NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! NEWARK, N.J. – Jack Hughes and the New Jersey Devils returned to NHL action on Wednesday night against the Buffalo Sabres, the first game since the start of the Olympic break. Safe to say that a lot has happened since Hughes last pulled the New Jersey sweater over his head and skated on Prudential Center ice. Hughes scored the gold medal-winning goal in overtime to defeat Canada during the 2026 Winter Olympics. The 24-year-old is now arguably the biggest American hockey star thanks to his heroics in Milan and fans in Newark let him know.  Prior to puck drop against Buffalo, the Devils honored all of their Olympians from 2026, including those who represented foreign nations. As expected, no one received a warmer reception from the crowd than Hughes. The pregame ceremony brought fans right back to Sunday morning. As the gold medal-winning goal replay played on the Jumbotron, fans cheered like it was happening in real time. “U-S-A” chant after “U-S-A” chant echoed throughout the arena, which was littered with American flags.Hughes first grabbed fellow Team USA teammate Tage Thompson from the visiting Buffalo Sabres bench and let fans acknowledge him before grabbing…

The Army has long relied on fixed retention bonuses to keep senior technical experts in uniform. But as competition for specialized skills intensifies, leaders are trying something new: an auction.Under the new program, called the Warrant Officer Retention Bonus Auction, eligible warrant officers will submit confidential bids for how much money it would take to keep them on active duty for an additional six years, the Army announced last week.Lt. Col. Tim Justicz, an Army economist who helped design the program, said in the release that, “the goal is simple. Reward as many qualified Warrant Officers as possible with the most competitive bonus the budget allows.” Eligible officers can submit a minimum bid of $100 per month, increasing at $100 intervals, the release said, and once the market closes, the Army will use those bids to define a “single, market-clearing bonus rate,” to pay as many officers as the service’s budget allows.Officers who submit bids at the chosen rate — or lower — will be awarded those bonuses. The catch? Those whose bid above the rate will get no bonus. The changes apply to those in select specialties with ranks from promotable chief warrant officer 2 through chief warrant officer…

A week after Bill Gates abruptly pulled out as a keynote speaker at a high-profile global AI summit in India, the left-wing billionaire finally mustered enough nerve to “take responsibility for his actions” over his ties to late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a town hall meeting with Gates Foundation employees. The Wall Street Journal reports that Gates told employees at a town hall event for the foundation on Tuesday that he never spent time with Epstein’s victims, and never visited Epstein’s island. He revealed that Epstein later learned about two affairs he had with Russian women, but said those relationships did not involve Epstein’s victims. Gates said photos in the Epstein files show him with redacted women were taken by Epstein’s assistants after meetings. Did Gates fall into a Russian honeypot? “I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,” Gates emphasized, according to a recording reviewed by WSJ journalists. Gates continued, “To be clear, I never spent any time with victims, the women around him.” “It was a huge mistake to spend time with Epstein,” and bring Gates Foundation executives into meetings with the sex offender, Gates said, adding, “I apologize to other people who are drawn into this because of…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! NBA great Chris Bosh revealed a scary personal health incident, where he said he woke up in a pool of his own blood after blacking out before a date night with his wife. The 11-time All-Star posted a video on his Instagram account, saying that he continues to recover from a serious medical emergency that began with a numbing sensation that went down his left leg. Bosh has a history with blood clots, which ultimately led to him cutting his NBA career short.  He eventually came to and found his wife calling first responders, while he noticed the blood he was covered in. Bosh said he tried moving his body, but couldn’t do so. While he didn’t reveal what exactly the medical diagnosis was, Bosh said this health scare gave him a new perspective on life. “After coming back from the darkness, there was no euphoric clarity,” the Basketball Hall of Famer said in the video. “No life montage flashing before my eyes. No voice in my ear telling me it’ll be OK and what to do next. Just the gratitude for still being alive, and a newfound, sobering awareness of how everything actually is.”What did…

