This article was originally published by Tyler Durden at ZeroHedge.  Kuwait and Iran are barely separated by a small section of Iraqi coastline at the head of the Persian Gulf, but they do share a maritime border. But given the small oil-rich Sunni sheikdom’s close proximity to the Islamic Republic, and given its historic role in hosting American forces and bases, it is to be expected that it would be heavily targeted in Iranian military operations. Indeed, Kuwait, alongside the UAE, absorbed some of the biggest ballistic missile and drone attacks from Israel during the US-Israeli Operation Epic Fury. US forces have even had to retreat to other locations deeper in the Middle East or even outside the theatre, given the repeated attacks and looming threat of new attacks, even amid the broader ceasefire. But in tandem with an air war, there has been a covert war happening in the shadows, with Kuwait’s interior ministry newly announcing on Tuesday that it has arrested four ‘infiltrators’ affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). The ground attack incident is said to have happened earlier this month and involved heavy exchanges of fire. IRGC special operator, file image: Iran International The elite IRGC…

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NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Democratic California gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra is taking heat from critics over a contentious exchange he had with a local reporter about whether he was subjecting himself to a “gotcha piece.”Becerra, who is now widely considered a leading Democratic candidate in California’s jungle primary following the exit of disgraced former Rep. Eric Swalwell, sat down with KTLA’s Annie Rose Ramos as part of the station’s interview series on the top hopefuls in the race.However, in the interview that aired Tuesday, Becerra appeared to try setting the terms with the reporter.”By the way, this is a profile piece. This is not a gotcha piece, right?” Becerra began.MULTIPLE BIDEN OFFICIALS BASH FORMER CABINET OFFICIAL, GOBSMACKED BY THEIR RISE CA GOVERNOR RACE “Look, I think these questions are fair. It’s in order to learn about you as a candidate,” Ramos responded.”So long as it’s about the profile,” Becerra doubled down.”I don’t know how you define profile, but I’d like to begin the interview,” Ramos replied. “The way I describe profile is you talk about all the things I’ve done, things I want to do — along with some tough questions, but not only tough questions,” Becerra…

A national missile defense system, or Golden Dome, proposed by the Trump administration would cost $1.2 trillion to build and maintain over the next 20 years, the Congressional Budget Office estimated in a cost-projection analysis released Tuesday.Acquisition costs would total just over $1 trillion, said the CBO, a nonpartisan federal agency that provides budgetary analyses for Congress. The estimate is significantly more than the $185 billion the Trump administration set aside for the project in its proposed fiscal 2027 defense budget.That gap is due, at least in part, to the fact that there are no publicly available plans from the White House nor the Pentagon about what the system will look like, “making it impossible to estimate the long-term cost of the GDA system being contemplated by DoD,” per the report.“DoD’s stated cost appears to cover a shorter time frame than CBO’s analysis and may reflect a different scope of activities and budget categories,” the report continues. “Even so, that stated cost is far lower than CBO’s estimate for a notional NMD [national missile defense] architecture consistent with the ‘Iron Dome’ executive order.“That difference suggests either that GDA’s objective architecture is more limited than CBO’s notional NMD system or that…

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NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A California Democrat running for Congress in a newly redrawn Central Valley congressional district has campaigned on bringing transparency to his local school board — but during his tenure, the board he served on reportedly settled multiple sex-abuse cases behind closed doors. Randy Villegas, running to represent California’s newly redrawn 22nd Congressional District in the U.S. House following passage of the state’s Proposition 50, is a college professor and most recently a school board member who ran on bringing transparency to the Visalia Unified School District (VUSD) in Central California. Meanwhile, on the website set up for his congressional candidacy, Villegas says he is running to “bring accountable, people-first leadership to Washington.” But, during his tenure as a Visalia Unified School District school board member, the district settled five confidential sex-abuse cases totaling nearly $14.4 million that included provisions to hide information from the public, according to data and documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times. In at least one of the settlements authorized unanimously by the board, Villegas was present, Fox News Digital could confirm. In that settlement agreement, Visalia Unified School District paid out $3 million following sexual assault allegations against a kindergarten…

