NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A growing number of U.S. allies are declining to take part in military efforts to secure the Strait of Hormuz, despite mounting pressure from Washington.From Europe to the Indo-Pacific, governments are signaling reluctance to be drawn into direct military action, instead emphasizing diplomacy, legal constraints or limited defensive contributions.Countries declining military involvement in reopening the Strait of HormuzFranceFrance has ruled out any military role in securing the Strait of Hormuz, stressing a diplomatic approach. In an interview with FRANCE 24 last week, Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin said Paris is “not participating in this war.” “At this point, there is no question of sending any vessels to the Strait of Hormuz,” she explained. Vautrin also questioned whether Washington and Jerusalem share the same end goals in the conflict with Iran.President Donald Trump, however, suggested Monday he expects support from French President Emmanuel Macron.UK DEPLOYING WARSHIP, HELICOPTERS TO CYPRUS AFTER DRONE STRIKE “I think he’s going to help. I mean, I’ll let you know. I spoke to him yesterday. I don’t do a hard sell on them because my attitude is we don’t need anybody. We’re the strongest nation in the world. We have…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A routine monthly expense Americans can’t avoid is emerging as a potent midterm issue, as rising electricity bills sharpen voter frustration and hand candidates a new economic line of attack.As candidates fan out across the country ahead of the midterms, power bills are becoming a tangible symbol of household stress. Unlike other expenses that can be postponed or pared back, electricity costs hit every month with little room for consumers to opt out.The issue is giving both parties fresh campaign ammunition, with Republicans casting higher bills as evidence of failed energy policies and Democrats pointing to bill assistance and other measures aimed at easing pressure on household budgets.The fight is unfolding amid sharp regional divides in electricity prices. Federal energy data shows residential power costs vary widely across the country, illustrating how affordability pressures differ by region.The latest figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration put the national average at 17.24 cents per kilowatt-hour, up 6% from a year earlier.THE STATES WHERE AMERICANS PAY THE MOST — AND LEAST — FOR ELECTRICITYNorth Dakota has the lowest average residential electricity rate in the country at 11.02 cents per kilowatt-hour, while Hawaii — an…

Marines can now complete their handgun qualification using a pistol equipped with a red dot optic, according to a policy change announced in a Marine Administrative Message last week. However, there is a caveat: the optic — an M17 Romeo red dot — must be purchased and issued by the Marine’s unit.Exactly how many Marines will receive the optics remains unclear. Military Times requested comment from the Marine Corps’ Marksmanship Program Management team and Training and Education Command but did not receive a response in time for publication.Over the past decade, pistol-mounted red dot optics have surged in popularity among civilian shooters and police. Today, most major handgun models offer optics-ready variants.Experts say the system provides a clear advantage over traditional iron sights. Rather than aligning the front and rear sights, shooters can focus on the target while placing a projected aiming point over it — a literal red dot. It not only simplifies the shooting process, especially under stress, but affords quicker target acquisition. The Marine Corps update follows a broader set of changes developed through the service’s Marksmanship Campaign Plan, an initiative launched in 2024 to overhaul training and improve combat lethality. Additional changes announced in the March…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Liza Minnelli may have been married four times, but she’s not anticipating a fifth.Liza, the daughter of Judy Garland and Vincente Minnelli, went into detail on why her fourth marriage to producer, concert promoter and television personality David Gest made her realize she “will never marry again” in her newly released memoir “Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!”Minelli, 79, said the “bad marriage to an awful man near destroyed me,” and compared her union with him to her mother’s mistakes.”In marrying this guy I got a low-rent version of my mother’s worst mistakes with men. Mama made bad choices, but mine was the worst,” Minnelli wrote. The actress described the damage from their union as “long-lasting.” Their marriage took place from March 2002 until their separation in July 2003 — with the divorce finalized in April 2007. Prior to Gest, Minnelli was married to Peter Allen from March 1967 until they separated in April 1970, finalizing their divorce in July 1974; Jack Haley Jr. from September 1974 until April 1979; Mark Gero from December 1979 until January 1992.Minnelli claimed Gest “got his hands on” her bank accounts and “began raiding” them, spending money…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Bill Maher poked fun at his guest Jerry O’Connell on his podcast Monday after the actor revealed he attended a Kamala Harris rally during the 2024 election.”Democrats really need to cut loose the celebrities. They’re not helping,” Maher said on his “Club Random” podcast, repeating one of his common refrains that outspoken liberal celebrities hurt the Democratic Party’s brand. “They don’t strike people as normal [because] they’re f—ing not. Democrats already have a problem with people thinking that they are not the common-sense crowd. “He went on to mock such celebrities, saying they “don’t act like normal people” and then, as a result, “whatever they’re saying just strikes everybody in America who’s a normal person as, ‘Oh God, here’s more of this stuff where you can’t relate to a real life.’”BILL MAHER RIPS KAMALA HARRIS’ BOOK, SAYS IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN CALLED, ‘EVERYONE SUCKS BUT ME’ “I went to a Kamala Harris rally. My wife and I donated to the campaign—,” O’Connell revealed. “Wow. Oof,” Maher interjected.O’Connell continued, “Megan Thee Stallion played and that was pretty f—ing epic, Bill, if you were there. I mean, it really invigorated like excitement, you know?” “It really…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Getting