Prices for school meals at Department of Defense schools overseas will increase by 25 cents for the 2026-2027 school year, military exchange officials announced. It’s the first change in price in four years. For students in universal pre-kindergarten through grade 5, the lunch price will be $3.75. For those in grades six through 12, it will be $4. Breakfast for all grades will be $2.25. Families who qualify for free meals based on federal guidelines receive lunch and breakfast at no cost. Children of families who qualify for reduced-price meals will still pay 40 cents for lunch and 30 cents for breakfast.The DOD school meal programs are operated by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, the Navy Exchange Service Command and the Marine Corps Community Service. The programs are subsidized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. According to AAFES officials, their lunches are priced, on average, about $2 below the actual cost of $5.50 per plate. The Department of Defense Education Activity and USDA reimburse the exchanges for the direct costs not covered by sales. By law, DoDEA schools, as participants in the U. S. Department of Agriculture meal program, must raise paid student lunch prices to a level…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! California’s sanctuary policies are under renewed scrutiny after Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested nine previously convicted sex offenders in Los Angeles, accusing state officials of releasing thousands of criminal migrants instead of honoring federal detainer requests.ICE said Wednesday the nine individuals – all convicted of sex crimes – were taken into custody during a targeted operation aimed at removing dangerous offenders from local communities.All nine “will face justice for their crimes and will be removed from the United States, never to terrorize our communities again,” the agency said.Since Jan. 20, 2025, ICE said California has declined to honor 4,561 immigration detainers on criminal illegal immigrants, releasing offenders – including murderers and sex offenders – back into communities instead of transferring them to federal custody. The agency added that it currently has more than 33,000 active detainers lodged in California’s local, state and federal jails and urged officials to cooperate so dangerous offenders can be removed from the U.S.”ICE isn’t going to stand idly by while criminal illegal alien sex offenders roam Los Angeles or any other community,” ICE Director Todd M. Lyons said. “We’re here to enforce the law so we can…

The U.S. will soon have the ability to deploy a new type of hypersonic missile that can be shot from fighter planes, bombers, ground-based launchers — and can even be fired from space.Ursa Major, a Colorado-based defense manufacturer, debuted the HAVOC missile system on Tuesday. The medium-range hypersonic system is powered by a liquid rocket engine, is able to alter its speed in flight and can be adapted for use with a wide variety of rocket motor systems from warplanes to vertical launch systems.Additionally, the system can be deployed outside of Earth’s atmosphere, according to the company. “Keeping pace with our adversaries requires more than exquisite systems. It requires speed to delivery, affordability, and the ability to build at scale,” Chris Spagnoletti, CEO of Ursa Major, said in a statement. “The Ursa Major HAVOC Missile System delivers a highly capable hypersonic weapon designed from the start to be produced rapidly and in quantity, giving the warfighter a credible and adaptable capability.”The system has a core module that makes it suitable for striking hypersonic targets as well, the company adds. Hypersonic missiles, which fly at roughly five times the speed of sound, have become a priority across all U.S. military branches.…

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NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! President Donald Trump’s phone call to the United States men’s Olympic hockey team garnered controversy after laughter followed a mention of the women’s team.While on the phone with the team after they won gold, Trump said he would “have” to invite the women’s team, which also beat Canada to win the Olympics, to Tuesday’s State of the Union — otherwise, he “probably would be impeached.”The quip drummed up some laughter in the locker room, which Team USA backup goalie Jeremy Swayman seemed to regret.  “We should have reacted differently,” Swayman told reporters Wednesday when asked about the phone call.Members of the men’s team, including Jack and Quinn Hughes, made it a point to mention that the teams celebrated and supported each other throughout the Olympics. Swayman, too, hammered home the point.”We know that we are so excited for the women’s team. We have so much respect for the women’s team. To share that gold medal with them is something we’re forever grateful for,” he said.The women’s team declined an invitation to Washington, D.C., citing scheduling conflicts. But Trump announced that they will visit the White House in due time.Jack Hughes told reporters after…

The day began ominously.It was Friday the 13th when the airmen of the 451st Bomb Group of the 15th Air Force based in Castelluccio, Italy, gathered in an ancient wine cellar which housed Group Operations.“Gentlemen, our target today will be … Vienna,” Ed Ryan later recalled in Veteran Voices Magazine. Audible groans could be heard throughout the cellar. Experienced crewman knew how well defended the Austrian city was, laced with anti-aircraft guns. Ryan, who served as a navigator, knew too, as he had flown 12 missions prior to that October day. It would be his 13th bombing run — set on the 13th.“Friday, October 13, 1944: Friday the 13th. My lucky day,” Ryan wrote. “For the rest of my life, I would celebrate Friday the 13th whenever it appeared on the calendar. It was the day I should have died, but didn’t.”It was overcast as Ryan’s B-24 took off, positioned in at the rear of the squadron. The men morbidly called it the “Purple Heart” position, as it left whoever was flying in that spot the most vulnerable to flak.“I can’t say I was scared,” said Ryan. “I understood intellectually the odds of being shot down. But I never in…