Today’s Headlines and Commentary
Last night, the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting to discuss the worsening crisis in Ukraine, reports CNN. The Ukrainian government set a Monday 9 a.m.
Published by The Lawfare Institute
in Cooperation With
Last night, the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting to discuss the worsening crisis in Ukraine, reports CNN. The Ukrainian government set a Monday 9 a.m. deadline for pro-Russian militants to vacate buildings across eastern Ukraine, reports the New York Times; the deadline was ignored. The country's acting President Oleksandr Turchynov has requested the deployment of UN peacekeeping troops for an "anti-terrorist operation" to be conducted jointly with Ukrainian security forces against the insurgents, reports the Associated Press.
On Friday the White House announced it would block Iran's proposed envoy to the UN, Hamid Aboutalebi, from entering the United States, one day after the House of Representatives voted unanimously to bar entry to those involved in terrorism or deemed a threat to U.S. security; Aboutalebi was allegedly involved in the 1979 seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The Washington Post has more. Iran has officially lodged a complaint with the UN over the ban, reports Reuters.
The sanctions relief promised as part of the temporary nuclear accord between Iran and major world powers has translated into little economic relief for Iranians. The NY Times speculates as to what that means for Iran's willingness to negotiate a permanent deal by the July 20 deadline.
In an address at Damascus University, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad claimed to have reached a "turning point" in the country's three-year civil war, noting that his army was winning "the war against terror." The BBC reports.
Libya's interim prime minister, Abdullah al-Thinni, announced on Sunday that he is stepping down. His announcement came a day after Thinni and his family were allegedly attacked in a residential neighborhood, possibly by militiamen, writes the New York Times.
Where is Sharif Mobley? The American jailed for over four years in Yemen has disappeared after allegedly making contact with an American-born radical preacher and being grabbed off the street by Yemeni security agents in 2010; his attorneys have not seen him since late February. Here's the Washington Post story.
Two bombs blasted through Nyanya motor park in Nigeria's capital on Monday. No one has officially claimed responsibility, but bus stations have been a major target for the country's Islamist militants. At least 71 are dead, reports the Associated Press.
Former Ku Klux Klan leader Frazier Glenn Cross, the subject of a 1987 federal manhunt, has been arrested for allegedly gunning down three people at a Jewish community center and Jewish retirement complex near Kansas City, reports the AP. Attorney General Eric Holder has instructed the DOJ to determine whether the shootings broke federal hate crimes law. See the AP by way of ABC.
Last night Guantanamo defense lawyers filed for an urgent hearing on the grounds that FBI agents turned a security officer on Yemeni detainee Ramzi bin al Shibh into a "confidential informant," creating a conflict-of-interest in the 9/11 case. The Miami Herald has the story.
The Heartbleed security nightmare is shedding light on how NSA exploits zero days to access secure networks, says the Wall Street Journal. On Friday, Bloomberg reported that NSA knew about the flaw for at least two years, prompting a flat denial from ODNI: "NSA was not aware of the recently identified vulnerability in OpenSSL, the so-called Heartbleed vulnerability, until it was made public in a private sector cybersecurity report. Reports that say otherwise are wrong."
Al Jazeera America is reporting that the fine print of a $1.5 billion contract between USAID and a firm contracted by the U.S. government to help set up a Twitter-style social network in Cuba suggested some classified work could be involved.
The Pentagon will be turning old drones into wi-fi hotspots, reports the BBC. Darpa has just completed the first of three test phases, but not everybody is happy about it. According to Chris Cole, editor of Drone Wars UK, "Regardless of whether drones are delivering weapons or wi-fi it seems that the growing use of unmanned systems simply means more war and less overall security in the future."
Email the Roundup Team noteworthy law and security-related articles to include, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for additional commentary on these issues. Sign up to receive Lawfare in your inbox. Visit our Events Calendar to learn about upcoming national security events, and check out relevant job openings on our Job Board.
Jane Chong is former deputy managing editor of Lawfare. She served as a law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and is a graduate of Yale Law School and Duke University.
