BitGou: Wednesday Morning Briefing: U.S. House panel to vote on issuing subpoena for Mueller report

Highlights

The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee is expected to vote to subpoena Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s full, unredacted report and underlying evidence from his investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election. If the motion passes, it would be a marked escalation of congressional pressure on the Trump administration to hand over all that Mueller documented during his 22-month probe, including grand jury evidence. Here is an explanation of the legal hurdles Democrats must clear in their subpoena effort.

A Chinese woman who passed security checkpoints at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida carrying a thumb drive coded with “malicious” software was arrested on Saturday for entering a restricted property and making false statements to officials, according to a court filing.

With one of the world’s top smartphone penetration rates, South Korea is in a race with China, the United States and Japan to market 5G, hoping the technology will spur breakthrough in fields such as smart cities and autonomous cars, and drive up its economic growth that slowed to a six-year low in 2018. South Korea will become the first country to commercially launch 5G services on Friday as it rolls out the latest wireless technology with Samsung Electronics’ new 5G-enabled smartphone Galaxy S10.

Trucks delivering goods from Mexico to the United States are facing up to 12 hours of gridlock, drivers said, after a transfer of U.S. border agents to immigration duties slowed the flow of commercial traffic at several border crossings. President Donald Trump took a step back from his threat to close the U.S. southern border to fight illegal immigration, amid pressure from companies worried that a shutdown would inflict chaos on supply chains and the $1.7 billion daily trade.

Brexit

After the UK prime minister's EU withdrawal deal was rejected three times by lawmakers, with parliament and her Conservative Party hopelessly divided over Brexit, Theresa May said she would reach out to opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn in a bid to break the impasse and to thrash out a Brexit compromise. This is a gamble that could finally see a European Union divorce deal agreed but also tear her party apart.

A European Parliament committee backed giving Britons the right to travel to the EU without visas after Brexit, following weeks of controversy over the way the draft legislation dubs Gibraltar a UK “colony”. It would give Britons visa-free travel to the EU even in the event of a no-deal Brexit, on condition that Britain offers the same terms to EU citizens visiting for up to 90 days.

World

'Like a Ferrari, you don't need it': For 14 years New Zealander Noel Womersley has worked shooting beasts for small farmers and cutting them up, but tough new gun laws to be adopted after a lone gunman was charged with the nation’s worst mass shooting will require him to surrender another of his guns. Fifty people were killed and scores wounded in Christchurch, New Zealand, prompting an outpouring of support for the nation’s bereaved Muslim community, and a swift crackdown on guns. The semi-automatics used in the attack will be banned, with exemptions for working hunters, and tougher licensing rules are on the drawing board. “He ruined it for everyone. Not everyone is like that,” says Womersley. As part of a new national firearm buyback scheme, he expects to hand in one military-style AR-15 assault rifle, a type of weapon used in the Christchurch massacre.

Nearly a dozen prominent Saudi women activists returned to court to face charges related to their human rights work and contacts with foreign journalists and diplomats, in a case that has intensified Western criticism of a key Mideast ally. Three of the women - blogger Eman al-Nafjan, academic Aziza al-Yousef and conservative preacher Ruqayya al-Mohareb - were temporarily released last week on the condition that they attend future sessions. Riyadh’s criminal court had been expected to rule earlier this week on requests for temporary releases for the other women, but sources familiar with the case said the decision had been postponed until Wednesday’s hearing.

Algeria

Algeria’s ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned on Tuesday, succumbing to six weeks of largely peaceful mass protests driven by youth and pressure from the powerful army against his 20-year rule. Earlier in the day, army chief of staff Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaed Salah demanded the veteran ruler, who has been long in poor health, be declared immediately unfit for office. Hundreds took to the streets of the capital after the announcement of the 82-year-old’s departure, who was a veteran of Algeria’s war for independence, has rarely been seen in public since a stroke in 2013.

“This is an important page in the history of Algeria that turns,” France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a statement. He added he was confident Algerians would continue their democratic transition in a “calm and responsible” way after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced his resignation on Tuesday.

Reuters Top News

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Two @Reuters journalists have been imprisoned in Myanmar for 478 days. See full coverage: https://reut.rs/2UcvF69

4:09 AM - 3 Apr 2019

Business

Exclusive: Boeing software engaged repeatedly before crash - sources

Boeing anti-stall software on a doomed Ethiopian Airlines jet re-engaged as many as four times after the crew initially turned it off due to suspect data from an airflow sensor, two people familiar with the matter said.

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Exclusive: Japan Display to supply OLED screens for Apple Watch - sources

Japan Display will begin to supply organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens for the Apple Watch later this year, two sources said, a breakthrough for the cash-strapped company whose late shift to OLED has cost it orders from Apple.

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Pernod Ricard betting on growth from green agenda

Drinks group Pernod Ricard, which is being targeted by activist investor Elliott, is banking that its push into socially and environmentally sound business practices will boost its growth in the coming decade. Pernod, the world’s second-biggest spirits group behind Diageo, is unveiling on Wednesday a strategic roadmap plan.

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