Today’s Headlines and Commentary

President Trump announced yesterday that he will suspend U.S. payments to the World Health Organization (WHO), the main international organization focused on combating the coronavirus pandemic, reports the Washington Post. Trump has criticized the WHO for promoting what he alleges are China’s public lies about their handling of the virus about the virus. World leaders, including the E.U. foreign policy chief, the German Foreign Minister and New Zealand’s Prime Minister condemned the decision to cut funding to the WHO, writes Reuters.

Congressional Republicans are planning their own investigation into the coronavirus outbreak, with a particular focus on how the WHO and the Chinese government initially handled the pandemic, reports NBC. The Senate Homeland Security Committee, led by Chairman Ron Johnson, will conduct a “wide-ranging” oversight investigation into the origins of the virus and the WHO’s response.

French President Emmanuel Macron said today he’s gotten the support of President Trump, Xi Jinping and Boris Johnson to back a U.N. call for a global ceasefire during the coronavirus crisis, according to Axios.

Roughly one in three people have seen false or misleading information on social media linked to the coronavirus, writes Politico. This is according to a new survey spanning the U.S., Spain, Germany, the U.K., Argentina and South Korea, published today by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford. The finding comes as tech giants like Facebook, Twitter and Google have taken uncharacteristically aggressive action to police coronavirus misinformation and say they’re doing all they can to clamp down on COVID-19 misinformation.

Officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have drafted a public health strategy to reopen parts of the country by May 1, reports the Washington Post. The document is part of a larger White House effort to get Americans back to work. It provides guidance to state and local governments on how to ease mitigation efforts in a phased way.

The Pentagon will extend the freeze on U.S. service member travel and movement past the current order’s May 11 end date, writes the Hill. The original stop movement order, which applies to domestic and overseas travel for all U.S. forces, civilian personnel and families, was put in place last month to stop the spread of COVID-19 among troops. But despite social distancing measures, Marines are still lining up for haircuts at some bases, at times standing only a foot or two apart, reports the Associated Press.

The Iranian Navy on Tuesday temporarily seized a Hong-Kong-flagged tanker and redirected the vessel into Iranian waters before releasing it, according to the Wall Street Journal. Tankers crossing the Strait of Hormuz have been frequently stopped or approached by the Iranian navy amid mounting tensions between Tehran, Saudi Arabia and Western powers.

Beijing failed to warn the public for six days after top Chinese officials secretly determined they likely were facing a pandemic from the novel coronavirus, writes the Associated Press. During that time, millions began traveling for Lunar New Year celebrations and more than 3,000 people became infected.

The coronavirus has affected post-Brexit talks, reports Politico. The second and third round of talks on the future relationship with the E.U. and U.K. were canceled because of the outbreak, and E.U. chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier as well as his U.K. counterpart David Frost announced last month that they were suffering coronavirus symptoms. Until now, attempts to restart talks through videoconferencing have been hampered by security concerns.

ICYMI: Yesterday on Lawfare

Bobby Chesney provided a road map and recommendations for a system of COVID-19 enhanced contact tracing that we can live with.

Stewart Baker argued that Google and Apple’s COVID-19 tracking design leaves out crucial capabilities.

Baker also shared an episode of the Cyberlaw Podcast featuring a discussion of Google and Apple’s new COVID-19 tracking framework and an interview with Sen. Angus King on what the Cyberspace Solarium Commission means for the private sector.

Jen Patja Howell shared an episode of the Lawfare Podcast discussing Viktor Orbán’s use of the coronavirus crisis to seize power and rule by decree.

Laura Livingston analyzed Hungary’s authoritarian response to the pandemic.

Mary McCord and Jon Lewis argued that the State Department should designate the Russian Imperial Movement as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

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