Today’s Headlines and Commentary

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The Department of Justice filed a motion opposing former President Donald Trump’s request for the appointment of a special master to oversee the government’s handling of documents seized at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence on Aug. 8. In its filing, the Justice Department asserted that Trump’s call for a special master should be rejected, but it also provided parameters for the role of the special master should one be appointed. Notably, the department also stated in its motion that “efforts were likely taken to obstruct the government’s investigation” of Trump’s handling of White House documents.

Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, has died at the age of 91. The death was first reported by Russian news outlets, which vaguely stated the icon had died of a “serious and protracted disease.” Gorbachev was the leader of the USSR during many crucial events of the late Cold War, including the Chernobobyl nuclear power plant crisis and the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. He is also known for his policies of glasnost and perestroika, which  helped liberalize the economy and culture of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s.

A group of 14 inspectors from the United Nations’ (U.N.) International Atomic Energy Agency announced that they are traveling to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine on Wednesday. The experts will conduct a monitoring mission and assess the risks caused by the war in Ukraine to the facility’s nuclear reactors to “prevent a nuclear accident.” The agency said they received safety guarantees from both the Russian and Ukrainian militaries, as the facility has been the site of frequent combat and shelling over the past several months.

Russia halted gas supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, Europe’s main energy supply route, amid an ongoing energy crisis in Europe. This move is the latest energy outage from Russia as it responds to sanctions from the West due to the country’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year.

Syria’s state news agency said that Israel launched a missile attack on Aleppo’s airport on Wednesday. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, four missiles targeted the airport and surrounding warehouses, which likely contained Iranian rockets. The news agency also reported that Israeli missiles were also targeting military positions near Damascus. No casualties were reported in either event.

The U.N. released a quarterly report on Wednesday, detailing human rights violations in Mali. The report said that at least 50 civilians were killed by Malian soldiers and unidentified “foreign troops” in a military operation that took place on April 19. Reportedly, a Malian military convoy hit an explosive device, prompting the military to temporarily detain around 500 civilians, though most were later freed. This is the latest allegation by the U.N. that Mali has killed civilians as it targets Islamic insurgents in the region with the help of Russia’s Wagner group.

The first redesign of the coronavirus vaccine has been approved by the FDA—this time with the intention to target the newer Omicron strains of the virus. Pfizer and Moderna have each been approved to administer one such booster shot. The Biden administration plans to have over 170 million doses of the new booster shot available by the fall for adults and children as young as 12.

A court in Saudi Arabia imposed a 45-year prison sentence on a woman over the alleged harm she caused for the country through her use of social media, according to court records obtained Wednesday. The specialized criminal court handed down the sentence to Nourah bint Saeed al-Qahtani earlier this month under Saudi Arabia’s expansive counterterrorism and cybercrime laws. It is unclear what social media activity led to al-Qahtani’s sentence.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced on Tuesday that it plans to launch its new moon rocket this Saturday, after postponing the launch earlier this week due to fuel leaks. In a news conference, NASA officials said that their team is working on solving the engine problems that stalled the launch of the Artemis I, the first rocket in the organization’s program to send astronauts back to the moon by 2025.

ICYMI: Yesterday on Lawfare 

Jen Patja Howell shared an episode of the Lawfare Podcast in which Alvaro Marañon spoke with Adam Segal and former Rep. Will Hurd to discuss the latest task force report from the Council on Foreign Relations entitled, “Confronting Reality in Cyberspace: Foreign Policy for a Fragmented Internet.”

Anna Bower summarized the arguments in an Aug. 25 hearing in Fulton County, Georgia where Governor Brian Kemp’s (R) counsel tried to avoid testifying before the special purpose grand jury investigating claims that former President Trump tried to interfere in the 2020 election in Georgia.

Sasha Hondagneu-Messner, Steve McInerney, and Alan Charles Raul argued that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s recently proposed rule on disclosure requirements for cybersecurity risks has serious flaws that could undermine U.S. cybersecurity.

Tia Sewell shared an Aug. 26 report in which U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn recommended that a federal district court judge deny a motion to turn over funds from Afghanistan’s central bank to families of Sept. 11 victims.

Hyemin Han and Sewell shared the Justice Department’s motion opposing former President Trump’s request to appoint a special master to oversee the handling of documents seized at his Mar-a-Lago residence on Aug. 8.

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