(NBC News) All six U.S. crew members have been confirmed dead after their military refueling plane crashed in Iraq while taking part in Iran war operations, the U.S. military said Friday. U.S. Central Command said in a post on X early Friday that the KC-135 plane went down at approximately 2 p.m. ET Thursday in western Iraq, with four crew members initially confirmed dead. The statement said that "rescue efforts continue." In a subsequent post, CENTCOM confirmed that all six crew members "are now confirmed deceased."

(ABC News) The U.S. has intercepted encrypted communications believed to have originated in Iran that may serve as "an operational trigger" for "sleeper assets" outside the country, according to a federal government alert sent to law enforcement agencies. The alert, reviewed by ABC News, cites "preliminary signals analysis" of a transmission "likely of Iranian origin" that was relayed across multiple countries shortly after the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, was killed in a U.S.-Israeli attack on Feb. 28.

(The Hill) A bipartisan group of lawmakers is warning the Trump administration against drawing down hundreds of U.S. troops serving as peacekeeping forces in Kosovo as tensions rise in the region, according to a letter exclusively obtained by The Hill. The letter, sent Thursday, represents a rare moment of unity among Democrats and Republicans serving on key foreign policy and armed services committees. It also puts a spotlight on a potentially escalating conflict despite President Trump’s claims he achieved peace in the western Balkans.

(BBC) The US is relocating parts of a missile defence system installed in South Korea to the Middle East, according to officials cited by the Washington Post and South Korean news outlets. The reported move comes 12 days into the US-Israeli war against Iran, and follows reports suggesting Iran had destroyed a key radar used by the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or Thaad, system in Jordan. Thaad was first deployed to South Korea in 2017 to protect against threats from nuclear-armed North Korea.

(Salon) Pete Hegseth has an abnormal obsession with how he looks in photographs. This is not revelation: The defense secretary is well known for preening for the cameras with a level of self-regard that would embarrass most supermodels. But his fixation on striking a manly pose was confirmed in humiliating fashion this week when the Washington Post reported that the Pentagon banned news photographers for taking what was deemed “unflattering” photos of the former Fox News weekend host during a March 2 briefing about the Iran war.

(CNBC) Economic growth was much slower than expected in the final three months of 2025 while core inflation rose to start 2026, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Gross domestic product, a measure of all the goods and services produced across the sprawling U.S. economy, rose at a seasonally and inflation-adjusted annual rate of just 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the department's Bureau of Economic Analysis. The first revision of the GDP reading was a sharp step down from the previous estimate of 1.4% and well below the Dow Jones consensus forecast for 1.5%. It also marked a considerable slowdown from the 4.4% gain in the prior period.

(The Guardian) The Harris Poll survey presents Republicans with a major problem in the battle for the upcoming midterm elections. The majority of all voters (72%) believe Trump’s tariffs have had a negative rather than a positive impact and 67% said tariffs aren’t the right solution for improving the economy. 64% of Republicans agreed that Trump’s tariffs had led to higher prices compared with 77% of Democrats and 67% of independents who believed the same. Americans are experiencing the most sticker shock at the grocery store, with 57% saying that tariffs have negatively affected grocery prices.

(The Independent) When Elon Musk deployed DOGE into the National Endowment for the Humanities, which provides vital financial support to research and arts programs, Musk’s staff abruptly choked off more than 1,400 grants, eliminating tens of millions of dollars in public funding within less than a month. More than 10 hours of newly released video testimony from January uncovers how two DOGE operators relied on ChatGPT and their own largely uninformed judgments to make sweeping decisions about funding for a range of programs and projects — and the people who rely on them.

(Axios) House and Senate Democrats are starting to have preliminary discussions to coordinate potential congressional investigations into companies, colleges and law firms in the next Congress, multiple sources told Axios. The early strategizing on how Democrats plan to use the investigative power of committees, including subpoenas, is another indication of the party's growing confidence of victory in November.

(NPR) In another positive sign for Democrats in this midterm election year, close-to-final turnout numbers in Texas show the Democratic Senate primary had the highest number of people voting in it than for any other primary for statewide office in Texas' history. More than 2.3 million votes were cast in the primary in which state Rep. James Talarico defeated U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett. Nearly 2.2 million Republicans voted in this year's Senate primary, which is headed for a runoff between incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.