President Joe Biden on Friday agreed to provide $571.3 million in defense support for Taiwan, the White House said.
The State Department approved the potential sale to the island of $265 million worth of military equipment.
This follows what Taiwan said was China’s largest massing of naval forces in three decades around Taiwan and in the East and South China Seas last week.
President Joe Biden on Friday agreed to provide $571.3 million in defense support for Taiwan, the White House said, while the State Department approved the potential sale to the island of $265 million worth of military equipment.
The United States is bound by law to provide Chinese-claimed Taiwan with the means to defend itself despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties between Washington and Taipei, to the constant anger of Beijing.
TRUMP CABINET PICKS DELIGHT TAIWAN, SEND STRONG SIGNAL TO CHINA
Democratically governed Taiwan rejects China’s claims of sovereignty.
China has stepped up military pressure against Taiwan, including daily military activities near the island and two rounds of war games this year.
President Joe Biden agreed to provide $571.3 million in defense support for Taiwan on December 20, 2024, the White House said.(Reuters/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo)
Taiwan went on alert last week in response to what it said was China’s largest massing of naval forces in three decades around Taiwan and in the East and South China Seas.
Biden had delegated to the secretary of state the authority “to direct the drawdown of up to $571.3 million in defense articles and services of the Department of Defense, and military education and training, to provide assistance to Taiwan,” the White House said in a statement without providing details.
Taiwan’s defense ministry thanked the United States for its “firm security guarantee,” saying in a statement the two sides would continue to work closely on security issues to ensure peace in the Taiwan Strait.
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The Pentagon said the State Department had approved the potential sale to Taiwan of about $265 million worth of command, control, communications, and computer modernization equipment.
Taiwan’s defense ministry said the equipment sale would help upgrade its command-and-control systems.
Taiwan’s defense ministry also said on Saturday that the U.S. government had approved $30 million of parts for 76 mm autocannon, which it said would boost the island’s capacity to counter China’s “grey-zone” warfare.
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Pressure is building on the controversial U.N. agency UNRWA over its alleged and extensive ties with terror leaders that has propelled hatred for Israel and support for terror through its curricula. Even as 159 countries in the U.N. General Assembly voted in favor of a resolution affirming to “fully support” UNRWA, last week, Sweden announced on Friday that it has decided to end funding to UNRWA due to a ban placed on the agency by the Israeli government and will redirect Gaza aid to other organizations.
Yet, while the U.N. continues to show solidarity with UNRWA, two informed sources confirmed to Fox News Digital that in spite of the vocal solidarity, there is dissension among the ranks.
One U.N. source explained that “several agencies have had behind-the-scenes discussions” about who might “take over and run” UNRWA programming. “One of the main and most notable agencies doing so is the United Nations Development Programme,” the source claimed.
“The UNDP has come forward and said that they can take over from UNRWA to advance peace,” the source said. They noted that U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres “shot those requests down,” leading to an “internal conflict.” The source elaborated that recent events “show that there are elements of the U.N. that recognize the challenges and clear issues with UNRWA,” but that “even as other agencies are ringing the alarm bells,” their “offers are being shot down at the highest levels” of the U.N.
A man walks in front of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) building in Gaza City, Gaza, on January 30, 2023. (Photo by Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Israel Hayom newspaper also reported that Guterres has passed over the UNDP’s offer to take on increased work in the Palestinian territories. The newsaper quoted “fundamental opposition” from the Secretary-General to the UNDP’s “willingness to take on significant areas of responsibility, such as fuel distribution, waste removal and rubble clearance.” It also reported that “preparations are already underway among international aid organizations, led by UNDP, to expand their activities in the Strip.”
Fox News Digital asked Guterres’ spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, about Guterres’ position on the UNDP’s offer to take on UNRWA’s work and inquired about Guterres’ thoughts on recent reports of the agency’s leadership’s ties to terrorists and its difficulties raising funds after news arose that some UNRWA members had participated in the terror attacks of Oct. 7.
