A fresh thunderstorm warning has been issued, hours after the last storm warning across Wales with a further nine regions to be lashed by thunder, lightning, large hail, and gusty winds

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The Met Office has issued a fresh yellow thunderstorm warning for nine areas across Wales as heavy rain is expected to replace the warm weather.

The yellow weather alert follows earlier storm warnings, which came into force for much of the country at 3pm on Wednesday. There is potential for areas to be hit with “torrential downpours of rain, frequent lightning, large hail and strong, gusty winds”.

The forecaster has now put a fresh warning in its place from 12am until 4am on Thursday, May 28 with nine areas at risk across Wales.

As well as Wales, the warning covers parts of East Midlands, London and South East England, North West England, South West England, West Midlands.

42 regions in total have been warned to prepare for thunderstorms under the Met Office yellow warning.

The forecast predicts these areas can expect frequent lightning and heavy downpours of rain throughout this period.

Alongside the wet conditions there is also likely to be hail and strong and gusty winds in certain regions.

The new warning was announced at 11.52pm on Wednesday evening as a previous yellow warning was set to end at midnight.

A Met Office forecast said: “Thunderstorms will continue to affect parts of England and Wales and are likely to become increasingly confined to northern and eastern parts of the warning area during the course of the early hours.

“While many places will miss the worst conditions, where thunderstorms do occur frequent lightning and heavy downpours are likely. Hail and strong, gusty winds may also affect a few places.”

The warning brings a strong chance that travel conditions will be impacted, with journey times by car and bus expected to take longer.

There is also a chance of flooding in some areas with a possible chance of damage to a few buildings and structures from lightning strikes. There may also be a chance of power cuts, so the weather bureau has warned people across Wales to be prepared.

The Met Office warned: “If you find yourself outside and hear thunder, protect yourself by finding a safe enclosed shelter (such as a car).

“Do not shelter under or near trees, or other structures which may be struck by lightning. If you are on an elevated area move to lower ground.”

Full list of local areas affected

East Midlands Derby, Derbyshire, Leicester, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire London and South East England Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Southampton, West Berkshire North West England Blackburn with Darwen, Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Greater Manchester, Halton, Lancashire, Merseyside, Warrington South West England Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Swindon, Wiltshire Wales Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd, Isle of Anglesey, Powys, Wrexham West Midlands Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Telford and Wrekin, Warwickshire, West Midlands Conurbation, Worcestershire

MIAMI (AP) — The Trump administration has quietly instructed federal prosecutors in Miami to avoid pursuing criminal investigations into Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez, a longtime target of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, according to current and former U.S. law enforcement officials, in the latest sign of warming relations between the White House and the oil-rich nation.

It’s unclear whether prosecutors had implicated Rodríguez in any crimes or whether investigators were moving toward an indictment. A Justice Department spokesperson said in an email “there was never an investigation into her to shut down.”

But DEA records obtained by The Associated Press earlier this year show she consistently surfaced on the radar of federal law enforcement dating to at least 2018, though she has never been criminally charged in the U.S. like several other senior Venezuelan officials.

The directive to pause scrutiny into Rodríguez was meant to avoid upsetting the administration’s efforts to stabilize Venezuela after the capture of her predecessor, Nicolás Maduro, among other reasons, the official said. It was not clear whether the White House, which deferred comment to the Justice Department, was involved in the decision.

“Everybody has been told to stand down,” one of the former officials said.

The former officials, who had been briefed on the development, as well as the current official all spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss internal deliberations.

Rodríguez, a U.S. attorney representing her and the Venezuelan Communications Ministry didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The move eases pressure on Rodriguez

Removing the threat of potential indictment, even temporarily, eases pressure on Rodríguez as the Trump administration seeks to work with the acting leader to stabilize Venezuela after Maduro’s ouster and open the country to U.S. investment.

President Donald Trump praised Rodríguez as a “terrific person” shortly after the U.S. military took Maduro and his wife to New York to face federal narcotics charges. Both have pleaded not guilty.

In recent months, the U.S. has lifted sanctions against Rodríguez and recognized her as Venezuela’s sole head of state, allowing her to re-establish ties with western banks and more freely work with U.S. investors seeking to tap into the world’s largest petroleum reserves. As ties between the two governments have deepened, some have held out the Venezuelan playbook — characterized by oil blockades, indictments of top leaders, and threats of military intervention — as a model to drive regime change from within as the U.S. pressures other longtime adversaries in Iran and Cuba.

