INTERNACIONAL
Military veterans of US’ ‘toxic soup’ Uzbekistan base fighting for proper care 20 years after its shutter
At the former Soviet base-turned-CIA black site and U.S. military base in Uzbekistan, researchers knew early on danger lingered not just from the enemy but from the ground itself.
Karshi-Khanabad Air Base, known as K2, was a launchpad for U.S. operations into Afghanistan after 9/11. But for thousands of American troops who served there, it may have been a death sentence.
Matthew «Nick» Nicholls, an Army environmental technician and preventive medicine specialist, was part of an early team that assessed the environmental hazards at K2.
«It is probably the most toxic soup of chemicals that any service member has ever been exposed to,» Nicholls told Fox News Digital.
Yellowcake uranium oozed from the ground. Jet fuel and volatile chemicals from decaying Soviet rocket bunkers polluted the soil and air. Dangerous fumes hung over the base like the fog of forgotten war.
Nicholls and his team warned commanders, providing recommendations like laying down gravel to suppress toxic dust and restrictions on how long personnel could work in high-risk zones. Some precautions were taken, others weren’t.
Researchers excavated «Soviet-era jet fuel that was pure enough to put into an engine and work» at K2 base. (Obtained by Fox News Digital via Matthew Nicholls)
Images show visible «yellowcake» found in the ground at the K2 base. (Obtained by Fox News Digital/Matthew Nicholls)
«People that I am friends with are actively dying from cancer right now,» Nicholls said. «These are weird ontologies that are striking down people who are very young, people in their 20s, 30s, 40s, in the prime of their life.»
K2 veterans have reported a disturbing trend of rare and aggressive cancers, reproductive organ diseases, osteoarthritis and sudden, unexplained deaths.
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«These are not the cancers that young people normally get,» Nicholls said. «Their stories are not really able to be told. That’s the tragedy of it.»
«These people went there right after 9/11 to avenge the deaths of those who were murdered,» Nicholls said. «Yet we had this launching pad in Uzbekistan that was left in such derelict condition by the Soviets.»
Between 2001 and 2005, more than 15,000 U.S. service members passed through K2. Thousands more served as contractors. Many now find themselves struggling to get adequate medical care or recognition from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
The VA recognizes such veterans «may have encountered several hazardous exposures,» and the Department of Defense conducted an initial study to look at cancer outcomes. But that study was based only on a few cases of each type of cancer and should not be viewed as «definitive evidence of an association with service at K-2,» the VA says.
But a spokesperson for Rep. Mark Green said he does not believe these studies were enough, that they did not take the full extent of contamination into account and did not appropriately inform occupants of the base of their exposure risk or account for the full range of diseases that can result from toxic exposures.
«That is why Rep. Green’s NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) amendment calls for a new, fully rigorous epidemiological study to cover these blind spots,» the spokesperson said. «There are too many unknowns to call it a case closed.»
Fox News Digital has reached out to the VA for comment.
Green, R-Tenn., and Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., introduced a provision in the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act requiring the Pentagon to complete a study on K2 exposure within 180 days. Four years later, that study remains unfinished.
«This is unjust,» Green told Fox News Digital. «There were repeated warnings that service members were being exposed to toxins, and yet their health and safety were ignored by Pentagon leadership of that day.»
Researchers test radioactivity at K2. (Obtained by Fox News Digital/Matthew Nicholls)
A researcher explores substances in an excavation pit at K2. (Matthew Nicholls/Obtained by Fox News Digital)
In a letter first obtained by Fox News Digital that went out late Friday, Green is pressing the Pentagon to complete the long-overdue study, a step he argues is essential to ensure K2 veterans receive the care they deserve.
«Because this study has yet to be completed (as far as Congress is aware), many K2 veterans are still waiting to receive much needed care,» he wrote. «This is unjust. There were repeated warnings at Camp Stronghold Freedom that servicemembers (sic) were being exposed to toxins, and yet their health and safety were ignored by the Pentagon leadership of that day.»
The Pentagon told Fox News Digital it would respond to Green privately.
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In 2024, the VA moved to expand access to disability for K2 veterans and lower the burden of proof for the veterans to link their illnesses to their service. But advocates say it wasn’t enough.
