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Cpl . Paul Regotti , a squad leader with 3 rd Battalion , 7 th Marine Regiment , provides security for Marines exiting an MV - 22 Osprey during an air assault on a Military Operation on Urbanized Terrain town. The training was part of the Marine Corps ' Combat Readiness  Evaluation Exercise, Jan . 16 , 2015 . ( U . S. Marine Corps photo/ Julio McGraw )  18 JUL 2018 Military . com | By Gina Harkins A Marine general has a blunt warning for the U . S. as it faces new threats from near - peer enemies : The military is not currently set up to take them on and win . " If you acknowledge that we are , in fact , in a great power competition and you take a look at our competitors, our competitors are well -organized and we are not , "  Maj . Gen . John Jansen , commandant of the Dwight D . Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy , said Tuesday . Jansen , who ' s been tapped to receive his third star and serve in the Marine Corps ' top budget job, warn...

Gazans setting kites on fire during the Great March of Retrun, May, 2018 [Twitter] Israeli authorities have sent a threatening letter to Hamas leaders through Egypt’s intelligence agency, Quds Press reported yesterday. According to the Israeli TV Channel 10, Israel said in the letter that it is ready to carry out a military offensive against Gaza if the incendiary balloons are not stopped. Hamas replied with a letter from Cairo, saying that it would stop the kites and balloons after Friday in return for reopening the crossings, mainly Rafah, and with the improvement of economic and humanitarian conditions in Gaza. Palestinian youths used the incendiary kites and balloons to face Israeli aggression against the protesters taking part in the Great March of Return and to put pressure on Israel to lift its 12-year siege imposed on the Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued his orders to target anyone who flies these kites and balloons. Israeli Education Minister Naftal...

Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennet has insisted that Israeli warplanes should drop bombs over the heads of Palestinian children flying kites into Israel, Ynet Net News reported. During the meeting of the Israeli Security Cabinet on Sunday, which convened to discuss the latest Israeli attacks on the besieged Gaza Strip, Bennet said: “Why not shoot anyone who launches aerial weapons at our communities, and at the cells? “There is no legal impediment. Why shoot next to them and not directly at them? These are terrorists for all intents and purposes. When the Israeli Army Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot responded, saying: “I don’t think shooting teens and children – who are sometimes the ones launching the balloons and kites – is right.” He also asked Bennet: “Are you proposing to drop a bomb from a plane on incendiary balloon and kite cells?” Bennett stressed that the Israeli army should do this, pushing the army chief to say: “I disagree with you. It’s against my operational and mora...

The Knesset (Israel’s parliament) on Tuesday approved the second and third readings of legislation that critics say will limit Palestinian access to the Israeli judicial system and pave the way for the “Judaization” of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The controversial legislation, which was introduced by Israel’s right-wing Jewish Home party, was approved in a vote of 56 to 48. The law will effectively transfer jurisdiction over administrative issues related to the occupied West Bank from the Israeli Supreme Court to the Administrative Court in Jerusalem. Critics see the legislation as another step toward the de-facto annexation of the West Bank by Israel. The law will also prohibit human rights groups — along with Palestinians affected by Israeli violations — from petitioning Israel’s Supreme Court. Roughly 600,000 Jewish Israelis currently live on more than 100 Jewish-only settlements built throughout the West Bank and East Jerusalem since Israel occupied the territories in 1967. The...

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Russia on Wednesday that Israel does not intend to threaten Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s rule and asked Moscow to work to remove Iranian forces from Syria, an Israeli official said. “We won’t take action against the Assad regime, and you get the Iranians out,” the official, who requested anonymity, quoted Netanyahu as telling Putin during a meeting in Moscow. Russia was already working to distance Iranian forces from areas of Syria near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and had proposed that they be kept 80 km (50 miles) away but this fell short of Israel’s demand for a full exit, the official said. Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Catherine Evans Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia July 11, 2018. Yuri Kadobnov/Pool via REUTERS

An exposé by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has revealed that North Korea demanded Israel pay $1 billion in cash in return for halting its nuclear missile sales to Iran. The alleged offer was made in 1999 during an exchange between North Korea’s envoy to Sweden, Son Mu Sin, and Israeli ambassador to Sweden, Gideon Ben Ami, while the pair met in secret at a café in Stockholm, the Swedish capital. An account of the exchange was recorded in a memoir by the translator present at the meeting, a former North Korean diplomat named Thae Yong Ho. Ho has since defected to South Korea. It is believed that Israel refused the offer, instead offering to provide North Korea with food aid. North Korea is said to have refused the Israeli offer, leaving the discussions to end without an agreement. The WSJ report cited an expert on North Korean arms deals, who said the regime has been selling conventional and ballistic weapons to Iran since the early 1980s, according to the Times of Isr...

Weeks after  calling questions about the vague statement  signed by the US and North Korea at a landmark June 12 summit “insulting and ridiculous and frankly ludicrous,” US secretary of state Mike Pompeo is on a plane to Pyongyang  to figure out what was agreed to. After US president Donald Trump returned from the Singapore meeting, he  announced that  “[t]here is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea.” But diplomats  were quick to note  that  the statement in question  says that “the DPRK commits to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” which is as binding as my commitment to work towards a healthier diet. Their skepticism appears to have been well-founded. US intelligence officials  told reporters at ABC News  on Friday that North Korea has continued to make fuel for nuclear bombs despite a claimed suspension of testing. Thanks to private satellite imagery, i...

All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins, recovering from a torn left Achilles, has agreed to a one-year, $5.3 million deal with the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors, league sources told ESPN. Joining the Warriors, who already have a staggering lineup of All-NBA talent, should allow Cousins enough time to comfortably recover from his injury prior to returning to the court next season. A two-time All-NBA selection, Cousins, 27, became expendable in New Orleans on Monday after the Pelicans agreed to a deal with free-agent center Julius Randle. Cousins, who averaged 25.2 points, 12.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists and shot 35.4 percent on 3-pointers last season in 48 games, told The Undefeated's Marc J. Spears he was confused and hurt that he had no offers, even from the Pelicans. Cousins told Spears that he called his agent and they discussed various options, including the Warriors, who lost center JaVale McGee in free agency to the Los Angeles Lakers. Sources told ESPN's...

Considering how the BET Awards of yore have blessed audiences with Kelly Rowland's auburn highlights back in 2001 and Nicki Minaj's neon orange wig in 2010, it's safe to say you can expect the celebs attending to serve some killer hair looks. The dress code falls somewhere between the Oscars and the Grammy's — so you know every style will be fun, and celebrate all the black girl magic. And the 2018 ceremony did not disappoint. There was Jamie Foxx hosting, Janelle Monáe performing, and countless protective styles, colorful wigs, and natural hair stealing the show. Check out some of our favorites, ahead.