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Fauci's newly released COVID diaries reveal bizarre fixation on fame as pandemic deaths mounted

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 11:36:32 -0400

Newly released diary entries reveal that as COVID-19 deaths mounted around the world, former White House COVID advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci became increasingly fixated on his newfound celebrity.

Released by Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., the journals chronicle Fauci's day-to-day role during the COVID-19 crisis through conversations with President Donald Trump, governors and world leaders, media appearances, and his personal observations as the pandemic unfolded.

Paul, a longtime Fauci critic who frequently clashed with Fauci over the federal response and the origins of the virus, made the diaries public as part of the committee's ongoing oversight investigation. The release comes days before Fauci is scheduled to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee after being subpoenaed by Paul.

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A surprising recurring theme throughout the diaries is Fauci's growing awareness of his own public profile during the most intense months of the pandemic, which ultimately claimed more than 7 million officially reported lives worldwide, including roughly 1.2 million in the United States.

On April 7, 2020, after recording the latest pandemic developments, Fauci wrote: "Press still hot and heavy about me. Multiple stories per day directly or indirectly involving me."

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By May 21, after recording the latest pandemic figures — nearly 98,000 global deaths and more than 27,000 U.S. deaths — and documenting the day's White House coronavirus task force meetings, Fauci wrote that his "national and international fame is explosive and really unimaginable" and that it was "not hyperbole" to say he was "the most famous and talked about person in the country."

He added that Trump "seems to be enamored of me even though I am taking the spotlight away from him," writing that the two were developing "a very unique and interesting relationship." Fauci also noted that Secret Service agents had become so familiar with him they often waved him through White House security without checking his identification.

As the attention continued to grow, the diary increasingly documented how Fauci's prominence had expanded beyond public health. A month later, as the United States recorded what Fauci described as a record 40,000 new COVID-19 cases in a single day, he wrote that he had been invited to appear on "Dancing with the Stars."

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The diaries also document Fauci's growing frustration with the Trump White House. On July 2, 2020, after warning that the country could be entering an "exponential" increase in COVID-19 cases heading into the Fourth of July weekend, Fauci wrote, "POTUS and his people have essentially dropped out and do not even recognize that an outbreak is ongoing."

He also complained that the White House was denying requests for him to appear on major television programs. Across multiple entries, Fauci criticized White House communications officials for restricting his television appearances, questioned the administration's public messaging and expressed frustration that media coverage increasingly portrayed him as being at odds with Trump.

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Fauci also repeatedly defended himself against what he described as the "countless" profiles written about him. He wrote that White House officials were upset because the coverage made it appear he was becoming "a star that outshines" the president.

He also insisted several of the profiles had been written without interviewing him and wrote that he had "no desire to conflict with, embarrass or show up the POTUS," later deciding to stop participating in profile interviews altogether.

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Taken together, the entries offer an unusually personal account of Fauci's role during one of the most consequential public health crises in modern U.S. history, capturing not only the government's internal deliberations but also his private concerns about the pandemic, his increasingly complicated relationship with the Trump White House and the extraordinary public attention that followed.

Berlin Pride attack believed to be an act of Islamic terror, suspect on the run: German minister

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 11:20:50 -0400

A suspect with alleged ties to Germany's "Islamist scene" is on the run after allegedly plowing a van into a crowd near Berlin's Pride festival and attacking others with a machete in what officials believe was an Islamic terror attack that left one person dead and at least 29 others injured.

German authorities on Sunday launched an intensive manhunt for Abdul Ballout, a German citizen with Lebanese roots whom officials say may be armed and dangerous.

"Everything we see here points to us dealing with an Islamic terror attack," German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said.

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The minister said the suspect had previously come to the attention of authorities for multiple crimes, as well as his "radicalization and belonging to the Islamist scene."

Dobrindt said Ballout was born in Germany and that his mother became a naturalized German citizen in 2002, three years before he was born. He said the suspect previously received a suspended prison sentence of one year and 10 months but did not disclose what he had been convicted of.

Police said a white van drove into a crowd in Berlin's Tiergarten park around 10 p.m. on Saturday before crashing into a tree. Authorities say the suspect then attacked several people with a machete before fleeing.

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A woman was killed, while three people suffered life-threatening injuries and eight others were seriously hurt, according to Berlin's fire service. Dobrindt said at least 29 people were injured.

The attack happened a few hundred yards from Berlin's annual Christopher Street Day Pride celebration — one of Europe's largest LGBTQ+ events — but not on the parade route or at the festival's closing event near the Brandenburg Gate. Investigators said the victims appeared to include both Pride attendees and other people who were in the park.

Organizers stopped the celebration shortly after the attack, cutting off a live performance and urging people to leave the area.

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Berlin police said Ballout has been identified as the suspect but had not been arrested as of Sunday. Police spokesman Florian Nath earlier said the suspect was known to investigators because of his alleged ties to Islamic groups in Berlin.

"The suspect is known to police. He is known to us as a member of Islamic circles here in Berlin, and our search for this person is proceeding at full speed," Nath said, according to The Associated Press. "We still have no information whatsoever regarding his specific motives, the exact sequence of events, or his role in the crime itself."

Police searched several locations across Berlin overnight and into Sunday, including an apartment in the Schöneberg district, but did not find the suspect.

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The manhunt is ongoing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Self-dressing clothes could help older adults

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 11:10:49 -0400

Most of us get dressed every day without thinking twice about it. However, a stiff shoulder can make pulling on a shirt surprisingly difficult, while balance problems can turn a simple pair of pants into a real challenge. That is what makes a new invention from South Korea's KAIST and Stanford University worth watching.

Researchers have created self-dressing clothes with soft, air-powered robots built into the fabric. Once activated, the garment moves along the body and helps guide itself into place, even while the wearer moves. The technology remains an early research project, but it shows how future clothing could help older adults get dressed with less assistance and stay independent at home longer.

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How self-dressing clothes could support independence

Getting dressed ranks among the basic activities that often determine whether someone can live independently. When mobility or dexterity declines, people may need a spouse, family member or professional caregiver to help with a deeply personal routine.

The researchers behind the project say dressing challenges can reduce autonomy and increase reliance on caregivers. They designed the system for people with limited mobility, including older adults and those recovering from injuries. Stanford researchers have also identified dressing assistance as an important use for future home robots. The university says assistive technology could help older adults remain in their homes as caregiving needs increase.

Why dressing can become physically difficult

Dressing requires more movement than many people realize. You need to reach behind your body, lift your arms and shift your weight while handling fabric. Arthritis may make gripping or pulling clothing painful. Meanwhile, shoulder problems can limit your reach. Recovery from hip or knee surgery can also make bending difficult.

Balance adds another concern. Pulling on pants often requires someone to stand briefly on one leg or bend toward the floor. For a person who already feels unsteady, that familiar routine can become stressful. Self-dressing clothes could eventually reduce some of that reaching and pulling. However, researchers still need clinical studies to learn how well the system works for people with real mobility limitations.

How KAIST and Stanford's robotic clothing works

The researchers call their system SWAG, which stands for Self-Wearing Adaptive Garment. Instead of placing a large robotic arm next to the person, the team built flexible robotic tubes into the clothing. Air pressure causes these soft structures to unfold and grow along the body.

The movement turns the garment inside out as it advances. That approach allows the clothing to follow the person's shape while reducing friction between the fabric and skin. Think of ivy growing around a wall or tree. The plant advances from its tip rather than dragging its entire length forward. The soft robot uses a similar motion, which helps it follow curves and move across different surfaces.

A rainy bike ride sparked the robotic clothing idea

The idea began when KAIST postdoctoral researcher Nam Gyun Kim was riding his bike when it began to rain. As he kept moving, he wondered how helpful it would be if a raincoat could put itself on.

That simple idea led to a much bigger thought. Instead of making your body do all the pulling, reaching and twisting, what if the clothing could move into place on its own? From there, Kim and the research team began developing garments that use soft robotics to help dress the person wearing them.

How fast self-dressing clothes can work

Kim says putting on a full suit takes about 10 seconds. The published paper provides additional timing from individual demonstrations. A jacket moved into place in about 13 seconds, while the pants demonstration took roughly 21 seconds. A sleeve prototype took about 14 seconds.

The researchers tested sleeves, jackets and pants. Their results showed that the garments could unfold along the body while keeping contact forces within the team's safety limits. The system also relies on its physical design instead of a complicated control program. That could eventually help simplify the hardware needed for dressing assistance.

Why soft robotic clothing could feel more natural

Many existing dressing robots use rigid mechanical arms. Those systems must handle loose fabric while carefully avoiding uncomfortable contact with the person. They may also require the person to hold a fixed pose while the robot completes the task. That setup could feel awkward inside a bedroom or bathroom.

The KAIST and Stanford design takes a different approach by placing the robotic mechanism inside the garment. The clothing becomes the helper. Because the system uses soft materials, it can bend around the body rather than approaching it with a hard mechanical structure. KAIST says this design reduces physical strain and supports safer contact.

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Where self-dressing clothes could be used first

Older adults and people with disabilities represent a major potential use for the technology. KAIST also sees possibilities for rehabilitation patients who need temporary assistance after an injury or medical procedure. However, industrial workplaces may adopt the idea sooner.

Semiconductor employees frequently put on protective cleanroom clothing. Emergency workers may also need to suit up quickly while carrying other equipment. The researchers believe air-powered garments could help people put on protective clothing without relying heavily on their hands. The published study also discusses possible medical uses, such as helping healthcare workers apply protective coverings or compression bandages. Those applications remain potential future directions.

What self-dressing clothes still need to prove

The current system remains a research prototype connected to a pneumatic base station. Researchers have yet to announce a consumer price or release date. Several everyday questions remain unanswered. The garments would need to fit different body shapes and movement patterns. Designers would also need to address washing, storage and portable air power.

The research team says future versions may use adjustable sheaths or elastic materials to fit a wider range of bodies. The researchers also want to automate the garment-loading process and improve the controls.

Most importantly, the team says clinical trials involving people with mobility impairments will be essential. Those tests could show whether the clothing feels comfortable and works reliably outside the lab. Researchers also need to explore how the garment comes off. The current work concentrates mainly on dressing, while automated removal remains a future possibility.

What this means to you

You probably will not find robotic clothing hanging in a local store anytime soon. Yet this research gives us a useful preview of where assistive technology may be heading. For you or someone you care about, the biggest benefit could be control over a private daily routine. Clothing that handles part of the pulling and positioning could make mornings less tiring.

It could also delay the point when someone needs another person present simply to get dressed. That possibility still depends on testing, affordability and a design people feel comfortable wearing.

Kurt's key takeaways

Self-dressing clothes may sound unusual, but the need behind them is easy to understand. Arthritis, limited mobility or recovery from surgery can make getting dressed frustrating and exhausting. For older adults, a garment that helps guide itself into place could mean more privacy, less reliance on a caregiver and more confidence starting the day. The KAIST and Stanford system still has a long way to go. Researchers need to make it portable, test it with people who have mobility challenges and prove it can work safely in a home. Even so, the idea shows how technology could support independence through something as familiar as the clothes you already wear.

Would you or someone you care about use self-dressing clothes to stay independent? Let us know by writing to us at CyberGuy.com

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'Shark Tank' star Daymond John says 'you'll be screwed' if you do this when starting a business

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 11:00:28 -0400

"Shark Tank" star Daymond John is giving fans some blunt advice on how to be successful in business.

When speaking to Fox News Digital at Fanatics Fest, the 57-year-old businessman shared that to have a successful business, you have to build it around "something that you love."

"If you're starting something that you love, you have to want to do it for free. I always say to kids, you know, you got to get paid for what you'd do for free, you'd be able to sell whatever you would buy. So, any business is a great business. Emptying garbage is a great business if you really love it. If you're doing it just for money though, you'll be screwed. Even Kevin O'Leary, you think he does it for money? No, he just likes complicated structures that manage his downside. But at the end of the day, he likes the chess game."

The reality TV star began working at a young age, developing his entrepreneurial spirit before founding FUBU ("For Us, By Us") in 1992 along with three of his childhood friends.

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Now a global fashion brand, the business began with John sewing wool hats and T-shirts himself in his mother's house in Queens, New York.

"First of all, I was frustrated by Timberland, and a couple of other people and brands that 'didn’t make clothes for African Americans,'" he told The Source Magazine. "That was why I initially created FUBU. It was my love of fashion as well and my love for music. And I felt that no longer did we have to have the 'make it and they will come theory' like other designers."

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He continued: "I was a designer who actually respected the community I was selling to, and it was fun. It was an exciting time. Hip-hop was young and fresh, and I was just happy to wear the clothes that I was making as well as seeing artists and other people wear the clothes that I was making for them."

