don't stop there. Tech Me Out at the Ball Game
Wall Street Journal
Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins is one of baseball's best outfielders. And he's getting better, using a sophisticated player-tracking technology to improve his reaction time in center field. Major League Baseball created the technology, Statcast, for fans craving stats, but now players are exploiting its high-res cameras too. And a human vacuum on the field like Buxton needs all the help he can get, since he's batting only barely above his weight. | 
