WASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) — China does not currently plan to invade Taiwan in 2027 and seeks to control the island without the use of force, the U.S. intelligence community said on Wednesday, striking a measured tone on one of the world’s biggest potential flashpoints. The assessment in the intelligence agencies’ annual report on global threats comes as Beijing has stepped up pressure on Taiwan with frequent military drills, even as U.S. President Donald Trump has played down the risk of Chinese military action while he is in office. The Pentagon late last year said the U.S. military believed China was preparing to be able to win a fight for Taiwan by 2027, the centenary of the founding of its People’s Liberation Army, and was refining options to take Taiwan by “brute force” if needed.“China, despite its threat to use force to compel unification if necessary and to counter what it sees as a U.S. attempt to use Taiwan to undermine China’s rise, prefers to achieve unification without the use of force, if possible,” the U.S. intelligence agencies said in the report. The U.S. “assesses that Chinese leaders do not currently plan to execute an invasion of Taiwan in 2027,…

The killing of some senior Iranian politicians by the United States and Israel will not cripple the government, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said. He said the attempt to bring down Iran’s regime will be a failure despite the deaths. “I do not know why the Americans and the Israelis still have not understood this point: The Islamic Republic of Iran has a strong political structure with established political, economic, and social institutions,” Araghchi told Al Jazeera. Araghchi made the comments shortly after Iran confirmed the death of Ali Larijani, the country’s security chief and one of its most powerful politicians. Larijani was killed in an airstrike in a Tehran suburb on Tuesday during the war. “The presence or absence of a single individual does not affect this structure,” he added. “Of course, individuals are influential, and each person plays their – some better, some worse, some less – but what matters is that the political system in Iran is a very solid structure,” the diplomat said. The U.S. and Israel have killed a number of high-ranking Iranian officials and commanders, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who died during the first wave of strikes on February 28th. Iran Has Confirmed The…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! FBI Director Kash Patel on Wednesday said the bureau thwarted four terrorist attacks across the U.S. last December — including three inspired by ISIS — by tracking suspects both online and in person.Patel was testifying at the Senate Intelligence Worldwide Threats hearing on Capitol Hill when Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, asked about what measures the FBI was taking to stop foreign terrorist organizations from recruiting and influencing Americans online.Patel testified that foreign terrorist organizations, including ISIS, have become “all the more powerful” by moving their recruitment capabilities online.”What we have done is extended and expanded resources to environments like the Threat Screening Center, which allows us to collect biometric capabilities from all over the world,” Patel said, noting double-digit increases in those resources and the bureau’s intelligence production.FBI DISRUPTS ALLEGED ISIS-INSPIRED NEW YEAR’S EVE ATTACK PLOT TARGETING NC GROCERY STORE, FAST FOOD RESTAURANT Patel said the FBI has also increased its manpower to detect such threats online.”But what we’ve also done in the [counterterrorism] space specifically is expand the number of agents and intel analysts that go online and detect based on our biometric capabilities and intelligence that we have from the…

Editor’s note: This story originally appeared on Laser Wars, a newsletter about military laser weapons and other futuristic defense technology. Subscribe here.For decades, the U.S. military’s dream of high-energy laser weapons has been perpetually “five years away.” Now, the Pentagon says it wants to finally make them an operational reality within the next three.Speaking on a panel at the National Defense Industrial Association’s annual Pacific Operational Science and Technology conference in Honolulu, Hawaii, on March 9, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Critical Technologies Michael Dodd stated that the Defense Department plans on fielding directed energy weapons such as lasers and high-powered microwaves at scale within the next 36 months to defend service members from the threat of hostile drones, National Defense magazine reports.While the Pentagon has deployed a handful of laser weapons overseas in recent years for operational testing and officially designated “scaled directed energy” as a critical technology area in November, this accelerated push for widespread fielding comes as U.S. forces engaged in the Operation Epic Fury struggle to counter waves of Iranian Shahed drones raining down across the Middle East, according to fellow panelist Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering James Mazol.“We need to be…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! The United States fell in the World Baseball Classic in a thriller on Tuesday night in Miami, while their All-Star closer kept a seat warm in the bullpen.Mason Miller did not enter the championship game against Venezuela after getting saves against Canada and the Dominican Republic in the quarterfinals and semifinals on Friday and Sunday, respectively.After Bryce Harper homered in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game at two, it prompted a perfect scenario for a closer to enter the game in the ninth, as typically, closers pitch in tie games as the home team in the top of the ninth.  Instead, Mark DeRosa opted for Boston Red Sox reliever Garrett Whitlock, who gave up the winning run.DeRosa, who said before the game Miller was available, revealed that Miller’s availability was only under one condition.”Honoring the [San Diego] Padres,” DeRosa said, hinting that the Padres told DeRosa that Miller could only be used in a save situation. “Had we taken the lead, he was coming in, but I wasn’t going to bring him in into a tie game.” VENEZUELA HERO EUGENIO SUAREZ TAPS FAITH AFTER SHOCKING TEAM USA: ‘ALL THE…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Actor Jerry O’Connell said Tuesday he wasn’t going to do podcasts anymore following his recent interview on Bill Maher’s “Club Random” podcast, during which he said his wife and children got “physical” with him after statements he made on election night in 2024.”Okay. @ClubRandom_ was my last podcast. Can’t do anything right. @x is mad at me. My family is mad at me,” O’Connell wrote on X, in response to a headline about Maher making fun of O’Connell for attending a Harris rally.O’Connell made headlines for revealing during the podcast that his wife, actress Rebecca Romijn, and their daughters “became physical” with him after he criticized the Democratic Party’s lack of planning on election night in 2024.The actor added in the post that he would go on the “Pardon My Take” podcast to discuss fantasy football, but that was it.BILL MAHER RIPS KAMALA HARRIS’ BOOK, SAYS IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN CALLED, ‘EVERYONE SUCKS BUT ME’ It was unclear if his X post about quitting the genre was tongue-in-cheek. In another post to X, he said that he would go on Meghan McCain’s podcast as well, “BUT THAT IS IT.”O’Connell, known for his…