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After turning FUBU into a global fashion brand, John joined the original cast of "Shark Tank" in 2009, alongside Barbara Corcoran, O'Leary, Robert Herjavec and Kevin Harrington.

As a shark, John has invested in a number of businesses, helping entrepreneurs get them off the ground. Some of his most famous investments include Bombas and Bubba's-Q Boneless Ribs.

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"I always look for the person first — before the idea," he told Inc. about his investing philosophy. "I need to know that they are going to get the right information, and not go off and make mistakes without at least trying to educate themselves. I value an entrepreneur I can get behind and trust because I know they are attempting to move forward in life."

While at Fanatics Fest, a Comic-Con style celebration and immersive sports festival, John told Fox News Digital he was looking forward to experiencing everything the festival had to offer as a fan.

"I haven't gotten to see most of it, but for three years in, I mean, this is nuts, right? It's everything from WWE to UFC, to, of course, all the sports stuff, the signing, the trading, all of the celebrities and the sports people here. I'm just here being a fan myself," he said.

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Hikers face $25,000 fine after off-leash dog barked at grizzly bear on Banff National Park trail

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 10:49:21 -0400

Two hikers are facing charges after their off-leash dog repeatedly ran toward and barked at a grizzly bear during an encounter in Banff National Park.

The incident unfolded on the Taylor Lake trail, about nine miles south-east of Lake Louise, as Washington residents Brook and Kraig Koski backed away from Bear 142, a well-known female grizzly in the park.

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According to reports, Kraig initially encountered the bear while jogging ahead of his wife on the trail. Brook recorded the roughly 90-second video as the bear slowly followed Kraig, who walked backward while facing it and carrying bear spray.

Meanwhile, their small dog, Lola, ran freely between the hikers and the grizzly, at times barking at the bear.

"Back off!" Kraig can be heard yelling.

"You’re too close!" Brook says from behind the camera.

The hikers also repeatedly call for Lola, but at no point in the video do they appear to leash the dog or simply pick her up — despite having ample opportunity to do so.

It’s one of the most frustrating videos you’ll ever watch.

Eventually, Bear 142 leaves the trail and disappears into the woods. The encounter fortunately ended without anyone being injured, but Parks Canada wardens were able to identify the hikers after the video was posted online and racked up millions of views.

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The pair now face regulatory charges under the Canada National Parks Act for having an off-leash dog in a national park. Pets are required to be secured on a leash no longer than three meters, and the hikers could face fines of up to $25,000 if convicted.

"Failure to keep your pets leashed in the national parks poses risks to pets and wildlife," Parks Canada spokesperson James Eastham said in a statement. "Bears and other wildlife may react aggressively toward dogs they view as threats, resulting in their injury or death."

Nick de Ruyter, program director of WildSmart for the Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley, praised Parks Canada for filing charges because "there was so much time in the video to grab the dog and put it on a leash."

"The safety of them, their pets and other people is far more important than getting that video," he said.

Exactly.

As someone who hikes with my dog all the time, this is the kind of behavior that makes responsible dog owners want to pull their hair out.

Keeping a dog leashed in bear country is not an arbitrary rule designed to ruin anyone’s fun. It protects the dog, the wildlife and every other hiker who may encounter an already-agitated animal farther down the trail.

Instead, Lola was allowed to run around barking at a grizzly while her owners repeatedly yelled her name and continued filming.

This is how dogs get banned from trails. It's how responsible owners who follow the rules end up losing access.

"Off-leash dogs can also cause wildlife stress, leading to them avoiding important habitats and sources of food," Eastham said. "Always keep your pets on leash when visiting national parks."

Bear 142 is estimated to be approximately 16 years old and is the daughter of Bear 122, better known as "The Boss." She has raised several cubs in Banff National Park and lost one earlier this year after it was struck and killed by a train.

Grizzly bears are considered a threatened species in Alberta.

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In this case, the hikers were fortunate. The dog was fortunate. And Bear 142 was fortunate that an entirely avoidable encounter did not end much worse.

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ROBERT MAGINNIS: The Pentagon's plan to seize Iran's uranium isn't a raid. It's an invasion

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 10:46:31 -0400

The Pentagon has reportedly revived an extraordinary option for President Donald Trump: Send thousands of American troops deep into Iran to seize enriched uranium from damaged and buried nuclear facilities, according to a new report.

It is being described as a raid. It would be nothing of the sort.

This would be a temporary invasion of hostile territory, launched without real surprise, against an enemy that has spent months expecting us, at sites whose defenses and contents remain uncertain. American troops might seize the objective only to become trapped in a mission with no reliable timetable and no clean exit.

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A modern Desert One

The historical parallel is Operation Eagle Claw, the failed 1980 attempt to rescue American hostages in Tehran. President Jimmy Carter had exhausted diplomacy and sanctions after a hostage crisis that had humiliated the United States for six months, as mounting political pressure pushed him toward a complex rescue operation.

It ended at Desert One, where mechanical failures and a collision between a helicopter and a transport aircraft killed eight American servicemen before the rescue force ever reached Tehran.

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Today's military is far more capable, with mature special operations commands and decades of combat experience. But technology does not repeal geography, logistics or enemy action, and a president's need for a decisive result does not make a fragile plan sound.

Trump has shown the Carter analogy concerns him. When asked in June about a uranium-seizure mission, he said he considered it early and rejected it. "I didn't want to be Jimmy Carter," he said.

Harder than 1980

The reported mission would dwarf Eagle Claw in complexity. Carter's force knew roughly where the hostages were. In Iran today, we may not know precisely where the enriched uranium sits, whether it has been divided among sites, or whether Iran has already moved it. Some officials believe international inspectors have not verified its location in nearly nine months.

The Pentagon plan reportedly contemplates securing Iran's Fordow and Isfahan facilities, along with the deeply buried Pickaxe Mountain complex near Natanz, where Iran is believed to have moved centrifuges.

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Thousands of troops could be required, including Army Rangers, special operations forces and combat engineers. One version reportedly calls for flying in excavation equipment and building a runway to fly out roughly 450 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, some enriched to 60 percent.

Pickaxe Mountain alone shows the scale of the problem. Analysts believe it sits more than 300 feet underground, deeper than the Fordow plant the U.S. struck last year. Open-source evidence does not place uranium there at all; the mountain may hold centrifuges instead, and American forces could fight their way inside only to discover the objective had already disappeared.

No element of surprise

Iran knows the likely targets and has spent months preparing entrances, roads and defenses. At Isfahan, tunnel entrances believed to hold much of Iran's enriched uranium reportedly remain backfilled with dirt, reinforced with mines and roadblocks to complicate any ground approach. As one former National Security Council official noted, the sites are fixed and both sides know which facilities American forces would likely approach.

American aircraft might suppress Iran's air defenses and deliver an assault force. That is only the first step. Troops would then have to control roads, tunnel portals and an airfield for heavy cargo aircraft, while engineers bring in heavy equipment and other troops secure a wide perimeter. Inside, they could confront collapsed concrete, mines, poor ventilation and armed defenders in confined passages. Every hour favors Iran.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps would likely respond on multiple fronts: striking American bases, disrupting shipping through Hormuz and activating proxies in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Tehran would not need to defeat American forces outright, only deny them the objective by collapsing tunnels, contaminating the site or trapping personnel inside.

The longer our forces remain, the more dangerous the mission becomes. What began as a raid becomes a defended American lodgment hundreds of miles inside Iran. The moment American engineers begin building an airstrip on Iranian soil, the raid becomes an invasion.

Why not seal it instead?

That raises the question Washington should ask before sending a single soldier underground: Why not deny access to the facilities rather than occupy them?

If the uranium is trapped inside damaged tunnels, the wiser course may be to collapse every known entrance and access route, then maintain surveillance and strike any effort to reopen the site. Iran might carve a concealed entrance or move the material first — but seal, monitor and re-strike may be far more sustainable than sending thousands of Americans into an underground maze.

The goal should be making reopening slow, visible, costly and vulnerable to another strike, not pretending the mountain can never reopen.

Washington should keep demanding International Atomic Energy Agency access and verified accounting of the material as the price of any further relief, paired with sanctions, interdiction and verified international custody of the stockpile.

The Carter trap

Trump is not Carter, and this is not 1980. But both presidents confronted an adversary that refused to yield and mounting pressure to deliver one dramatic operation that could break the stalemate. I will not call Trump desperate; that claims knowledge of his state of mind outsiders lack. But the administration plainly faces pressure to convert tactical success into a visible strategic victory, and seizing Iran's uranium for display in American custody would offer precisely that image. Wars punish leaders who confuse a powerful image with a durable outcome.

Wars are not won by counting targets destroyed, but by producing a durable political outcome. American forces have punished Iran and badly damaged its military, but an open-ended ground commitment could still turn success into failure.

Before proceeding, the administration owes the country answers: Do we know where the uranium is? Can we reach it? How many troops are needed to hold the perimeter? What happens when Iran counterattacks? And before placing thousands of Americans on Iranian soil, has Washington secured the legal authority and public support for a ground war?

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Most importantly, how do we get our troops home?

Desert One failed before the rescue force reached Tehran. A uranium-seizure mission could reach the mountain, breach the tunnels and still fail because getting in is not the same as getting out. The real test is not whether America can reach the objective. It is whether the objective justifies the cost when a less dangerous strategy may achieve the same strategic result.

Missing Grand Canyon hiker, 83, rescued after getting separated from companion

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 10:21:15 -0400

An 83-year-old hiker who vanished in a remote stretch of Grand Canyon National Park after separating from his companion was found alive after an intense all-night search across rugged burn-scarred terrain, officials said Thursday.

Gerald Guinn, an experienced outdoorsman from Kanab, Utah, was found around 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday during a National Park Service helicopter search, about 2.5 miles from where he was last seen on the park's North Rim, according to the National Park Service and the Kane County Sheriff's Office.

Guinn disappeared Monday after he and his hiking companion intentionally split up while taking a short hike around 12:30 p.m. in search of a nearby historic object in a remote area near the park's northeastern boundary, the sheriff’s office said. While his hiking partner found the object, Guinn never showed up. After several hours of searching, the other hiker called for help.

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Search crews from Grand Canyon National Park, Coconino County Search and Rescue , and Kane County Search and Rescue spent the night looking for Guinn. Teams searched on foot through burned forest, the sheriff’s office said, while drones, search dogs and helicopters helped cover the remote area.

On Tuesday, investigators were able to narrow the search after receiving a cellphone ping from Guinn's phone. When a National Park Service helicopter later spotted him, Guinn waved to the crew overhead, the sheriff's office said.

The helicopter couldn't land because of the steep, rugged terrain, so a Kane County Search and Rescue team hiked about 1.5 miles to reach him. Deputies said Guinn was in good spirits but was cold and unable to walk. Rescuers gave him water and warm clothing while deciding how to get him out safely.

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With darkness setting in, a helicopter rescue was no longer an option. Instead, a paramedic was flown to the scene, and about 20 rescuers took turns carrying Guinn through the rough terrain in a rescue stretcher, clearing fallen trees and marking hazards along the way until they reached a nearby road around 1:30 a.m. — a day and a half after Guinn first set out on the hike.

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Guinn was checked by emergency medical personnel and released, according to the sheriff's office.

The National Park Service thanked Coconino County Search and Rescue and Kane County Search and Rescue for helping bring the search to a successful end.

Wyndham Clark's girlfriend Emily Tanner battles tan lines, Kristin Cavallari's first pitch & Sweetness tribute

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 10:11:05 -0400

I don't want to alarm anyone and I certainly don't want to encourage any disrespecting of summer, because I'm all in on summer every year and I have been since I was a child. You don't give away a minute of it.

Having said that, we're only a few days away from August. With August comes football. The Hall of Fame Game is a couple of Thursdays away (Aug. 6) with the Arizona Cardinals taking on my Carolina Panthers. It's on after that.

We can have the best of everything for a few weeks. We can have summer and all that comes with it. We can have baseball as teams start eyeing the postseason. And we can have football before fall arrives.

I'm getting the ball rolling on the final Sunday Screencaps of July with a story about tan lines. It's the perfect tribute to summer if you ask me.

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It's not just any story of tan lines, it's that of golf's newest star, Emily Tanner. She made the most of boyfriend Wyndham Clark's week off by doing a Q&A on Instagram where she was asked about her relationship with the golfer.

When asked how the two met, she replied, reports the NY Post, "Online/mutual friends[.] We met end of January and fell pretty fast. We’re super similar and get along so so well."

