Hormuz access claims lead update spanning Ukraine, Brazil and eastern DRC

Off Leash update 15 May

STRAIT OF HORMUZ •The U.S. has been lobbying China to use its influence with Iran to convince Iran to allow ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, and China apparently did so successfully, winning Tehran's approval for safe passage...at least for Chinese ships. •Iranian state media reported that some Chinese ships had been granted safe passage, at their government's request. Most other foreign ships are still stuck inside the Strait, and two that dared to transit without Iran's approval faced severe repercussions. •First, Iranian troops reportedly seized a vessel operating as a "floating armory" - a storage ship for weapons that private security firms use to protect client vessels from piracy or other attacks - in the Gulf of Oman. It's not clear what the Honduras-flagged Hui Chuan was carrying when it was seized, or who it was serving. •In a second incident, an Indian-flagged (and Indian-crewed) vessel, the Haji Ali, reportedly sank off the coast of Oman after a suspected drone or missile attack. The crew evacuated safely, but the livestock it was transporting from Berbera, Somaliland, to Sharjah, UAE, did not.

CHINA •Presidents Trump and Xi continued their summit with smaller, private meetings this morning before Trump bade Xi farewell and left for home. •Both offered positive readouts - Trump called his visit "incredible" and Xi said it was "historic" - but there were no major breakthroughs.

UKRAINE •Ukraine's anti-corruption court ordered the arrest of Pres. Zelensky's former top aide, Andriy Yermak, on money-laundering charges just days after naming Yermak as a suspect in a widening corruption probe. •Yermak maintains his innocence and plans to appeal. The charges against him could nonetheless raise awkward questions for Zelensky if and when he runs for re-election, but they're not likely to threaten Zelensky's current term. •Meanwhile on the front lines, Ukraine's military shared several videos purporting to show Russian soldiers surrending to Ukrainian ground robots, surprising even the company making the robots, DevDroid. •By using robots instead of humans to capture prisoners of war, Ukraine eliminates the risk that surrendering Russian soldiers could attack their captors by detonating a grenade - something Ukraine says has happened before. If they try that with robotic captors, DevDroid points out, they'll merely "destroy some metal, and that's all."

Brazil •Leaked video caught presidential hopeful Flávio Bolsonaro - who is tied with incumbent Pres. Lula in polls ahead of October's election - asking a disgraced and now-jailed banker for R$134 million ($26.8 million) to fund a "heroic" biopic about Flávio's father, former president Jair Bolsonaro. •The revelations appalled Brazilians across the political spectrum. Even Flávio's fellow right-wingers expressed outrage: one called the recordings "a slap in the face to decent Brazilians," and another suggested replacing Flávio on the presidential ticket with his stepmom, Michelle. •Investors also believe the incident could damn Flávio's presidential aspirations: Brazil's stock index fell 2% as investors bet on Lula - whose leftist policies are bad for business - winning reelection.

DRC •The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC Africa) - Africa's top health agency - declared a new Ebola outbreak in DRC's eastern Ituri province. •CDC Africa said 65 deaths and 246 cases of the hemorrhagic fever have been reported in Ituri, mainly in the gold mining towns of Rwampara and Mongwalu. •This is DRC's 17th outbreak of Ebola, which is named after the Congolese river near where it was first identified in 1974. It could be hard to contain in Ituri, where the government has failed to contain an Allied Democratic Forces jihadist insurgency.