Category: Health

Thieves made off with three paintings by Renoir, Cézanne and Matisse worth millions of dollars from a museum near the city of Parma in northern Italy, police said Monday.

The heist took place on the night of March 22-23, with thieves forcing open the entrance door, police said.

The three stolen paintings are “Fish” by Auguste Renoir, “Still Life with Cherries” by Paul Cézanne, and “Odalisque on the Terrace” by Henri Matisse.

The Magnani Rocca Foundation, a private museum, lies in the heart of the countryside 12 miles from Parma.

Local media reported that the thieves were able to nab the paintings in less than three minutes and escape across the museum gardens.

Established in 1977, the foundation hosts the collection of art historian Luigi Magnani and also includes works by Dürer, Rubens, Van Dyck, Goya and Monet.

The museum believes a structured and organized gang was responsible for the theft, which was interrupted by the alarm, local media reported.

The museum didn’t post any statement about the theft on its website and wasn’t reachable for a comment, as it is closed on Mondays.

The crime in Parma comes after a series of high-profile heists at major European museums, including a major incident in October in which thieves stole jewels and other items worth $101 million from the Louvre in Paris.

President Trump told reporters Tuesday he expects U.S. operations in Iran to wrap up in “two weeks, maybe three.”
Earlier Tuesday, the president told CBS News’ Weijia Jiang he’s not ready “quite yet” to abandon efforts to force Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping traffic.
Mr. Trump will deliver an “important update on Iran” in a Wednesday night prime-time address, the White House says.
After he renewed his threat to attack Iran’s civilian energy and water infrastructure if no deal is reached to end the war, Iranian state media said a water desalination plant on an island near the Strait of Hormuz was out of commission after being hit.
Energy markets continued to convulse over uncertainty about the war, sending the average price of a gallon of gas in the U.S. over $4 for the first time in almost four years as a massive tanker loaded with crude was hit by an Iranian drone off Dubai’s coast.
American journalist Shelly Kittleson was kidnapped in Baghdad. A State Department official said a person linked to the Iran-backed militia group Kata’ib Hezbollah is believed to have been involved.

3:31 AM / April 1, 2026
Missiles apparently hit former U.S. Embassy compound in Tehran
An airstrike in Iran’s capital, Tehran, on Wednesday morning appears to have struck inside the former U.S. Embassy compound.

The embassy has been controlled by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard since the 1979 hostage crisis. Its all-volunteer Basij force operates the compound, running an anti-American museum inside the embassy and other in new buildings on its grounds.

Witnesses saw blown-out windows surrounding the massive compound on Tehran’s Taleghani Street. However, there was no missile strike visible around the compound, with witnesses saying they believe the strike happened inside the compound.

The 444-day hostage crisis saw American diplomats held until President Ronald Reagan took office from President Jimmy Carter in 1981.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is tentatively expected to testify publicly before the House Armed Services Committee on April 29, according to two sources familiar with the plans, in what would mark his first appearance under oath on Capitol Hill since the U.S. conflict with Iran began.

The timing of the hearing has not been finalized and could shift, the sources said. The session will fall under the committee’s routine oversight of the Defense Department and its annual budget request.

MS NOW first reported on the plans for the hearing.

If it proceeds as planned, the hearing would give lawmakers their first opportunity to question Hegseth in a public, sworn setting about the administration’s handling of the war since the Trump administration first ordered strikes on Feb. 28. There have been calls on Capitol Hill for more detailed answers as the war has stretched on, leading to market turmoil and rising gas prices.

That pressure has intensified following a classified House Armed Services Committee briefing last Wednesday, after which members from both parties said they were left without a clear understanding of the administration’s strategy. Rep. Mike Rogers, the committee chair, told reporters after the briefing that officials were being “very constrained” and “tight-lipped,” and added that lawmakers “deserve more answers than we’re given.”

Rogers said members sought clarity on planning and potential troop movements but “didn’t get any answers,” describing the briefing as part of a broader pattern of limited information sharing and warning it could have “consequences” for support in Congress if it continues.

The committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Adam Smith, raised similar concerns, saying lawmakers still lack a clear path for how the administration intends to achieve its objectives in Iran. He said there is no detailed plan “from here to there,” and noted discussions about potential troop deployments did not yield “specific answers.”

Other lawmakers have echoed these concerns about both strategy and troop safety. Democratic Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado said his top priority is protecting U.S. forces in what he described as a “very volatile situation,” warning there are “more questions than answers” about how the administration plans to safeguard roughly 50,000 troops in the region.

The push for answers has also been formalized. In a letter sent Friday, all Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee, led by Smith, called for an immediate public hearing with Pentagon officials, citing a “lack of transparency” and raising concerns about shifting objectives, unanswered questions about costs and a potential $200 billion supplemental, and the possible use of U.S. ground forces.

Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden reiterated his opposition to sending ground troops, saying he has been “100% crystal clear” on that position, even as he voiced support for ensuring the military has the resources needed to operate in the region.

But House Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday downplayed concerns about the flow of information, telling reporters he has been “constantly briefed” before and during the operation and remains in regular contact with top administration officials, including the president. He added he would work to ensure Rogers receives any additional information he needs.

American commandos in recent days joined Ecuadorian troops in a joint mission aimed at dismantling a suspected criminal hub operated by an alleged narco-terrorist organization along the country’s coast.

The operation, dubbed Lanza Marina, focused on a compound believed to serve as a staging ground for high-speed boats linked to Los Choneros, a powerful Ecuadorian criminal organization, according to two U.S. officials who spoke to CBS News under condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

The two U.S. officials said the American forces worked in advisory roles, assisting and accompanying their Ecuadorian counterparts as they moved against the site, part of a broader effort to curb trafficking networks that rely on fast-moving maritime routes.

The Defense Department has historically used several authorities such as security cooperation agreements and train-and-equip programs to allow U.S. special operation forces to support foreign forces. For instance, “127 Echo missions,” referring to 10 U.S.C. § 127e, are commonplace. 127e is the legal authority that allows for the U.S. military to support foreign forces to combat terrorism. While these types of missions are overseen by the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict, the defense secretary has historically been required to approve these missions and to sign congressional notification letters, according to documents obtained by The New York Times.

CBS News exclusively reported last year that President Trump rolled back constraints on American commanders to authorize airstrikes and special operation raids outside conventional battlefields, broadening the range of people who could be targeted. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the reporting by CBS News was accurate.

In early March, the United States and Ecuador launched joint military operations against “designated terrorist organizations” in the South American country amid the U.S. military’s unilateral strikes against boats in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific accused by the Trump administration of smuggling drugs. Strikes against suspected drug smuggling boats began in September 2025 resulting in at least 47 strikes killing about 163 people.

“We commend the men and women of the Ecuadorian armed forces for their unwavering commitment to this fight, demonstrating courage and resolve through continued actions against narco-terrorists in their country,” said Marine Gen. Francis Donovan, commander of U.S. Southern Command in a statement last month.

In a statement, U.S. Southern Command did not offer details on the recent operation with Ecuador, citing “force protection reasons.” But it pointed to written remarks to Congress last month in which Donovan said Southern Command is “aggressively accelerating initiatives to provide advanced unit-level training to partner nation law enforcement and military personnel to develop tactical leadership and specialized skills for sustained counternarcotics and counter-FTO (Foreign Terrorist Organization) operations.”

More than 200 years after being sunk by Adm. Horatio Nelson and the British fleet, a Danish warship and part of a sailor’s jaw have been discovered on the seabed of Copenhagen Harbor by marine archaeologists.

Working in thick sediment and almost zero visibility 50 feet beneath the waves, divers are in a race against time to unearth the 19th-century wreck of the Dannebroge before it becomes a construction site in a new housing district being built off the Danish coast.

Denmark’s Viking Ship Museum, which is leading the monthslong underwater excavations, announced its findings on Thursday, 225 years to the day since the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801.

“It’s a big part of the Danish national feeling,” said Morten Johansen, the museum’s head of maritime archaeology.

A great deal has been written about the battle “by very enthusiastic spectators, but we actually don’t know how it was to be onboard a ship being shot to pieces by English warships and some of that story we can probably learn from seeing the wreck,” Johansen said. The Associated Press was the only international outlet given access to the site.

In the Battle of Copenhagen, Nelson and the British fleet attacked and defeated Denmark’s navy as it formed a protective blockade outside the harbor.

Thousands were killed and wounded during the brutal hourslong naval clash, considered one of Nelson’s “great battles.” The intention was to force Denmark out of an alliance of Northern European powers, including Russia, Prussia and Sweden.

At the center of the fighting was the Danish flagship, the Dannebroge, commanded by Commodore Olfert Fischer.

The 157-foot Dannebroge was Nelson’s main target. Cannon fire tore through its upper deck before incendiary shells sparked a fire aboard.

“(It was) a nightmare to be on board one of these ships,” Johansen said. “When a cannonball hits a ship, it’s not the cannonball that does the most damage to the crew, it’s wooden splinters flying everywhere, very much like grenade debris.”

The battle also is believed to have inspired the phrase “to turn a blind eye.” After deciding to ignore a superior’s signal, Nelson, who had lost sight in his right eye, reportedly remarked: “I have only one eye, I have a right to be blind sometimes.”