This love and golf story isn’t without some personal sacrifice on Tanner's part. She was asked about what the best thing about being Clark's girlfriend on tour is, and whether she's had "any pinch me moments."

She replied, "One thing I didn’t know is that I too would get sock tan lines."

She shared a picture of her feet showing the tan lines. She had no idea she would be heroically battling tan lines as the girlfriend of a golfer. It's an aspect of standing out in the sun for days on end that many overlook.

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Sure, the golfers are up against the elements, but so are their significant others. Tanner, not wanting to make it all about her, added, "But on a real note, it’s just the best feeling to be there for him, cheering him on doing what he loves."

If you're not respecting the rest of summer after that, then there just isn’t any hope for you. For the rest of us, we'll keep going to the pool, some will squeeze a trip to the beach in, and we'll definitely be firing up those grills.

We're running out the clock on summer. Best of luck to Emily Tanner as she continues to battle tan lines on tour.

"Cyclospora skinny" or "diarrhea diet"

Evidently using the Cyclospora outbreak as weight loss isn’t a good idea. Don't take my word for it. I'm not a doctor.

But this guy is, and he's aware that there have been some suggestions on social media to get on the diarrhea diet.

"Getting any kind of illness to purposely cause something like that is just a bad idea," said Chandler physician and IntraCare President Dr. Andrew Carroll, reports FOX 10 Phoenix.

CYCLOSPORA OUTBREAK: IS IT STILL SAFE TO EAT AT RESTAURANTS? HERE'S WHAT TO KNOW

"Plus, cyclosporiasis can be deadly. There are folks ending up in the hospital for long periods of time."

Still not sold? Well the doctor has more reasons not to seek out being "Cyclospora skinny."

"With diarrhea, if you’re not able to control that part of it, you’re going to lose a lot of electrolytes, so you’re going to have problems with muscle cramps and headaches and all those sorts of things," Carroll said.

"But dehydration, and we’re really aware of dehydration in this state, you don’t want to get to the state where your heart just can’t pump enough blood because there is no water in there."

None of that sounds like any fun and it doesn't sound like people are lining up trying to get on the so-called "diarrhea diet." There are 41 states reporting more than 4,000 confirmed cases.

Meat

- Homebrew Bill sends:

SeanJo

You can't go wrong with a plate of grilled pork chops and sweet corn with potatoes and onions. People get caught up with trying to be cute.

I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again, you don’t have to get cute. I'm a big keep it simple guy. This is the perfect example of that.

Tonight's meat

- Mike writes:

Wife and daughter are out, so it's a simple double cheeseburger and a Blue Moon Extra.

Keep up the great work.

SeanJo

Another perfect example. Thanks for the support Mike and thanks for sending in your meat. You can't go wrong with a double cheeseburger. The Blue Moon is an added bonus.

Natalya

- Gene in the Rock writes:

I think that makes her the only woman on Earth who doesn't think there's something wrong with her butt.

SeanJo

Thanks for reaching out Gene. She's in rare company, that's for sure.

For those who missed it, WWE Superstar Natalya Neidhart, aka Nattie, had this to say when asked about letting it all hang out in the WWE locker room, "why I probably was naked in the locker room, is because if you’re built in the front and stacked in the back, you may as well just let it all hang out."

That's sound logic to me.

##########

That is all for the final Sunday in July. Spoiler alert, if Joe hasn’t already mentioned it, there's been another call to the bullpen.

I'll be handling Screencaps duties Tuesday through Friday this week. I'll see you then. Send your meat and anything else my way.

The inbox is always open, sean.joseph@outkick.com. You can also follow me on Twitter and over on Instagram and slide into the DMs over there.

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Meet the terrifying monsters in Christopher Nolan's blockbuster 'The Odyssey'

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 10:00:57 -0400

Viewers of Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" may be surprised by how many mythological creatures are packed into Homer's ancient epic.

Filled with A-list stars, the major box-office hit takes audiences from one mythical encounter to the next as Odysseus fights to make it home.

"The movie is visually stunning. It needs to be seen in the theater," said Joel P. Christensen, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at the CUNY Graduate Center and a professor of classics.

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Christensen, a Homer scholar, told Fox News Digital that audiences don't need to read "The Odyssey" beforehand because Nolan provides enough context to follow the story.

Unlike many modern blockbusters with a single central villain, nearly every stop on this journey brings a new monster or supernatural threat.

As Christopher Nolan's adaptation introduces new audiences to the ancient epic, here's a look at the legendary creatures that define Odysseus' journey in the book, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.

Spoiler alert: Plot details from "The Odyssey" are noted below.

Polyphemus

The most famous of the Cyclops, Polyphemus traps Odysseus and his crew in his cave before devouring several of the men.

The name Polyphemus roughly translates to "rich in songs and legends" or "widely talked about," per Britannica.

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Odysseus eventually blinds Polyphemus with a sharpened wooden stake — allowing him and his remaining crew to escape the Cyclops' cave.

Polyphemus is one of the sons of Poseidon — prompting the sea god to curse Odysseus' journey home.

In the film, Polyphemus is played by actor Bill Irwin.

Laestrygonians

Laestrygonians are giant cannibals who destroy nearly all of Odysseus' fleet after luring the ships into their harbor.

They appear in Book 10 of "The Odyssey," where they destroy nearly all of Odysseus' fleet at the harbor of Telepylus, hurling massive boulders.

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Odysseus escapes the attack aboard his lone remaining ship, sailing on to the island of the sorceress Circe.

Circe

A powerful sorceress, Circe encounters Odysseus and his crew on the island of Aeaea.

The daughter of Helios, the sun god, Circe famously turns Odysseus' men into pigs but fails to curse the protagonist himself.

She eventually falls in love with the Greek hero and helps him continue his journey home, advising him about the dangers of the voyage ahead.

ARCHAEOLOGISTS EXCAVATE ANCIENT WORKSHOP WITH UNFINISHED SCULPTURES ON GREEK ISLAND

Christensen told Fox News Digital that the most "unforgettable sequence" is when Circe turns Odysseus’ men into pigs — something that may disturb viewers.

"It makes audiences viscerally uncomfortable: It is well paced, imaginative and unsettling," he said. "That’s not strictly a creature scene, but it shows men revealed as creatures!"

Samantha Morton plays Circe in the Nolan film.

Sirens

In Greek mythology, sirens are half-bird and half-woman creatures who lured sailors to their deaths.

In Book 12 of "The Odyssey," the sorceress Circe warns Odysseus about the Sirens' irresistible song.

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To protect his crew, Odysseus orders their ears plugged with beeswax while he has himself tied to the ship's mast so he can hear the song without obeying the Sirens.

Scylla and Charybdis

Scylla and Charybdis are two of the most famous sea monsters in "The Odyssey," presenting Odysseus with one of the most dangerous challenges of his journey home.

In the book, Scylla and Charybdis trap Odysseus in a narrow strait, with Scylla waiting on one side to snatch sailors from passing ships and Charybdis creating a massive whirlpool on the other.

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Odysseus survives by following Circe's advice to sail past Scylla, despite knowing the monster will claim six of his men.

The move allows him and the rest of the crew to escape.

Calypso

Calypso is a nymph that Odysseus encounters on the mythical island of Ogygia.

In the book, she falls in love with Odysseus and refuses to let him leave, keeping the Greek hero on the island for years.

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Calypso reluctantly lets him go when Zeus orders his release, helping him build a raft to continue his journey home.

Charlize Theron plays Calypso in the film.

A scholar's perspective

Like any adaptation of a sprawling ancient epic, Nolan's film condenses parts of Homer's story for the big screen, Christensen noted.

While visually stunning, the expert said the film's adaptation of some mythological figures falls short of Homer's original.

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He pointed to changes in the portrayals of Polyphemus and Circe, arguing that the film makes the Cyclops "more of a monster than a man," while depriving Circe of agency.

Nolan "impl[ies] that she turns men into pigs because she has been sexually assaulted before," said Christensen.

"This is one of the film's weaknesses: Traditional gender roles become a shorthand for actual story."

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"Nolan had to reduce some of the repetitions we see in the Homeric ‘Odyssey’ and had to limit the length of some scenes," he said. "He also made the choice to limit the depiction of the divine."

Even so, many of the epic's most recognizable mythological figures remain central to the story.

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"For people who do know ‘The Odyssey,’ remember that film is a very different medium than epic poetry is: It is shorter and visual, so many changes are required to allow the story to work as a movie," he said.

"This is Nolan’s ‘Odyssey,’ not Homer’s."

Christian school chaplain wins settlement after firing over LGBTQ sermon

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 10:00:52 -0400

A school chaplain in the United Kingdom who was fired and blacklisted after preaching a sermon on LGBTQ issues has reached a confidential settlement with his former employer, ending a seven-year legal battle.

The Rev. Bernard Randall, an ordained Church of England minister, worked for five years as chaplain at Trent College, an independent school for K-12 students in Derbyshire, England. In 2018, Randall grew concerned when the school partnered with Educate and Celebrate, an outside group whose stated goal was to "smash heteronormativity" and embed queer theory in school culture. The group has since dissolved.

"I objected to [it] at the time it started, and tried to discuss it with the senior leadership, [but] they weren't interested," Randall told Fox News Digital.

The following year, a student asked Randall why pupils were required to accept LGBTQ ideology at a Christian school. Randall said that question, along with similar concerns raised by other students and staff, prompted him to deliver a sermon on freedom of belief and conscience.

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In his chapel address, Randall told his young students they were entitled to hold traditional Christian beliefs on marriage and biological sex, while emphasizing that they must show respect to those with whom they disagree.

Days later, school administrators summoned Randall to a meeting, interrogated him, suspended him and launched an investigation. He was also reported to local law enforcement and Prevent, the U.K. government's counterterrorism program. Prevent ultimately determined he did not pose a terrorist threat.

In addition, the Diocese of Derby blacklisted Randall as a safeguarding risk to children.

Trent College eventually fired Randall for gross misconduct. He was reinstated on appeal, but under strict conditions that restricted his sermon topics and required prior administrative approval for chapel content. Furloughed during the pandemic, Randall was ultimately made redundant, or laid off, on Dec. 31, 2020.

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Randall challenged his dismissal with the support of the Christian Legal Centre. Following an initial employment tribunal ruling against him, the Employment Appeal Tribunal set aside the judgment, ordered a full retrial and required Trent College to pay £20,000 in costs. Shortly thereafter, Randall and Trent College reached a confidential settlement.

After seven years being barred from ministry, an independent Church of England review conducted by the Diocese of London finally cleared Randall of all safeguarding allegations, ruling the concerns were "unsubstantiated" and finding no evidence of harm.

In a statement shared by his legal team, Randall said he was relieved by the ruling but said that nothing could replace the seven years he's lost from being shut out of ministry.

"I encouraged pupils to think, to debate, and to love their neighbors whatever they believed. No minister, teacher or chaplain should be punished for upholding Christian teaching in a Christian setting," Randall said.

Randall told Fox News Digital he was deeply troubled by the Church of England’s handling of his case, noting that officials spent years disciplining him for teaching orthodox church doctrine.

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"The people who should support you most are the ones doing you harm," Randall said.

He added that standing up for freedom of speech and belief was worth the personal toll. "It's as Jesus said, what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul? And I sort of feel I'm in that position that it matters to stand up and be counted and tell the truth. And that was more important than just an easy, comfortable life."

Randall also voiced broader concerns about the future of free speech in the United Kingdom.

"Oh, I do worry," he told Fox News Digital. "There are groups that are fighting back, and we're not going to let them roll over us. But there are times when I wish we had the First Amendment."

"I think most people in Britain still value free speech," he added. "It used to be in this country, when somebody said something that we thought was a bit strange or odd, [we'd say], 'Oh well, it's a free country.' I don't hear people saying that anymore."

Vice President JD Vance criticized growing restrictions on speech in the U.K. while visiting Munich last year. The U.S. State Department has also raised concerns over the prosecution of peaceful religious expression under British buffer zone laws.

"I know that our American cousins and the people in the White House are looking at Britain and raising the question of free speech, and in Europe too as well," Randall continued. "That has to be a good thing because it doesn't hurt to have our friends from across the Atlantic offer a bit of advice about why it matters that free speech is so important and freedom of conscience, that these things really, really matter. So yes, I'm worried, but I'm not without hope."

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While Randall has completed mandatory safeguarding training and is eligible to return to public ministry, he is waiting for the bishop of Derby, Libby Lane, to grant him permission to officiate, according to The Christian Legal Centre.

Fox News Digital reached out to Trent College for comment.

