U.S. Marines intercepted and redirected an Iranian-flagged commercial oil tanker they suspected of evading the U.S. Navy blockade on Wednesday.Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit boarded the M/T Celestial Sea as it traveled in the Gulf of Oman, potentially toward an Iranian port. They searched the ship and forced it to alter its course in adherence with the blockade, according to U.S. Central Command.“U.S. forces continue to fully enforce the blockade and have now redirected 91 commercial ships to ensure compliance,” CENTCOM said.U.S. military forces have also disabled four vessels since the U.S. Navy blockade began on April 12.A U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet from USS George H.W. Bush launched “precision munitions” at the smokestacks of two Iranian-flagged unladed oil tankers on May 8 as they transited toward an Iranian port in violation of the U.S. Navy blockade.RELATEDThat same week, U.S. military forces destroyed six Iranian small boats that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched toward Navy vessels escorting ships through the Strait of Hormuz.And on May 6, a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet from the USS Abraham Lincoln fired on the Iranian-flagged unladen oil tanker M/T Hasna in the Strait of Hormuz as it attempted to evade the…

The current Ebola outbreak is worrying the World Health Organization’s chief as the “scale and speed” of the virus’s spread increases. The number of deaths has also risen sharply as reports of illness roll in. At least 131 people are believed to have died and 531 to have been infected, central African health authorities say. An American missionary was among those who tested positive, accoridng to a report by NBC News.  The number of suspected cases has risen dramatically from the 300 believed infected and 88 killed as of Monday. The Ebola Scare Begins: The Worst Outbreak Of Bundibugyo Virus Disease In World History This outbreak went undetected for weeks, allowing the virus to continue to spread and deaths to coalesce. Global health experts are worried about the capacity of this outbreak to cause widespread illness and death in central Africa, not least because this rare strain of Ebola, the Bundibugyo virus, has no approved vaccine or treatment and a shortage of available tests. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said early Tuesday that he was “deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic.” This comes as the United States State Department also said in a statement on Tuesday…

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I often think about how lucky we are that we are presented with sporting events every night. Sure, most countries have some sort of sport — tennis or soccer, usually — but America gets a ton of options almost every night. Tonight we have the NHL and NBA Playoffs, baseball, soccer and the WNBA. You may not watch it all, but I’ll be betting on them, and I’ve got a play to share on the Wings vs. Sky game.The Dallas Wings have won the past two WNBA Drafts. Coming into this year, I expected them to be one of the most improved teams in the league. It wasn’t just that they took the best player available in Azzi Fudd, it was the other offseason additions. They added a defensive presence in Alanna Smith, mostly a 3-and-D player. That was one of their biggest issues from last year. They have a new coach, one that the team seems to respect this time. It hasn’t translated to excellence yet; the team is just 2-2, but it takes time for things to click and adjustments to be made. They still have one of the best young players in the game in Paige Bueckers,…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! President Donald Trump signaled support for former reality TV star turned Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt while speaking to reporters Wednesday at Joint Base Andrews.”Oh, I’d like to see him do well. He’s a character,” Trump said.”I don’t know him. I assume he probably supports me. Does he support me?” Trump asked a reporter.”I heard he does. I heard he’s a Big MAGA person. He’s doing well,” Trump said of Pratt after being asked if he saw any similarities between himself and the former “The Hills” star.REALITY TV STAR SPENCER PRATT GAINS TRACTION IN LOS ANGELES MAYORAL RACE AFTER FIERY DEBATE Trump questioned whether Pratt could win the election in California, claiming the state’s voting system is “rigged.””I don’t know if, you know, if you have a rigged vote out there. That’s the problem. The votes are rigged. You have a really rigged vote in California. You have all the mail-in ballots, everything else. Very hard to win because the elections are very dishonest. If we had Jesus Christ come down and count the votes, I would have won California because I do great with Hispanics. But it’s a rigged vote,”…

