Today's Headlines and Commentary

The U.S. sent a navy destroyer through the Sea of Japan on Wednesday night in a freedom-of-navigation operation intended to challenge Russia’s claims in international waters, reports the Wall Street Journal.

The chief financial officer of Chinese tech giant Huawei was arrested in Canada at the request of the United States, which is also seeking her extradition to the United States, says the New York Times. The arrest occurred on the same night that President Trump reached a 90-day truce with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

President Trump is considering William P. Barr for attorney general, reports the Post. Barr served as the attorney general to from 1991 to 1993 under the late President George H.W. Bush.

Saudi-backed lobbyists reserved 500 rooms at the Trump International Hotel the month after Donald Trump was elected to the presidency, says the Washington Post.

Research based on satellite imagery shows that North Korea is expanding an important missile base with capability to deploy intercontinental ballistic missiles to the U.S., reports the Times.The activities on the base indicate North Korea’s continued improvement of its nuclear capabilities.

Five U.S. Marines on a routine training flight went missing in a crash off the coast of Japan early Thursday morning, reports the Times. Two Marines have been found. The accident comes amidst a growing number of military aviation accidents in the recent years.

The warring parties of the Yemen civil war have agreed to exchange almost 5,000 prisoners as the first of several steps intended to build trust between Houthi rebels and the Saudi-backed coalition supporting Yemeni President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, says the Times.

ICYMI:Yesterday on Lawfare

Quinta Jurecic and Benjamin Wittes provided four quick takeaways from Robert Mueller’s account of Michael Flynn’s cooperation with the special counsel’s investigation.

Daniel Byman notes that an end to the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen alone will not be enough to solve the immense problems the country faces.

Mary B. McCord argues that the U.S. must make domestic terrorism a federal crime.

Stewart Baker shared this week’s edition of the Cyberlaw Podcast, which featured an interview with Michael Tiffany on the adtech business.

Mayank Varia analyzed the development of Exceptional Access research in the fourth essay from the Crypto 2018 Workshop on Encryption and Surveillance series.

Quinta Jurecic shared the Department of Justice’s unusual court filing in litigation related to the Carter Page FISA. The department argues that President Trump’s tweets should not be assumed to be accurate or based on the president's personal knowledge of the underlying issue.

Jen Patja Howell posted this week’s Rational Security in which the gang sat down to discuss Michael Flynn’s cooperation with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Michael Cohen’s guilty plea and Israeli politics.

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