Today's Headlines and Commentary

Confirmation hearings for Loretta Lynch, the Obama administration’s nominee for Attorney General, begin today. Lynch, who would replace the oft-maligned Eric Holder, will try to distinguish herself from Holder while echoing his support for President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration. The New York Times has more. Early Wednesday, an Israeli military vehicle was hit with anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon, the Times reports. Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack, which caused several casualties. Israel retaliated by shelling across the Lebanese border; the response injured and may have killed a Spanish UN peacekeeper. Reuters explains that the recent spat of strikes by both sides is the most intense since a 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel. Elsewhere, in response to Syrian rocket attacks into the Israeli-held Golan Heights, Israel conducted airstrikes on Syrian army installations, according to the Associated Press. The aggression along the Israeli-Syrian border comes a week after an Israeli strike in Syria killed an Iranian general. Iran is now threatening retaliation through American intermediaries, Al Jazeera reports. As nuclear talks between Iran and the West continue, Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) released their new Iran sanctions bill, which will impose sanctions on Iran if no nuclear deal is reached by June 30, the Hill notes. But, Politico shares, Senate Democrats have decided to hold off on voting on the bill for two months. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned speech to the US Congress calling for new sanctions on Iran has drawn criticism in both the US and in Israel, the Times reports. While Prime Minister Netanyahu intended the speech to boost his foreign policy credentials before upcoming elections, former members of his administration have called on him to cancel the address. Kurdish fighters have retaken the Syrian city of Kobani, which fell to ISIS last fall. The Associated Press explains that, although US officials credited US airstrikes as a major factor in the victory, the upcoming assault on Mosul in Iraq will require a different approach. The Daily Beast reveals that, despite the US’s consistent emphasis on its support for moderate Syrian rebels, many of these rebel groups have seen their funding disappear, often without even a notification from the US. CNN breaks the news that Jordan has publicly affirmed its willingness to release an ISIS suicide bomber in return for the release of a Jordanian pilot held by the group. In a video released yesterday, ISIS claimed that if the militant was not released, the group would execute the Jordanian hostage along with a Japanese hostage. Later, Jordan announced that ISIS had agreed to the prisoner swap, the Times notes. Militants in Libya stormed a luxury hotel in the nation’s capital of Tripoli on Tuesday, killing at least eight people. The Times reports that a Libyan extremist group calling itself the Tripoli Province of the Islamic State has now claimed responsibility for the attack. In Yemen, Houthi rebels who stormed the presidential palace last week and pushed the Yemeni president to resign have released a senior presidential aide they had held since the operation began, according to the BBC. At the same time, the Times notes, the rebels blamed separatists in southern Yemen for extending the current political crisis. Immediately after President Obama’s visit to India, a symbol of the growing ties between the two nations, Pakistani officials began attacking the president for favoring India over Pakistan, the Los Angeles Times notes. The New York Times explains that China has had a much quieter reaction to the visit, which further cemented ties between two countries that view China’s rise as a threat to their own interests. Reuters shares that the US has signed a deal with Ukraine to provide the country with $2 billion in loan guarantees. While signing the agreement, the US treasury secretary said that, if needed, the US will increase Russia sanctions to halt its aggression in Eastern Ukraine. Foreign Policy argues, however, that such sanctions may be tougher to implement in Europe after the election of a leftist prime minister in Greece, as the election has deepened political divisions within the EU. Shane Harris of the Daily Beast reveals that Russian spies used the Russian news agency Tass--a frequent collaborator with Russian intelligence services--to gain insight into the inner workings and vulnerabilities of US financial markets. In a statement released Tuesday, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) ripped the recent report by a CIA accountability board that cleared the CIA of any wrongdoing in its searches of several computers used by Senate staffers. McClatchy notes that the statement by Feinstein, the former chair of the Senate intelligence committee, whose computers were reportedly breached by CIA employees, calls out several mistakes and omissions in the report. As the sunset of several central provisions of the Patriot Act approaches, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) has called on Congress to permanently extend these provisions. Rubio claims that these provisions, which authorize several of the NSA’s spying programs, are central to maintaining US security. The National Journal covers Rubio’s statements, which took the form of a Fox News opinion piece. DefenseOne notes that the Obama administration plans to propose an increase in military spending for the 2016 fiscal year in the budget it will submit to Congress on Monday. This budget, like others in recent times, will surpass federal spending caps in both the short- and long-term. In court proceedings yesterday, the defense for Abd al Hadi al Iraqi, who allegedly served as an al Qaeda commander from 2002 to 2004, asked the tribunal to dismiss charges against al Hadi. The motion centers on the fact that al Hadi is being tried in an international tribunal by prosecutors using theories founded on domestic criminal law. Reuters covers the proceedings.

ICYMI: Yesterday, on Lawfare

Matt Danzer recapped the first day of the week-long al Hadi military commission hearings for us. Ben shared some developments in the White House drone story and wondered whether the Secret Service is using some of the anti-drone technologies displayed in Lawfare’s own “Lawfare Drone Smackdown.” Wells brought us Senator Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) response to the CIA accountability review board’s report clearing itself of any wrongdoing in the Senate spying case. 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.