Pentagon chief Hegseth shared Houthi attack plans in second Signal chat, report says

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth came under renewed scrutiny on Sunday after it was reported that he shared detailed information about an attack against Yemen's Houthi rebels in a second chat on the unclassified messaging app Signal.

Last month, it emerged Mr Hegseth had shared a detailed timeline on Signal about how US Central Command would attack the Iran-backed Houthis. One of the people in the chat was a journalist who had been inadvertently added to the group conversation, an embarrassing incident that involved all of US President Donald Trump's most senior national security officials.

On Sunday, The New York Times reported that Mr Hegseth shared information including the flight schedules for the F/A-18 Hornets attacking the Houthis in Yemen in a March 15 strike, again on Signal. This time the chat included his wife, brother and personal lawyer, the Times said, quoting four people.

The Times said that, unlike the accidental leak where journalist Jeffrey Goldberg was mistakenly included in the group, this group chat was created by Mr Hegseth. He named the chat “Defense / Team Huddle” and used his private phone, not his government device, to access Signal, the outlet reported.

The revelation of the additional chat group brought new criticism against Mr Hegseth and the Trump administration, which so far has failed to take action against any of the senior national security officials who discussed plans for the military strike on Signal.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said “there was no classified information in any Signal chat, no matter how many ways they [the media] try to write the story”.

“The Trump-hating media continues to be obsessed with destroying anyone committed to President Trump’s agenda. This time, the New York Times – and all other fake news that repeat their garbage – are enthusiastically taking the grievances of disgruntled former employees as the sole sources for their article,” he said.

The Senate's senior Democrat demanded that the Pentagon chief be dismissed.

“We keep learning how Pete Hegseth put lives at risk,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on X. “But Trump is still too weak to fire him. Pete Hegseth must be fired.”

Also on Sunday, John Ullyot, who served as chief Pentagon spokesman under Mr Hegseth until resigning last week, wrote a scathing op-ed in Politico about Mr Hegseth's handling of the Defence Department.

“It’s been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon,” he wrote. “From leaks of sensitive operational plans to mass firings, the dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president – who deserves better from his senior leadership.”

The firings were a reference to the dismissals last week of four of Mr Hegseth's advisers amid investigations into leaks.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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How to invest in gold

Investors can tap into the gold price by purchasing physical jewellery, coins and even gold bars, but these need to be stored safely and possibly insured.

A cheaper and more straightforward way to benefit from gold price growth is to buy an exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Most advisers suggest sticking to “physical” ETFs. These hold actual gold bullion, bars and coins in a vault on investors’ behalf. Others do not hold gold but use derivatives to track the price instead, adding an extra layer of risk. The two biggest physical gold ETFs are SPDR Gold Trust and iShares Gold Trust.

Another way to invest in gold’s success is to buy gold mining stocks, but Mr Gravier says this brings added risks and can be more volatile. “They have a serious downside potential should the price consolidate.”

Mr Kyprianou says gold and gold miners are two different asset classes. “One is a commodity and the other is a company stock, which means they behave differently.”

Mining companies are a business, susceptible to other market forces, such as worker availability, health and safety, strikes, debt levels, and so on. “These have nothing to do with gold at all. It means that some companies will survive, others won’t.”

By contrast, when gold is mined, it just sits in a vault. “It doesn’t even rust, which means it retains its value,” Mr Kyprianou says.

You may already have exposure to gold miners in your portfolio, say, through an international ETF or actively managed mutual fund.

You could spread this risk with an actively managed fund that invests in a spread of gold miners, with the best known being BlackRock Gold & General. It is up an incredible 55 per cent over the past year, and 240 per cent over five years. As always, past performance is no guide to the future.

FIXTURES

All times UAE ( 4 GMT)

Friday
Saint-Etienne v Montpellier (10.45pm)

Saturday
Monaco v Caen (7pm)
Amiens v Bordeaux (10pm)
Angers v Toulouse (10pm)
Metz v Dijon (10pm)
Nantes v Guingamp (10pm)
Rennes v Lille (10pm)

Sunday
Nice v Strasbourg (5pm)
Troyes v Lyon (7pm)
Marseille v Paris Saint-Germain (11pm)

COMPANY%20PROFILE

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Key recommendations

Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.

Cricket World Cup League Two

Oman, UAE, Namibia

Al Amerat, Muscat

Results

Oman beat UAE by five wickets

UAE beat Namibia by eight runs

Fixtures

Wednesday January 8 –Oman v Namibia

Thursday January 9 – Oman v UAE

Saturday January 11 – UAE v Namibia

Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia

Company%20profile

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