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A federal judge on Friday said he was blocking subpoenas that the Justice Department served to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell in a probe purported to be about the management of the central bank's renovation.

"A mountain of evidence suggests that the Government served these subpoenas on the Board to pressure its Chair into voting for lower interest rates or resigning," Judge James Boasberg, the chief judge on the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., wrote in a court filing.

Boasberg continued: "On the other side of the scale, the Government has produced essentially zero evidence to suspect Chair Powell of a crime; indeed, its justifications are so thin and unsubstantiated that the Court can only conclude that they are pretextual."

"The Court therefore finds that the subpoenas were issued for an improper purpose and will quash them," the order states.

Powell said the threhttps://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/powell-subpoenas-blocked-trump-probe-rcna263401atened indictment was related to his testimony before the Senate in June about the renovation of Federal Reserve office buildings.

"No one—certainly not the chair of the Federal Reserve—is above the law," Powell said in an unprecedented Sunday night video statement on Jan. 11. "But this unprecedented action should be seen in the broader context of the administration's threats and ongoing pressure."

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All six crew members of a KC-135 refueling aircraft that crashed while supporting operations against Iran are dead, the U.S. military said Friday.

U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, said the crash in western Iraq on Thursday followed an unspecified incident involving two aircraft in “friendly airspace” and that the other plane landed safely.

The crash brings the U.S. death toll in Operation Epic Fury to at least 13 service members, with the seven others killed in combat. About 140 U.S. service members have been injured, including eight severely, the Pentagon said earlier this week.

The KC-135 has been in service for more than 60 years and has been involved in several fatal accidents, most recently in 2013.

Here’s what is known so far about the tanker, which is the fourth U.S. military aircraft publicly acknowledged to have crashed since the war against Iran began on Feb. 28:

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Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank are taking advantage of curbs on movement imposed during the war on Iran to attack Palestinians, with military roadblocks preventing ambulances reaching victims quickly, rights groups and medics say.

Settlers have killed at least five Palestinians in the West Bank since the United States and Israel began airstrikes against Iran on February 28, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

A sixth man died after inhaling tear gas fired during an attack, according to Israeli rights group B’Tselem.

Israel’s military blocked many West Bank roads with iron gates and mounds of earth on the first day of the war and has largely shut crossings with Israel.

The Israeli military says the curbs are preemptive measures while it is carrying out airstrikes on Iran and against Lebanese group Hezbollah, which has fired missiles at Israel in solidarity with Tehran.

Palestinians in remote West Bank villages say the roadblocks have left them increasingly exposed to settler violence.

The Israeli military has also continued to carry out the raids it frequently conducts in Palestinian cities and towns during peacetime to arrest Palestinians, often without charge, they say.

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Saghar recalls the airstrikes that targeted oil facilities in and around Tehran on Saturday with a terrifying clarity. It was exactly one week into the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and the constant roar of fighter jets overhead punctuated by loud explosions that rattled the windows had already become a familiar sound in the capital.

But at around 10:30 p.m. on March 7, three deafening blasts, distinctly larger than the strikes of previous days, shook her home. Saghar, 24, lives with her parents and sister in a residential complex in northeastern Tehran, perilously close to the Aghdasieh oil depot.

“The house shook, it truly shook. Far worse than an earthquake,” Saghar told Drop Site News. (Saghar is a pseudonym; she requested anonymity to speak with Drop Site News given the war.) “I remember the Tehran earthquake of May 2020—this was exponentially worse. The kitchen and living room windows shattered instantly, and the chandelier swung violently like a pendulum. My mother was at the sink washing dinner plates when the blast hit. The shockwave threw her so hard she landed head-first on the floor.”

A colossal orange flash ignited on the horizon. Israeli airstrikes had targeted major oil depots and infrastructure in the Tehran neighborhoods of Shahran, Aghdasieh, and Shahr-e-Ray, as well as in the nearby city of Karaj. The massive reservoirs of combustible fuel triggered apocalyptic-looking fires that raged throughout the night.

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The only Muslim woman on US President Donald Trump's religious freedom committee is resigning, Middle East Eye can reveal. 

Sameerah Munshi served on the Advisory Board of Lay Leaders on the Religious Liberties Commission, and is leaving the role "in protest" of the White House's decision to remove anti-Zionist Catholic commissioner Carrie Prejean-Boller from the panel, her resignation letter, seen by MEE on Thursday, said.

Prejean-Boller revealed on X on Thursday that the president, who appoints all the commissioners, has now fired her for what she believes is her stand against genocide committed by Israel in Gaza, and her pushback against those who call her antisemitic for her anti-Zionist views. 

Boller's firing follows a viral video clip of a heated exchange at a February meeting of the commission, in which Prejean-Boller insists that Catholicism and Zionism are not compatible.

Middle East Eye has reached out to both the White House and the Department of Justice - under which the commission was established - for comment.

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Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, issued his first public message Thursday since assuming power after the death of his father, Ali Khamenei. The statement was delivered as a written text read by a presenter on state television. That unusual format immediately fueled questions about both his health and the degree of his control over the country at a moment of acute regional crisis.

Unlike his father, Ali Khamenei, who rose to the supreme leadership after serving as Iran’s president, Mojtaba Khamenei has remained almost entirely out of public view. This was not only his first message as supreme leader, but effectively his first known public political address.

That contrast matters because Ali Khamenei entered the office with years of visible national political experience behind him. Mojtaba Khamenei, by comparison, has never given interviews and has never spoken publicly, making Thursday’s statement his first known public address.

The tone of Mojtaba Khamenei’s first message appeared aimed at establishing continuity. Much of it presented the current crisis as an extension of the struggle led by his father, suggesting that although Ali Khamenei is dead, his political and ideological struggle continues.

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A US military refuelling aircraft crashed in western Iraq on Thursday, in an incident US Central Command said involved another aircraft but was not the result of hostile or friendly fire.

It wasn’t immediately clear if there were casualties. A US official, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the developing situation, said the KC-135 aircraft that crashed had at least five crew members aboard.

The US has surged a large number of aircraft into the Middle East to take part in operations against Iran.

In a statement, US Central Command said it was carrying out rescue efforts after the aircraft went down. The second aircraft landed safely.

“The incident occurred in friendly airspace during Operation Epic Fury, and rescue efforts are ongoing,” the statement said, using the name of the US operation against Iran.

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The suspect who killed one person and injured two others at Old Dominion University on Thursday was identified by authorities as Mohamed Jalloh, a former member of the army national guard who pleaded guilty in 2016 to attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State.

Dominique Evans, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Norfolk field office, told reporters the suspect had attempted to commit an “act of terrorism” and shouted “Allahu Akbar” before opening fire. He was subdued and killed by members of the university’s ROTC program in a university classroom, she said, praising them for demonstrating “extreme bravery and courage” and preventing further loss of life. (ROTC is a college-based program that allows students to train to become a US military officer while also earning a college degree.)

Virginia governor Abigail Spanberger identified ROTC instructor Lt Col Brandon Shah as the victim killed in the shooting.

“A devoted ROTC instructor, Lt. Col. Shah didn’t just lead a life of service to our country, he taught and led others to follow that path,” she wrote on social media.

Kash Patel, the FBI director, said the bureau was investigating the incident as an “act of terrorism”.

“Earlier today, an armed individual opened fire at Old Dominion University, leaving one person dead and two others wounded,” Patel said on social media. “The shooter is now deceased thanks to a group of brave students who stepped in and subdued him – actions that undoubtedly saved lives along with the quick response of law enforcement.

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