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The US Navy surface fleet continues to shrink. And every surface hull commissioned after the Arleigh Burke class in 1991 has been a failure. The Chinese Navy exceeds the US Navy in total warships deployed. What makes this even more astonishing is that the Chinese maintain a regional naval power with optional blue water projection capabilities (mind you, untested) while the US maintains the fiction of a global capability. The current U.S. fleet is smaller, with more than 280 vessels. The Secretary of the Navy expects that strength to reach 300 in the early 2030s which is a pipe dream...

As a cold front gains momentum, severe thunderstorms, many packing high wind gusts, will erupt and roll from the eastern Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and middle Mississippi Valley to the Appalachians and Atlantic Seaboard into Wednesday and beyond in some cases, AccuWeather meteorologists warn. The storms can trigger regional power outages and lead to major travel delays as they approach and pass through the major metro areas. Tree and property damage will be likely in some communities. In recent days, severe storms have packed quite a wallop in the Midwest and part of the interior Northeast. During Monday night alone,...

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced a $2.3 billion security assistance package for Ukraine ahead of a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Tuesday. The package will include critical air defense interceptors and other weapons. A spokesperson for the Pentagon said more details on the package would be made available soon. Austin met with Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov at the Pentagon Tuesday and underscored the U.S. commitment to defending the country against a Russian invasion. “Ukraine is in a tough fight,” Austin said in remarks ahead of the meeting, adding “make no mistake, Ukraine is not alone.” The Pentagon chief also...

The Biden administration is moving toward lifting a de facto ban on American military contractors deploying to Ukraine, four US officials familiar with the matter told CNN, to help the country’s military maintain and repair US-provided weapons systems.The change would mark another significant shift in the Biden administration’s Ukraine policy, as the US looks for ways to give Ukraine’s military an upper hand against Russia.The policy is still being worked on by administration officials and has not received final sign-off yet from President Joe Biden, officials said.

It’s been nearly three months since the U.S. government announced an outbreak of the bird flu virus on dairy farms. The World Health Organization considers the virus a public health concern because of its potential to cause a pandemic, yet the U.S. has tested only about 45 people across the country. “We’re flying blind,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at the Brown University School of Public Health. With so few tests run, she said, it’s impossible to know how many farmworkers have been infected, or how serious the disease is. A lack of testing means the country...

The historic removal of gray wolves from the U.S. West facilitated the rise of mid-ranking predators across the region, wreaking havoc on historical ecosystem dynamics, a new study has found. Yet just how much havoc — both to their immediate prey and much farther down the line — remains unclear due to a dearth of data, according to the study, published Wednesday in BioScience. The disappearance of wolves particularly led to a spike in elk populations, which then damaged plant communities through overgrazing, per the study. Also of note was an upswing in medium-sized carnivores like coyotes that threaten smaller...

Rory McIlroy will have nightmares about the putts that he missed on Nos. 16 and 18...at the U.S. Open for years to come. The devastating putts allowed Bryson DeChambeau the chance to hang with the Northern Irishman and capture his second career major... The golfer did not stay to talk with reporters after the collapse, instead hopping into his tournament-sponsored vehicle and quickly exiting Pinehurst. Video from multiple reporters showed McIlroy leave the venue hastily, seeming to spin his tires before driving out of the parking lot.

The Biden administration on Monday called for the United Nations Security Council to vote on a U.S. resolution laying out an immediate truce between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Nate Evans, spokesperson for the U.S. mission to the UN, said it was important for the Security Council to put pressure on Hamas to accept a proposal that Israel has accepted. “Israel has accepted this proposal and the Security Council has an opportunity to speak with one voice and call on Hamas to do the same,” Evans said. A vote on the resolution is scheduled for 3 p.m. on...

Fifty years ago, tornadoes in the United States were most common over the Great Plains. A bull’s eye of sorts covered parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. The term “Tornado Alley” entered the American lexicon. But in the years since, that hot spot of tornadoes has shifted markedly east. Researchers have pointed to parts of the Deep South and Tennessee Valley as being the modern-day Tornado Alley. A study published in the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology in April confirms the legitimacy of this shift and highlights a change in when tornadoes are likely to occur.

The Biden administration recently floated the idea of resettling a limited number of Palestinian refugees from Gaza to the United States. As a nation, it’s the least we can do. The reported proposal would bring Palestinians with immediate family ties in the U.S. to our shores. It is unclear how many Palestinians would qualify, but it would likely remain far below the need. Sounds straightforward, right? Wrong. The history of the Palestinian refugee question is fraught, as Palestinians have called for the “right to return” for refugees to their homeland, which is now part of Israel or claimed by Israel....