Displaced Palestinians ordered by the Israeli military to evacuate the northern part of Gaza flee amid an Israeli military operation, in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, October 22, 2024.(Reuters/Dawoud Abu Alkas)
Dujarric told Fox News Digital that “many different U.N. agencies have a role to play, and are playing a role, in humanitarian and development support to the Palestinian people.” He reiterated that, “as we’ve said many times before, no other agency in the U.N. system can replace UNRWA given the scope of its work, notable in health and education. All U.N. agencies, including UNDP, have the same position.”
Dujarric explained that Guterres “will continue to do his utmost to work for an end to this conflict, the unconditional and immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas and other Palestinian groups in Gaza, and for full humanitarian access in Gaza. There are also needs to be a restoration of a political horizon for a two-state solution for the sake of Israelis and Palestinians.”
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini looks on during a press conference in Geneva on January 24, 2023. (Fabrice Coffrin/AFP via Getty Images)
Fox News Digital asked the UNDP whether it had proposed that it could take on UNRWA’s role and asked how seamless that transfer could be and whether a UNDP-led effort might create an atmosphere in which peace and a two-state solution could be reached.
A UNDP spokesperson said that the “UNDP does not propose, nor does it support, being an alternative to UNRWA. UNDP’s position on UNRWA’s irreplaceability is aligned with the U.N. Secretary General’s and is a matter of public record.”
RETURN OF TRUMP GIVES FAMILIES OF GAZA HOSTAGES NEW HOPE
A World Food Programme truck being loaded to deliver aid into Gaza. (United Nations via Reuters Connect)
The spokesperson also sent a statement standing by Guterres’ statement that UNRWA is the “principal means” for supporting Palestinian refugees and that “there is no alternative to UNRWA.”
The “irreplaceability” of UNRWA has been questioned, including by senior fellow at the Tel Aviv Institute Hen Mazzig, who recently stated on X that only 13% of aid to the Palestinian people is distributed by UNRWA.
Fox News Digital asked UNRWA to confirm this figure. A spokesperson from the agency said that since October 2023, the agency “has provided over 6.8 million primary health care consultations,” claiming it represented “60% of primary healthcare consultations currently provided in the Gaza Strip.” The spokesperson also stated that UNRWA provides “50% of the food security response,” and “assisted hundred of thousands of people with essential mental health and psychosocial support services,” as well as providing “essential logistical and infrastructure support to the entire humanitarian system.”
WFP delivers thousands of food packages, sacks of flour and water to the Beit Hanoun area in coordination with COGAT.
Fox News Digital asked the Israel Defense Forces about the role UNRWA plays in relation to other humanitarian groups coordinating aid in Gaza. A security official said the agency is a “weak player,” compared with entities like World Food Program, World Central Kitchen, UNICEF, the World Health Organization, and American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA), which “play a more central role.” The official said that these agencies “have their own logistical chains and can work independently from UNRWA.”
UNRWA’s fundraising ability has decreased since credible information emerged showing that members of UNRWA had infiltrated Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The U.S. had provided $121 million to UNRWA between October 2023 and January 2024, but then cut funding to the agency through March 2025.
World Food Programme (WFP) aid at the Erez west crossing on the Israel-Gaza border.(IDF spokesman)
The UNDP is unhindered by these issues and provides a variety of services in the region. A UNDP spokesperson told Fox News Digital that UNDP has funded about a third of its Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People’s $270 million Gaza Emergency Response and Early Recovery Programme.
The spokesperson told Fox News Digital that “as a lead development agency within the UN system, UNDP works closely with our sister humanitarian agencies to embed early recovery efforts – such as rehabilitating crucial infrastructure and cash-for work programs – into emergency responses.”
“In contexts such as the occupied Palestinian territory, Lebanon, and Syria, we have carried out a variety of early recovery initiatives tailored to specific needs and conditions on the ground,” the spokesperson continued.” This has entailed “working with local partners to deliver a range of activities including debris removal from roads to facilitate access to critical services, working closely with local service providers and the private sector to restore essential services such as solid waste management, supporting the rehabilitation and expansion of water supply networks to increase access to clean water, and has implemented solar-powered energy systems. We also strengthen government capacities on emergency response and recovery planning and support vocational training programmes for women.”
