With the Iran conflict now in its seventh month, the Pentagon has enacted an increase in hostile fire and imminent danger pay for all troops. It’s the first bump in these monthly stipends since 2002, officials said Thursday as they announced the change.A memo from Assistant Secretary of War for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Timothy Dill increases hostile fire pay to $450 per month from its previous top rate of $250, and imminent danger pay to $275 monthly, or $9.16 per day, up from the prior cap of $225 or $7.50 per day.The memo, released by the Pentagon, is dated July 14, but sets the change to take effect Thursday with the start of the new fiscal year. It cites a Department of War Instruction updated in 2024 that gives the assistant secretary for Manpower and Reserve Affairs the authority to determine hazard pay amounts. The Marine Corps had already announced earlier in September that it was updating its pay caps to the amounts set in the memo, but did not describe the move as a military-wide change.“Those who face combat deserve higher compensation that reflects the risks that they willingly undertake on behalf of our nation,” Anthony J. Tata,…

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NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Virginia State University (VSU) is facing a federal lawsuit from two Christian student organizations that say the school stripped them of their official campus status and placed them under the direct authority of a university-appointed minister.”Higher education has really broke from its long-standing desire to promote intellectual diversity and to actually seek truth and instead, they are essentially telling students that any disagreement that certain speech is violence, and that hearing difference of opinions on important topics is actually not encouraged, it’s actually discouraged,” Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) senior counsel Tyson Langhofer told Fox News Digital.”I think that higher education is really failing in its primary role, which is to educate the next generation into how to deal with living in a pluralistic society with people who have different opinions,” he added.30% OF COLLEGE STUDENTS SAY VIOLENCE ACCEPTABLE WAY TO STOP SPEAKERS ON CAMPUSES, SURVEY FINDS Attorneys with ADF filed the lawsuit on behalf of campus chapters for Women of Victory and Bethel Campus Fellowship. The lawsuit challenges VSU’s updated Campus Ministries Policy, which plaintiffs argue violates the First Amendment by forcing Christian student groups under university control while granting exemptions to…

RTX’s Raytheon unit won a multiyear contract worth up to $24.4 billion to produce Standard Missile-6 interceptors for the U.S. Navy, the service said on Thursday, as the Pentagon pushes to replenish munitions stockpiles depleted by conflicts in the Middle East.The five-year contract, which includes two additional option years, the Navy said, is meant to provide a steady and reliable supply of the SM-6, a missile that can carry out both offensive strikes and missile defense missions.The SM-6 award is the latest in a series of large munitions contracts the Pentagon has pursued this year to pressure contractors into ramping up output. It follows a $20.7 billion provisional multiyear deal for Raytheon’s AMRAAM air-to-air missiles in late September and a $58.6 billion Patriot interceptor deal awarded to Lockheed Martin in July.The production agreements are designed to entice contractors to move faster while surging production. They are part of a broader push by the Trump administration to prioritize weapons production over shareholder returns.Industry executives have warned that Congress has not yet appropriated funding for the deals, meaning contractors may be unable to invest at scale in components and facilities until lawmakers act.RTX has said it has invested heavily to keep up…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Wild footage shows water pouring down in streams from the ceiling of an Emirates flight as passengers attempted to cover themselves and keep themselves dry.The incident took place aboard Emirates flight EK123 from Dubai to Istanbul, Turkey, on Sept. 17, Viral Press reported.The video, taken by a passenger, shows people on board using their blankets to shield themselves as water continued pouring from the ceiling during the flight. JET PLUNGES 27,000 FEET IN 10 MINUTES AS OXYGEN MASKS SUDDENLY DROP ABOARD FLIGHTSome passengers were seen pulling out their phones to capture the bizarre scene as water dripped down into the cabin.One passenger, Hsin Ying Chang of Taiwan, said water began soaking her “like a waterfall,” Viral Press reported. Emirates Airlines released a media statement regarding the incident.”Emirates can confirm that an accumulation of condensation resulted in water being observed in a part of the cabin shortly after take-off on flight EK123 from Dubai to Istanbul on 17 September 2026,” the company said. MIDAIR SCARE FORCES PACKED PASSENGER JET INTO EMERGENCY LANDING, TRAVELERS HOSPITALIZED”Cabin crew responded in accordance with established procedures and relocated affected customers whose seats had become wet,” the statement continued.”No further water…

