Today’s Headlines and Commentary

The United States lifted restrictions Monday on travel from more than 30 countries, reports CNBC. Under the new rules, inbound non-citizens will be able to enter the United States if they can show proof of vaccination and a negative coronavirus test taken within the past three days. Travelers can show proof of vaccination to airline personnel with a paper certificate, a photo of a document or a digital upload. International travelers under the age of 18 and visitors from countries that have low vaccine availability and vaccination rates are exempt from the new guidelines. Additionally, travelers will be required to provide information for contact tracing purposes.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi said he escaped unhurt after an explosives-laden drone attacked his home in Baghdad on Sunday, writes the Wall Street Journal. The attack, which officials believe was an assassination attempt, followed threats by an Iran-backed militia leader against Kadhimi in response to a disputed parliamentary election. The militia groups denied responsibility for the attack.

The Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that will determine whether the FBI can invoke the state secrets privilege to block a religious discrimination lawsuit over its surveillance of Muslim communities and mosques, according to ABC News. Several Southern California mosques between 2006 and 2007 were monitored as part of a counterterrorism operation. The Supreme Court is expected to hand down a ruling by the end of June 2022.

According to an investigation by the Washington Post, the Israeli military has used a facial recognition smartphone technology called Blue Wolf that takes pictures of Palestinians' faces and cross-reference them against a database of other photos for the past two years. To build the database of photos, Israeli soldiers photographed Palestinians and even competed with one another over the number of pictures that they took last year. The number of people photographed is estimated to be in the thousands. The surveillance technology was justified by the Israel Defense Forces as “[p]art of the fight against terrorism and the efforts to improve the quality of life for the Palestinian population [in the West Bank].” Advocates criticized the program as another form of subjugation to Palestinians and a violation of human rights.

Polish authorities vowed Monday to prevent approximately 1,000 migrants from Belarus from entering the country, according to the Washington Post. The European Union has blamed Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko for encouraging Iraqis and other nationals to cross over into Europe through their country. This was allegedly done in retaliation for sanctions imposed on Belarus after Lukashenko forced the diversion of a Ryanair flight to arrest an opposition journalist.

Suspected foreign hackers have breached nine global organizations, including one organization in the United States, reports CNN. The National Security Agency and cybersecurity researchers are uncovering ongoing efforts to steal information from U.S. defense contractors and other sensitive targets.

Rebel forces in Ethiopia have been closing in on the country’s capital and are approximately 200 miles from Addis Ababa, reports NPR. It may still take days or weeks of fighting for the Tigray People's Liberation Front to close the distance. Michelle Gavin, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, believes that the possible deposition of the Ethiopian government would be beneficial “[t]o terrorist organizations in East Africa writ large."

Romania, where a coalition of religious leaders, politicians and social media personalities have pushed anti-vaccine disinformation, has reported in recent weeks the world’s highest death rate from coronavirus, according to the New York Times. Vaccine hesitancy has left Romania with the second lowest vaccination rate in the European Union. Valeriu Ghorghita, an army colonel leading Romania’s vaccination effort, attributed vaccine resistance in Romania and in a broad array of eastern European countries to a shared past under communist rule and the consequent disarray and corruption.

ICYMI: This Weekend on Lawfare

Stacie Pettyjohn analyzed the range of “over-the-horizon” options for the U.S. military’s new Afghanistan policy.

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