Rodríguez and her brother, Jorge Rodríguez, the head of the National Assembly, were hit with U.S. sanctions during Trump’s first term for their role in undermining Venezuelan democracy and cementing Maduro’s authoritarian rule.

Rodríguez “is doing a great job,” Trump wrote on social media in early March. “The Oil is beginning to flow, and the professionalism and dedication between both Countries is a very nice thing to see!”

In recent months, Rodríguez has hosted ceremonies with a steady stream of American oilmen, some of them partaking in high-profile delegations led by U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum.

Election talk deferred amid Trump’s praise

Missing in all the mutual backslapping is any talk of elections, even as Rodríguez last month blew through a 90-day limit set by Venezuela’s high court to fill Maduro’s position on a temporary basis.

“I don’t know,” she responded in English when a visiting U.S. journalist earlier this month shouted out a question about her time frame for holding elections. “Some time.”

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has demanded the administration explain its favorable treatment of Rodríguez, calling her a “central figure in Nicolás Maduro’s repressive regime.”

“Sanctions have been lifted on Ms. Rodríguez without any indication that she has taken concrete and meaningful actions to restore democratic order,” Sheehan, joined by Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent last week.

Rick de la Torre, a former CIA chief of station in Caracas, said that the decision to shield Rodríguez fits well with the Trump administration’s foreign policy goals in Venezuela.

“She’s a lifelong Marxist and was a senior leader of one of the world’s most corrupt regimes but the U.S. is providing her with breathing space and carrots to lay the foundation for democracy and U.S. investment,” said de la Torre, the CEO of Tower Strategy, which advises companies on Venezuela.

“There’s a shelf life to her utility, however. At some point she will face justice.,” he added.

Rodríguez has been on DEA’s radar since 2018

The DEA had amassed a detailed intelligence file on Rodríguez dating to at least 2018, and has received allegations about her ranging from drug trafficking to gold smuggling, the AP reported earlier this year. One confidential informant told DEA in early 2021 that Rodríguez was using hotels in the Caribbean resort of Isla Margarita “as a front to launder money,” the records show.

Her name has surfaced in nearly a dozen DEA investigations — several of which remained ongoing as recently as this year — involving field offices from Paraguay and Ecuador to Phoenix and New York. She had even been linked to Maduro’s alleged bag man, Alex Saab, whom U.S. authorities first arrested in 2020 on money-laundering charges, the records show.

Rodríguez deported Saab this month as part of a purge of insider businessmen who are accused of having enriched themselves through corrupt dealings with Maduro.

It’s unclear in which Miami investigations Rodríguez’s name surfaced. Two of the former officials said Rodríguez has also come up in meetings with investigators in Tampa tasked last year by former Attorney General Pam Bondi with looking into financial crimes in Venezuela.

At the time, Rodríguez was serving as Maduro’s vice president. Justice Department policy requires the attorney general to personally approve the charging of any foreign head of state, who are normally immune from prosecution under international and U.S. law.

Halting high-profile criminal probes of foreign leaders

The pausing of the investigations into Rodríguez comes as the Trump administration has similarly tapped the brakes on ongoing federal investigations into another prominent Latin American leftist, Colombian President Gustavo Petro.

The DEA had also designated Petro a “priority target” over alleged ties to drug traffickers that had been probed for months by federal prosecutors. The New York Times reported in March that U.S. officials recently assured the Colombian government Petro does not face charges in those cases.

Duncan Levin, a former prosecutor who worked for the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn, said it would be “deeply troubling” for law enforcement to be “told to stand down from a legitimate investigation for political or transactional reasons.”

“The White House cannot use criminal enforcement as a diplomatic light switch,” Levin told AP. “DOJ decisions are supposed to be based on law, evidence, policy and public safety — not on whether a foreign official is useful to the administration at a given moment.”

___ Durkin Richer reported from Washington and Mustian from New York. AP Writer Regina Garcia Cano in Mexico City contributed to this report.

___

This story is part of an investigation that includes the FRONTLINE documentary “Crisis in Venezuela,” which aired Feb. 10, 2026, on PBS. Watch the documentary at pbs.org/frontline, in the PBS App and on FRONTLINE’s YouTube channel.