The U.S. is rerouting a team of “specialized” Marines from Europe to the Baltic Sea to bolster NATO-led security efforts, the Department of Defense announced Thursday. About 48 Marines will work with Finnish forces to support Baltic Sentry, a coalition effort launched in Jan. 2025 to protect undersea infrastructure in the region after NATO leadership reported that saboteurs had damaged energy and communication cables. The department said troops participating in the rotation will use small unmanned aerial systems and littoral sensors to gather data on the security situation for NATO. The Marines, assigned to the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group, based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, will provide reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities, the release said. “Working side by side with our Finnish allies strengthens our collective readiness, ensuring we can operate seamlessly as a cohesive, lethal team to deter hybrid threats in the Baltic littoral,” Maj. Gen. Daniel Shipley, of the U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Europe and Africa commander, said in the release. He did not include specific details about the threats. The release characterized the military efforts of Baltic Sentry as “defensive vigilance activity” to protect “Europe’s critical maritime choke points.” Eve…

The latest Spyderco Product Reveal, the twenty-second since the company adopted this particular format, has dropped – and that means a lot of new knives to look at, so without further ado let’s get into it. (Note: we are just covering the main new models, no the sprint runs and special steel variants, of which there are a few). Para Military 2 LW Salt Ah the PM2 – you know it, you love it, it’s an all-timer for many, many users. The lightweight variant is also popular, and now that version is getting its own Salt variant, with bright yellow scales and MagnaCut steel. Shaman Salt Copy-paste the text above, replace “PM2” with “Shaman,” and you’re good to go – okay, we’ll say a little bit more. There are a couple different color schemes in the Salt line now, and this MagnaCut Shaman is sporting the yellow-and-black bumblebee livery that the company debuted a few years ago. Thyn and Slym Do these knives look a little familiar to you? They should, because they are a collaboration between Spyderco and LionSteel, and are Spyderized versions of the Michele Pensato-designed Skinny integral folder. These obviously retain the integral construction, have M390 steel,…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! New York’s elimination of religious exemptions for school vaccine mandates is threatening to drive Amish families from the state, according to First Liberty Institute attorney Hiram Sasser, who is urging the Supreme Court to intervene in the ongoing legal battle.For decades, New York allowed religious exemptions for schoolchildren. But the state repealed that exemption in 2019, leaving Amish families and their small private schools facing vaccination requirements and potentially crippling fines. The Second Circuit upheld the law in June, and the Amish have since asked the Supreme Court to take up the case.”For decades, New York had a religious exemption for their vaccine mandate that they had on the books, and it protected the Amish who’ve been there for over 200 years,” Sasser told Fox News Digital on Wednesday.‘COVID 2.0’: LAWMAKERS PUSH BACK ON SWEEPING HEALTH ‘POLICE POWER’ IN KEY BATTLEGROUND STATE “And it’s just such a shame that New York is one of the only states in America that decided that they wanted to get rid of their vaccine religious exemption and to try to impose it on everybody, including private schools and unfortunately hitting the Amish who have their own…

Air Force officials identified the active-duty airman, found dead at off-base housing in Italy last week, as a precision-guided munition production supervisor.TSgt. Conner Wells, assigned to the 31st Fighter Wing, Aviano Air Base, was pronounced dead at his off-base residence in Roveredo, Piano, on Sept. 22, according to a base social media post.Wells served as a precision-guided munition production supervisor with the 31st Munitions Squadron and hailed from North Folk, California.“Our hearts are heavy with the loss of one of our own,” Col. Beau Diers, 31st Fighter Wing commander, said in the statement. “Conner’s presence will be greatly missed within the 31st Fighter Wing, we extend our support and condolences to his family and teammates during this difficult time.”The death is under investigation, but “foul play” is not suspected, according to the statement.The 31st Munitions Squadron, known as the “Hellhounds,” maintains and supports combat-ready stockpiles, personnel and equipment. The unit sustains and deploys munitions in support of the USEUCOM, AFRICOM and NATO missions.Airmen in the squadron are responsible for arming 50 combat-coded F-16C/D aircraft, five HH-60W helicopters and any NATO aircraft. The unit also provides stockpile support for 16 MQ-9 Reaper aircraft at two wing units, the 173rd Brigade Support…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Convicted Tennessee killer Christa Pike is hospitalized in critical condition a day after two botched lethal injection attempts in connection with the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, her attorneys said Thursday.”Christa is alive right now,” Randy Spivey, one of her lawyers, told reporters in a news briefing delivered over Zoom Thursday afternoon. “We don’t have a sense of her prognosis or much update on her health at the moment.”Due to limited information and HIPAA rules, he said he couldn’t go into specific details.”She is in critical condition receiving lifesaving care, that is the extent that we have at the moment,” he said.TENNESSEE DEATH ROW INMATE SURVIVES 2 LETHAL INJECTION DOSES IN FAILED EXECUTION ATTEMPT Another of her attorneys, Stephen Ferrell, said it appears that the needle “either became dislodged or pierced all the way through the veins,” and the injection was not properly administered, but specific medical details were not available due to HIPAA rules.Pike, now 50, was the 18-year-old orchestrator of the torture and murder of Slemmer, a classmate and perceived romantic rival. She was supposed to be the first woman executed in Tennessee in over 200 years Wednesday evening…