UN ACCUSED OF DOWNPLAYING HAMAS TERRORISTS’ USE OF GAZA HOSPITALS AS NEW REPORT IGNORES IMPORTANT DETAILS
Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of U.N. Watch, told Fox News Digital that aside from UNRWA, there “are several agencies on the ground who are doing significant work in distributing humanitarian aid.”
“Around the world, when there is a crisis of some kind,” Neuer said that “you get a whole cluster of U.N. agencies,” including the World Health Organization, World Food Programme, UNICEF … and UNDP, which combine forces to “distribute aid to millions of people.” Neuer said that “the notion that is put forward that for some reason a tiny strip of land on the Gaza Strip is the only place in the world where those agencies cannot operate” is “absurd and false.”
FILE: 11/06/2022: Palestinian employees from the UNDP in Gaza.(Ahmed Zakot/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
UN Watch has raised the ire of UNRWA by beginning to release a 150-page dossier showing URNWA leaders meeting with representatives of terror groups. Though UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini referred to the reports as “disinformation,” Neuer explained that UNRWA simply “cannot handle the truth.” Neuer said that UN Watch assembled its dossier by screenshotting data and photographs that were “hidden in plain sight” on the internet and social media.” He added that more of UN Watch’s dossier is set to emerge the coming week.
The U.S. was among nine nations to dissent from the General Assembly’s resolution in support of UNRWA.
Ambassador Robert Wood, the alternative representative for special political affairs, explained the dissension on Dec. 11, both noting that while URNWA is a “critical lifeline,” the “resolution on UNRWA operations also has serious flaws.” Wood cited how the proposal fails “to create a path forward for restoring trust between Israel and UNRWA,” and that the resolution “denigrates Israel’s actions in Gaza without addressing the central reason for them, namely Hamas’ unprovoked October 7 attack and the terrorist group’s deplorable behavior in the interim.”
Photos released by the Israeli Defense Force show three individuals the Israeli military claims are Hamas combatants inside the UNRWA compound in Rafah.(IDF)
“More than 14 months into this conflict, some delegations here in New York cannot bring themselves to acknowledge — let alone condemn — Hamas’ role in instigating a conflict that has visited so much pain, suffering, and anguish on the people of Gaza,” Wood wrote, adding that “we deeply regret that the drafters chose to try to score political points, rather than pursue a resolution which could have provided unanimous support to UNRWA, addressed credible allegations about the activities of some of its personnel, and ultimately bolsters UNRWA’s vital humanitarian mission.”
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The IDF and ISA eliminated Hamas Nukhba commander, Mohammad Abu Itiwi. He was involved in the murder and abduction of Israeli civilians on October 7th. Itiwi worked for UNRWA, according to the Israelis.(IDF Spokesman’s Unit)
While voting on UNRWA’s future, the General Assembly did note the issues with the agency, explaining that URNWA needed to implement the recommendations set by an independent reviewer and that there must be “immediate efforts” to address UNRWA’s “financial and operational crises.”
The General Assembly also emphasized that it “strongly warns against any attempts to dismantle or diminish the operations and mandate of the Agency,” noting the humanitarian consequences that millions of Palestinians would face if its work were interrupted or suspended.
In an effort to assert the primacy of his organization despite snowballing evidence that its members have hindered efforts to create peace in the region, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini penned an op-ed imagining the possibly “dystopian” outcome of a decision to dismantle UNRWA. Supposing that a two-state solution hinges on the agency’s continued operations, Lazzarini urged that “we still have a window of opportunity to avert a cataclysmic future where firepower and propaganda construct the global order.”
U.N. Watch’s Neuer disagreed, noting “UNRWA is an arsonist masquerading as a firefighter,” he said. “Only by ending this terror-infested agency with the pathological aim of perpetuating hatred, resentment and dependency, can Palestinians move forward to a future of hope and peace.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci joined Georgetown University’s faculty last year as a “distinguished university professor” but has yet to teach a single course, a new report says.