The Trump administration on Wednesday placed additional sanctions on Iran as part of a sprawling economic pressure campaign during the war, this time targeting the country’s newly created agency that is trying to control shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

The sanctions were announced late Wednesday after U.S. forces carried out strikes on an Iran military facility after downing Iranian attack drones, according to U.S. officials who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The sanctions move, first reported by The Associated Press, is the latest U.S. effort to use economic leverage on top of military action to push Iran’s leadership into an agreement to end the war and open the waterway where a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas normally passes. President Donald Trump has said a deal is imminent, but talks are ongoing.

Rising energy prices and other costs stemming from Iran’s effective closure of the strait have heaped political pressure on Trump and other Republicans ahead of the midterm congressional elections.

“The Iranian military’s latest attempt to extort global maritime trade is proof that Economic Fury has left the regime desperate for cash,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

The sanctions target Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority and any person or entity cooperating with the agency, announced earlier this month, that approves transit in the strait and charges tolls that could reach as high as $2 million per vessel.

Iran’s powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has defended this oversight effort, saying the only safe route for transit through the critical waterway is through the corridor it has designated and saying any ships that deviate from that path face a series of attacks and risks.

Iran’s chokehold on the strait has caused worldwide energy shocks and followed the U.S. and Israel launching the war on Feb. 28. Prices have spiked for oil, gas and related products, and experts say it would take several weeks or even months for shipping and prices to recover once the waterway reopens.

In turn, the U.S. has blockaded Iranian ports for over a month, and Trump said it “will remain in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed.”

The latest economic penalties come as Washington and Tehran have been engaged in some of the most intense diplomacy and negotiations in years, aimed at bringing an end to the war and a pathway for a longer-term solution to issues between the longtime adversaries.

Trump said Wednesday that Iran is “negotiating on fumes” and said the sides are closing in on a deal even after the U.S. military said Monday that it had carried out “self-defense” strikes on missile launch sites and boats placing mines. Wednesday’s strikes are likely to cause more complications.

“They want very much to make a deal,” Trump said at a Cabinet meeting Wednesday. “So far, they haven’t gotten there. We’re not satisfied with it, but we will be — either that or we’ll have to just finish the job.”

The Republican president also has reiterated his warning that fighting would resume if no deal is reached but has pulled back from those threats several times now in the last few months.

Police collected statements from only four of the seven residents who reported hearing noises – including screams – between 12 midnight and 3am on June 22, despite having a team of 25 detectives.

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Police investigating Noah Donohoe’s death never followed up on multiple reports of noise and screaming near the culvert where his naked body was found, an inquest has heard.

Noah, a pupil at St Malachy’s College, was 14 when his body was found in a storm drain tunnel in north Belfast on June 27 2020, six days after he left home on his bike to meet two friends in the Cavehill area of the city.

He was found more than 600 metres downstream from where he had last been seen close to a culvert inlet behind houses at Northwood Road in north Belfast. A postmortem examination found the likely cause of death was drowning.

Jurors at Belfast Coroner’s Court were told that police collected statements from only four of the seven residents who reported hearing noises – including screams – between 1midnight and 3am on June 22, despite having a team of 25 detectives.

The inquest also heard that one of the couples, who reported hearing three screams at around 1.30am at the back of their house in Northwood Road, were approached by police only 11 months after their initial questionnaire, by which time the elderly pair said they “did not hear any shouting”, according to a police notebook entry.

Another resident who reported hearing “something at the front door” and a “letterbox opening and shutting” was never approached by the police for a statement, while a caller to the public appeal who said her daughter heard a scream on June 21 at around 6.25pm at Dunlambert Drive near the culvert also never gave a statement.

The inquest heard the police logs recorded: “Caller states that her daughter was on above location at Dunlambert Drive end on Sunday evening approx 6.25pm and she heard a loud scream. She did not see anything.”

Turning to Detective Chief Inspector McCallum from the PSNI, Brenda Campbell KC, counsel for Noah ‘s mother Fiona Donohoe, said: “This was information that was felt important enough to be put into a police chronology.

“What I’m interested in is why we do not have a statement from this individual.”

In response, the police officer replied: “I was aware that a number of screams were heard in the area.”

Ms Campbell replied: “But you have a team of 25-strong detectives, but you come away with only four statements.”

The police’s log system for information from public appeals had become “unwieldy” and officers started using “notebooks and journals”, according to the minutes of the investigating team’s morning meeting.

Questioned on Wednesday by Ms Campbell, DCI McCallum said that taking unverifiable statements from the residents who heard screams was not a priority, adding: “It was not going to help us at that time.”

