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Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at two U.S. cases on leaked classified materials, sexual abuse allegations in the Church of England, and Somaliland’s presidential election.
Intelligence Leaks
U.S. authorities have charged a CIA official with leaking highly classified intelligence that appeared to detail Israeli military plans to retaliate against Iran for its Oct. 1 ballistic missile attack, in which Tehran fired nearly 200 projectiles at Israel. Asif Rahman was indicted last Thursday in a Virginia federal court on two counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information. The FBI arrested Rahman in Cambodia on Tuesday and transported him to the U.S. territory of Guam, where he will face charges on Thursday. The CIA declined to comment on Rahman’s case.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at two U.S. cases on leaked classified materials, sexual abuse allegations in the Church of England, and Somaliland’s presidential election.
Intelligence Leaks
U.S. authorities have charged a CIA official with leaking highly classified intelligence that appeared to detail Israeli military plans to retaliate against Iran for its Oct. 1 ballistic missile attack, in which Tehran fired nearly 200 projectiles at Israel. Asif Rahman was indicted last Thursday in a Virginia federal court on two counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information. The FBI arrested Rahman in Cambodia on Tuesday and transported him to the U.S. territory of Guam, where he will face charges on Thursday. The CIA declined to comment on Rahman’s case.
The documents, attributed to the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, contained interpretations of satellite imagery. They reportedly showed the types of aircraft or weapons that Israel considered using and the movement of Israeli munitions and tracked Israeli exercises in preparation for an attack. Intelligence experts said the documents began circulating on Telegram last month, just days before Israel targeted military and missile production sites in Iran.
Officials arrested Rahman on the same day that U.S. prosecutors sentenced Airman 1st Class Jack Teixeira to a 15-year prison term for sharing classified materials on Discord. Teixeira, 22, was arrested in April 2023 for posting details on Russian and Ukrainian troop movements as well as on equipment supply efforts to Kyiv, including on how the materials would be transported and used.
U.S. officials said the leak may have compromised how Washington gathers intelligence. This was “one of the most significant and consequential violations of the Espionage Act in American history,” prosecutors said, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Dolan adding that Teixeira’s conduct and offenses were “unparalleled in breadth, in depth, and in quality of the information.” Defense Department Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said on Tuesday that the Pentagon “is confident that the appropriate steps have been taken to mitigate additional leaks.”
Teixeira changed his plea to guilty in March on six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information. His defense sought an 11-year sentence, but prosecutors argued that Teixeira deliberately posted information to feed his ego and impress anonymous friends, thereby demanding a harsher sentence. “I’m sorry for all the harm that I’ve wrought and that I’ve caused,” Teixeira said.
The 22-year-old faces a military court martial in the spring, which could determine whether he is dishonorably discharged from the military or faces other repercussions.
Today’s Most Read
What We’re Following
Sexual abuse scandal. The head of the Church of England resigned on Tuesday after an independent investigation found that he had failed to inform police about reports of physical and sexual abuse at Christian summer camps. “It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatizing period between 2013 and 2024,” Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said.
Last Thursday, the church released a 251-page report from the investigation concluding that Welby failed to report John Smyth—an attorney who sexually, psychologically, and physically abused more than 100 boys and young men in the United Kingdom and Africa from the 1970s until his death in 2018—when he first learned of Smyth’s actions in 2013. Had he done so, the report said Welby could have spared many future victims.
Welby claims that he did not inform police because he was wrongly told that officials were already investigating the matter; however, he took responsibility for not ensuring that the allegations were pursued as “energetically” as possible. Welby’s resignation is the latest in a slew of sexual abuse scandals to rock Christian institutions in recent years.
Vote for recognition. After a two-year postponement due to time and financial constraints, Somaliland finally held a presidential election on Wednesday. Incumbent President Muse Bihi Abdi is seeking reelection against opposition leader Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullah, known as Cirro. Key issues for voters include rising costs of living, territorial tensions with rebels in the disputed Las Anod autonomous region, and Somaliland’s international recognition.
The self-declared state broke away from Somalia in 1991 and has since held four general elections. However, Somaliland is currently not recognized by any country. Officials are hoping that Somaliland will sign a land deal with Ethiopia to give Addis Ababa some costal access in exchange for eventual diplomatic recognition. But hopes for such a deal have collapsed Somali-Ethiopian relations, which Cirro has blamed Bihi for causing.
No U.S. flights to Haiti. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration announced on Tuesday that it will prohibit U.S. flights to Haiti for 30 days after armed gangs shot three U.S. planes in Port-au-Prince on Monday. The United Nations also announced a temporary suspension of flights to the capital, which experts warn could limit the amount of humanitarian aid that enters the country. Flights will instead be diverted to the country’s second airport in Cap Haïtien.
Gang violence continues to roil the Caribbean nation. The U.N. believes that gangs currently control around 85 percent of the country’s capital despite the deployment of a Kenyan-led police force to help quell the unrest. Tensions escalated this weekend after Haiti’s governing council fired interim Prime Minister Garry Conille after just six months on the job, replacing him with Alix Didier Fils-Aimé.
Odds and Ends
At FP, we’re all too familiar with the idea of “small d” democrats. Now, Prince William is adding another letter to the alphabet game. In one of his clearest hints yet as to how he will approach the monarchy when he eventually takes the throne, William said on Saturday that he will address royal duties with a “smaller r in the royal.” “It’s more about impact philanthropy, collaboration, convening and helping people,” he added.