live U.S. weighs early end to Iran war despite Hormuz closure - Middle East conflict on 31 March
The Iran-U.S.-Israel conflict is escalating further with missile and drone attacks, expanded strikes on key infrastructure, and growing regional fa...
The White House allegedly ordered a halt to Pentagon lie detector tests after claims they targeted top officials.
The White House has reportedly intervened to suspend the use of lie detector (polygraph) tests at the U.S. Department of Defense after concerns were raised that senior officials were being unfairly targeted.
According to The Washington Post, unnamed sources said the tests were initially introduced with the approval of Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to deter unauthorised disclosures to the media. However, the practice faced internal backlash when Patrick Weaver, one of Hegseth’s senior advisers, reportedly voiced concern about being subjected to a test himself.
Officials said Weaver complained directly to the White House, alleging that the polygraph programme was being misused to single out high-level staff. A source close to President Donald Trump's administration allegedly made a phone call to intervene, leading to an order halting the tests.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell declined to comment, citing an ongoing investigation.
Polygraph tests, commonly referred to as “lie detectors,” measure physiological data such as heart rate and blood pressure in an attempt to assess truthfulness.
On 23 March, Hegseth’s chief of staff Joe Kasper announced an internal probe into leaks and said polygraph tests would be used in accordance with legal standards. He warned that any individual found to have breached disclosure rules could face criminal prosecution.
In April, multiple senior staff—including senior adviser Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick, and deputy defence secretary aide Colin Carroll—were dismissed as part of the leak investigations.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said that the U.S is in talks with the new Iranian regime. He said this in a post on his Truth Social account but warned that the U.S. will "Obliterate" Iran's electric and oil facilities if no deal is reached, especially regarding the Strait of Hormuz closure.
Cuba and the United States have been at odds for more than six decades, with tensions rooted in the 1959 revolution that transformed the island’s political and economic system. Renewed focus on relations comes as Donald Trump’s rhetoric intensifies and conditions on the island worsen.
NASA is aiming to launch its Artemis 2 mission on Wednesday (1 April), sending astronauts on a 10-day journey around the Moon, officials confirmed. According to the Space Administration, the launch window is due to open at 23:24 GMT, with additional opportunities to 6 April if delays occur.
The four astronauts selected for NASA’s Artemis II mission have arrived in Florida, entering the final phase of preparations for the first crewed journey towards the Moon in more than five decades
Russian drone attacks on Ukraine have killed four people, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday (28 March).
At least 70 people have been killed and more than 30 wounded in a gang attack in Haiti’s Artibonite region, according to two rights organisations, as thousands of residents fled the violence in the towns of Jean Denis and Pont Sondé.
Russia has expelled a British diplomat, accusing him of economic espionage in a move that further strains already tense relations between Moscow and London. The United Kingdom described the action as intimidation and rejected the allegations outright, Reuters reports.
Two sailboats carrying humanitarian aid from Mexico arrived safely in Havana on Saturday, the Mexican Navy said, concluding a journey in which the vessels were delayed by bad weather and briefly reported missing.
China imposed sanctions on Japanese lawmaker Keiji Furuya on Monday, who is a close aide of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, due to his "collusion with Taiwan independence" forces, in its latest move in a diplomatic row over Taiwan.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he talked about a possible security partnership on Sunday with Jordan's King Abdullah over defending against drone attacks amid rising tensions over the Iran conflict.
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