Asked about the urgency around the investigation, DCI McCallum said: “The urgency lessened somewhat when the body had been located.

“The time Noah was missing was: Urgent, urgent, urgent”.

Ms Campbell described DCI McCallum’s initial hypothesis on June 24 that Noah had sustained a head injury and discarded his personal effects such as his mobile phone, backpack and clothing without any third-party involvement as “problematic”.

“Positive evidence at this point in time was that he was a smart, fun, capable boy,” she told the long-running inquest, which is now in its 17th week.

“By this stage the investigation has his bike, his hoodie and his trainers.

“You were still missing his laptop, bag, contents of his bag. You were still missing his coat. And you were missing his shorts and his underwear, for which there was no explanation. And there is no explanation for where they ended up.”

DCI McCallum, who was one of the investigation’s senior officers, said: “These were the hypotheses that would have driven the investigation, but that does not mean that we would not have been alive to other information.”

The inquest also heard that police took 21 months to follow up on a report by a man named as Conor McCaul, who said he saw a person matching Noah’s description riding a bike naked in Northwood Road around at around 4pm on June 21 and that a vehicle later came speeding down the street, with two males on board.

“Conor McCaul was not approached for a witness statement until March 2022,” Ms Campell said. “And that’s surely a concern.”

“Yes, I believe that man should have been approached,” DCI McCallum said.

Jurors were told that police had secured only one hour’s worth of CCTV footage from one camera in Northwood Road.

“I don’t think I was aware of that,” DCI McCallum said. “In terms of collecting CCTV, I had no involvement in that.”

He also said police did not ask EE, Noah’s mobile provider, to explain why his phone location was different between 7.41pm and 8.10pm on June 21, the day he went missing.

“In other words, the phone was on the move,” Ms Campbell said, referencing a report by a telecoms expert which found that “Castleton Park where the phone was found is not within the wedge plotted on the map showing the 1941 hrs ping”.

DCI McCallum also said he did not know the schoolboy’s phone had a photo of a stranger’s hand, taken on June 21.

“This is a real clear line of inquiry that at the very least needs to be eliminated. It needs to be factored in,” Ms Campbell said.

“The theory that Noah discarded that phone by himself is not a solid one.”

DCI McCallum disagreed, adding: “The fact there’s a hand does not suggest that Noah’s phone was taken away in an adverse way.”

The inquest continues.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

Priced at £42,645 on the road, this five-seat electric crossover aims to deliver Sportage-sized practicality with zero-emission credentials and an impressive 313-mile range.

Built on Kia’s dedicated E-GMP platform, the EV5 cuts a distinctive figure with its boxy, purposeful silhouette.

At 4,610mm long and 1,875mm wide, it’s fractionally larger than the petrol-powered Sportage, and the design exploits this with squared-off wings and bold vertical lines. The front adopts Kia’s signature ‘tiger face’ with three-dimensional Star Map LED daytime running lights, whilst the rear features near-full-length LED lights creating an eye-catching night-time signature.

The Kia EV5 ‘GT-Line’ has a distinctive look

The GT-Line specification tested here adds 19-inch alloy wheels, gloss black accents on the door mirrors, wheel arches and side sills, plus LED headlights with Adaptive Driving Beam. Active Air Flaps in the front bumper automatically optimise cooling and aerodynamics, helping achieve a respectable 0.30Cd drag coefficient.

Inside, the EV5 impresses with a lounge-like cabin that draws heavily from its larger EV9 sibling. The panoramic wide display spans three screens: dual 12.3-inch displays for the instruments and infotainment, plus a 5.3-inch climate control touchscreen.

Two-tone artificial leather upholstery enhances the premium feel, whilst heated front and outer rear seats add comfort.

Practicality is exceptional for the class. Boot capacity stands at 566 litres with all seats upright, expanding to 1,650 litres when the 60:40 split rear seats fold completely flat. There’s also a useful 44-litre frunk under the bonnet for cable storage. The centre console offers 16.5 litres of storage across multiple compartments, including a sliding rear tray that extends into the second row.

Kia EV5 ‘GT-Line’

All EV5 variants utilise the same 81.4kWh lithium-ion polymer battery feeding a 160kW (214bhp) front-mounted motor producing 295Nm of torque.

