Footwear worn by Third Secretary is a disgrace (7)
I believe the answer is:
scandal
'a disgrace' is the definition.
(scandal can mean disgraceful behaviour or news)
'footwear worn by third secretary' is the wordplay.
'footwear' becomes 'sandal' (sandal is a kind of footwear).
'worn by' means one lot of letters goes inside another (outside letters are worn by those on the inside).
'third secretary' becomes 'c' (3rd letter of 'secretary').
'sandal' placed around 'c' is 'SCANDAL'.
'is' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for scandal that I've seen before include "Disgraceful event" , "It injures reputation" , "Event causing public outrage" , "something injurious to one's reputation" , "Malicious talk; outrage" .)