Five former US officials, including a former top military lawyer, have criticised the Pentagon for not acknowledging potential American involvement in a deadly strike on an Iranian school earlier this year. Some of those officials said it was highly unusual not to release even basic details of the strike after such a length of time. A missile hit a primary school in Minab during the opening salvos of the US-Israeli war on February 28, killing 168 people including around 110 children according to Iranian officials. In the two months since then the Pentagon has said only that the incident is under investigation. US media reported in early March that US military investigators believed American forces were likely responsible for hitting the school unintentionally but had not reached a final conclusion.

Why did Trump fire Pam Bondi? Trump's US Fed nominee Warsh vows independence, says he's no'sock puppet' Kevin Warsh, United States President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Federal Reserve, has addressed concerns about his independence pending his appointment to the bank amid fears that Trump could sway his decisions on monetary policy. On Tuesday, Warsh -- who served on the central bank's Board of Governors from 2006 to 2011 -- faced waves of criticism during a confirmation hearing of the Senate Banking Committee where Democrats voiced concerns about the Fed's independence should he be appointed to lead the organisation. "I do not believe the operational independence of monetary policy is particularly threatened when elected officials -- presidents, senators, or members of the House -- state their views on interest rates," Warsh said. "Monetary policy independence is essential. Monetary policymakers must act in the nation's interest . . . Warsh, 56, also called for "regime change" at the US central bank, including a new approach for controlling inflation and a communications overhaul that may discourage his colleagues from saying too much about the direction of monetary policy. Warsh blamed the central bank for an inflation surge after it slashed interest rates to nearly zero in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a move that continues to hurt US households. Concerned by the implications of artificial intelligence for jobs - expected to increase productivity - and prices, he said he would move quickly to see if new data tools could provide better insight on inflation, and would also discourage policymakers from saying too much about where interest rates might be heading. "What the Fed needs are reforms to its frameworks and reforms to its communications," the former Fed governor said. "Too many Fed officials opine about where interest rates should be That is quite unhelpful." Warsh has also long been an advocate for shrinking the Fed's $6.7 trillion balance sheet. In the Tuesday hearing, he said any such plans would take time and must be publicly discussed well in advance. Jai Kedia, a research fellow at the Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives at the libertarian Cato Institute, told Al Jazeera that there were many "encouraging" signs in Warsh's candidacy. "Warsh is presenting himself as a regime change candidate at a time when the Fed needs serious reform," Kedia noted. "Particularly encouraging was his understanding of the negative effects of QE and his focus on reducing the balance sheet.

Navy robots from Gecko Robotics will inspect U.S. warships in $71 million effort to reduce maintenance delays as only 60% of fleet remains operational amid China's naval expansion.

Author Wynton Hall alleges Google Gemini flagged Republican senators' rhetoric as hate speech while identifying no Democratic violations, raising questions about AI bias.

House Democrats are demanding answers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and urging it to halt rumored changes they say could undermine its mission. One of the US government's top scientific research labs is taking steps that could drive away foreign scientists, a shift lawmakers and sources tell WIRED could cost the country valuable expertise and damage the agency's credibility. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) helps determine the frameworks underpinning everything from cybersecurity to semiconductor manufacturing. Some of NIST's recent work includes establishing guidelines for securing AI systems and identifying health concerns with air purifiers and firefighting gloves. Many of the agency's thousands of employees, postdoctoral scientists, contractors, and guest researchers are brought in from around the world for their specialized expertise.

'Trump will be gone in three years': Top Democrats try to reassure Europe US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was the centre of attention at the Munich Security Summit, as European leaders wondered apprehensively what tone he would strike in his remarks on Saturday. While his speech did not fully allay their concerns, it has been viewed as a reassurance to allies that while US relations may have frayed under Donald Trump, they will not break. Rubio's was not the only American political voice at the security summit, however. And even if the secretary of state's remarks had not been so well-received - if he had sharply criticised Europeans the way Vice-President JD Vance did at the conference last year - there were other American politicians doing their best impression of the Persian poet, counselling: This too shall pass. If there's nothing else I can communicate today, California Governor Gavin Newsom said at a conference event on Friday, Donald Trump is temporary.

Sen. John Fetterman breaks with Democrats, warning a DHS shutdown is likely as lawmakers remain deadlocked over agency funding.

Red and blue states alike have introduced legislation in recent weeks that would halt data center development, citing concerns from climate to high energy prices. An Amazon Web Services data center in Stone Ridge, Virginia.Photograph: Nathan Howard/Getty Images Two New York lawmakers on Friday announced that they are introducing a bill that would impose a three-year moratorium on data center development. The announcement makes New York at least the sixth state to introduce legislation putting a pause on data center development in the past few weeks--one of the latest signs of a growing and bipartisan backlash that is quickly finding traction in statehouses around the country. Data center moratoriums are "being tested as a model throughout states in this country," said state senator Liz Krueger, a Democrat, who presented the bill at a press conference Friday with its cosponsor, assembly member Anna Kelles, also a Democrat. "Democrats and Republicans are moving forward with exactly these kinds of moratoriums. New York should be in the front of the line to get this done."

House Oversight chair James Comer claims Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton agreed to depositions in the Epstein investigation after facing bipartisan contempt votes that surprised them.

He catches nascent changes in the political weather. "During early, he kept telling me, 'Crime--there's something here,' " DeBoo told me. DeBoo studied the latest crime statistics and saw nothing unusual. He brushed off the worry. Then new numbers came out, showing a large pandemic spike in shoplifting and car theft, and concerns about crime exploded into the headlines. Last March, judging the winds, Newsom launched a podcast, "This Is Gavin Newsom."