A.M. Links: White House Leaked Bin Laden Details, U.S. Easing Burma Sanctions, Greek Tragedy Continues
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Leaks to two New York Times national security reporters about operational details of the bin Laden raid actually came from the White House, one of the reporters explained at the opening of the Counter Terror Expo in Washington, as the national security reporters also explained how sensitive they were to government and military requests to sit on stories that could harm ongoing operations.
- The United States is easing sanctions on Myanmar, allowing the export of financial services and investment into the country known as Burma until the army took over in 1989. The special envoy will also be elevated to the status of Ambassador. Some restrictions will remain. "The United States remains concerned about Burma's closed political system, its treatment of minorities and detention of political prisoners, and its relationship with North Korea," President Obama said in a statement.
- Greece has found a government to lead it, into next month's repeat elections.
- The leader of the far left party leading in the polls for that election, meanwhile, said it wouldn't be in the European Union's best interests to cut off funding to Greece. SYRIZA's Alexis Tsipras predicted, in fact, that the euro would collapse if Greece withdrew from the currency. The country's credit rating was downgraded further into junk status by Fitch's.
- The House Appropriations Committee approved a marked-up 2013 State Department funding bill that would re-instate the "Mexico City policy," prohibiting NGOs who receive U.S. aid from providing or promoting abortions.
- TED, the non-profit dedicating itself to "ideas worth sharing," was accused of "censoring" a talk by a venture capitalist about income inequality and job creation it opted not to post online. TED called the censorship accusation misleading, panning the contents of the talk, and releasing the video.
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