The U.S. Marine Corps plans to reduce the amount of time in service needed to qualify for the rank of sergeant, according to a recent administrative message. Currently, Marines have to serve at least 48 months before they can become an E-5, but that will change beginning Oct. 1, when TIS is reduced to 30 months. In the message, the Marines explained that the last change to the policy was in fiscal 2020, when it upped the required TIS from 24 months to 48. “This change favored longevity over performance rather than competition among high-performing corporals,” the message said. The Marines added that shortening the TIS to 30 months “strengthens competition and ensures Marines are promoted based on merit and performance.” As for the jump from sergeant to staff sergeant, the service will decrease the wait time from when a Marine completes his or her Sergeant Professional Military Education from 365 days to 270. Additionally, the Marines will discontinue Staff Sergeant Promotion Board Alternate Selection List to, again, favor merit over longevity. In the message, the Marines explain that the alternate selection list was created to address promotion shortfalls, but replacing it “with a predictive allocation model streamlines the promotion…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! When we suddenly hit the brakes and called off the planned military operation against the Iranian regime, it was clear that something was going on. We gave the regime 2-3 days to come to some arrangement that presumably includes no nukes. What does no nukes mean? Are their scientists going to forget what they developed? How long can we keep that in a box? What happens to the enriched uranium? We are told: 1. they have enough to make 10 bombs in 11 days, and 2. that it takes a matter of weeks to further enrich uranium from 60% to 90% nuclear grade. What about the plutonium, which no one is talking about?And the ballistic missiles that were destroying targets throughout the Middle East? And the range of those missiles, which can now hit Europe? We didn’t even know how far those missiles could reach. I guess all of this will change? The Iranian regime that kicked out inspectors, hid their activities, and violated every single agreement it ever signed, will have changed because of our military actions?Honestly, does this act or sound like a regime that is defeated or cares about…

In life, Jimmy Stewart never talked about his war. But in death, he granted his family — and now the world — a greater window into the Academy Award-winning actor turned combat pilot.“My father didn’t speak about his war experience very much,” his daughter, Kelly Stewart-Harcourt, told Military Times. “After he died, my sister found a journal, a handwritten journal that he had kept during the war” alongside his flight logbook filled with little scribbles, drawings and sketch marks from both Stewart and his men. The journal, according to Stewart-Harcourt, “described dad’s fears and his uncertainties, uncertainties about the war and the struggles and wanting to please his father. Dad didn’t talk very much about himself, so this was a real look inside dad that we had never had before.”“I don’t think [the movie] could have been done without that input,” she added. “It just made it so much deeper, richer and more profound.”Poignantly, perhaps almost fittingly, the last line of the journal stops mid-sentence. Wednesday, in honor of Stewart’s birthday, Burns & Co. production has dropped the official “Jimmy” trailer starring KJ Apa (“Riverdale”) as the World War II veteran and famed “It’s a Wonderful Life” star.“I was just…

The 1911 occupies a curious position in the modern concealed carry landscape. It is widely respected and often admired, yet only sometimes considered a practical choice for everyday carry. Many people speak of it the way they speak of a classic automobile: beautiful, capable, historically significant, but somehow disconnected from the realities of daily use. That perception tends to change, however, when one actually commits to carrying a 1911 on a regular basis. Is the classic 1911 pistol the shooting world’s version of the manual transmission? Do its demands offset its benefits, or is it the ideal EDC? Much of what people believe about the platform is shaped less by firsthand experience than by repetition. The 1911 is commonly described as heavy, low in capacity, old-fashioned or overly complicated. These characterizations are repeated often enough that they begin to feel like established facts, even among shooters who have never spent meaningful time with one on their belt. Rather than debating those assumptions, I chose to test them. For an extended period, my daily carry gun was a full-size, 5” customized Springfield Armory 1911 Ronin. I carried it not out of nostalgia or to make a statement, but to understand what…

The United States and Nigeria conducted a joint operation in which 175 members of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) were killed. These fighters were said to be both simple militants and senior commanders. The Trump administration sent troops to Nigeria back in February in what was described as an “advisory and training role”, though the recent operations indicate a more active role for the US military in the African nation. The latest strikes come days after Abuja and Washington announced that a joint military operation in the Lake Chad Basin killed senior Islamic State commander Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, who US President Donald Trump described as the group’s global second-in-command. –RT On Tuesday, the Nigerian military stated that these strikes were conducted over the past few days. It added that the joint operation destroyed weapons, checkpoints, and financial networks across the region. US Africa Command (AFRICOM) confirmed the operation and said no American or Nigerian troops were harmed during the attacks. “The removal of these terrorists diminishes the group’s capacity to plan attacks that threaten the safety and security of the U.S. and our partners,” AFRICOM said in a statement. Nigerian military spokesman Samaila Uba said one of the senior leaders of…