Just Security | The Early Edition : Monday, April 25, 2022

 



The Early Edition

Twitter icon     Monday, April 25, 2022     Facebook icon
                                                                                                                               
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U.S. RELATIONS

FBI Director Christopher Wray said yesterday that the current scale of espionage and cybersecurity threats from China were “unprecedented in history.” He noted that China’s hacking program is larger “than that of every other major nation combined,” adding that China’s targets span nearly every sector of the economy. Monique Balls reports for The Hill.  

The Chinese government is not only mistreating Uyghurs within China's borders, it is hunting them down abroad with help from countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, according to a new report by the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Kissinger Institute on China and the U.S.. More than 5,500 Uyghurs outside of China have been targeted by Beijing, hit with cyberattacks and threats to family members who remain in China, and more than 1,500 Uyghurs have been detained or forced to return to China to face imprisonment and torture in police custody, according to the report. Anna Schecter reports for NBC News. 

President Biden yesterday issued a statement memorializing the Armenian genocide. “Let us redouble our efforts toward healing and building the better, more peaceful world that we wish for our children … A world where human rights are respected, where the evils of bigotry and intolerance do not mark our daily lives, and where people everywhere are free to pursue their lives in dignity and security,” the statement said. David Cohen reports for POLITICO. 

OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Emmanuel Macron won a second term as president of France yesterday, triumphing over his far-right challenger, Marine Le Pen. Projections at the close of voting, which are generally reliable, showed Macron gaining 58.5 per cent of the vote to Le Pen’s 41.5 per cent. His victory was much narrower than in 2017 when the margin was 66.1 per cent to 33.9 per cent for Le Pen. Roger Cohen reports for the New York Times. 

Preliminary results for Slovenia’s parliamentary elections show that right-wing Prime Minister Janez Jansa has lost to centrist rivals. With 95 per cent of the vote counted, results indicated that Jansa’s Slovenian Democratic Party had won around 24 per cent of the vote. That is far behind the 34 per cent of its main rival, the centrist Freedom Movement, meaning that Jansa is highly unlikely to keep his post as prime minister. Andrew Higgins reports for the New York Times. 

Israel yesterday closed its civilian border crossing with the Gaza Strip, preventing thousands of Gazans from getting to work in Israel, in an effort to pressure Gaza’s ruler Hamas to halt rocket attacks against southern Israel. The closure comes after Palestinian militants fired two rockets at Israel Friday night and one on Saturday morning. Dov Lieber reports for the Wall Street Journal

Hundreds of Arab militia fighters, attacked a village in Sudan’s western Darfur region yesterday, torching homes and shops and killing at least 150 people, according to aid groups and U.N. officials. The violence, which later spread to a nearby town, was the latest in a series of clashes involving Arab and ethnic African groups in Darfur in recent months. Declan Walsh reports for the New York Times. 

British man, Luke Symons, who was held captive in Yemen without charge or trial for five years has been released from jail. U.K. foreign secretary, Liz Truss, confirmed yesterday that Symons “would shortly be reunited with his family.” She thanked Omani and Saudi negotiators as well as U.K. Foreign Office staff as he was released alongside 13 other foreign nationals in Yemen. Joe Middleton reports for the Guardian. 

Three policemen were killed in central Nigeria’s Kogi state on Saturday after gunmen stormed a police station in an attack claimed by Islamic State. The attack came a day after explosives planted at a bar in northeast Nigeria injured 11 people. Anna MacSwan reports for the Guardian. 

Health authorities in the Democratic Republic and Congo have declared a new outbreak of Ebola, the Work Health organisation reported yesterday. So far, just one case has been confirmed and investigations to determine the source of the outbreak are ongoing. U.N. News Centre reports. 

