Transnational Bodies

NYT: Russian Intelligence Agencies Push Propaganda Through Alternative Media ahead of U.S. November Elections

July 29, 2020

Declassified U.S. intelligence reveals that Russia is continuing and improving its disinformation campaign during the coronavirus pandemic in an attempt to influence the upcoming U.S. Presidential elections.
Politico: Turkey Passes Law Tightening State Control of Social Media

July 29, 2020

In a move that critics warn will allow the government to further limit free expression, Turkey has passed a law tightening state control on the internet, requiring social media sites with more than 1 million Turkey-based visitors a day to designate a Turkish national as a local representative and comply with orders to remove content within 48 hours.
UK Royal Navy Intercepts Missile-Carrying Russian Submarine in English Channel

July 27, 2020

Shortly after the United Kingdom government's Intelligence and Security Committee accused Russia of interfering in the 2014 Scottish Referendum, engaging in money laundering in London, and conducting cyber warfare, two Royal Navy ships intercepted a missile-carrying Russia submarine in the English Channel.
U.S.-Kremlin Tensions in Mideast as Russians Take Over Two Libyan Oil Facilities

July 27, 2020

Military contractors linked to the Kremlin have seized control of two of Libya’s largest oil facilities in recent weeks, demonstrating how Libya has become a key front in a struggle between the U.S. and Russia for influence in the Middle East and access to strategic assets.
U.S. Supreme Court Approves Nevada Distinction Between Casinos and Churches Pertaining to Pandemic Crowd Size Restrictions

July 27, 2020

In a 5 to 4 order, U. S. Supreme Court approved a Nevada federal court's decision upholding a Nevada pandemic crowd size restriction that petitioners claimed favored casino gatherings over church gatherings, drawing a strong dissent by four other justices.
USJD Files Criminal Charges Against Hackers Working with the Chinese Government to Steal Covid-19 Research

July 22, 2020

The U.S. Justice Department announced that hundreds of millions of dollars worth of intellectual property and trade secrets from worldwide companies were stolen by hackers working with the Chinese government.
Delahunty and Yoo: U.S. Commission on Unalienable Rights Report Confirms Source of Trump Administration's Human Rights Policies

July 20, 2020

Writing in National Review Online, Robert Delahunty and John Yoo explain that the Draft Report of the U.S. State Department's Commision of Unalienable Rights evidences that the Trump Administration "seeks to base human rights in the Bible, the republicanism of the American Founding, and the evolution of freedom ever since," not in those human rights "blessed" by the United Nations.
Advertising Giants Agree to Evaluate Mutual Definition of Hate Speech

July 20, 2020

The Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), which includes advertising giants and big tech companies, is evaluating whether it is possible to develop an industry-wide standard, but non-binding, definition of what constitutes "hate speech."
Williams Analyzes Impact of Recent U.S. State Department Communications on China's South China Sea Activities

July 20, 2020

In a Lawfare post, Robert Williams of Yale Law School analyzes the diplomatic impact of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent statement outlining the “U.S. Position on Maritime Claims in the South China Sea” and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell’s speech setting forth a bill of particulars concerning Chinese misdeeds in the South China Sea and beyond.
U.S. Warns Firms About Sanctions for Work on Russian Pipelines

July 20, 2020

U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo announced that sanctions will be placed on firms working on the installation of the Russian pipeline Nord Stream 2, calling the project “the Kremlin's key tool to exploit and expand European dependence on Russian energy supplies” that “ultimately undermine transatlantic security.”