Georgetown announced in the summer of 2023 that Dr. Fauci, the former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, would be serving as “a Distinguished University Professor in the School of Medicine’s Department of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases,” as well as an appointment at the university’s McCourt School of Public Policy.
Georgetown calls the role bestowed on Fauci its “most significant professional honor” that is reserved for faculty members “whose extraordinary accomplishments in scholarship, teaching and service have earned them significant recognition in the Academy.”
However, as the College Fix reported on Friday, Fauci appears to have not taught any courses at the school since his appointment.
ELITE DC UNIVERSITY REPORTEDLY PROVIDING ‘SELF-CARE SUITE’ FOR STUDENTS STRESSED ABOUT ELECTION RESULTS
The campus of Georgetown University((Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images) )
Fox News Digital reviewed the course catalog available on Georgetown’s website going back to the Summer 2023 semester and didn’t find any course listed with Fauci as an instructor since that time.
The private Jesuit college said Fauci would “participate in medical and graduate education and engage with students,” in its initial announcement.
Since his appointment, Fauci has “given lectures, seminars and fireside chats for undergrads and for students and others from the School of Medicine, School of Health, School of Public Policy, Law Center and Walsh School of Foreign Service,” instead of teaching, according to an August interview with The Georgetowner. He also “made himself available for one-on-one meetings. ”
Fauci also joined the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown as a “Distinguished Senior Scholar” in April 2024.
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 03: Dr. Anthony Fauci, former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, arrives to testify before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic at the Rayburn House Office Building on June 03, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Georgetown said that Fauci would advance “the right to health” and provide “a critical perspective on identifying and responding to urgent national and global public health concerns” in this additional position.
As the public face of the federal government’s coronavirus pandemic response, Fauci has come under scrutiny for his handling of the pandemic. He faced renewed criticism this month after a report detailing the findings of a two-year congressional investigation into the pandemic was released.
The congressional subcommittee report found that the virus most likely emerged from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, and that social distancing and masking were not backed with scientific data.
The report said Fauci “played a critical role in disparaging the lab-leak theory” among top scientific circles early in 2020 and later to the public. His congressional testimony to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., the report states, misled the public regarding National Institute of Health funding of gain-of-function research at coronavirus labs.
Politico reported earlier this month that President Biden is considering preemptive pardons for Fauci and other political figures ahead of President-elect Trump’s return to the White House in January.
Georgetown did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions about Fauci’s professor role or salary.
Fox News’ Danielle Wallace and Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.
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Kristine Parks is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Read more.
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On Thursday, the Georgia Court of Appeals disqualified Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis from prosecuting President-elect Donald Trump and others for alleged 2020 “election interference.” The Court held that Willis suffered from a conflict of interest because she hired her paramour, Nathan Wade, as a special counsel to investigate Trump.
Basic legal ethics and common sense dictate that both Wade, who resigned last March, and Willis had to go. The appellate court did not dismiss the indictment, stating that the record did not support imposing such an “extreme sanction.” The Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia will now assign the case to a different prosecutor who will decide whether to continue, narrow, or drop the flawed RICO case.
There was never any question that Willis suffered from a conflict of interest; but like the other prosecutors who pursued Trump in the name of democracy, she threw all caution to the wind. For example, in July 2022 Willis attempted to investigate Trump ally State Senator Burt Jones even while headlining a huge fundraiser for Jones’s Democrat opponent. A judge had to bar the prosecution because of the clear conflict of interest.
GEORGIA APPEALS COURT DISQUALIFIES DA FANI WILLIS AND HER TEAM FROM TRUMP ELECTION INTERFERENCE CASE
A government official hiring her paramour is almost always questionable in and of itself. What’s worse is that Willis hired Wade after she already had hired Georgia’s premier RICO expert. She hired Wade even though he openly admitted that he had no prior felony or RICO prosecution experience. Willis paid Wade a higher hourly rate than a regular counsel and did nothing when Wade far exceeded even those amounts.