Team USA pulled off one of the greatest upsets in cricket history on Thursday. They defeated powerhouse Pakistan by five runs in the T20 World Cup, shocking the rest of the sport. The match went to a super over, a tiebreaker in cricket, and Team USA recorded 18 runs. Pakistan needed 19 for the win but were held to just 13 runs. To make the upset even more special, it happened on United States soil in Dallas, Texas. The T20 World Cup features the 20 best teams in the world, and Team USA now leads Group A following its massive...

The United States government warned that dual citizens of Ukraine and the U.S. who are within the age of conscription may face the possibility of being stuck in the country. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky instituted martial law in February 2022 in response to an ongoing Russian invasion. Under martial law instituted in Ukraine, men with dual Ukraine-U.S. citizenship who are between the ages of 18 and 60, “may no longer be able to depart the country,” the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv explained in a statement on Tuesday.

Gunmen attacked the United States embassy building in Lebanon on Wednesday morning, according to statements from the U.S. government and the Lebanese army. “At 8:34 a.m. local time, small arms fire was reported in the vicinity of the entrance to the U.S. Embassy. Thanks to the quick reaction of the LAF [Lebanon Armed Forces], ISF [Israel Security Forces], and our Embassy security team, our facility and our team are safe. Investigations are underway and we are in close contact with host country law enforcement,” the embassy said in a statement on X. At 8:34 a.m. local time, small arms fire...

NATO is drawing up plans to send American troops to the frontlines of Europe in the event of an all-out conflict with Russia, it has been revealed. New 'land corridors' are being carved out to quickly funnel soldiers through central Europe without local bureaucratic impediments, allowing NATO forces to pounce in an instant should Putin's devastating war in Ukraine move further west. The plans are said to include contingencies in case of Russian bombardment, letting troops sweep into the Balkans via corridors in Italy, Greece and Turkey, or towards Russia's northern border via Scandinavia, officials told The Telegraph. Tensions have...

It goes without saying that, after Donald Trump’s bombshell 34-count guilty verdict, we are sailing in uncharted political waters. We’ve never been here before. And nobody — nobody — knows how this is all going to turn out. There’s no doubt, however, that the Trump verdict and the Republican Party’s reaction to it, have demolished two long-held political tenets. One, oft-cited by political cynics: “There’s no real difference between the two major parties.” If that were ever true, it’s no longer the case. There’s no way the Democratic Party would ever nominate a convicted felon for president — and, even...

he Kremlin has warned the United States is facing potentially “fatal consequences” after the Biden regime greenlighted Ukrainian missile strikes on targets within the Russian mainland. “I would like to warn American leaders against miscalculations that could have fatal consequences,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, according to the Russian state news agency RIA. “For unknown reasons, they underestimate the seriousness of the rebuff they may receive.” “I urge these figures (in the U.S.) … to spend some of their time, which they apparently spend on some kind of video games, judging by the lightness of their approach, on...

US President Joe Biden has given Ukraine permission to use American-supplied weapons to strike targets in Russia, but only near the Kharkiv region, US officials say. One told BBC News his team had been directed to ensure Ukraine was able to use US weapons for "counter-fire purposes" to "hit back at Russian forces hitting them or preparing to hit them". Russian forces have made gains in the Kharkiv region in recent weeks after a surprise offensive in the area, close to the border with Russia. On Friday, Ukrainian officials said three people had been killed and 16 injured in Russian...

"We don't put any international body above American sovereignty" America should punish the ICC and put Karem Khan "back in his place," Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said during a Wednesday morning news conference. Congress is reviewing all of its options including "aggressive legislation" to impose sanctions as quickly as possible, Johnson said. "If the ICC moves forward with its absurd warrant request, this is going to be an even bigger international problem," Johnson said. According to Johnson the US has never endorsed the ICC because it's a "direct affront to our own sovereignty." "We don't put any international body...

s the nation’s $34 trillion-plus debt remains top of mind for some on Capitol Hill, polling has shown Americans have also grown more concerned about the country’s balance sheet. Although Washington is deeply divided over how to tackle the nation’s deficits, there has been some momentum among House Republicans for a special commission to explore ways to improve the country’s fiscal trajectory. Those efforts have fueled concerns about cuts to key programs seniors rely on, like Social Security and Medicare. But experts warn the potential consequences of higher debt could impact all Americans.

Shortly after the unprecedented Iranian attack on Israel during the night of 13-14 April, a small group of news analysts and commentators began to warn that the attacks were not actually designed to damage Israel. According to these analysts, and based on comments from anonymous officials, the true purpose of the attacks was largely two-fold: 1) allowing Iran to project a stronger image after repeated small-scale Israeli attacks against its interests in the region, and 2) giving Iran a chance to test Israel’s air defenses against a larger-scale attack than Israel had previously experienced.