Acceleration from 0-62mph takes 8.4 seconds, which feels acceptable but far from blistering, with a maximum speed limited to 102mph. The GT-Line achieves a WLTP combined range of 313 miles, with city range extending to 448 miles.

Charging capability is comprehensive. Using a 350kW DC fast charger, the battery replenishes from 10-80% in just 30 minutes, whilst a 50kW charger requires 1 hour 10 minutes for the same charge. The standard 11kW onboard charger accepts both single-phase and triple-phase AC inputs, taking 7 hours 20 minutes for a 10-100% charge.

Kia EV5 ‘GT-Line’

The GT-Line comes generously equipped with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Bluetooth connectivity, and free Kia Connect services for seven years. Over-the-air updates keep the software current without dealership visits. GT-Line models gain Vehicle-to-Load capability with a 3-pin power socket, enabling the EV5 to power external devices with 3.6kVA capacity.

Driver assistance systems are comprehensive, including Highway Driving Assist 2.0, Smart Cruise Control 2.0 with stop-and-go functionality, Forward Collision Avoidance Assist 2.0, and Blind-Spot Collision Avoidance Assist. Front and rear parking sensors plus a reversing camera are standard across the range. Kia’s i-Pedal 3.0 regenerative braking system offers four levels of brake regeneration controlled by steering wheel paddles, with automatic mode and one-pedal driving functionality for smooth urban manoeuvring.

The Kia EV5 GT-Line delivers exactly what modern families need from an electric SUV: genuine practicality, respectable range, fast charging, and comprehensive equipment. Whilst performance is adequate rather than exhilarating, the 313-mile range and 30-minute rapid charging capability address the key concerns of EV sceptics.

The Lowdown

Kia EV5 ‘GT-Line’

PRICE: £42,645 on the road

POWER: 214bhp

MAX TORQUE: 295Nm

TOP SPEED: 102mph

0-62MPH: 8.4 seconds

BATTERY: 81.4kWh Li-ion polymer

DC 350kW charge time (10-80%): 30m

The victim suffered significant facial injuries

Two teenagers, including one who was carrying a machete, have been jailed after another teenager was stabbed. The 17-year-old boys, from Huntingdon and Peterborough, attacked the victim, who was also 17, with a knife and machete along an underpass in Cowgate, Peterborough, on January 8.

The teenagers swung the blades towards the boy’s head, leaving him with significant facial injuries, including a wound to his chin. The boy managed to get away and receive medical attention, while the attackers fled the scene.

However, the offenders, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were soon identified and arrested. Police later found out the attacker from Peterborough had been involved in an altercation with the victim in the city centre three days before.

On the day of the attack, they were seen on CCTV meeting and shaking hands in the moment leading up to it. Both attackers admitted wounding with intent and possession of a bladed article in a public place.

On Friday (May 22), the two boys appeared in Cambridge Crown Court. The boy from Peterborough was jailed for 40 months, having also pleaded guilty to affray and an additional count of possession of a bladed article relating to the first incident. The boy from Huntingdon was sentenced to 35 months in prison.

DC Andrew Holland said: “It was sheer luck that this incident didn’t result in a fatality. The two boys swung their weapons towards the victim’s head and throat, with a matter of inches being the difference between a nasty facial injury and hitting a vital artery. I’m pleased they were swiftly identified, arrested and have now been jailed for their actions.

“Both locally, and nationally, we have seen the tragic consequences of knife crime and tackling it is a priority.”

The black vehicle was the subject of investigations

Armed police cordoned off an area in Salford as a car was searched amid an incident on Wednesday evening (May 27). Part of Loganberry Avenue, near the shopping precinct was taped off at around 9pm.

Fire crews were in attendance and assessed the black vehicle. Clips shared publicly on Snapchat showed multiple emergency vehicles at the scene.

This followed reports of a suspected hazardous incident. The substance was ‘assessed and controlled’ by fire crews, but no further details have yet been confirmed.

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A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) said: “At around 9pm this evening (Wednesday 27 May), fire crews were called to reports of a suspected hazardous substance on Hankinson Way in Salford.

“Two fire engines from Salford quickly attended the scene and worked alongside Greater Manchester Police to safely assess and control the substance.

“Crews were in attendance for around 45 minutes before handing the incident over to the Police.”

Greater Manchester Police have been contacted for a full statement on the incident.

The Met Office warning is in force until 4am on Thursday

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The Met Office has issued a weather warning for thunderstorms across areas of England and Wales on Thursday morning (May 28).

