What happened
Questions are beginning to mount for US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (pictured above) over the possibility that the US was behind the strike on a primary school in Iran that officials there say killed 168 people, including about 110 children.

Democrats in the US Senate have written to Hegseth demanding that he answer questions about the strike. According to CBS News and other US outlets, a preliminary assessment of the incident by American officials said the US was “likely” to have been responsible, but that it had done so in error rather than intentionally.

Who said what
The strike, if a US role was to be confirmed, “would amount to one of its worst single cases of civilian casualties in decades of US conflicts in the Middle East”, said the BBC. Asked last week by the BBC about the incident, Hegseth said the US did not target civilians and was investigating the issue.

Hegseth “has gutted the Pentagon oversight offices that would have investigated the recent strike on an Iranian girls’ school”, said Politico, in a move that has “degraded America’s ability to protect civilians amid its largest air campaign in decades”.

What next?
US military investigators have said they are yet to reach a final conclusion on who was behind the strike. The Pentagon said it would respond to the letter from the Democratic Senators in due course.

What happened
The head chef of Noma, one of the highest-rated restaurants in the world, has stepped down following claims of workplace abuse. René Redzepi (pictured above) also resigned from the board of Mad, a non-profit organisation that he founded in 2011 that helps those new to the restaurant industry.

Following an expose by The New York Times and protests outside a Los Angeles pop-up, Redzepi announced his departure on social media and said he would “take responsibility” for his actions.

Who said what
Known for “rewriting the rules” of fine dining, Redzepi had also been accused of “physical and psychological abuse” by previous employees, according to The New York Times.

The “rock star chef” was “one of the biggest names in haute cuisine” and had led his restaurant Noma to the “pinnacle of world fine dining”, said The Times. The resignation could be a “watershed moment” in an industry that has “indulged” the “poor behaviour of top chefs” for decades.

What next?
The restaurant’s Los Angeles pop-up will continue despite corporate sponsors Cadillac, Resy (owned by American Express) and Blackbird having pulled out of the venture. Redzepi’s successor has not yet been named.

Following on from pilot schemes in several US cities last year, Uber has launched a women-only service across the country.

The new feature on the Uber app – which gives women the choice to request trips with female drivers – is designed to help them “feel more confident” both in the passengers seats and behind the wheel.

Uber and rival company Lyft have “faced criticism over their safety records” for years, said The Associated Press. The ride-hailing apps have received “thousands of reports of sexual assaults from passengers and drivers”, with many female users losing trust in the service.

According to Uber’s latest safety summary, the number of sexual assaults reported during US rides has dropped from 5,981 in 2017-18 to 2,717 in 2022-23 – which Uber says represents 0.0001% of rides across the country.

The rollout of the women-only service is going ahead despite an ongoing court case in California brought by two Uber drivers who argue that the policy is discriminatory against men and violates the state’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, which prohibits sex discrimination by businesses. Uber is disputing that Unruh has been violated, saying its “women preferences” feature serves a “public policy interest in enhancing safety”.

“I take Uber rides at all times of the day and night,” said Lakshmi Varanasi on Business Insider . There’s a “wide grey area between assault and a perfectly uneventful Uber ride”. The women-only driver option could give both riders and drivers more “control” over uncomfortable situations. “I, for one, will try this out.”