Axios

Special counsel Robert Mueller has filed a sentencing memo for President Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mueller does not take a position on how much time in prison Manafort should serve, but accuses him of "repeatedly and brazenly" breaking the law for over a decade, even after he was indicted.

"Based on his relevant sentencing conduct, Manafort presents many aggravating sentencing factors and no warranted mitigating factors."

Why it matters: Already, the 69-year-old Manafort faces a potential sentence of 19 to 24 years in his Virginia financial fraud case. The sentencing memo for Manafort's D.C. case, which is more than 800 pages with attachments, relates to his lobbying on behalf of Ukraine and could play a significant role in Mueller's broader investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, who is currently in Beijing to sign billion-dollar economic partnerships with China, said on Friday: "China has the right to carry out anti-terrorism and de-extremization work for its national security," referencing the detention of 1 million Uighur Muslims in "re-education camps," reports the Telegraph.

The big picure: Many Western countries have called for Chinese President Xi Jinping to end the mass detention of Uighurs, with the U.S. reportedly considering sanctions under the Magnitsky Act against senior Chinese officials involved in the crackdown. Turkey has also condemned China for its treatment of Uighur Muslims, one of the first Muslim-majority countries to do so.

Go deeper: U.S. firm aided Chinese DNA collection of Uighur Muslims

In a new paper, a senior European Union economist suggests anew that the political upheaval on both sides of the Atlantic could erupt into World War III, a danger that numerous scholars and politicians have flagged for a couple of years.

Details: In his paper, however, Gerhard Hanappi, a professor at the Institute for Mathematical Models in Economics at the Vienna University of Technology, describes how such a war could unfold: Between the U.S., Russia and China; in the form of multiple, small civil wars within countries; between poorer and richer nations of the world.

The latest round of U.S.-China talks will continue for another two days.

What's happening, from AP:

President Donald Trump says he will consider delaying a March 2 deadline to reach a trade deal with Beijing before he would escalate his tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports.

Trump told reporters that he would “certainly consider” an extension if trade talks are going well. He said that talks between China and the United States in Washington will be extended through this weekend to give the countries more time to reach a breakthrough in their trade dispute.

The Maduro regime is using every tactic at its disposal to block humanitarian aid from coming into the country, effectively shutting its land and maritime borders.

Why it matters: Venezuelans desperately need food and medicine. A December 2018 report noted that from 2016 to 2017, 64% of Venezuelans reported losing nearly 25 pounds. Over 9 in 10 Venezuelans, and even 6 in 10 who identify as pro-Maduro, say the food supply is bad or very bad.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Friday afternoon that the U.S. and China met and agreed to a currency deal in which China will purchase $1.2 trillion in U.S. goods, reports CNBC.

The state of play... President Trump said "President Xi and I will work out the final points," on trade in the not too distant future. Based on Friday's meetings, Trump said a deal seems more likely than not.

In a highly unusual move, the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC today denounced the deal pushed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a united ultra right-wing party that will run in the April 9 elections, which would pave the way for Jewish supremacists from the "Jewish Power" party to make it into the next Knesset.

Details: In a tweet on its official account, AIPAC wrote: "We agree with AJC [American Jewish Committee, which also denounced the deal]. AIPAC has a longstanding policy not to meet with members of this racist and reprehensible party." Netanyahu's deal with Jewish Power is an unprecedented development in Israel's history and is equivalent to a U.S. president cutting a political deal with former KKK leader David Duke.

The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency says that Iran is still in compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a 2015 deal aimed at preventing Tehran from building nuclear weapons in exchange for economic incentives, the AP reports.

Why it matters: President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the deal last May, calling it "defective at its core." His own intelligence chiefs, like the IAEA, have assessed that Iran is not currently working to develop its nuclear capabilities. The withdrawal has been a source of significant tension with the U.S.' European allies, who have sought to salvage the deal in defiance of Trump.

Go deeper: Dueling summits underline divide between U.S. and allies on Iran

New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. is prepared to file tax charges against Paul Manafort in the event that he is pardoned by President Trump for his conviction in the Mueller investigation, Bloomberg reports, citing two sources familiar with the matter.

Why it matters: Trump has not ruled out a presidential pardon for his former campaign chairman, who is set to be sentenced — and could face at least 19 years in prison — in Virginia on March 8 and D.C. on March 13. Vance has reportedly been investigating Manafort since 2017, months after he was charged for tax and financial fraud by the special counsel. Bloomberg notes, however, that laws that prevent defendants from being charged twice for the same crime could make the case difficult to prosecute.