Some estimates place Wade’s total county income at over $650,000 per year – three to four times the salary of a regular prosecutor. Their many romantic trips and late-night meetings, which the judge examined on national television, exacerbated their conflicts of interest.
The Georgia appeals court inevitably found that the Trump prosecution was “encumbered by [a significant] appearance of impropriety” and carried “an odor of mendacity” such that Willis was “not exercising her independent professional judgment totally free of any compromising influences.”
Willis and Wade also failed to voluntarily and timely disclose their romantic and financial relationship to the defense, and therefore failed to meet their “specific obligations to see that the defendant is accorded procedural justice” under Georgia law. The rules also state that a prosecutor’s “duty is to seek justice, not merely to convict. This special duty exists because the prosecutor represents the sovereign and should exercise restraint in the discretionary exercise of governmental powers.”
Willis exercised no such restraint and Thursday’s decision saves the Georgia courts from having to later preempt her deeply flawed prosecution. Willis’s investigation threatened not just Trump, but also the office of the presidency.
Other prosecutors, such as Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg or U.S. Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, lodged narrow, if creative, charges against Trump that they hoped would be easier to prove.
FANI WILLIS WAS ‘TERRIFIED’ BECAUSE HER CASE AGAINST TRUMP WAS ‘WEAK,’ ATTORNEY SAYS
Willis, in a striking example of prosecutorial overreach, charged Trump and his associates with running a vast RICO conspiracy that included almost every significant act of his campaign between Election Day 2020 and the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, and beyond. She claimed 161 alleged acts, 19 charged defendants, 30 unindicted co-conspirators, and involved 7 states and the District of Columbia. This not only ran afoul of the First Amendment free speech rights of Trump, the co-defendants, and the Republican Party, it also posed a threat to all future presidents, who would have to worry about state legal liabilities when making the most difficult decisions in the nation and engaging in his duties.
For example, Trump’s post-2020 election televised speeches and tweets are protected speech and political activity, regardless of whether his statements turned out to be accurate. Trump’s plan to create alternate slates of electors and the legal advice supporting it, the cornerstones of Willis’s RICO charge, were within the bounds of reasonable legal argument. In the 1876 election between Republican Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, Tilden won the popular and electoral college votes, but Republicans challenged the election results in Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina, on the ground that Democrats had engaged in election fraud and intimidated Black voters.
Hayes eventually won with 185 electoral votes, but Democrats had presented alternate slates of electors from multiple states. No one was criminally charged.
In the 1960 presidential election, Democrats challenged Nixon’s initial win in Hawaii, signed alternate electoral vote certificates, and sent them to Capitol Hill. No one was criminally charged.
TRUMP CHEERS DISQUALIFICATION OF ‘CORRUPT’ FANI WILLIS, SAYS CASE IS ‘ENTIRELY DEAD’
After the 2016 election, the Hillary Clinton campaign and allied liberal groups recruited celebrities and others to importune electors to not cast their electoral votes for Trump; again, no one was investigated or charged.
Proposing alternate electors in the event that Congress or a court rejected a state’s vote as fraudulent falls within the free speech rights of a political campaign.
Furthermore, the prosecution failed to meet the standard requirements for a RICO prosecution. Neither Trump nor his co-defendants tried to gain money, property, or control of a business with their post-2020 election activities. Nor did they demonstrate any interest in initiating or joining a criminal enterprise to gain property, money, or businesses. Instead, Trump wanted to win the 2020 election, which is not illegal; fighting to stay in office would have ended one way or the other by inauguration day in 2021.
But the most serious flaw with Willis’s now-disgraced prosecution of Trump was its threat to the office of the presidency. Willis’s prosecution was part of the Democratic Party’s plan to break political and legal norms that had held for the history of the republic – all in the name of defeating Trump.
