Member of Vance’s detail investigated over suspected leak

A member of Vice President JD Vance’s security detail is being investigated over allegations tied to a suspected news leak, the Secret Service said Thursday.

Anthony Guglielmi, a Secret Service spokesperson, said the security-team member faces an internal investigation and potential criminal inquiry over allegations involving compromised “operational and information security.”

The agency did not identify the person under investigation.

The Secret Service said the investigation is tied to a report from MS NOW last week saying that some Secret Service agents had privately expressed frustration over last-minute travel requests from Vance and his family.

Officials say two are dead in flash floods

Two people have died in flash floods caused by torrential rains in West Virginia this week, the governor’s office said Thursday.

An emailed statement from Lars Dalseide, communications director for Gov. Patrick Morrisey, did not provide details on where the bodies were found or how the people died. Their identities were not released.

They are the first confirmed deaths from Tuesday’s floods, when forecasters said up to 7 inches of rain fell. Morrisey said some places received 4.5 inches in 37 minutes. Officials in north-central West Virginia have described the devastation as extensive.

Video and photos on social media showed submerged vehicles in parking lots, including at a Walmart in Weston, where muddy water surged into the store.

Across a nearby highway, a hotel’s main floor was inundated.

Dozens of people stuck in submerged vehicles throughout the region had to be rescued, and floodwaters initially cut off access to them in some areas.

Bertha strikes near Texas-Louisiana line

Tropical Storm Bertha made a second landfall Thursday near the Texas-Louisiana state line after grazing southern Louisiana in a slow crawl that triggered heavy surf and some flooding along the Gulf Coast. Forecasters said more flooding was possible as heavy rains moved onshore into southeast Texas.

Thick clouds associated with Bertha prompted SpaceX to call off Thursday evening’s planned Starship launch from the southern tip of Texas. The space-skimming test flight was rescheduled for today, when the forecast called for clear skies.

No deaths or significant damage have been reported since Bertha formed Monday in the Gulf of Mexico south of the Florida Panhandle. The storm caused some coastal flooding as its center first struck land Wednesday in Louisiana southwest of New Orleans, but its heaviest rains stayed over the Gulf waters.

Panel of advisers backs unapproved peptide drugs

A panel of federal health advisers on Thursday narrowly recommended easing access to several peptides popular with wellness influencers and celebrities, despite warnings from government scientists that the chemicals haven’t been shown to be safe or effective.

In a series of votes, outside experts to the Food and Drug Administration advised the agency to drop current restrictions barring pharmacies from producing injectable peptides with names like BPC-157, TB-500 and KPV.

The panel’s vote is not binding but is likely to embolden Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has described himself as a “big fan” of peptides and vowed to overturn FDA restrictions put in place under President Joe Biden.

Across several votes, the panelists voted 8-6, with one abstention, in favor of putting the peptides on the FDA’s list of substances considered safe for pharmacy compounding. If the FDA follows that advice, telehealth companies are expected to ramp up marketing of the chemicals for wellness and cosmetic uses.

Thursday’s vote tally reflected the unusual makeup of the panel. Prior to the meeting, more than a half-dozen people with connections to the peptide industry were added to the panel, including doctors, pharmacists or consultants who work in the field.

FBI director returns looted artifacts

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto received a collection of cultural artifacts from the country’s Papua region that had been taken to the United States illegally, officials said Thursday.

The handover took place late Wednesday during a meeting with FBI Director Kash Patel at Prabowo’s residence in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. Patel arrived in Jakarta shortly after talks with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet concerning joint efforts to combat international online scam operations that cheat victims out of billions of dollars annually.

The exchange underscored growing cooperation between Indonesia and the U.S. in recovering stolen cultural heritage and returning the items to the country of origin, Indonesia Culture Minister Fadli Zon said.

Thousands evacuated as wildfire spreads

About 20,000 people were evacuated from towns and vacation resorts along the French Atlantic coast Thursday as the latest in a series of wildfires raged and hundreds of firefighters were dispatched to tackle it.

Local authorities said the fire in a forest near the town of Lège-Cap Ferret, southwest of Bordeaux, spread over more than 12 square miles. No injuries have been reported.

The prefect, or head of the surrounding Gironde region, Sophie Brocas, said some 700 firefighters have been deployed, including forces sent from the Paris region. The fire came within 980 feet of the first homes in Lège, and water bombers were being used.

Organization begins distributing aid

Hundreds of boxes of humanitarian aid from the U.S. are being distributed in two towns near the Cuban capital, the Catholic Church organization in charge of the distribution said Thursday.

The aid arrived this week and its distribution began Wednesday. It is shrouded in controversy because of the long-standing political distrust between Cuba and the U.S., and it comes amid a crisis on the island exacerbated by an energy embargo imposed in January by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Caritas began distributing the boxes to unspecified parishes and religious houses in the municipalities of Bejucal and Alquízar, which border Havana, according to a statement from the organization.

— Denver Post wire services