Today’s Headlines and Commentary

Chinese health officials announced that the total death toll from the coronavirus has surpassed 1,000, with over 100 deaths on Monday, according to the New York Times. On Tuesday, China’s Foreign Ministry urged countries that have enacted travel restrictions to restore normal ties, underscoring the threat posed to the global economy by the restrictions, reports the Washington Post.

Four members of China’s People’s Liberation Army have been indicted by the Justice department on charges of hacking into Equifax and divulging the sensitive data of nearly 150 million Americans. Officials claim the hackers stole trade secrets from the credit-reporting agency, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Attorney General William Barr acknowledged Monday that the Justice Department would evaluate material that Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s personal attorney, had gathered from Ukrainian sources claiming to have damaging information about former vice president Joe Biden, reports the Post.

Federal prosecutors have recommended sentencing longtime Trump associate Roger Stone to seven to nine years in prison, consistent with sentencing guidelines, for making false statements to Congress and for witness tampering charges related to Stone’s activity during the 2016 presidential election, writes CNN. The filing is available on Lawfare here.

The Pentagon announced that the latest total of U.S. service members diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries following an attack on a base in Iraq has surpassed 100, reports the Post.

Turkish-backed rebels shot down a Syrian military helicopter in Nairab on Tuesday after government forces seized control of the main highway in the Idlib province for the first time since 2012, according to Reuters.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday terminated a two-decade-old Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States, weakening an alliance crucial to U.S. interests, reports Reuters.

ICYMI: Yesterday on Lawfare

Elliot Setzer shared the indictment charging four Chinese military hackers in the Equifax breach.

Shibley Telhami criticized Trump’s Middle East peace plan.

Hayley Evans and Paras Shah analyzed the International Criminal Court’s hearings on whether to overturn an April 2019 decision blocking investigations into alleged war crimes by the Taliban and U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

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