Taiwan reaffirmed its continued interest in acquiring U.S.-made F-35 stealth fighter jets, as it considers how it would fight off a possible Chinese invasion.

Speaking to parliament, Taiwan’s Defense Minister Yen Teh-fa confirmed that the government wants to acquire the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II platform, though did not mention which variant of the jet or how many Taiwan would buy, Defense News reported.

Taiwan is reportedly interested in the U.S.’s F-35B variant, which has vertical take-off and landing capabilities, and was developed for use on U.S. Navy ships. This would allow Taiwanese jets to take off and fight even if its runways were destroyed in a Chinese first strike.

The F-35 is a fifth generation warplane; the most advanced type. China has been working on its own stealth jet projects—the J-20 and the J-31 planes—to keep pace with U.S. technology. The J-20 has now entered service in the People's Liberation Army Air Force, making China only the second country in the world to fully deployfifth generation fighters.

The purchase would be part of a new round of arms sales from the U.S. to Taiwan, which China considers to be a rebellious breakaway province of its country. Chinahas never renounced the use of force to bring the island back under its control as part of its “One-China Policy”. Meanwhile, Taiwan has armed itself with U.S. military hardware in an effort to deter Chinese invasion and ensure American support.

Yen also said Taiwan was considering buying Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers, which would give Taiwan mid-air refuelling capability for the first time, vastly extending the range and flight duration of its warplanes.

To avoid increasing diplomatic tensions with China, the U.S. government never officially recognized Taiwan’s status as an independent country. However, the two nations have a strong de facto relationship. The 1979 Taiwan Relations Act commits America to “make available to Taiwan such defense articles and defense services in such quantity as may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability.”

Despite this support, the most advanced U.S. technology has often been denied to the country to avoid angering China and risking a new conflict. The sale of F-35 jets would mark a new level of cooperation and could damage U.S.-China relation, destabilizing an already tense region.

China’s neighbours are turning to U.S. technology to counter a rapidly modernizing Chinese military, as it transitions from a mammoth but rudimentary Cold War-era force to a combined-arms high-tech proposition.

Japan has ordered five F-35s with another 37 planned, and in early 2018 announced it would purchase at least 20 additional F-35A jets, the smallest and lightest variant.South Korea has ordered 60 F-35s, while Singapore has said it is considering the platform as part of its long-term air force refit.

By Tim Lister, CNN

Updated 0002 GMT (0802 HKT) March 16, 2018

Steam vapor plumes at the 5 MWe reactor.

Earlier this week, while liberal lawmakers in our country are debating about making it harder for law-abiding citizens to protect themselves, a suicide bomber blew himself up in Yemen, killing 7 and wounding more than 30. Following the incident, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack, which they said was done by a young teenager, and then released images of the alleged individual who blew himself up.

ISIS terrorists recently claimed responsibility for the deadly bombing caused by a car filled with explosives that occurred near a military kitchen in the al-Derain area of northernAden. Aden is currently considered Yemen’s temporary capital due to the fact that “the Saudi-backed Yemeni government has based itself there since 2015.”

According to the jihadists, the vehicle used in the attack was allegedly driven by a teen who they identified “using the nom de guerre (pseudonym) Hamza al-Muhajir.” Shortly after the attack took place, they released images of al-Muhajir wearing a suicide vest online.

They also published pictures of the explosion that he was reportedly responsible for, which appear to be taken from less than 100 yards away from where the attack occurred, meaning that the other jihadists were very close when it happened.

While this incident occurred in Yemen, people have been attempting to engage in similar acts of terrorism here in the United States.

For example, several weeks ago, a 19-year-old woman from Minnesota was taken into custody by agents with the FBI on charges of arson and terrorism. Apparently, she attempted to burn down a university in retaliation for U.S. military actions overseas and had been actively encouraging others to join Al-Qaeda and their affiliates.

Law enforcement officials with the Department of Justice (DOJ) recently arrested and charged Tnuza Jamal Hassan, a former English Major at St. Catherine University (SCU), with “attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization (al-Qa’ida),” making a “false statement” to investigators, and “arson” for reportedly starting several fires at SCU and lying to federal agents about urging two students to “join the jihad in fighting” and to “join Al Qaeda, [the] Taliban, or Al Shabaab.”

According to reports, Hassan initially decided to set the fires, one of which was near an on-campus daycare, and reach out to the other two students shortly after “reading about the U.S. military destroying schools in Iraq [and] Afghanistan” and feeling like “she should do exactly the same thing.”

When pressed by investigators, she mentioned that she “wanted the school to burn to the ground” and noted that “her intent was to hurt people.”

To clarify, she stated that “this was that same thing that happened in ‘Muslim land’ and nobody cares if they get hurt, so why not do this?”

Hassan then told them that “her fire-starting was not as successful as she wanted” and added, quite disturbingly, that she would’ve made a bomb if she knew how. “You guys are lucky that I don’t know how to build a bomb because I would have done that,” she claimed.

And several weeks before that, back in December 2017, Everitt Aaron Jameson, a 26-year-old former Marine who was discharged for “fraudulent enlistment” for not disclosing that he has asthma, was also arrested by the FBI for plotting a Christmas terrorist attack at Pier 39 in San Francisco.

Jameson reportedly chose Pier 39 because he was “familiar with the area” and knew that it was “heavily crowded.”

When asked by undercover agents who he thought were fellow jihadists when he was thinking about engaging in the attack, he told them that “Christmas was the perfect day.” As for an escape plan, Jameson dismissed the idea. Instead, he told them that “he was ready to die.”

In court documents, federal officials noted that Jameson, who was working as a tow truck driver prior to his arrest, regularly “espoused radical jihadi beliefs” and had told undercover agents that he was “ready to die” in a terrorist attack.

They also accused him of “authoring social media posts that are supportive of terrorism, communicating with people he believes share his jihadi views, and offering to provide services to such people, including in the form of his presumably employer-provided tow truck, in service of the ’cause.’”

Authorities learned most of the details about his sinister plot while conducting an undercover sting operation. During the operation, an agent met with Jameson and spoke building an explosive device.

A few days after their conversation, the agent then tried to follow-up with Jameson but he told him he was busy. He then went on to essentially back out of the plan, telling the agent, “I also don’t think I can do this after all. I’ve reconsidered.”

When the officer told him that people can only do Allah’s will, he replied, “In Sha Allah, [God willing], one day I can. But I can’t [right now].”

Several days later, a search warrant was issued for Jameson’s home, which FBI agents subsequently raided. While searching the premises, investigators found “a Winchester .22 caliber rifle, [a] Ruger M77 rifle, a 9mm handgun, ammunition, [and] fireworks.” They also found a will and a handwritten

Without a doubt, terrorism is a massive problem currently plaguing the entire world. Because of this, it’s imperative that countries must have a zero tolerance policy towards it and do everything they can to prevent it, which includes letting law-abiding citizens own firearms.