Pentagon leaks: Spring offensive downplayed and other key takeaways
Dozens of classified US documents have been leaked and are now circulating on the internet.
Images of the classified files have appeared on messaging app Discord since February.
Complete with timelines and dozens of military acronyms, the documents, some marked "top secret", paint a detailed picture of the war in Ukraine and also offer information on China and allies.
Pentagon officials are quoted as saying the documents are real.
BBC News and other news organisations have reviewed some of the documents and these are some of the key findings.
Airstrikes by Burmese military kill dozens at anti-junta event
Attack targeted opening ceremony for office set up by military’s opponents in Sagaing region of Myanmar
Myanmar’s military has killed dozens of people in airstrikes on an event organised by its domestic opponents, in what is feared to be one of the deadliest attacks since the junta seized power more than two years ago.
Local independent media reported that the attack on Tuesday morning targeted a ceremony marking the opening of an office set up by the military’s opponents in the village of Pa Zi Gyi, in Sagaing region.
The national unity government (NUG), which was set up to oppose the junta, said at least 53 people were confirmed dead, 40 were injured and the death toll was expected to rise.
UN reviewing Afghan operation after Taliban women ban
The UN accused the Taliban of forcing it to choose between abiding by its principles and serving Afghans. The Taliban told the UN it could not employ women in the country; so the UN is considering its mission's future.
The United Nations said it was assessing its mission in Afghanistan, following what it said was a ban by the Taliban rulers against female employment in the multinational organization.
Commenting on last week's ban, the UN on Tuesday described it as unlawful under international law and the UN Charter. It said that, as a result, it could not comply.
The body asked all its employees to stop reporting to the office, except in very specific cases.
The head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) Roza Otunbayeva initiated an operational review until May 5, hinting that the UN might suspend operations.
Egypt’s female social media influencers face arrest, jail on ‘morality’ charges
Egyptian authorities have since 2020 carried out a campaign to silence female social media influencers, using a cybercrime law to detain them on vague charges such as violating “public morals” and “undermining family values”. Last week, TikTok celebrity Salma Elshimy became the latest in a growing list of women to fall foul of the authorities over social media posts.
Elshimy had just landed at Cairo International Airport when she was arrested on April 3 on charges of inciting “debauchery” and “violating family values” through her social media posts. The Egyptian model and influencer with an audience of 3.3 million TikTok followers was returning from a trip to Dubai, where she filed a residency application ahead of a planned move.
Her arrest was reported by a photographer from the United Arab Emirates, who informed the Egyptian news website Mada. According to Qatar-based Middle East Monitor, Egypt’s public prosecutor ordered that she be detained for four days on charges of “spreading immorality” and publishing videos and photographs that “contradict social morals and values”.
Palestinians face expulsions as Israel tightens hold on West Bank
Israeli officials push to increase the budget for settlers to monitor and restrict Palestinian construction to $11m.
Assem Khater wants nothing more than to build a fence around his yard, to protect his three children from falling 4 metres (13 feet) into the adjacent valley while playing.
But if he does that, the 36-year-old risks the demolition of his entire two-storey house by the Israeli army in the village of Bruqin, west of Salfit city in the north of the occupied West Bank.
For the past 17 years, Israeli authorities occupying the West Bank have prohibited Khater from making any changes or additions to the home he finished building when he was 21, on private land he inherited with documentation that bears the name of his late grandfather’s father.
A punch in the face for Xi caricature: Taiwan air force badge goes viral
Taiwanese are rushing to buy patches being worn by their air force pilots that depict a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh – representing China’s leader Xi Jinping – as a defiant symbol of the island’s resistance to Chinese military exercises.
China began three days of military drills around Taiwan on Saturday, a day after the island’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, returned from a brief visit to the United States, where she met US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy despite Beijing’s warnings.
Chinese censors have long targeted representations of Winnie the Pooh – created by British author A.A. Milne – over internet memes that compare the fictional bear to China’s leader.
Alec Hsu, who designed the patch, has been selling it at his shop since last year, but he saw a spike in orders after Taiwan’s military news agency on Saturday published a photo of the patch on the arm of a pilot inspecting a fighter jet.
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