«The VA is dragging its feet,» Green said. «I think it really purely comes down to cost. I get that the VA wants to be judicious, but my God, the numbers here are so convincing. This is long past due.»
Green has also introduced new legislation requiring the VA to formally recognize links between K2 toxic exposure and diseases like cancer, ensuring affected veterans qualify for care and benefits.
Toxins at K2 included petrochemicals, volatile organic compounds, depleted uranium, burn pits and tetrachlorethylene, all chemicals associated with long-term health risks.
But K2 veterans are not specifically named in the PACT Act, which expanded coverage for other toxic exposures like Agent Orange and burn pits.
Green, a physician and Army veteran, sees disturbing echoes of past delays.
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«Bureaucrats come and go, and bureaucrats have their own agendas,» he said. «I want to make sure that it’s written in stone and that these guys are not forgotten.»
Veterans,Middle East,Wars
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Iran is ramping up the recruitment of children as young as the age of 12 into military-linked roles tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to new reports by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.
The reports underscore mounting pressure inside Iran’s war effort. As U.S. and Israeli strikes intensify, rights groups and analysts say recruiting children points to manpower shortages and a growing reliance on paramilitary forces to hold the home front. It also escalates the human cost of the conflict, placing minors in direct danger while exposing Iran to potential war crimes liability.
Human Rights Watch said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has launched a campaign called «Homeland Defending Combatants for Iran,» lowering the minimum recruitment age to 12 and encouraging minors to sign up in mosques and through Basij, a volunteer paramilitary force under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The roles go beyond support tasks and include «operational patrols,» staffing checkpoints and intelligence activities, putting children directly in harm’s way as fighting intensifies across the country.
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Members of the Iranian revolutionary guard march during a parade. The IRGC is designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department. A large part of its work is to covertly operate outside of Iran. (Reuters)
Amnesty International said the recruitment and deployment of children under 15 «constitutes a war crime,» and backed its findings with verified visual evidence and eyewitness accounts.
The organization analyzed 16 photos and videos published since Saturday, showing children carrying weapons, including AK-pattern rifles, and deployed alongside Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Basij forces at checkpoints, on patrols and during state-organized rallies in Iranian cities including Tehran, Mashhad and Kermanshah.
Amnesty also documented the fatal consequences. On Sunday, 11-year-old Alireza Jafari was killed at a checkpoint in Iran while accompanying his father, a Basij member, the group said. Authorities said he was killed «while serving» following an Israeli drone strike.
IRAN’S IDEOLOGICAL STATE: FAITH, FEAR AND FAVORS FUEL ITS VAST PROPAGANDA AND PATRONAGE NETWORK
Iranian soldiers take part in a military parade during a ceremony marking the country’s annual army day on April 17, 2024, in Tehran, Iran. (Getty Images)
According to Amnesty, the boy’s mother told the Iranian newspaper Hamshahri that her husband had reported a shortage of personnel at checkpoints and took their two sons with him. She said he told their son he «must get prepared for the days ahead,» adding that children as young as 15 and 16 are commonly involved in checkpoint duties.
Eyewitness accounts reviewed by Amnesty describe children visibly struggling to handle weapons. One person in Tehran wrote:
On March 25, «I saw a child at a checkpoint near our house … I think he was about 15… It seemed like he was struggling to breathe from the effort of lifting the gun.»
Another witness in Karaj, Iran, reported seeing a child «holding a Kalashnikov rifle,» while a third in Rasht said some appeared to be «13 years old at most,» warning they could «fire randomly.»
IRANIAN STUDENT WARNS ‘BARBARIC’ REGIME IS TAKING NATION ‘HOSTAGE,’ EXECUTING CIVILIANS TO END UNREST
Children wave Iranian flags during a ceremony celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, at the Azadi, Freedom, Square in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Feb. 11, 2019.
In one video cited by Amnesty, filmed March 30 in Mashhad, Iran, two children wearing Basij uniforms and balaclavas were seen carrying assault rifles while positioned on a moving vehicle during a state-organized rally, elevated above a cheering crowd.
The recruitment campaign itself has been promoted through official channels, including posters depicting children alongside armed adults under the slogan «Basij with people, for people,» accompanied by a quote attributed to Iran’s Supreme Leader calling for Basij forces to remain central to the revolution.
Iranian officials have defended the policy by pointing to what they describe as strong demand among teenagers.