The U.S. Coast Guard announced Tuesday that it is prohibiting the use of kratom, an herbal stimulant, and related products effective immediately.In a general order announcement May 12, Deputy Commandant for Personnel Readiness Rear Adm. Charles Fosse said Coast Guard members may not ingest, possess or distribute kratom and its psychoactive ingredients mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine. Fosse did not say what prompted the Coast Guard-wide order, simply saying that drug abuse by Coast Guard members would “not be tolerated.”The Coast Guard did not respond to a request for additional information by publication. Kratom is a plant that grows in Southeast Asia. Its leaves can be ingested as a stimulant, sedative or psychoactive drug. Kratom is not a federally controlled substance in the U.S. and is available legally in 44 states, with some local restrictions, in vape shops, other retail stores and online.The drug can be consumed in capsules, edibles, liquid shots or brewed as a tea, inducing feelings of alertness and energy at low doses and sedation and euphoria at high doses, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency.But it also has a number of associated risks. It is linked to addiction, liver damage, psychosis and other illnesses, according to the DEA.Kratom…

Taurus has just made the affordable GX2 optics-ready with the GX2 TORO.Red dot-equipped pistols used to be expensive and niche, something that only serious shooters spent the money to have, but now they’re more accessible than ever. There’s a slew of good pistol optics on the market that don’t break the bank, as well as affordable optics-ready pistols, and one of the latest is the Taurus GX2 TORO.At its core, the pistol is the same as the original Taurus GX2, but the new TORO model allows you to easily direct-mount red dot sights with the popular Shield RMSc footprint straight out of the box. Features like its 3.38-inch barrel, 13-round capacity of 9mm, manual safety and white dot front/drift adjustable rear sights are all unchanged.Justin Porlier, VP of Sales for Taurus USA, said this about the new upgraded pistol:The GX2 reset expectations for what a pistol at this price point should deliver, establishing itself as a leader in value for everyday carry … With the GX2 TORO, we’re raising that bar again—adding capability without sacrificing what made it so accessible.The Taurus GX2 TORO has an MSRP of $300 and it ships with one magazine.For more information, visit taurususa.com.Taurus GX2 TORO…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! “The View” co-host Sunny Hostin called President Donald Trump’s proposals to expand fertility care and set up investment savings accounts for children “good policies” on Monday.The Trump administration announced an effort on Sunday to expand access to fertility care, as the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Treasury proposed a rule to include a “new category of limited excepted benefits to further expand the ability of employers to offer meaningful fertility benefits to their employees,” according to a press release.Hostin — a frequent harsh critic of Trump and his policies — actually praised the effort.”As someone who also struggled with infertility, Manny and I went through our entire life savings to have our children,” Hostin said. “There was no insurance. We were fortunate enough to have a home that his parents gave us a down payment for, and we borrowed against our entire home and our entire savings to have our two beautiful children. And so the fact that something like this is available, where you do have help with IVF, that you do have help with the IVF drugs, I think is a win.”TRUMP ROLLS OUT PLAN TO SLASH…

In the age of drones and artificial intelligence, the Army is reinvigorating how it teaches troops to kill at arm’s length.Soldiers in Georgia hoping to earn the Army’s coveted Ranger tab will now start the monthslong school by stabbing their way through Fort Benning’s new bayonet obstacle course, the service announced on Monday.Candidates for the Army’s premier small unit tactics school will now need to slice into silicone torsos while they navigate through trenches, over walls and under tunnels as smoke machines obscure parts of the quarter-mile course. “The Bayonet Assault Course allows us to introduce a level of grit, a level of violence of action, very rapidly into Ranger school,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Patrick Hartung, the command sergeant major of the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade, later adding, “If all technology fails, [Ranger students] will have the fundamentals.”The bayonet course, launched during this year’s Best Ranger Competition, will now precede Ranger School’s Malvesti obstacle course, a grueling set of physically challenging tasks that sleep- and food-deprived students must confidently navigate.On April 21, the first cohort of Ranger School students tackled the newly integrated course. In a video released by the Army, soldiers with shaved heads heaved themselves over…