Colombia earthquake death toll rises to 256
Rescuers are still finding survivors after Colombia’s 7.4-magnitude earthquake, as casualty figures rise to 256....
Two senior advisers to US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth have been placed on administrative leave as the Pentagon investigates an alleged unauthorised disclosure of sensitive national security information.
Fox News has reported that one of US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s top advisers, Dan Caldwell, has been placed on administrative leave for allegedly disclosing information without authorisation. Citing a Defence Department official, the report stated that Caldwell was suspended amid a growing investigation into the leak of sensitive communications.
Caldwell, who has previously called for a significant reduction of the US military presence in Europe and the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq and Syria, is now under investigation following a March 21 memo signed by Department of Defense Chief of Staff Joe Kasper. The memo ordered a probe into “recent unauthorised disclosures of national security information involving sensitive communications” and authorised the use of polygraphs in accordance with legal and policy guidelines.
In a separate development, Fox News also reported that Darin Selnick, Hegseth’s deputy chief of staff, was placed on leave the same day. Selnick, a retired Air Force officer and long-time veterans’ affairs advocate, was reportedly escorted from the building.
Both Caldwell and Selnick, formerly associated with the group Concerned Veterans for America — which was once led by Hegseth — are now under scrutiny as part of a broader investigation launched in March.
At present, no confirmed link has been established between either official and the alleged leak.
Disruption in the Strait of Hormuz has increased the strategic importance of Bab al-Mandab, raising fears that instability in both waterways could trigger a wider global energy and trade crisis.
Iran and the United States remain at loggerheads over efforts to agree a permanent end to the war in the Gulf, according to a senior Iranian source who said there had been no progress in talks to revive the interim deal agreed in June and define a timeframe to implement it.
U.S. President Donald Trump has called for Iran to pay compensation for decades of deaths and damage, adding a new demand to peace talks as Tehran seeks compensation and sanctions relief before reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
A criminal court in Damascus has sentenced former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia for premeditated murder, torture, arbitrary detention and crimes against humanity, according to Syria’s state news agency SANA.
Millions of people across Spain and Iceland are preparing on Wednesday to witness a rare total solar eclipse, when the moon will pass directly between Earth and the Sun, briefly turning daylight into darkness along a narrow path.
Rescuers are still finding survivors after Colombia’s 7.4-magnitude earthquake, as casualty figures rise to 256.
Millions of people across Spain and Iceland are preparing on Wednesday to witness a rare total solar eclipse, when the moon will pass directly between Earth and the Sun, briefly turning daylight into darkness along a narrow path.
Ukraine has agreed to refrain from targeting certain tankers using Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk following a request from U.S. Vice President JD Vance, the Financial Times reported, although Kyiv has continued strikes on Russian targets at the port.
Taiwan has criticised a planned joint naval exercise involving China and Indonesia near its eastern waters, describing it as a politically charged move designed to strengthen Beijing's claims over areas surrounding the island.
An overnight Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk killed an eight-year-old child, injured others and damaged residential buildings, port infrastructure and grain facilities, Russian officials and industry sources said on Wednesday.
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