In a televised interview with Iranian state media, IRGC official Rahim Nadali said the minimum age was set at 12 because «teenagers and the youth repeatedly have come and said that they want to take part.»
«There is no excuse for a military recruitment drive that targets children to sign up, much less 12-year-olds,» Human Rights Watch’s Bill Van Esveld said.
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Iranian schoolboys wear Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) military uniforms and shout anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli slogans during a ceremony marking the 47th anniversary of the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution at the shrine of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in the Behesht-e Zahra cemetery in southern Tehran, Iran, on Feb. 1, 2026 (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The reports come as the United Nations classifies the recruitment of children in armed conflict as a «grave violation,» with international law prohibiting the enlistment of children under 15 and setting 18 as the standard for participation in hostilities.
Both organizations called on Iranian authorities to immediately halt the recruitment of minors and release those already serving.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations declined Fox News Digital’s comment request.
war with iran, recruitment, iran, israel, military
INTERNACIONAL
Cruz Roja Salvadoreña reporta aumento de emergencias médicas y disminución de accidentes de tránsito
La Cruz Roja Salvadoreña ha registrado un aumento de emergencias médicas y una disminución de accidentes de tránsito durante el periodo vacacional de Semana Santa en comparación con 2025, según informaron sus representantes en entrevista con la radio universitaria YSUCA. La institución ha desplegado un amplio dispositivo de atención desde el pasado 27 de marzo, con equipos en carreteras, playas, lagos y otros puntos estratégicos del país.
De acuerdo con Luis Galdámez, socorrista de la Cruz Roja Salvadoreña, en los primeros días del operativo se contabilizaron 287 atenciones. De estas, 79 personas resultaron lesionadas; 16 accidentes de tránsito, 108 emergencias médicas, nueve rescates acuáticos, dos rescates urbanos, cuatro personas fallecidas y un incendio. La organización explicó que se han visto más casos de urgencias clínicas, como deshidrataciones, quemaduras solares y golpes de calor, mientras que los incidentes viales presentaron una leve reducción respecto al año anterior.
Según Galdámez, la disminución en accidentes de tránsito se atribuye a una mayor conciencia por parte de los conductores, quienes revisan mejor sus vehículos y toman precauciones antes de viajar. No obstante, las emergencias médicas han crecido, en particular por la exposición al sol y la sobreexigencia física en actividades recreativas.
El doctor Rudy Aldana, voluntario de la Cruz Roja Salvadoreña, detalló que las principales causas de atención sanitaria incluyen quemaduras solares, golpes de calor, intoxicaciones alimentarias y crisis relacionadas con enfermedades crónicas. Aldana recomendó el uso constante de bloqueador solar, evitar la exposición prolongada al sol, mantenerse hidratado y llevar siempre medicamentos personales, especialmente en el caso de personas con padecimientos como hipertensión, diabetes o asma.
Por su parte, Julio Pacheco, guardavida de la Cruz Roja Salvadoreña, señaló que los rescates acuáticos han registrado un ligero incremento en playas, ríos y lagos. El operativo de guardavidas se preparó desde inicios de año y fue reforzado con pruebas físicas específicas para asegurar la condición óptima del personal designado en los distintos cuerpos de agua. Pacheco hizo énfasis en la importancia de respetar las señales preventivas en las playas, especialmente los banderines de colores, que indican el nivel de riesgo en cada zona.
Entre las recomendaciones emitidas por los voceros de Cruz Roja Salvadoreña para la población que disfruta de las vacaciones destacan: no dejar a los niños sin supervisión en cuerpos de agua, escribirles un número de contacto en caso de extravío, portar ropa de colores llamativos o fluorescentes para facilitar su identificación y evitar clavados en lugares desconocidos o de profundidad incierta.
En cuanto a primeros auxilios, la organización subrayó la importancia de mantener la calma, utilizar barreras físicas como guantes o bolsas para evitar el contacto directo con fluidos, y consultar de inmediato a los servicios de emergencia ante quemaduras, convulsiones, crisis alérgicas o mordeduras de animales. Galdámez aclaró que todas las personas pueden recibir indicaciones telefónicas para atender situaciones críticas mientras llegan los equipos de socorro.