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Derby told Fox News Digital, "The Diocese is happy to continue supporting Dr Randall’s potential return to ministry as he decides whether and where to apply for a role. Over the past few months, through our ongoing contact with him, he has been signposted to current vacancies in the Diocese of Derby, the Church of England’s 'Pathways' recruitment portal, and to the Church’s Clergy Transitions Service which has confirmed that they are also available to provide further assistance."

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Fox News' Jon Brown contributed to this report.

Clint Black says Billy Joel's 'Uncle Daddy' warning changed his life

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 10:00:21 -0400

When Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black welcomed their only child, Lily, in 2001, the country star made fatherhood his top priority to avoid becoming an "Uncle Daddy."

Black opens up about that decision in his new memoir, "Killin' Time," named after his triple-platinum 1989 debut album. The Grammy winner reflects on his upbringing, his meteoric rise to fame and a career that has included more than 20 million records sold.

The 64-year-old singer told Fox News Digital he came across an interview with Billy Joel, and the "Piano Man" singer's words stayed with him.

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"I saw an interview with Billy Joel, and he was talking about being gone too much. He said he'd come home... and he called it being 'Uncle Daddy,'" said Black. "That was long before we knew we wanted a child, but I remember it sticking with me."

In "Killin' Time," Black recalled Joel saying life on the road often left him feeling more like an "Uncle Daddy" than a father. The comment stayed with Black for years and ultimately reshaped how he balanced his career and family.

"I didn't cut out activities completely when Lily was born," said Black.

WATCH: CLINT BLACK EXPLAINS WHY HE REFUSED TO BE AN ‘UNCLE DADDY’

"I did about 15 shows a year just to take care of the band and crew members.... I read a book or two, and I can't remember which one, but the author was talking about secure attachment for a child — who the child feels is their secure attachment, the person they look to in moments of fright. And if you want to be a secure attachment for your child, it's something you earn in the first three years of their life."

"So that was the number," he continued. "Three years of mostly being home, only going out and doing these small bits of work. I did some work at home, working on music... but I was around to be a dad. It wasn't great for my career, but I wouldn't change a thing. I wouldn't trade a better career for that attachment or the closeness I have with my daughter."

For Black, fatherhood came after years of heartbreak. In the book, he revealed that he and the former "Knots Landing" actress suffered four pregnancy losses before welcoming Lily.

"Trying to have a baby was not something that we had set out to do," he said. "And then, at one point, we realized we had better talk about this and find out where we both stood. And once we decided we wanted to have a child, we really, really wanted to have a child. So when we ran into problems with the miscarriages, it started to hurt. But we kept our hopes up."

"It was still scary getting through it," he admitted. "It wasn't smooth sailing, but it was sailing. We have a 25-year-old daughter now, and she is just a joy."

Black said that when Lily was born, he embraced fatherhood without hesitation.

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"I think the biggest lesson I've learned from fatherhood is — I'm tempted to say patience — but I don't think that's it," he explained. "I think it's that I can do a lot more than I thought I could. I could have a career, travel, do all of that, come home, be active as a dad, go to basketball practice, volleyball games and school events."

"Taking her to bouncy playhouses, [watching] 'The Wiggles,' 'Bear in the Big Blue House' and 'Wicked,'" he said with a smile. "All the plays and all that stuff. I wouldn't have thought that I could do it all. But I have, and I've surpassed my own expectations. And that's through devoting myself to her, my wife and being present."

These days, Black is back on the road, and every so often, fans can catch Lily sharing the stage with him.

"I'm still doing 80 to 90 cities a year on tour, taking Lily and Lisa with me at times," he said. "They have toured with me. Those are the best tours."

"It's surprising," he reflected. "I went into fatherhood ready to do whatever it took. But the fear I had was, 'Is this going to be too much? I won't be able to do it all.' But I did."

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Even today, Black said he's still in awe when he watches his daughter perform alongside him.

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"Watching Lily perform right next to me on stage took me a while to adjust to," he admitted. "For a while, I was just the adoring father. I had to learn to be a guy in the band playing to an audience and enjoy what she’s doing and seeing her perform so well without having that be my focus on stage. I think it becomes distracting to the audience if they’re watching us, and they’re watching me with a shifted focus."

"But seeing her beside me, it's a gift," he added.

Ryan Fox details how he had to negotiate the Claret Jug onto his flight after Open Championship victory

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 09:49:49 -0400

Traveling with one of the most iconic trophies in all of sports isn't as easy as one might imagine. Ryan Fox, the Champion Golfer of the Year, quickly found that out while trying to board a commercial airplane with the Claret Jug after winning The Open at Royal Birkdale.

It goes without saying that the morning after becoming a major champion is a hectic one, and then having to deal with the unavoidable headaches at the airport only adds to the stress levels.

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To set the scene on the Monday after Fox's stunning victory, the New Zealander jumped on a plane in Manchester bound for London before jetting back home from Heathrow Airport.

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After making it through security with the Claret Jug in a protective case, he arrived at his departure gate and realized that he would have to do some finagling to get the hardware onto the plane as a carry-on as opposed to gate-checking it.

Handing over the oldest trophy in professional golf to a stranger and having them toss it underneath the plane isn't exactly an ideal situation, even for a very short flight from Manchester to the country's capital. During an appearance on 'The Smylie Show,' Fox detailed the conversation he had with the gate agent to 'sneak' the Claret Jug onto the plane as an additional carry-on.

"I meekly got up to the check-in agent with these two boxes and go, 'So, yeah, I've got some special cargo here, is there any chance I can just take these on the plane?'" Fox recalled telling the gate agent. "She goes, 'What's in it?' You know, I'm like, 'The Claret Jug, it's the oldest trophy in golf.' [She says] 'Did you win it?' I'm like, 'Uh, yeah. Can I just take it through?' She's like, 'Yep, no problem.'"

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Fox also went on to explain that a number of different travelers recognizing him as he made his way through security likely helped his cause.

To make the already incredibly unique situation even more so, Fox made his way on the plane with the Claret Jug and just so happened to be seated directly behind Cameron Young, who finished runner-up at Birkdale after Fox made birdie on the 72nd hole.

China’s influence machine: Federal records expose Beijing’s push to sway America

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 07:00:31 -0400

President Donald Trump’s address to the nation alleging Chinese interference in American elections last week has renewed interest in Beijing’s broader influence efforts in the United States.

Federal records show that a number of Chinese government entities, state-controlled media organizations and China-based companies have registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) to disclose operations with political implications carried out in the United States on their behalf. Lobbying Disclosure Act filings submitted to Congress by other Chinese entities, meanwhile, cover lobbying activity by companies pursuing what they say are purely commercial interests.

Those filings provide a partial public record of how Chinese interests seek to shape U.S. policy, public opinion and commercial decisions, though they do not establish the full scope of Beijing’s activity or prove Trump’s election claims.

Private entities based in China and Hong Kong, many of which have significant ties to the Chinese Communist Party, spend significant amounts of money attempting to influence America. The DOJ recorded over $20 million in FARA expenditures from these entities in 2025, with millions of dollars more being recorded in lobbying disclosures filed with Congress. Chinese government sources, over the same period, spent close to $80 million on FARA expenses.

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Not every Chinese influence operation happens on the books, however.

Campus groups that the State Department has linked to the Chinese government, such as the Chinese Students and Scholars Association, do not file paperwork with the DOJ, leaving Americans in the dark regarding their operations. Additionally, any groups that fall under China’s United Front Work Department — a global network of CCP loyalists that work to advance Beijing’s interests abroad — don’t file disclosures owing to their clandestine nature.

China hawks have also argued that some powerful domestic nonprofits have significant links to the CCP, giving it yet another mechanism it can use to influence the United States.

"China is committed to promoting mutual understanding and friendship between the Chinese and American peoples and advancing exchanges and cooperation between the two countries in areas including trade, education and culture," a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy told Fox News Digital. "China’s international exchanges and cooperation are open and transparent, with the aim of enhancing mutual understanding and achieving mutual benefit."

"Portraying China’s normal international exchanges and cooperation as so-called ‘influence operations’ distorts facts and stigmatizes legitimate engagement," they added.

While the true extent of China’s influence in the United States is unknown, the evidence that is available to the public paints a picture of a broad, multi-front effort to shape how Americans live and think.

‘Propaganda’

Among China’s most prevalent levers of influence is its state-run media apparatus, which academic sources and the federal government often describe as a "propaganda" operation.

Globally, the State Department estimated in 2023 that China spends "billions of dollars annually on foreign information manipulation efforts."

Five Chinese media operations are registered as active foreign agents in the United States, DOJ records show. CCTV, Xinhua News and China Daily each have direct affiliations with the CCP, whereas Sing Tao News Corporation is privately owned but consistently takes a pro-Beijing stance in its coverage.

CCTV, which is operated by the Chinese government, runs CGTN America, China’s flagship English-language media operation. DOJ filings reviewed by Fox News Digital show that CGTN received $66.8 million in funding from CCTV between February and November 2025 — a significant chunk of China’s overall foreign influence budget.

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In 2025, CGTN amplified rhetoric similar to that pushed by Democratic politicians.

The network pushed left-of-center rhetoric on issues such as climate change, racial tensions, immigration and the war in Gaza while criticizing Trump’s tariffs as well as his efforts to make Washington, D.C., safer through law enforcement and National Guard deployments. CGTN has also been eager to praise California Gov. Gavin Newsom, seen by many as one of Trump’s chief political rivals.

A 2022 academic paper published by researchers at King's College in London argued that, despite appearances, CGTN doesn’t aim to influence voter behavior or have a strict ideological slant but rather seeks to portray America as "poorly governed, plutocratic, racist and a destabilizing international influence" in contrast to a China that is "well governed, benign, stable and a rising superpower."

All the Chinese media operations designated as foreign agents tend to publish similar content. An appendix in one of Xinhua’s filings reveals that the federal government required it to register under FARA because the DOJ believes that it "intends to influence the American public or policy makers on relevant topics such as U.S. policy or foreign relations."

"Chinese media outlets conduct news reporting and information dissemination in accordance with the law. Labeling outlets such as Xinhua, CGTN and China Daily as ‘propaganda tools’ or ‘foreign influence instruments’ reflects ideological bias and a Cold War mentality, rather than an objective view of international media exchanges," the embassy spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

The China lobby

Representing the interests of Chinese companies, even those that the U.S. government warns are working on behalf of the Chinese military, is big business for American lobbyists.

Lobbying records show that dozens of American lobbyists have signed new contracts with dozens of companies partially or fully owned by Chinese entities since 2025. FARA records, meanwhile, reveal that seven Chinese companies — Huawei, BOE Technology America, Yangtze Memory Technologies, XH Smart Tech China, Hikvision, Futurewei Technologies and JinkoSolar — maintain active foreign agent registrations in the United States.

A Chinese company advocating for its own commercial interests usually files lobbying disclosures with Congress under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, whereas an organization carrying out what the federal government determines to be political, governmental or broader public-influence work for a foreign principal typically reports to the DOJ under FARA.

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Hikvision, a partially state-owned video surveillance equipment manufacturer based in China, for instance, reports to the DOJ.

The company faces procurement, export and investment sanctions imposed by the United States government following allegations that it aided the CCP in its repression of Uyghur Muslims. It has paid American lobbyists millions to plead its case to the United States government that those restrictions should be dropped.

Since Hikvision is bound by the disclosure requirements of FARA, the public has access to the materials distributed to policymakers on its behalf, as well as information about specific policymakers they contacted, such as a slideshow presentation its lobbyists gave to Pentagon and Department of Commerce officials in October 2024.

Most of the lobbying services purchased by Chinese companies occur under the LDA, which only requires principals to disclose who they’re paying, how much they’re paying and a very basic description of what issues they’re lobbying on. Among the firms retaining American lobbyists are controversial Chinese-owned agriculture companies, major competitors with American industries, state-owned enterprises and firms that the Department of War claims are working on behalf of China’s People’s Liberation Army.

Tencent, a technology conglomerate that the Pentagon recently added to its list of "Chinese military companies," has spent well over $10 million on lobbying expenses since 2025.

"As the Company is neither a Chinese military company nor a military-civil fusion contributor to the Chinese defense industrial base, it believes that its inclusion in the [Chinese military company] List is a mistake," Tencent said in a statement after the Pentagon designated it as such. "The Company intends to initiate a Reconsideration Process to correct this mistake. During the process, it will engage in discussions with the U.S. Department of Defense to resolve any misunderstanding, and if necessary, will undertake legal proceedings to remove the Company from the [Chinese military company] List."

A handful of Chinese companies, including some that have appeared on the Pentagon’s list of Chinese military companies, have even lobbied on issues related to American national security.