Saudi princes have sold more than $600 million worth of real estate, yachts and artwork in the U.S. and Europe since the kingdom’s de facto ruler Prince Mohammed bin Salman tightened the purse strings of the ultrawealthy ruling family. The transactions represent a radical change of fortune for senior princes who funnelled windfalls from oil booms in the 1970s and 1980s into some of the world’s most exclusive markets. “They’ve clearly been cut down to a disciplined, defined regimen and are having to live on that,” said British historian Robert Lacey, who has chronicled the Saudi ruling family since the 1980s. Prince Mohammed is “here for the long term and he’s reshaping things in a long-term fashion.” Stephen Kalin reports for the Wall Street Journal. 

JAN. 6, 2021 ATTACK 

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) was confronted in court on Friday over past social media posts advocating violence against Democrats. At the hearing in Atlanta, to determine if Greene is constitutionally barred from running for reelection because of her alleged role in the Jan. 6 attack, the congressperson repeatedly said she couldn't remember past comments or interactions. Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck report for CNN. 

OTHER DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS

Twitter Inc. is in discussions to sell itself to Elon Musk and could finalize a deal as soon as this week. The two sides met Sunday to discuss Musk’s proposal and were making progress, according to sources familiar with the matter. However, there is no guarantee they will reach a deal. Cara Lombardo and Dana Cimilluca report for the Wall Street Journal. 

A U.S. Air Force general officer has been found guilty of abusive sexual contact, in the first-ever court-martial trial and conviction of a general officer in the history of the military branch. Maj. Gen. William T. Cooley was found guilty on one of three specifications of sexual assault connected to a 2018 incident in New Mexico, the Air Force said in a statement. Aaron Pellish reports for CNN

The Supreme Court will hear arguments today in the case of Joseph Kennedy - a Washington state high school football coach who lost his job after he refused to stop praying on the field immediately after games. “There is good reason to think that its newly expanded conservative majority will not only rule in Kennedy’s favor but also make a major statement about the role religion may play in public life,” Adam Liptak reports for the New York Times. 

This morning a judge will consider whether to hold former President Trump in contempt for violating a court order that he comply with a subpoena regarding a civil investigation into his business practices. New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) is asking a state court judge to fine Trump $10,000 for each day that he has failed to turn over documents relevant to the subpoena. Harper Neidig reports for The Hill. 

FBI Director Christopher Wray yesterday highlighted an increase in violence against police officers last year, including a jump in police murders. “Violence against law enforcement in this country is one of the biggest phenomena that I think doesn’t get enough attention,” Wray said in an interview, adding that in 2021, “officers were being killed at a rate of almost one every five days.” Monique Beals reports for The Hill. 

A Colorado man who set himself on fire in front of the Supreme Court on Friday in an apparent Earth Day protest against climate change has died. The Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, D.C., said that Wynn Bruce, 50, of Boulder, Colo., died on Saturday from his injuries after being airlifted to a hospital following the incident. Chris Cameron reports for the New York Times.

COVID-19

COVID-19 has infected over 80.98 million people and has now killed over 991.254 people in the United States, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Globally, there have been over 507.56 million confirmed coronavirus cases and over 6.21 million deaths. Sergio Hernandez, Sean O’Key, Amanda Watts, Byron Manley and Henrik Pettersson report for CNN.

A map and analysis of the vaccine roll out across the U.S. is available at the New York Times.

A map and analysis of all confirmed cases of the virus in the U.S. is available at the New York Times.

U.S. and worldwide maps tracking the spread of the pandemic are available at the Washington Post.

A state-by-state guide to lockdown measures and reopenings is provided by the New York Times.

ICYMI: Last Week on Just Security
How Can We Protect Cultural Heritage in Ukraine? Five Key Steps for the Int’l Community
by Brian I. Daniels

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by Just Security

Як ми можемо захистити культурну спадщину в Україні? П’ять основних кроків для міжнародної спільноти
by Brian I. Daniels

Time for the International Community to Get Serious About Protecting Human Rights in Afghanistan
by Nasir A. Andisha and Hamid A. Formuli

Legal Frameworks for Assessing the Use of Starvation in Ukraine
by Tom Dannenbaum
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