La Cruz Roja Salvadoreña también hizo un llamado a la población a revisar sus viviendas antes de salir de vacaciones, desconectar aparatos eléctricos innecesarios y no sobrecargar extensiones o regletas para prevenir incendios. Además, se instó a donar sangre, ya que durante el asueto las reservas del banco disminuyen por el incremento de la demanda y la reducción temporal de donaciones.
Para emergencias, la institución puso a disposición sus números telefónicos nacionales, para solicitar asistencia en todo el territorio, tanto en el área metropolitana como en el interior del país. Los voceros insistieron en que la prevención y la información adecuada pueden marcar la diferencia en la respuesta ante cualquier incidente durante la temporada vacacional.
corresponsal:Desde San Salvador, El Salvador
INTERNACIONAL
Trump cabinet shakeup expands after Noem exit, Bondi firing — who’s under pressure next?
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Kristi Noem is gone from the Department of Homeland Security and Pam Bondi is out the door at the Justice Department.
It’s not unusual for a president to shake up the cabinet ahead of crucial elections.
And that appears to be the case right now for President Donald Trump, who’s saddled with underwater approval ratings and an unpopular war ahead of this year’s crucial midterm elections, when Republicans are working to hold onto their slim House and Senate majorities.
The big question going forward: Who may be next on Trump’s chopping block.
PAM BONDI ALREADY FIRED AS ATTORNEY GENERAL, CABINET OFFICIAL TEED UP AS REPLACEMENT: SOURCES
U.S. President Donald Trump, accompanied by FBI Director Kash Patel, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Sen. Bill Hagerty, speak during an event to sign a memorandum to send federal resources to Memphis, Tennessee, for a surge against local crime, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., Sept. 15, 2025. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)
The White House is pushing back against reporting that other cabinet secretaries may soon be given pink slips. But it’s worth noting that Trump announced in a social media post that he was letting Bondi go hours after media reports first crossed that the attorney general’s job was in jeopardy.
Here’s a look at three cabinet members that media reports suggest could possibly be in the president’s crosshairs.
Tulsi Gabbard
The director of national intelligence may have earned Trump’s ire by failing to condemn former counterterrorism chief Joe Kent after his abrupt exit from the administration last month after criticizing the president’s move to strike Iran.
Gabbard, a former Democrat who unsuccessfully ran for her party’s 2020 presidential nomination before crossing over and supporting Trump in the 2024 election and a military veteran who deployed to the Iraq War two decades ago, has not been as vocally supportive of the current conflict with Iran as others in the cabinet.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testifies during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on worldwide threats at the Hart Senate Office Building on March 18, 2026, in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
In backing Gabbard, Trump last weekend pointed to her stance on Iran and said, «I think she’s probably a little bit softer on that issue, but that’s okay.»
Pushing back forcefully against speculation that Gabbard may be next to go, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung on Thursday said, «President Trump has total confidence in Director Gabbard, and any insinuation otherwise is totally fake news.»
«The President has assembled the most talented and impactful Cabinet ever, and they have collectively delivered historic victories on behalf of the American people.,» Cheung touted.
Lori Chavez-DeRemer
Trump’s labor secretary is under investigation by the Labor Department’s inspector general over numerous allegations, including drinking alcohol while working and having an affair with a security officer.
Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is cracking down on reported H-1B abuse. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The resignation of some of her top aides has not helped matters.
Howard Lutnick
The president’s commerce secretary is a longtime Trump ally.
But there’s speculation Lutnick may be on thin ice after admitting in February he traveled with his family to Jeffrey Epstein’s private Caribbean island in 2012, four years after Epstein was convicted of child sex trafficking.
Howard Lutnick, commerce secretary, participates in a roundtable in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 10. (Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg)
Lutnick previously denied having any relationship with Epstein and stated that he «barely had anything to do with that person.»
The White House is denying that either Lutnick or Chavez-DeRemer are in hot water.
«Secretaries Chavez-DeRemer and Lutnick are both doing a great job standing up for American workers, and they continue to have President Trump’s full support,» White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Fox News.
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But a source in the president’s political orbit didn’t rule out further changes in Trump’s cabinet.
«The president is reshaping his team and his message is clear: loyalty is expected but performance is mandatory,» the source told Fox News.
pam bondi, donald trump, white house, kristi noem, cabinet, midterm elections
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