Some, such as Sen. Tom Cotton, have accused Chinese entities of abusing the LDA to avoid filing under FARA and complying with its stricter disclosure requirements, which would provide Americans with a fuller accounting of their activities.

Trade, tourism and development?

China, like many other countries, spends considerable funds on convincing Americans to trade with, travel to or invest in it.

The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, for instance, receives hundreds of thousands of dollars from Beijing every six months to travel across the country to act as "the liaison between business, chamber of commerce, trade associations and organizations in China and in the United States to facilitate bilateral trade, investment and economic cooperation," according to its FARA disclosures.

While CCPIT’s operations appear anodyne, China hawks argue that they may serve a dual purpose.

The Jamestown Foundation, for instance, asserts that CCPIT "has long been identified by the U.S. intelligence community as a united front entity supporting PRC diplomatic goals," citing a declassified CIA memo from 1957. Sinopis, a research project associated with a Czech university, similarly argues that China uses CCPIT to forge relationships with foreign officials and business groups to ultimately advance Chinese economic and geopolitical objectives.

"Allegations concerning organizations allegedly linked to the United Front Work Department lack factual basis," the embassy spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "In addition, the CCPIT has long been committed to promoting trade and investment cooperation between China and countries around the world and facilitating economic exchanges. Linking normal trade promotion activities to so-called geopolitical objectives is groundless."

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Also paid by Beijing to operate in the United States are various offices encouraging Americans to visit China and soliciting investments for ventures in it.

Despite the harsh accusations levied against China, Trump has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit the United States to discuss artificial intelligence and bilateral relations in September.

Fed-up neighbors transform derelict bus depot into stunning community landmark

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 09:20:06 -0400

A rundown bus shelter has been radically transformed — complete with hanging baskets, art, books and chandelier — after a local pub owner couldn't stand the "ugly and shabby" situation any longer.

Molly Thompson, 27, has owned the 600-year-old Woolpack pub in Chilham, Kent, for several years.

For some time, a rundown and disused bus shelter blighted the street right outside her pub — until she couldn't take it any longer.

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Thompson secured council permission before raising the funds to turn the shelter from shabby to chic.

"I live here, I’ve got my dog Wallace, and every day I’d walk past that bus stop," Thompson of the United Kingdom told news agency SWNS.

"It took me a year since moving here, and I thought it was a derelict building, an ugly and shabby sort of thing. We had some crazy ideas at first, but we also want[ed] to keep an aesthetic for the village.

"We thought of a few ideas," she went on. "We started fundraising at the Woolpack and asking people for donations, which we did a raffle for. We had to put in ourselves, of course, from the Woolpack — but a lot has been donated from the village," she said.

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For example, "we had an anonymous envelope delivered with £100," or about $134 U.S. dollars.

After getting the green light from the local parish council, Thompson, plus her mother and others, got to work renovating the shelter, SWNS reported.

Today, the outside of the shelter has been repainted and decorated with hanging baskets. Decorations such as a flower vase have been nailed down in an effort to deter vandalism.

The total cost of the work was around £1,000, or about $1,340 dollars — and took roughly four days of labor, Thompson said.

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The bus stop is now completely transformed and has been called a "best" in the U.K., as well as the "cutest."

"There was graffiti — I’m not going to explain what it was, because it was inappropriate — [plus] plants coming in through the roof and chipped paint. It was dirty, suspicious looking, smelly — not very nice," said Thompson.

"We like to be involved with anything, really, that comes up. … Whatever comes up, we like to sponsor things. We like to get involved as much as we can."

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She noted that there's "another bus shelter in the village, but that’s in working use, so if we’d be allowed to do anything with that one — I’m not sure."

She said her village "is not the busiest and most bustling village — that’s why a lot of people love it."

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She added, "In general, the village is pretty beautiful — [and] that was one of the only poorer parts of it, not looking its best."

She added, "Anything that comes up, we’d absolutely love to do it."

ClickLock Mac malware locks apps until you give in

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 09:01:27 -0400

A routine "verify you are human" page should never ask you to open Terminal, the Mac app used to run computer commands. Yet that is how a new malware attack appears to get onto a Mac. The page tells you to copy and paste a command into Terminal. It then shows a convincing progress bar while the command quietly downloads malicious software in the background.

Next, a password box may appear that looks like a normal macOS request. If you cancel it, the malware can come back after you sign in again and repeatedly close Finder, your browser and other apps. Your Mac may feel almost impossible to use until you enter your login password.

The malware, called ClickLock, is built to steal personal information from your Mac. It searches for saved passwords, browser data and cryptocurrency wallet files. It can also install a hidden tool that lets an attacker reconnect to your computer later and control it remotely.

Researchers at cybersecurity company Group-IB discovered the malicious script on VirusTotal, an online service that checks files for threats. Someone first uploaded it there on June 9, 2026, yet none of the security tools on the platform detected it at the time of the researchers' report. Group-IB says the campaign has targeted at least 100 systems across 33 countries since May.

Here is how ClickLock takes over a Mac and what you can do to protect yourself.

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FAKE PASSWORD-MANAGER ALERTS COULD PUT YOUR VAULT AT RISK

What is ClickLock Mac malware?

ClickLock is a set of malicious scripts designed to steal sensitive information from a Mac. The malware can collect your Mac login password and browser data. It also searches for cryptocurrency wallet files, password manager extensions and information stored in macOS Keychain.

One component installs a persistent backdoor. That hidden connection can allow an attacker to access your Mac remotely even after the other parts of ClickLock remove themselves.

ClickLock gets started without exploiting a known macOS flaw. It also does not need admin-level access at the beginning. Instead, the attack depends on convincing you to run the command yourself.

How a fake verification starts the attack

Group-IB believes ClickLock likely spreads through a tactic called ClickFix. ClickFix attacks show you a fake error or verification request. The page then gives you a command that supposedly fixes the problem.

In this case, the ClickLock script displays a fake Cloudflare verification sequence after you paste the command into Terminal. An animated progress bar cycles through reassuring messages about checking browser signals and confirming you are human.

Meanwhile, the script disables keyboard interruptions and hides the Terminal cursor. It then downloads several malicious components in the background. Researchers have yet to confirm the exact landing pages used in the campaign. They also do not know whether people reached them through malicious search results, compromised websites, phishing messages or social media. However, the script's design strongly points to a ClickFix-style lure.

The password trap starts with a convincing pop-up

After the malware begins running, it displays a fake macOS password window. The pop-up uses your real username and an Apple icon downloaded by the attacker. If you enter a password, ClickLock checks it against your Mac. When the password works, the malware records it and sends it to the attacker through Telegram.

An incorrect password brings up another request. If you cancel the window, ClickLock installs two LaunchAgents. A LaunchAgent is a macOS instruction that can automatically run software when you sign in. In this case, the LaunchAgents bring the password-stealing components back at your next login.

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ClickLock can make your Mac feel unusable

When the password-stealing module returns, it begins closing visible apps every 210 milliseconds. It targets Finder, the Dock and Terminal. It also shuts down Activity Monitor, System Settings, Spotlight and common web browsers.

The fake password window may remain as the only useful item on your screen. That can make your Mac look broken while pressuring you to enter your password. Group-IB found that the loop can run for about 83 hours. It stops earlier when the malware captures a valid password.

A real Keychain prompt makes the attack more convincing

A second ClickLock component targets Chrome's Safe Storage key. Chromium-based browsers use this key to help encrypt passwords, cookies and autofill information stored on your Mac. An attacker with the key and copied browser databases may be able to decrypt that information offline.

This part of the attack triggers a genuine macOS Keychain authorization prompt. However, the malware caused the request. ClickLock then runs another process-closing loop while waiting for you to approve access. Researchers found that this loop repeats every 200 milliseconds and can continue for nearly 35 days. The script also suppresses macOS NotificationCenter for roughly six hours. That could hide warnings or notifications that might reveal the attack.

What ClickLock can steal from your Mac

ClickLock searches for information across eight browsers. Those browsers include Chrome, Firefox, Brave, Microsoft Edge, Opera, Vivaldi, Arc and Chromium.

The targeted browser information includes:

Saved usernames and passwords
Cookies and active session data
Autofill information
Bookmarks and browser storage
Cryptocurrency wallet extensions
Password manager extension data

The malware also searches for desktop cryptocurrency wallets and encrypted wallet vaults. It can collect cached blockchain addresses across several networks. Other targets include macOS Keychain, Terminal command histories and FileZilla server details. The malware also records basic information about your Mac and its public IP address. ClickLock packages the collected information into a ZIP archive. It uploads that archive through Telegram's Bot API. Files larger than 40 MB get divided into smaller pieces, while retry code keeps trying after network failures.

ClickLock can leave a backdoor behind

One ClickLock component uses a modified version of the open-source GSocket tool. The malware installs a reverse shell, which gives the attacker a command-line connection to your Mac. On macOS, it disguises the backdoor as an iCloud-related process.

ClickLock uses a LaunchAgent and scheduled commands to keep the backdoor running. It also changes shell configuration files. Most of the other ClickLock modules delete themselves after completing their work. The GSocket component remains installed, which means the attacker may retain access after your Mac appears to return to normal.

Why ClickLock may be difficult to detect

The original ClickLock script had zero detections on VirusTotal when Group-IB analyzed it. Security vendors may update their detection tools as they learn more about the threat. The attackers also stored payloads on compromised websites that previously had clean reputations. Some components run without saving a normal file to the drive. Others erase themselves after stealing data.

However, ClickLock still produces suspicious activity while it runs. Warning signs include nonstop app closures, repeated password requests and sudden access to multiple browser folders. Security tools may also detect unusual connections to Telegram's API. For you, the earliest warning sign is much simpler. A website tells you to paste a command into Terminal. Legitimate human verification happens inside your browser. It should never require you to run a Terminal command.

Ways to stay safe from ClickLock Mac malware

These steps can help you avoid the ClickLock trap and respond quickly if the password loop starts.

1) Close any website that sends you to Terminal

Leave the page when it tells you to open Terminal and paste a command. A polished design offers no proof that the request is safe. Familiar logos can also be copied. Group-IB warns that a website asking you to use Terminal for verification is attempting to compromise your system.

2) Understand a command before running it

Terminal commands can download software and change important settings. Never run an unfamiliar command simply to see what happens. Ask a trusted technical professional to inspect it first.

3) Question surprise password requests

Think about what you were doing when the password window appeared. A website verification should have no reason to ask for your Mac login password. It should also have no reason to request access to Chrome information stored in Keychain. Cancel the request when the timing feels wrong.

4) Keep macOS security protections current

Install macOS updates and keep automatic security updates turned on. Apple builds malware protection into macOS through Gatekeeper, Notarization and XProtect. Apple updates XProtect automatically as it identifies new malware. However, no built-in protection can eliminate every risk when you manually run a malicious command.

5) Use strong antivirus software

Strong antivirus software can provide another layer of protection against malicious files and suspicious behavior. Still, a clean scan cannot guarantee that ClickLock left nothing behind. The backdoor persists after other components erase themselves. Get my picks for the best 2026 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android & iOS devices at Cyberguy.com

6) Shut down if your Mac starts closing apps

Do not enter your password to make the pop-up disappear. Press and hold your Mac's power button for up to 10 seconds until the computer shuts down. On a MacBook with Touch ID, press and hold the Touch ID button. Group-IB recommends forcing a shutdown when your Mac becomes unresponsive and keeps requesting your password. The company then recommends starting the Mac in Safe Mode.

Mac with Apple silicon: Wait until the Mac shuts down completely. Press and hold the power button until "Loading startup options" appears. Select your startup volume. Hold the Shift key, then click Continue in Safe Mode.

Intel-based Mac: Turn on or restart the Mac. Immediately press and hold the Shift key until the login window appears.

Once Safe Mode starts, turn off Wi-Fi or unplug the Ethernet cable. Then contact Apple Support or a trusted cybersecurity professional. Removing a browser extension or clearing your history will not remove ClickLock's persistent backdoor.

7) Secure your accounts from another device

Use a separate trusted device to change the password for your primary email account. Then secure your Apple Account and any financial accounts stored on the Mac. Change password manager credentials and review active sessions. Sign out of devices or sessions you do not recognize. Review the devices connected to your Apple Account and remove unfamiliar ones. Apple also recommends changing your Apple Account password when you suspect unauthorized access. After a professional cleans or resets the Mac, change its local login password. Assume the attacker received that password if you entered it into the ClickLock window.

