Today's Headlines and Commentary

The EU Parliament has voted to suspend Hungary’s voting rights within the European Union in response to President Viktor Orban’s increasingly illiberal policies, says the New York Times.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Moscow had located the two Russians accused of poisoning former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Julia, stating that the two men were civilians, marking a shift from Russia’s previous position of suggesting that they could have been made up, reports the Times.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with Russian President Vladimir Putin this morning to address a 70-year dispute over the South Kuril Islands, and to discuss a possible peace accord.

As the Trump administration is poised to levy tariffs on an additional $200 billion of Chinese goods, the White House is also proposing a new round of trade talks with Beijing to address key issues such as subsidies and shared ownership, says the Journal.

The U.S. is in preliminary talks with Athens to expand its military base presence in Greece, potentially a signal that rising tensions with Turkey are calling into question the long term viability of Incirlik air base, reports the Journal. Officials denied such thinking.

Iranian Nuclear Chief Ali Akbar Salehi and parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani said this week that the recently completed Natanz enrichment facility can now build centrifuges that enrich uranium 10 times as fast as before but that Tehran is still committed to salvaging the 2015 nuclear agreement, according to the Washington Post.

Yesterday on Lawfare

J. Dana Suster posted this week’s Middle East Ticker, covering the resurge of bombings in Syria, the subsequent influx of refugees into Turkey, the instability of Iraq’s new government, and the U.S.’s response to all of these events.

Robert Chesney analyzed the post-9/11 shift in national-security focus away from terrorism and counterterrorism.

Stewart Baker announced a new series of interviews on this week’s Cyberlaw Podcast, starting with an episode with Bruce Schneier on his new book, “Click Here to Kill Everybody: Security and Survival in a Hyper-Connected World.”

Carrie Cordero discussed the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations on strengthening Congressional oversight and how the commission’s call to action remains relevant today.

David Bosco analyzed national security adviser John Bolton’s speech—and whether Mr. Bolton’s threats toward the International Criminal Court can realistically come to fruition.

Mikhaila Fogel posted a new internship opening at Lawfare for spring 2019

Jack Goldsmith flagged two essays, one by Mary DeRosa and the other by Christopher Fonzone and Dana Remnus, on lawyering for the president in a time of crisis.

Jen Patja Howell posted a new episode of the Lawfare Podcast,a conversation with Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, and former CIA director John Brennan.

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