For the first time in American history, they brought criminal charges against a former president and the major, leading opposition presidential candidate during the actual campaign. If elected leaders, whom our constitutional system vests with the authority over prosecution, must break American political practice going back to 1789, they should do so for a compelling reason and with a case where the prosecution’s facts and law are airtight. Instead, Willis brought charges that were destined to fail in court and were clouded by her own conflicts of interest and potential financial corruption.
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But once Willis brought charges against Trump for his actions while in office, future presidents must factor prosecution into their calculus. And investigators may not even wait until after a president has left office.
State prosecutors could charge presidents while the latter are still in office; nothing in the Constitution requires states to wait.
This may well make presidents risk-averse, especially when partisan, elected prosecutors are the ones launching the investigations. At the very least, defending against one or more state criminal investigations will draw on the time and resources that a president could – and should – instead devote to carry out his constitutional responsibilities and protecting national security.
These concerns led the U.S. Supreme Court to grant former presidents sweeping immunity from federal prosecution for their official acts in Trump v. United States. But the Trump Court’s decision – broad as it was – does not reach (a) investigations by state prosecutors, (b) for alleged violations of state law, (c) by presidents acting in their private capacities. While the Trump Court held that courts should not allow any evidence, even when used to prove state crimes, from official presidential activities, it did not prohibit state prosecutors from proceeding against Trump.
Not only did Willis’s prosecution harm the presidency in the ways that concerned the Trump Court, it also promised to spark a cycle of retaliation that would further destroy important legal and political norms.
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Nothing will prevent elected Republican district attorneys from opening investigations into Hunter, James, or even President Joe Biden for corruption, bribery, and money laundering – all they need is some link between the Bidens’ criminal enterprise (to borrow the Georgia description of the Trump campaign), and their jurisdictions. Opening such probes would make for good campaign fodder in deep-red counties; some D.A.s might even pursue charges just to engage in tit-for-tat retaliation for the New York City and Georgia charges.
While Democrats may embrace state prosecutors like Bragg and Willis, they should instead consider the whirlwind that they have now unleashed and choose to do the right thing: drop their legally flawed cases against President Trump.
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Have you ever had your turkey sandwich vanish mysteriously from the office fridge or found your bag of almonds missing from the breakroom cabinet? If so, you’re no stranger to the antics of the elusive office food thief.
It happens almost every holiday season and is now becoming a routine thing at the workplace. This culprit, lurking in workplaces everywhere, has a knack for sending employees into a fury of frustration.
It’s a universal dilemma. Many of us have silently wished for karma to strike these food pilferers with a lifetime of stomach troubles. What kind of person, we wonder, would stoop so low as to steal a coworker’s meal? While the occasional leftover dessert may tempt even the most principled among us, most would never cross that line without asking permission or leaving compensation.
What kind of person, we wonder, would stoop so low as to steal a coworker’s meal?(iStock)
But who exactly is the office refrigerator bandit? Could it be:
A financially strapped recent graduate struggling to make ends meet?
The boss with an “everything here belongs to me” mentality?
A busy parent dodging dinner duty for their kids?
A thrill-seeking salesperson who thrives on risk?
All of the above?
WOMAN’S SANDWICH SABOTAGE OF HER HUSBAND GOES VIRAL ON REDDIT: ‘GRAPES OF PETTY’
Regardless of their motives, combating office food theft requires creative strategies. Below are five practical – and sometimes playful – ways to protect your cherished casserole or frozen meal from falling victim to workplace larceny.
1. Label Your Food
Writing your name on your food may not be a foolproof deterrent, but it can ward off less experienced thieves. However, beware – if someone in the office harbors a grudge against you, your name might become an invitation rather than a warning. Even so, labeling your food adds a layer of risk for the perpetrator, which could make them think twice before taking what isn’t theirs.
Office food thieves often gravitate toward indulgent, calorie-laden snacks and meals.(iStock)
2. Choose Healthier Options
Office food thieves often gravitate toward indulgent, calorie-laden snacks and meals. Items like leftover desserts, Lean Cuisines and Hot Pockets are prime targets. In contrast, healthier options such as turkey sausages, hard-boiled egg whites or a plate of Brussels sprouts are far less enticing. By sticking to nutritious, less appealing fare, you might just save yourself the trouble of becoming a victim.