Kurt's key takeaways

ClickLock depends on one dangerous moment: convincing you to paste a command into Terminal. Once that happens, the malware can begin stealing information before the password pressure even starts. The biggest red flag is easy to remember. No trustworthy website needs Terminal to prove you are human. If your Mac starts closing apps and demanding a password, shut it down rather than giving in. Start in Safe Mode and get help checking for the persistent backdoor. Then use another trusted device to secure your most important accounts.

Have you ever seen a suspicious password prompt or fake verification page on your Mac? Tell us what it looked like and what you did next in the comments below. Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com

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Too much screen time may trigger lasting brain delays, top health official warns

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 09:00:15 -0400

As screens compete for families' attention, children's development is paying the price, top federal health officials warn.

Early and excessive screen time can trigger severe neurocognitive delays in young children, impacting attention spans, memory and language skills, according to Dr. Stephanie Haridopolos, interim surgeon general and principal deputy assistant secretary of health.

"Parents are now fighting for attention from the screens," Haridopolos told Fox News Digital.

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To help parents combat screen addiction, the U.S. Surgeon General's Office has released a targeted framework known as "the 5 Ds."

No. 1: Discuss

Don't wait for a conflict to establish boundaries, experts recommend. Sit down as a family to outline clear, age-appropriate rules regarding when, where and how long screens can be used throughout the day.

Setting explicit expectations ahead of time cuts down on daily arguments, experts say.

No. 2: Do (model the behavior)

Parents should model healthy screen habits themselves, Haridopolos said.

"If we're constantly on our screens, then perhaps our children will be, too," she said, encouraging adults to "be good role models and lead by example."

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No. 3: Divert

Rather than defaulting to giving children a tablet when they're bored, Haridopolos recommended steering them toward hands-on activities, such as doing arts and crafts or preparing a healthy meal together.

4. Disconnect

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Breaks like summer and the holidays are critical windows for families to reset digital boundaries, the interim surgeon general suggested.

Haridopolos encouraged families to build regular screen-free periods into their daily routines, including during meals, car rides and before bedtime.

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Mealtimes: Keep family dinners focused on face-to-face conversation.
In the car: Treat travel time as a chance to reconnect rather than defaulting to phones or seat-back screens.
Before bed: Turn off blue-light devices at least an hour before sleep to avoid disrupting natural sleep cycles.

No. 5: Delay

As part of the "Delay" step, Haridopolos recommended putting off children's access to screens whenever possible. One way to do that, she said, is by requiring phones and other mobile devices to be charged overnight in a shared household space — like the kitchen or living room — rather than in children's bedrooms.

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"Those are some simple activities that you can do that will make huge changes in the future," the interim surgeon general added.

Wildfires displace more than 250,000 in France, threaten famed wine region

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 08:20:32 -0400

More than a quarter-million people have been driven from their homes in southwest France as a massive wildfire barrels toward the famed wine capital of Bordeaux, with officials warning the fast-moving inferno has become so fierce it’s creating its own winds and behaving erratically.

French authorities ordered another 55,000 people to evacuate overnight Sunday from communities south of Bordeaux, bringing the total number of evacuees in the region to about 250,000. Gusty winds, dry conditions and repeated heat waves have fueled a fire that has burned out of control since midweek.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said firefighters faced a "difficult" night and warned Sunday that "the situation remains very unfavorable."

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"The fire again became extremely virulent again and unpredictable, generating its own winds and advancing erratically toward the Bordeaux metropolitan area," Nunez posted on X, adding that the blaze "became calmer by the end of the night."

The fire has now burned an estimated 42,000 hectares, or about 162 square miles — roughly four times the size of Paris — in the Gironde region. Bordeaux Mayor Thomas Cazenave said the flames came within about 9 miles of the city, prompting officials to partially close a major highway into and out of the region.

More than 2,500 firefighters, backed by 18 planes and helicopters, are working to slow the fire's advance. France has also deployed 1,500 soldiers to help clear vegetation and build firebreaks, while several European countries have sent aircraft and firefighting crews to assist.

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Nunez said 450 volunteers have also pitched in to help.

"We ⁠came to lend a hand because if it were our region, we'd want others to do the same," 65-year-old farmer Pascal Roudier told Reuters. "And given the scale of the disaster, we think our⁠ efforts are very welcome too."

The Bordeaux-area fire is one of several major wildfires burning across France. A separate blaze in the neighboring Landes region has forced another 36,000 people to evacuate, while nearly 3,000 others have left their homes in southern France's Var region along the Mediterranean coast.

Neighboring Spain is facing its own wildfire emergency.

Authorities there have evacuated about 116,000 people in recent days as fires burned across the Valencia region and west of Madrid. A fast-moving fire in a Valencia suburb killed one man Saturday, marking Spain's first wildfire death in the latest wave of fires.

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Earlier this month, 13 people were killed in southern Spain in the country's deadliest wildfire in recent memory.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Dale Earnhardt Jr gets choked up as one of his drivers takes maiden victory at Brickyard

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 08:18:44 -0400

Motorsports is a business, but it's always cool to see a very human moment, and we got one courtesy of NASCAR great Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The Cup Series and the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series are both at Indy this weekend, while the Craftsmen Truck Series raced at nearby Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

On Saturday, it was the O'Reilly Series' turn to hit the 2.5-mile oval for the Pennzoil 250, and there were a few Cup Series regulars in the field, including Ross Chastain and Chase Elliott, both of whom wound up finishing in the top 5.

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Chastain led 31 of the race's 100 laps, more than any other driver, but it was Carson Kvapil, driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro, who had the most important lap.

Kvapil led 23 laps total to claim his first-ever win after coming in second five times, including at the previous race in Atlanta.

Everyone knew he was due, and it was time to put one in the win column, and where better to do it than at one of the most iconic tracks in all of motorsports?

The win certainly hit the JR Motorsports owner in the feels. Earnhardt's team is the most successful in the series' history, but there was something special about Kvapil's maiden win.

"Oh, man; It's been a long time coming," Earnhardt said as he was getting choked up. "He's like a son almost. Y'know, you work with these guys for so long, and you work so hard... you just want them to have success."

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It's awesome to see how much Earnhardt cares about his drivers' success, and not just because wins are good for the team as a whole.

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"He's got to win to keep going," Earnhardt said. "You've got to win if you want to stay in this deal, and, man, he came close (before)."

Congrats to Kvapil, JR Motorsports, and Earnhardt, the latter of which continues to show why he's one of the good guys in the world of racing.

Depression-era Little Debbie snack that built a family-run bakery still has Americans hooked

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 08:00:52 -0400

What began as a 5-cent snack sold during the Great Depression has grown into one of Little Debbie's best-selling treats more than 90 years later.

The Oatmeal Creme Pie was Little Debbie's first snack cake, tracing its roots to 1935, when O.D. McKee developed the treat after selling baked goods from the back of his 1928 Whippet, according to Little Debbie's website.

In 1934, the McKees had purchased a bakery near Chattanooga, Tennessee, using the family car as collateral, according to the website.

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"Money was so tight, they had to put up a sheet near the back of the bakery for the family's living quarters," the company history says.

Fast-forward to the 1960s, and Little Debbie, named after McKee's granddaughter, was an established brand.

Oatmeal Creme Pies are "the snack that started it all!" Little Debbie's website proclaims.

"Oatmeal Creme Pies have been satisfying families since 1960 as the very first snack baked under the Little Debbie brand name," the website's product description says. "Whole grain oats, molasses and irresistible crème filling combine to create this classic treat."

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The original family packs of baked goods contained the Oatmeal Creme Pie and were sold for 49 cents a carton.

"After its initial introduction, more than 14 million cakes were sold within 10 months," Little Debbie's website says. "While the Oatmeal Creme Pie was the original Little Debbie snack cake, there were 14 different varieties by 1964, including the ever-popular Nutty Buddy wafer bars and Swiss Cake Roll."

Little Debbie has rolled out various iterations of the Oatmeal Creme Pie, including Oatmeal Creme Pie Ice Cream Sandwiches and Oatmeal Creme Pie Ice Cream Bars. Home bakers have also created many copycat versions of the iconic snack.

Today, McKee Foods, still based in Tennessee, describes itself as "America's largest family bakery."

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The company produces more than 75 Little Debbie products. Oatmeal Creme Pies, along with Swiss Rolls and Nutty Buddy wafer bars, remain the company's most popular items. More than 200 million cartons of these three products are sold each year.

Little Debbie continues as a family-run company, and Little Debbie herself is still involved. The fourth generation of the McKee family is learning the business, and Debbie McKee-Fowler serves as chair of the McKee Foods Board of Directors.

The company is "honored" by the success of the Oatmeal Creme Pie and the brand's other products, McKee Foods said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

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"Our success ultimately means we are delivering a product that people genuinely love," the company said. "The Oatmeal Creme Pie, for instance, has been a part of family gatherings and shared moments with friends for over 60 years. Being family-run keeps us grounded in our core values."

Oatmeal Creme Pies have stood the test of time, according to McKee Foods, because the flavor appeals to many different demographics and generations.

"The spiced cookies are nostalgic of a home-baked oatmeal cookie, and the sweet crème middle adds extra whimsy to the product for younger consumers. It's a little treat that isn't polarizing."

A customer recently relayed a story to McKee Foods that the company said captures the essence of how the Oatmeal Creme Pie is often associated with fond memories. The customer would eat an Oatmeal Creme Pie every time he went fishing with his grandfather.

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"Today, every time he eats an Oatmeal Creme Pie, it instantly brings back the good memories of those fishing trips," the company said. "That powerful sense of nostalgia and comfort is what makes our products so much more than just a snack for so many people."

'The Odyssey' star Matt Damon reveals brutal six-month transformation behind Christopher Nolan film

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 08:00:59 -0400

Matt Damon is opening up about how achieving his dramatic physical transformation for Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" "just kind of took over my life."

The 55-year-old actor appeared nearly unrecognizable starring as legendary Greek hero Odysseus in the mythological epic, which dominated the global box office after its July 17 release with a roughly $264 million opening weekend — the biggest debut of Nolan's career.

During a recent appearance on "Live with Kelly and Mark," Damon revealed what it took to fulfill the 55-year-old director's vision for the role.

‘THE ODYSSEY’ STAR MATT DAMON REVEALS STRICT DIET CHOICE THAT 'CHANGED MY LIFE' AFTER HIDDEN HEALTH ISSUES

"He said, 'I just want him to look lean and strong like somebody who's a veteran of the Trojan War and can handle himself, but wouldn't pass up a meal if it was offered to him,'" Damon recalled Nolan telling him.

"And that's kind of the hardest shape to get into, you know, that kind of lean-strong thing," the actor added. "But it just kind of took over my life."

In the movie, which is an adaptation of Homer’s epic poem "The Odyssey," Odysseus spends 10 years trying to return home after fighting in the 10-year Trojan War, enduring shipwrecks, battles with monsters, starvation, imprisonment and constant physical hardship on his journey.

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Damon told hosts Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos that he underwent an intense six-month process to realistically portray the weathered, battle-hardened warrior.

The "Good Will Hunting" star referenced his January appearance on Travis and Jason Kelce's podcast "New Heights," in which he revealed that he had slimmed down to his "high school" weight for the role. While speaking with the NFL stars, Damon shared, "I used to walk around between 185 and 200 pounds. And I did that whole movie at 167 pounds."

"I was talking to the Kelce brothers on their podcast like six months ago, and we were talking about it," he told Ripa and Consuelos. "It felt more like an athlete's regimen, kind of like those guys who have to just dedicate every moment of their day to thinking about everything."

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Damon described how he followed a routine in which food portions were measured and every aspect of his diet was carefully monitored.

"Everything's weighed," he said. "It's just very, very intentional about everything."

Damon also reflected on adopting a gluten-free diet to shed the pounds. He noted that he had not previously realized how many food and drink items contain gluten.

"It's in a lot of things, but there are a lot of great things that it's not in," he said, before citing rice and potatoes.

However, Damon acknowledged that he had to make some difficult sacrifices to stay gluten-free.

"Listen, I had to give up beer. That was tough," he said.

"Is there gluten in beer?" Ripa asked.

"There sure is," Damon replied. "Yeah. There are some gluten-free beers though. I'm learning about all this."

"It's in bread. It's in pasta. It's in a lot of the stuff that we love," he added.

During a July interview with People magazine, Damon recalled that his commitment to remain gluten-free was tested when his wife Luciana, 50, and his four daughters Alexia, 27, Isabella, 20, Gia, 17, and Stella, 15, visited him while he was filming "The Odyssey" in Italy.

"I promised them I was gonna have pasta with them, and right after I ordered it, I just called the waiter back, and I was like, ‘I’ll just please have a steak instead,’" Damon remembered.