a certain amount of sleep could help ward off diabetes, a new study suggests.A team of Chinese researchers studied how sleep duration on weekdays is associated with insulin resistance, a key risk factor for type 2 diabetes. The long-term observational study, held from 2009 to 2023, included about 25,000 participants.The “sweet spot” for low insulin resistance was about seven hours and 18 minutes of sleep per night, found the research, which was published in BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care.ANCIENT HERB KNOWN AS ‘NATURE’S VALIUM’ TOUTED FOR IMPROVING SLEEP AND ANXIETYLarge deviations from this benchmark — either too much or too little sleep — were associated with worse insulin sensitivity. Shorter sleep was linked with higher insulin resistance, while longer sleep had worse metabolic markers.Getting extra “catch-up” sleep on the weekends did not make up for deficits during the week, the study found, as excessive sleep showed a risk of worsening glucose metabolism in some participants. “These correlational findings suggest that sleep patterns, particularly weekend recovery sleep, may be relevant for metabolic regulation in diabetes and could inform considerations for healthcare professionals in managing patient care,” the researchers concluded in the…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Archaeologists have uncovered a 2,000-year-old temple in Denmark — offering a glimpse into the mysterious, once-powerful society that built it.The Museum of Central Jutland (Museum Midtjylland) unveiled the discovery of the temple at Hedegård, an ancient site that contains Scandinavia’s “largest and richest burial site,” according to its website. The latest excavation began last August.Hedegård, located near Ejstrupholm north of the Skjern River, has been identified as Denmark’s largest settlement from the time “around the birth of Christ,” the museum said.ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNCOVER GOLD-LADEN TOMB FILLED WITH ELITE BURIAL TREASURES FROM OVER 1,000 YEARS AGOWorking with researchers from Museum Horsens and Moesgaard Museum, archaeologists found evidence of a vast fortified settlement that once served as a regional power center during the Iron Age.The settlement has yielded luxury goods, weapons from Celtic tribes and “prestige” items from Roman workshops. Evidence shows the settlement “flourished in the period leading up to the birth of Christ.”The museum said that “this is when we see the rich graves and numerous weapon graves in the cemetery north of the village.”DOG WALKERS TRIGGER ARCHAEOLOGICAL RACE TO PRESERVE 2,000-YEAR-OLD FOOTPRINTS IN SHIFTING SANDSBut the crown jewel of the excavation was…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Cuba plunged into an unprecedented blackout after its entire electrical grid suddenly suffered a total collapse on Monday, briefly leaving roughly 10 million residents in total darkness. “At 1:54 p.m. local time, there was a disconnection of the national electrical grid resulting in a complete power outage across Cuba which includes the Havana metropolitan area,” the U.S. Embassy in Cuba said. The nationwide outage comes just two days after a large crowd of protesters, fed up with the island’s energy crisis, were caught on camera attacking a local Communist Party headquarters in Cuba, ransacking the building and attempting to set it on fire.Efforts to restore electricity are currently underway across the island, with reports indicating that power is slowly returning to some areas.RUSSIAN ‘DARK FLEET’ TANKER BELIEVED TO BE DELIVERING OIL TO CUBA, DETECTED OFF US COAST AMID TRUMP BAN “The causes are being investigated and protocols for restoration are beginning to be activated,” the Ministry of Energy and Mines of Cuba said Monday afternoon, referring to the island’s disrupted National Electrical System of Cuba. Cuba’s electrical grid has grown increasingly unstable over the years due to aging infrastructure, fuel shortages, and economic restrictions that…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! The U.S. military has devastated Iran and all but destroyed its military effectiveness. Period. Full stop. Everyone recognizes this, and the coverage reflects it. And yet President Donald Trump is accusing many in the media of wanting America to lose the war, and his FCC chairman is talking about networks losing their licenses. There’s no question that journalistic credibility has plummeted in the Trump era, and the president has used lawsuits and other tactics to pressure news organizations. US ‘LOCKED AND LOADED’ TO DESTROY IRAN’S ‘CROWN JEWEL’ ‘IF WE WANT,’ TRUMP WARNS At the same time, journalists have an obligation to ask about the latest developments in a war that has divided the MAGA media movement, given the sharp contrast between Trump’s past rhetoric against entanglement in foreign wars and his decision to attack Iran and wipe out its nuclear weapons program. It’s hardly a shock, but the president has been combative with those asking the questions, as if he resents any challenge to the official narrative. Some reporters have focused on the blockade of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran is using to retaliate against the U.S. and Israeli attacks. Oil prices have soared,…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Team USA has its opponent for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) final on Tuesday night. Venezuela ended Italy’s magical WBC run on Monday night, coming from behind to defeat them, 4-2 at loanDepot park, earning a spot in the final against the United States. Italy was the surprise team of the tournament, taking down the U.S. in pool play before defeating Mexico to finish a perfect 4-0 in Pool B. But that win over Mexico also kept Team USA alive in the tournament, allowing them to advance to the quarterfinals, where they defeated Canada before earning a thrilling 2-1 semifinal victory over the Dominican Republic on Sunday night to punch their ticket back to the final.While it felt only right for the U.S. and Italy to meet once more to determine who would win it all before the start of the 2026 MLB season, Venezuela had other things in mind during the bottom of the seventh inning.Down 2-1 in the contest, Venezuela found themselves threatening with a potential two-out rally after Jackson Chourio, the Milwaukee Brewers’ rising star, singled to center field, allowing Andres Gimenez to advance to third base.That’s when Ronald Acuña Jr.,…