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The fog of leaks

Fallout continues from the leak of secret US documents related to the war in Ukraine. The leaked info suggests that Egypt, one of the worlds largest recipients of US military aid, planned to secretly supply Russia with tens of thousands of rockets for use in Ukraine and that the United Arab Emirates, also a key US ally, would help Russia work against US and UK intelligence. Egypt and the UAE say these reports are false.

Another document suggests that US eavesdropping on its ally South Korea indicated that aides to South Koreas president had discussed sending artillery shells to the US or Poland for use by Ukraine, a move that would violate South Koreas policy of refusing to export weapons to any country at war.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has claimed that quite a few of the documents in question were fabricated, but he isnt saying whats true and what isnt. The world may never know who leaked these documents, why they were leaked, and which parts of them, if any, were entirely fabricated or partially altered. But the headaches for those who must now repair damaged international relationships are real, and the domestic political fallout for leaders of some of these countries, particularly South Korea, will continue.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Tuesday that hes suing House Republicans for allegedly interfering in the criminal case against former President Donald Trump.

Braggs lawsuit is focused on the actions of Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee. In the 50-page suit, Bragg accuses Jordan of a transparent campaign to intimidate and attack the district attorney as his office pursues criminal charges against the former president for allegedly breaking campaign finance laws by making a hush-money payment to a porn star.

House Republicans have demanded that Braggs office hand over documents and testimony related to the Trump case, insisting that the committee has oversight rights. Crucially, Jordan had issued a subpoena for Mark F. Pomerantz a former assistant DA under Bragg who left his job last year after reportedly voicing opposition to a wider tax-and-insurance fraud prosecution of Trump to deliver a closed-door deposition. Bragg is suing to have the subpoena invalidated.

Bragg has sued to block the subpoena saying it amounts to an unconstitutional attempt to undermine an ongoing New York felony criminal prosecution and investigation.

Whatever happens, as this case makes its way through the courts, Jordan will be delayed in getting his hands on the documents and testimony he is seeking.

For almost a week now, protests have raged in the Ethiopian region of Amhara over a federal government plan to absorb local security forces into the national army.

The tensions are only the latest example of how fragmented Africas second most populous country has become. It was just months ago that the government finally reached a peace deal with separatist militants from the region of Tigray, ending a gruesome civil war that had displaced millions.

In that conflict, as it happens, Amharas local forces fought alongside the government, pursuing long-standing grievances and territorial claims against their Tigrayan neighbors.

Now Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed wants to eliminate all regional forces of that kind. For Abiy, its necessary to strengthen national unity. He wont back down, he says, even if a price needs to be paid. But the Amharas worry that without those forces, theyll be vulnerable to fresh attacks from other ethnic groups or the federal government itself.

That puts Abiy in a familiar bind. Five years after popular protests swept him to power with a mandate to liberalize Ethiopias political system, he is still struggling to master the countrys ferocious ethnic and regional rivalries.

Excerpt from:
What Were Watching: Pentagon leak fallout, Manhattan DA sues House Republicans, new source of tension in Ethiopia - GZERO Media