"And the kids were like, ‘but you promised!’ and I said, ‘I’ll have a bite of each of your pastas,’" he continued. "So I took a bite of each of theirs."

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"I was just in it, I just, it was gonna be four or five more months. It’s all or nothing at this point," Damon added.

While speaking with Ripa and Consuelos, Damon explained why he has continued to maintain a gluten-free diet after completing production on "The Odyssey."

"I just felt so much better," he said.

Damon has previously opened up about drastically transforming his body for roles. For the 1996 war drama "Courage Under Fire," Damon lost between 40 and 50 pounds in about 100 days to play a Persian Gulf veteran dying from addiction and trauma.

The actor later said his extreme weight loss was dangerous and revealed that a doctor told him that he "could have shrunk my heart permanently."

"I went too far," Damon said via the U.K. outlet Express. "I got sick, and I wouldn’t do that again because it was just too much."

"At the same time, it helped the performance," he continued. "I didn’t have to act at all; I was a wreck. I was getting dizzy spells and hot flashes. I didn’t say anything to anyone for a while because I was afraid I might be really ill."

Meanwhile, Damon has previously said he had a more enjoyable experience when he gained about 30 pounds to play real-life whistleblower Mark Whitacre in 2009's "The Informant!"

"It was very, very easy to gain the weight. Very, very fun," Damon told reporters in 2009, via NBC. "I just basically ate everything I could see for a few months."

However, Damon recently shared that he is no longer willing to subject himself to extreme weight fluctuations for roles.

While discussing transforming his body for "The Odyssey" in an interview with People magazine, Damon noted, "I didn’t change it in an unhealthy way."

"I think if I had done the opposite and put weight on, that would have been dangerous and it’s not something I’ll do anymore," he continued. "I was happy to do it earlier in my life."

Damon has previously shed light on other aesthetic changes that he made to play Odysseus, including growing a long beard and keeping it for a year.

While speaking with USA Today, Damon said he and Nolan agreed that a fake, hand-laid beard was out of the question due to the water stunts that the actor had to perform for the movie.

"Any movie problem, the best solve is a practical one," Damon said. "In that case, it was like I was going to be thrown around. I was gonna be thrown into the water. Like a beard that wasn't — that didn't stay, you know, a hand-laid beard would just come off in salt water."

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He continued, "And so there was no point trying to hand lay a beard, which I've done for other movies and works very well. But in this case, [Nolan] was like, ‘The only practical solution is just to have the beard.’"

"So I had a big bushy beard for, you know, a year or so. My kids thought I looked like Santa Claus," he added with a laugh.

Nolan is known for his commitment to authenticity, which is a hallmark of the Oscar-winning director's filmmaking. "The Odyssey" marked a reunion for Damon and Nolan after they previously collaborated on the hit movies "Interstellar" and "Oppenheimer."

While speaking with Ripa and Consuelos, Damon praised Nolan's directorial style and preference for practical effects.

"It's amazing working with him," Damon said. "He's a great actor's director. He's just so fun to work with."

"And he gets this elite crew," he continued. "They're so good and up for how he wants to do things. He wants to shoot everything in camera. There's no CGI. So if you see a thousand people in a battle, there were a thousand people there. If there are ships in the background of a shot, those are real ships."

"And the amount of coordination it takes between all these departments, that's actually, in this day and age, extraordinary," Damon added. "It really is. It's great to be a part of. It felt like we were doing a movie from 70 years ago, which is very cool."

Damon told Ripa and Consuelos that for him, committing to "The Odyssey" required little deliberation. Recalling the moment Nolan first offered him the lead role, the actor said the director spent about 15 minutes catching up before mentioning he was thinking about going back to work.

"And I'd like to offer you the central role," Damon recalled Nolan saying.

Damon said he immediately accepted, prompting Nolan to ask, "Don't you want to hear what it is?"

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"I was like, ‘Sure,'" Damon said. "And he goes, 'It's a two-word pitch: The Odyssey.'"

"My heart skipped a beat," he recalled. "It's an incredible part to play for an actor. The role of a lifetime."

‘Vibrant’ Florida grandma allegedly killed by illegal immigrant outside Publix, family fights for justice

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 08:00:40 -0400

A Venezuelan man allegedly in the United States illegally is in jail after being charged in the death of an elderly Florida woman by backing over her with an SUV in a grocery store parking lot.

On May 17, Deborah Murphy, an 82-year-old grandmother, was walking back to her car on a crosswalk outside a Publix in Panama City Beach when she was struck by a Toyota 4Runner, according to court records.

She was pushed to the ground by the SUV, but the vehicle continued backing up, "running over Ms. Murphy," according to an arrest affidavit submitted by the Florida Highway Patrol.

ICE URGES NORTH CAROLINA TO KEEP ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHARGED IN TRIPLE-FATAL HIT-AND-RUN BEHIND BARS

Carlos Suarez-Contreras, 26, was the driver of the vehicle, court records show. Luis Sanabria, 29, was the front-seat passenger.

Both were determined to be in the country illegally, according to arrest records.

DOJ DEMANDS SANCTUARY STATES END 'BLATANTLY UNLAWFUL' ANTI-ICE POLICY AS A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH

Both men told deputies they were born in Venezuela. The two were issued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers and booked into the Bay County Sheriff’s Office Jail, court records show.

Suarez-Contreras submitted a written plea of not guilty to the charge of driving with a canceled license and causing a death, a third-degree felony. His Georgia license had been canceled, according to arrest records.

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Under Florida law, an illegal immigrant cannot obtain a state-issued driver’s license. However, 19 states and the District of Columbia do issue licenses to "unauthorized residents," according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

At the scene, Sanabria gave sworn testimony to law enforcement that Suarez-Contreras "was operating the vehicle at the time of the crash."

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Before conducting an immigration investigation, the deputy on the scene noted that Suarez-Contreras gave "suspicious" answers to his questions.

Sanabria immediately left the scene on foot before law enforcement arrived, according to arrest records. He "only returned when I had Suarez-Contreras call him," a deputy reported later.

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Sanabria was found to have an expired visa, according to the incident report. He was released into the custody of ICE, Jacob Navarro, public affairs specialist for the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, told Fox News Digital.

Suarez-Contreras is being held without bond because of his immigration status and because it is believed that "he is a potential flight risk," Florida Highway Patrol records show.

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Just after the incident, Murphy was taken to the hospital and died from injuries related to the crash, according to court documents.

Suarez-Contreras is scheduled to be arraigned on Aug. 17 at the Bay County Courthouse in Panama City, Florida.

"We’re determined to find justice and see Suarez-Contreras held accountable for his reckless actions," Murphy's twin daughters, Beth Schulz and Amy Edge, told Fox News Digital on a phone call. "She touched so many lives as an amazing friend, teacher, mother and grandmother."

Her family remembers her as "a light" who was "vibrant with so many more memories to be made."

Crashes injuring pedestrians

About 16% of fatal traffic crashes in the U.S. involved drivers with invalid licenses in 2024, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). That same year, 7,080 pedestrians were killed in traffic crashes and more than 71,000 pedestrians were injured.

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The state of Florida reported 10,501 pedestrian-related crashes in 2024, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. There were 678 deaths attributed to those incidents. Drivers failing to look behind them when backing a vehicle in a parking lot is listed as one of the most common reasons for pedestrian crashes by NHTSA.

The Georgia Department of Driver Services told Fox News Digital that Suarez-Contreras' license has been canceled. The agency would not say when it was canceled, citing privacy reasons.

The attorney defending Suarez-Contreras told Fox News Digital in an email that his client "didn’t commit any crime regarding the charges he was arrested on."

"It’s simply an unfortunate incident and not criminal in nature," wrote Russell Ramey of Musca Law in Panama City.

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One of Murphy’s grandchildren presented the family with a collection of reflections on life from Murphy in her own words, her daughters said.

"My husband and I always felt that the best thing we could do for generations to come would be to leave this world with people who would make a difference," Murphy wrote in one of the reflections shared with Fox News Digital.

"It has been a delight to witness one’s own legacy. I thank my daughters for making our dream come true!!"

Fireworks are fading, but their high-tech replacement comes with new risks

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 08:00:26 -0400

Drone shows are rapidly replacing fireworks at concerts, sporting events and Fourth of July celebrations as communities embrace what many see as a safer, more environmentally friendly alternative. However, as the skies become more crowded with drones, security experts say the increasingly crowded airspace around large public events can make it more difficult to detect potentially bad actors.

R2 Wireless CEO of U.S. Operations Cordell Bennigson, who is a retired Marine Corps officer, told Fox News Digital that the growing prevalence of drone shows demonstrates how accessible the technology has become, creating new challenges for event security and public safety.

Bennigson said that he personally enjoys drone shows and finds them to be "impressive," but said the displays highlight a growing security challenge that extends well beyond the shows themselves.

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"A drone show itself isn't a security risk, but it's an indication of how accessible drones are," he said. "The other piece of the puzzle is what happens in the clutter and the noise of the full RF spectrum, all the wireless transmissions that are out there."

The radio frequency (RF) spectrum is made up of the invisible wireless signals used by everything from cellphones to drones. These airwaves can become busy during drone shows, due to the tech involved in the show and the spectators taking videos on their phone. According to Bennigson, the additional wireless traffic can make it more difficult for security officials to identify an unauthorized drone flying near an event, allowing it to blend in with legitimate electronic activity.

"Detection is the first line of defense," Bennigson said. "Obviously, we want to be able to defend against a drone from a bad actor, but we have to be able to detect it, and we have to be able to see through all of that clutter, all of the noise in the electromagnetic spectrum, in order to do that."

While some might think reducing wireless transmissions could be a solution, Bennigson said the idea is "unrealistic." In fact, he believes the technology will only become more prevalent, making it even harder to mitigate noise on the RF spectrum. Instead, Bennigson said that experts need to focus on refining detection capabilities.

"The question has to become, how do we get better at seeing or detecting within the noise, within the clutter?" he said.

Bennigson compared the approach to the use of night vision goggles.

"People with bad intentions used to be able to hide in the dark, and then we didn't get rid of the dark in order to mitigate that. We got better at seeing in the dark in order to mitigate it. And then it turned out actually we could use that capability for other kinds of things as well. So, we have to get better at seeing in the electromagnetic spectrum, which is what our focus is at R2, being able to do exactly that," Bennigson told Fox News Digital.

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Bennigson said artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly important tool in detecting potential bad actors. He noted that the technology is able to rapidly sift through enormous amounts of wireless data, something that would be hard for humans to do in real time.

"AI is really good at picking up patterns. It's really good at rapidly going through large amounts of data," he said. "And so if you want to detect a drone or any other kinds of radio transmission that's happening in an environment where there's lots of other transmissions going on, how do you sort through all of that information really quickly? And how do you learn really quickly when something new shows up that maybe you haven't seen before? AI is very, very effective and very powerful in that environment."

UNAUTHORIZED DRONES DETECTED OVER U.S. AIR FORCE BASE HOUSING NUCLEAR-CAPABLE B-52 BOMBERS: MILITARY

The challenge of drones becoming more prevalent and crowding the RF spectrum extends beyond shows and events, according to Bennigson. He believes that as drones become more common, cities, states and the federal government will need to rethink how they monitor airspace around stadiums, critical infrastructure and other places where large crowds gather.

"This needs to be something that we are paying attention to at the national, at the state, at city, and at the individual event level. We need to recognize that this is a very easy to acquire and very easy to employ capability for anybody who wants to get their hands on it," he said.

Bennigson added that it is crucial to have detection and defense capabilities that are ahead of the bad actors, rather than chasing them.

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As drone traffic grows, the new challenges that emerge will also require regulators tasked with monitoring an increasingly crowded airspace to make changes.

Bennigson said the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has systems that work well for aircraft and drones that are operating legally and broadcasting their location. The problem, he said, is when someone with malicious intent who is unlikely to follow those rules enters the picture.

"We can't be relying on them telling us that they are there. We need to have systems that are in place that can identify them. One way that we're familiar with for that is radar."

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He warned that while radar can detect things that are not transmitting their location, it also has limitations. One problem, according to Bennigson, is that having radars blasting in urban environments risks disrupting other signals. Additionally, radar can have difficulties picking up low flying first-person view drones. He believes that "radar is a piece of the puzzle, but it can't be the only tool."

"If the FAA is only relying on radar and only relying on friendly transmitters, that leaves a gap for some bad actors to be able to utilize, to be able to operate without being seen," he said.

Democrats are in big trouble because Black and Brown voters don’t want socialism

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 08:00:17 -0400

The Democratic Party is being hijacked, and the people it claims to fight hardest for are the first ones bailing out.