The yellow weather warning is in place from midnight until 4am and covers Greater Manchester.

It states: “Thunderstorms will continue to affect parts of England and Wales and are likely to become increasingly confined to northern and eastern parts of the warning area during the course of the early hours. While many places will miss the worst conditions, where thunderstorms do occur frequent lightning and heavy downpours are likely. Hail and strong, gusty winds may also affect a few places.”

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The following 42 areas are covered by the weather warning on Thursday morning:

1. Derby
2. Derbyshire
3. Leicester
4. Leicestershire
5. Northamptonshire
6. Nottingham
7. Nottinghamshire
8. Buckinghamshire
9. Hampshire
10. Oxfordshire
11. Southampton
12. West Berkshire
13. Blackburn with Darwen
14. Cheshire East
15. Cheshire West and Chester
16. Greater Manchester
17. Halton
18. Lancashire
19. Merseyside
20. Warrington
21. Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole
22. Dorset
23. Gloucestershire
24. Swindon
25. Wiltshire
26. Carmarthenshire
27. Ceredigion
28. Conwy
29. Denbighshire
30. Flintshire
31. Gwynedd
32. Isle of Anglesey
33. Powys
34. Wrexham
35. Herefordshire
36. Shropshire
37. Staffordshire
38. Stoke-on-Trent
39. Telford and Wrekin
40. Warwickshire
41. West Midlands Conurbation
42. Worcestershire

A former senior CIA official with top-secret clearance is accused of stealing hundreds of gold bars worth over $40 million from the federal government.

David Rush was arrested last week in Virginia, charged with criminal theft of public money, court filings confirm.

An FBI agent’s affidavit alleges that from November to March, Rush requested and received “tens of millions of dollars in gold bars for work-related expenses.” The gold was reportedly stashed in his home.

His intended use for the funds remains unclear, though a portion was found near his office in a storage space.

Federal officials searched his home on May 18 and seized more than 300 gold bars with an estimated value of more than $40 million, according to the affidavit. They also seized roughly $2 million in U.S. currency and some 35 luxury watches, many of them Rolexes. Rush was arrested the next day, the FBI said.

The FBI affidavit concludes that there’s probable cause to believe that Rush “knowingly embezzled, stole, purloined, or knowingly converted a thing of value of the United States” for his personal use.

The FBI said it was working with the CIA and Department of Justice in its investigation.

Rush’s lawyer declined to comment Wednesday.

It’s not clear what role Rush had at the CIA or when he left the agency. He’s described in court filings simply as a “former senior executive service-level employee at a United States government agency.” Spokespersons for the FBI declined to comment further, and the CIA didn’t respond to an email.

The FBI affidavit also notes that Rush appears to have lied for years about his education and military background. The bureau’s investigation found he had falsely claimed to be a Navy pilot and that he’d graduated from Clemson University in South Carolina and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York.

Instead, they found he had enlisted in the Navy in 1997 and then served in the U.S. Navy Reserves from 2004 until 2015, when he was honorably discharged as a lieutenant. The affidavit states he does not appear to have underwent any evaluations as a pilot during that time, and he did not attend either college.

Rush is being held in custody pending a hearing Friday in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia.

The U.S. has launched new strikes on Iran, days after targeting the country’s missile sites and mine-laying boats, according to officials.

These fresh strikes were aimed at a military site believed to have posed a threat to American forces and commercial traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil passageway in the Middle East, a US official told Reuters Wednesday.

Despite the latest attack, the fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran that has held for nearly two months is still considered to be in effect, a U.S. official told CBS News.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Central Command announced what it called “self-defense” strikes, targeting Iran’s missile launch sites and mine-laying boats in the Strait of Hormuz.

“U.S. forces conducted self-defense strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” CENTCOM spokesperson Captain Tim Hawkins said Monday evening.

“U.S. Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” Hawkins added.

The Independent has reached out to CENTCOM for comment on the new strikes.

The fresh strikes came after President Donald Trump threatened to “finish the job” if Tehran and Washington couldn’t reach an agreement that he was satistified with.

“Iran is very ⁠much intent, they want ​very ⁠much to make a deal,” he said at a White House cabinet meeting Wednesday.

“So far, they haven’t gotten there. We’re not satisfied with it, ⁠but we will be. We will be — either ⁠that or we’ll have ‌to just finish the job,” he added.

This is a developing story…