Tuesday’s top story: Democrats refuse to back down from legal battles with Trump administration. Plus, are smart devices a threat to our privacy?

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

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Good morning, I’m Tim Walker with today’s essential stories.

Democrats demand release of full special counsel report

Despite their disappointment at the underwhelming conclusions of the Mueller report, Democrats will continue to investigate Donald Trump and his administration over multiple legal matters. Congressional leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have demanded the release of the full report by 2 April. Meanwhile, Jerrold Nadler, the chairman of the House judiciary committee, said he would summon the attorney general, William Barr, to testify on his decision not to prosecute the president for obstruction of justice.

‘Shame the media’. Trump and his allies turned their fire on the media on Monday, criticising journalists for their coverage of the Mueller investigation. The president is expected to weaponise the report’s findings as he seeks re-election in 2020.

McConnell blockage. The Republican Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, on Monday blocked a resolution calling for the full Mueller report to be made public, despite the resolution having passed the House unanimously.

Greenhouse gas emissions up amid sharp rise in coal use

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Global coal use has risen by a third, due to a young fleet of coal-fired power plants in Asia. Photograph: Sheng Li/Reuters

Global coal use has increased by almost a third, according to data from the International Energy Agency, which found that greenhouse gas emissions from energy production rose sharply again last year. The increase in coal use is largely due to a new generation of coal-fired power plants in Asia. In addition, gas consumption in the US increased 10%, driven by fracking.

Energy sources. Coal and gas accounted for almost 70% of the annual growth in energy consumption. The demand for solar and wind power increased by much less overall.

Blackstone Group is fuelling global housing crisis, says UN

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jonathan D Gray, the Blackstone Group’s president and CEO. Photograph: Mary Altaffer/AP

Blackstone Group, one of the world’s largest corporate residential landlords, is contributing to a global housing crisis, with “devastating consequences”, according to a stinging critique by the UN’s housing adviser, Leilani Farha. In letters sent to Blackstone and government officials in six countries including the US, the UN rapporteur lamented the role of private equity in the housing market and accused Blackstone of exploiting tenants by significantly inflating rents and imposing heavy fees and charges for ordinary repairs.

‘False claims’. Blackstone disputed the claims made by Farha and co-author Surya Deva, the chairperson of the UN Working Group, saying their report contained “numerous false claims, significant factual errors and inaccurate conclusions”.

Soft Brexit or second referendum possible as MPs seize control

Play Video 0:38 MPs vote to seize control of indicative votes process from government by majority of 27 – video

Two ministers who resigned from Theresa May’s UK government on Monday said MPs in Westminster are likely to move towards backing a soft Brexit or second referendum on the UK’s departure from the EU. The resignations came as the House of Commons supported an amendment allowing MPs to take a series of “indicative” votes to see whether there is an alternative to May’s unpopular Brexit deal that might have a chance of passing. It remains to be seen whether May will take any notice of those votes.

EU citizens. A parliamentary report has warned that more than 3 million Europeans living in the UK could be left in legal limbo after Brexit, resulting in them being stripped of their freedom of movement, housing and social security rights.

Crib sheet

Must-reads

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Apple HomePod and similar smart devices ‘would have been coveted by the Stasi in East Germany’. Photograph: Antonio Olmos

Who is listening when we talk to our smart devices?

The Amazon Echo, Apple HomePod and countless other smart devices contain microphones that can pick up a conversation from across a room. Tech firms insist they’re not spying on customers and that they only listen in when commanded to do so. James Vlahos investigates what happens after you say “OK, Google”.

Venezuela’s oil capital shattered by violent looting

When Venezuela was plunged into darkness by a catastrophic, nationwide blackout earlier this month, its second city, Maracaibo, was convulsed by three days of looting and unrest. One local resident told Tom Phillips: “It’s as if we’re living through a constant war.”

Scott Walker’s experimental genius

Scott Walker began his career as one third of moptopped heart-throbs the Walker Brothers, but after reading the writings of Noam Chomsky in the 1970s the late singer-songwriter’s work became politically charged and increasingly avant garde, says Rob Young.

The Yemenis keeping hope alive

It is four years this week since a western-backed military coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen’s civil war, a deadly conflict still in search of a resolution. Bethan McKernan talks to the activists trying to hold the country together during the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Opinion

US-backed fighters overran the last scrap of Islamic State territory in north-eastern Syria on Saturday. Although the “caliphate” is finished, Isis will undoubtedly return in another form, says Alia Brahimi.

[Isis] is only helped along by far-right extremism of the sort behind the attack in New Zealand, which makes newly relevant a large part of mainstream jihadist discourse about Muslims under siege.

Sport

David Beckham’s soccer franchise, Inter Miami, still doesn’t have a permanent home. That’s because MLS is on a drive to situate its new, soccer-specific stadiums in urban, downtown areas with a readily available native fanbase, as Graham Ruthven reports.

UFC star Conor McGregor said he is retiring from mixed martial arts. The shock announcement, made on Twitter, came six months since the Irishman’s last fight, when he lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov.

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