The Democratic Socialists of America have gone from a fringe debate club to a governing faction inside the party in the span of a single election cycle. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani sits in Gracie Mansion. The organization is reportedly drafting a new platform calling for abolishing the U.S. Senate. This is not a healthcare plan. This is not a "tax the rich" bumper sticker. This is socialism, and in places its more radical wings openly flirt with communism, gaining real traction inside one of America's two governing parties. Democratic leadership is too terrified of its own base to say so out loud.

Here is what should terrify them more: the coalition they need to win national elections is not buying what the DSA is selling.

'PARTY OF ZOHRAN': MAMDANI EMERGES AS DEMOCRATIC KINGMAKER AFTER SOCIALIST ALLIES SWEEP NYC PRIMARIES

Start with New York City, ground zero for this movement. In the June primary, Mamdani lost to Andrew Cuomo among Black voters by nearly six points citywide, and he got wiped out in Brownsville and East Flatbush, two of the city's poorest neighborhoods, where more than 60% of residents are Black.

It took Mamdani months of dedicated outreach and a general election pivot toward pocketbook issues like housing costs before he clawed back enough of that support to win in November. That is not a story of Black and Brown voters embracing democratic socialism from the start. It is a story of a democratic socialist having to run away from his own movement's brand to survive a primary.

The pattern held again just weeks ago. In New York's 13th Congressional District, DSA member Darializa Avila Chevalier unseated five-term incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat, 49.4% to 45.9%, but the coalition that put her over the top looked nothing like the district's base. The New York Times reported Chevalier held just a 5.1-point advantage in higher-income areas, while Espaillat won lower-income areas by 9.1 points.

Espaillat also dominated majority-Hispanic precincts with 56%, particularly in working-class neighborhoods like Morris Heights and Kingsbridge, according to VoteHub's analysis of the results. Chevalier's win was built almost entirely on a 24.5-point advantage with younger voters and a 20-point advantage in college-educated precincts, the same coalition that carried Mamdani, not the working-class Hispanic voters who anchor the district.

JON STEWART PRESSES MAMDANI ON WHERE HE BREAKS WITH FELLOW DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS ON PRISONS AND BORDERS

That tension finally boiled over. A senior Mamdani campaign advisor called Black homeownership "a weapon of White supremacy masquerading as 'wealth building' public policy," prompting Queens Borough President Donovan Richards to accuse the DSA of acting like White supremacists.

The head of a Bedford-Stuyvesant organization founded in 1978 to keep Black families in their homes pushed back hard: homeownership is the thing generations of Black New Yorkers fought redlining to secure, not their oppressor. When a mostly White socialist movement tells Black homeowners their biggest asset is a tool of oppression, it should not be surprising that the movement struggles to hold their votes.

That tracks with who the DSA actually is. Its own 2021 internal membership survey found the organization is 85% White and only 4% Black, with a median age of 33. More than 80% of members hold a college degree, and better than a third hold a graduate or professional degree, more than double the national rate, with nearly a third clearing six-figure incomes. That is not a working-class movement. It is an upper-middle-class ideological project wearing working-class language as a costume, and Black and brown voters are not fooled by the costume.

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I am not the only one saying this. Democratic political analyst Van Jones, no one's idea of a conservative, called out DSA activists directly, warning that "no police, no prisons, no borders" is not progressive, it's regressive, and it threatens to drag the party somewhere voters do not want to go.

HBO "Real Time with Bill Maher" host Bill Maher has spent months warning Democrats that embracing Mamdani and Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders as the party's future is a gift to Republicans, noting that Vermont couldn't sustain single-payer healthcare for 626,000 people, let alone a nation of 340 million.

And former Biden White House aide Yemisi Egbewole has described the DSA's rise as a socialist cub that establishment Democrats let grow into a full-sized lion because nobody had the nerve to stop it while it was small.

These are not Republican talking points. These are Democrats watching their own party get eaten from the inside and saying so publicly, because the alternative is pretending it isn't happening.

Look at what the DSA actually wants once you get past the slogans. Abolish the police. Abolish prisons. End cash bail and misdemeanor prosecution outright. Decriminalize prostitution. Strip mayoral control of public schools. Advocate for government seizure or replacement of private housing and grocery markets.

These are not modest reforms. They are a rejection of property rights, of public safety, of the basic bargain that working people in Black and Brown neighborhoods have fought for generations to secure: safe streets, stable schools and a shot at ownership. The National Black Empowerment Action Fund, a Black-led advocacy group, put $2 million behind ads warning that the DSA agenda threatens decades of social and economic progress built by Black Americans.

Let me be honest about where I sit in this. I am a Republican. The collapse of the Democratic Party as a functioning, majority-coalition institution is no sweat off my brow. If the party wants to hand itself over to an organization that thinks abolishing the Senate is a serious policy position, I will not lose sleep over the electoral consequences.

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But there is a bigger stake here than partisan advantage, and it is worth saying plainly: watching an avowedly socialist faction consolidate control over one of America's two major parties should worry every American, not just Republicans.

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Socialism has a track record, and it is not a good one. Every serious attempt to centralize economic control at scale has ended in scarcity, corruption or authoritarian consolidation, usually all three. The DSA's defenders will tell you this is just Scandinavian-style social democracy with better branding. The platform documents say otherwise. So do the voters, and now the Black homeowners and political leaders, who keep pushing back against it.

For the sake of a Democratic Party that might someday remember it needs Black and Brown voters to win anything outside a handful of gentrifying ZIP Codes, and for the sake of not letting a genuinely dangerous ideology dress itself up as compassion, the DSA should have no place in serious American politics. From the mayoral primary to the homeownership fight, the coalition it claims to represent keeps telling it no. Democratic leaders can keep pretending otherwise, or they can look at the numbers.

Trump's SAVE America Act stalls as McConnell's absence complicates Senate path

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 08:00:10 -0400

One key Republican’s extended absence and unclear timetable for return is slowing down several legislative priorities, and could impact President Donald Trump’s Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act in an unexpected way.

And while sparse statements from Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and his office say he’s on the mend, there has yet to be a hard date for when he’ll come back to Congress.

It comes as Republicans are twisting and contorting Trump's top election priority into something that could pass the Senate. Though McConnell has voted against the bill before, he would be a key player in crafting what it would look like in the upper chamber.

TRUMP'S VOTER ID BILL CATCHES UNLIKELY BREAK AS MCCONNELL REMAINS SIDELINED

"That could be an issue," Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told Fox News Digital. "I think there are a lot of issues."

That’s because McConnell is chair of the Senate Rules Committee, which will likely be responsible for drafting the version of the SAVE America Act that could pass muster in budget reconciliation, the process that Trump is pushing the GOP to use to pass the bill.

The uncertainty around McConnell, coupled with the late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s recent death, throws a wrench into the process. Graham was chair of the Senate Budget Committee, and acted as quarterback through two dances with reconciliation over the past year.

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But Graham’s replacement on the panel, Johnson, could step in and draft language for SAVE America as chair of the Budget Committee — Graham leapfrogged Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chair Rand Paul, R-Ky., in 2025 to draft his portion of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

"That’s my understanding — it actually falls to budget," Johnson said. "So, again… this is still really early in the process, so I don't have all the answers by a long stretch. Plus, we've got to find out what the conference wants to do, and what Leader John Thune wants to do."

Senate Majority Leader Thune, R-S.D., is focusing on preventing a government shutdown, and is encouraging ongoing bipartisan negotiations on a funding deal to continue. And he has threatened to press pause on reconciliation by holding the House’s own budget framework until that objective is accomplished.

GOP RIFT GROWS AS THUNE HITS BRAKES ON TRUMP'S ELECTION BILL TO AVERT SHUTDOWN

He reiterated to Fox News Digital that Republicans don’t have the votes to pass the SAVE America Act, and may not have the votes to pass a budget resolution in the upper chamber.

And he noted that the SAVE America Act would have to comply with the Senate’s strict rules for reconciliation that unlock the 50-vote threshold, which the current version of the bill does not.

Getting the legislation to a point where it wouldn’t slam into those guardrails has remained an open and difficult question for Republicans — Thune suggested that it could work if it's "very carefully structured based upon incentive, mostly grant money," for states.

"So, you know, we're gonna do everything we can to move that forward," Thune said. "But as I told you before, the math on that hasn't changed yet. It's still likely to be a 60-vote exercise, even if it's done with a budget resolution."

Trump demanded Republicans ram through their own budget resolution before they leave Washington, D.C., until after Labor Day on Truth Social Friday to fund defense, agriculture and pass "as much of the SAVE AMERICA ACT as possible."

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"Our voters will be extremely happy — And even impressed," Trump said.

Meanwhile, Thune has received criticism from Republicans for his plan to hold up the reconciliation process in favor of averting a shutdown.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told Fox News Digital the only option to pass SAVE America was through reconciliation, and he’s been working on his own plan in the background, and believes it could survive the Senate’s "Byrd" test.

"I can't guarantee it, but it's a — I consider it to be a credible argument," Kennedy said. "And I will try to do that, and I will try to, at the right time, bring my colleagues, and, more importantly, the parliamentarian, along. But if we don't do it through reconciliation, through the House reconciliation, we won't get it done."

"And I’m not sure it will work, but I think it might," he continued. "It’s at least a 50/50 shot."

EXCLUSIVE: Legal group tells NYPD cops they can contact ICE directly despite blue city's sanctuary rules

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 08:00:06 -0400

EXCLUSIVE: A conservative legal group is telling New York City police officers they can contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) directly, even if local sanctuary policies say otherwise, releasing a new guide as border czar Tom Homan prepares a major immigration enforcement surge in the nation's largest city.

Fox News Digital has obtained an unreleased 35-page handbook titled "Law Enforcement Officer Immigration Cooperation Guide" from America First Legal (AFL) that tells state and local police officers they can share a person's immigration-status information directly with ICE even if New York City or other sanctuary city policies say otherwise.

The guide argues that Section 1373 of federal law bars state and local governments from preventing officers from sharing citizenship or immigration-status information with federal immigration authorities like ICE.

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America First Legal is a nonprofit which describes itself as "founded to unapologetically and boldly defend the rights of everyday Americans."

The guide arrives days after Homan revealed he had reviewed plans to deploy "more ICE agents than you've ever seen" into New York City after Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed an executive order reinforcing the city's sanctuary-status policies.

The guide repeatedly cites Section 1373 of federal immigration law, arguing that state and local governments "may not prohibit, or in any way restrict" officials from sending immigration-status information to federal authorities.

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It tells officers they may contact ICE's 24-hour Law Enforcement Support Center to verify a person's immigration status using only a name and date of birth and says officers may do so "regardless of any local directive telling you not to," according to the document obtained by Fox News Digital.

The release comes as the Trump administration prepares to dramatically increase immigration enforcement in New York.

Homan told Fox News last week that a significant ICE operation is coming to the city after self-described democratic socialist Mamdani reaffirmed New York's sanctuary policies.

NYC MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI RELEASES AUDIT ACCUSING FEDERAL IMMIGRATION AGENTS OF MISLEADING TACTICS

"It's coming," Homan said. "There's going to be a surge, and there needs to be a surge."

While Homan declined to discuss operational details, he said ICE would not back away from enforcing immigration law despite opposition from city leaders.

The guide comes as Mamdani and the Trump administration continue to clash over immigration enforcement.

Mamdani's Executive Order 13 directs the NYPD to review, update and train officers on department policies governing communication, cooperation and coordination with federal immigration authorities.

The order says the city believes "the aggressive tactics that certain non-local law enforcement agencies use in pursuing civil immigration enforcement actions... hinder public safety by creating a culture of fear."

America First Legal argues those local rules cannot lawfully prevent an officer from voluntarily sharing immigration-status information with ICE because federal law supersedes conflicting local policies.

The guide also argues sanctuary policies could create legal risks for the officials who enforce them. AFL contends some officials could face federal criminal charges for obstructing immigration enforcement and that victims of crimes allegedly committed by illegal immigrants released despite ICE detainers could, in some cases, sue those officials under federal civil RICO law.

The organization is also inviting officers who believe they were threatened, disciplined or retaliated against for cooperating with ICE to seek confidential legal representation.

"Politicians who hide behind sanctuary policies are not above the law, and they have no right to bully or gag the officers who are trying to keep their communities safe," AFL senior counsel James Rogers said in a statement accompanying the guide.

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Gene Hamilton, president of America First Legal, said officers "should never be forced to choose between following federal law and following unlawful directives to appease politicians committed to sanctuary policies."

New York City Hall did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Fox News Digital's Taylor Penley contributed to this reporting.