Editor’s Note: This article is not intended as training advice, but is merely the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of The Armory Life. Please seek qualified training and ensure proper safety protocols are followed when conducting any drills.  On a bright sunny day, you decide to go to the range to shoot your pistol. You grab 300 rounds of FMJ, hollow points, and other assorted ammunition that you had lying around in your garage. As you drive to the range, eager with anticipation, you mentally plan how you will first put the gun through its paces at 3, 5, and 7 yards, then progress to rapid-fire drills at the 15-yard line, and finally to some accuracy work at 25 yards. Any serious EDC enthusiasts takes the care and maintenance of his firearm seriously, as reliability is a must. But, what if you wanted to induce malfunctions? You arrive at the range, sign in, pay the fees, and go to your assigned firing point. You check all the equipment, make sure the gun is properly lubricated, load four magazines to capacity, and put up the first paper target. You grab the pistol, load it, and align…

United States President Donald Trump has criticized other NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) nations as a “one-way street,” saying the bloc won’t do anything for the U.S.  NATO has so far been unwilling to join the U.S.-Israeli military operation against Iran, prompting Trump to declare that America has never really needed its help anyway. Iran Strikes Israel in Retaliation The president added that he is not surprised by the allies’ inaction. “We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” he wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday. The remarks came a day after U.S. allies, including NATO members, ignored or rejected Trump’s call to join a “team effort” to secure the Strait of Hormuz. The key waterway, which is used to transport 20% of the world’s seaborne crude oil, has been effectively closed amid the conflict, according to a report by RT.  Trump claims that the U.S. and Israel have been successful in their war against Iran without the help of NATO and that he is not surprised by the allies’ inaction. “We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” he wrote on…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Maxx Crosby was set in stone to be the next Baltimore Ravens star, but instead, it appears he will be back with the Las Vegas Raiders for an eighth season.After the Ravens committed to sending two first-round picks for Crosby, the team backed out of the deal due to concerns with his medicals — Crosby recently had meniscus surgery and missed the final two games of the season.In what Crosby called “one of the most unique, crazy, wild, up-and-down rollercoasters I’ve ever been a part of,” it started with lots of emotions with his wife, agent and other friends as he celebrated six months of sobriety just as the rumors started to heat up.  But things started off oddly when after the trade was made, he flew to Washington, D.C., and then drove two hours to Baltimore.”That s— was weak,” Crosby said on his podcast, “The Rush.”Crosby then said he didn’t see either general manager Eric DeCosta or head coach Jesse Minter for “five hours,” which struck him as odd. Then, once he got to meet Minter, he knew something was up.”I dap him up, and you can just tell the energy…

An agreement between the Justice Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs allows the VA to put veterans under guardianship if they are unable to make their own health care decisions. A memorandum of understanding announced last week by the department gives VA attorneys the legal authority to enter into state court guardianships or conservatorship proceedings in cases where veterans don’t have family or legal representation to determine medical treatment. VA officials say the process will help hundreds of veterans hospitalized at VA facilities who are unable to transition to more appropriate settings. “Our new partnership with the Justice Department reflects our ongoing commitment to ensuring that every veteran receives timely, appropriate care, even in complex cases,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a release. VA officials said the agreement is aimed at helping roughly 700 veterans languishing in VA facilities, but the announcement, which noted that the agreement includes some veterans who are “either homeless or at risk of homelessness,” raised concerns among advocates that the authority could be applied to a larger population of veterans, such as those living on the streets. Carl Blake, CEO of Paralyzed Veterans of America, said court-ordered guardianships or conservatorships could result in a veteran’s loss…