Donald Trump has done a U-turn on his choice for the new director of national intelligence.
The US President has withdrawn his nomination for Texas Republican John Ratcliffe.
It comes after strong criticism that the congressman is not qualified for the job.
Ratcliffe has responded by saying that he does not want the job to become "a purely political and partisan issue".
5 dead, more than 80 missing after Philippine ferry fire
Five people have died and more than 80 are missing after a ferry caught fire off Palawan island in the western Philippines on Wednesday night, the Philippine Coast Guard said on Thursday.
US military says it struck vessel in Caribbean, killing 3
The US military said on Wednesday three people have been killed in a strike on a vessel in the Caribbean Sea, the latest in a series of attacks that Washington says target "narco-terrorists" but human rights groups condemn as extrajudicial killings.
At least 14 killed in explosion at weapons depot in Syria
At least 14 people were killed and 11 wounded on Wednesday in an explosion at a temporary site used to store weapons and remnants of war near the Syrian city of Sarmada in Idlib province, state television reported.
US hits five Iranian oil tankers after attack on Navy ships
The United States has destroyed five Iranian oil carriers on Tuesday after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targeted its navy warship with ballistic missiles "twice over the past two days".
UK gives air traffic provider a week to probe outage that halted flights
Britain's NATS air traffic control provider has a week to investigate the systems failure that halted flights and stranded hundreds of thousands of passengers, the government said, as pressure mounts on its chief executive.