3. Install a Camera System
Modern technology makes it easier than ever to catch food thieves in the act. Affordable and discreet cameras can be hidden in the office kitchen, on bulletin boards or even inside the refrigerator itself. With many systems accessible via smartphone, you can monitor the situation from virtually anywhere. For less than $10, you can take the first step toward solving the mystery of your missing meals.
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4. Set a Playful Trap
Take a page from crime dramas and set a clever trap – without breaking any workplace rules. For instance, add an extra-hot dose of spicy sauce to your food or attach a humorous note claiming the contents to be something unusual (like baby formula or magical brownies). While harmless, such tactics can make would-be thieves think twice before risking embarrassment or discomfort. Just be sure to avoid anything that could land you in trouble with HR!
Fridge theft in the workplace is more than just an inconvenience – it’s a growing phenomenon.(iStock)
5. Opt for “Assembly Required” Meals
Convenience is a thief’s best friend. Pre-packaged or ready-to-eat foods, like sandwiches or snack bags, are easy pickings. In contrast, meals that require preparation – such as those stored in multiple containers or needing assembly – can be a deterrent. A thief is less likely to go through the trouble of preparing your meal when there are easier targets available.
The Bigger Picture
Fridge theft in the workplace is more than just an inconvenience – it’s a growing phenomenon, particularly in offices with shared or open workspaces. But what drives someone to steal food from their colleagues? Is it pure hunger? Apathy toward getting caught? Or perhaps a bizarre sense of adventure akin to a sequel movie called – “Smoked Turkey and the Bandit”?
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Whatever the motivation, it’s clear that office food thieves are here to stay. As workplaces become more collaborative and personal refrigerators become a luxury, employees must remain vigilant. By employing these strategies, you can safeguard your meals and avoid the frustration of opening an empty lunchbox.
Remember: the next time you prepare your famous casserole, consider these tips to ensure it doesn’t mysteriously disappear before lunchtime.
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. flu season is underway, with cases surging across much of the country, health officials said Friday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted sharp increases in several measures, including lab tests and emergency room visits.
“It’s been increasing at a pretty steady pace now for the past several weeks. So yeah, we are certainly in flu season now,” said the CDC’s Alicia Budd.
Thirteen states reported high or very high levels of flu-like illness last week, about double from the week before. One is Tennessee, where a sickness spike is hitting the Nashville area, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University.
“Flu has been increasing, but just this last week has exploded,” Schaffner said. He noted that in a local clinic that serves as an indicator of illness trends, as many as a quarter of the patients have flu symptoms.
Louisiana is another early hot spot.
“Just this week is really that turning point where people are out because of the flu,” said Dr. Catherine O’Neal, an infectious diseases doctor at the largest private hospital in the state, Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge. “You hear parents saying, ‘I can’t come to work because of the flu’ and ‘Where can I get a flu test?’”
Of course, there are a number of bugs that cause fever, cough, sore throat and other flu-like symptoms. One is COVID-19. Another is RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, which is a common cause of cold-like symptoms but can be dangerous for infants and the elderly.
The most recent CDC data show COVID-19 hospitalizations have been declining since summer. COVID-19 activity is moderate nationally, but high in the Midwest, according to CDC wastewater data.
RSV hospitalizations started rising before flu did and now show signs of possibly leveling off, but they remain a little more common than admissions for flu. Overall, RSV activity is low nationally, but high in the South, the wastewater data show.
The CDC called the start of flu season based on several indicators, include lab results for patients in hospitals and doctor’s offices, and the percentage of emergency department visits that had a discharge diagnosis of flu.
No flu strain seems to be dominant, and it’s too early in the season to know how good a match the flu vaccine will be, Budd said.
Last winter’s flu season was considered “moderate” overall, but it was long — 21 weeks — and the CDC estimated there were 28,000 flu-related deaths. It was unusually dangerous for children, with 205 pediatric deaths reported. That was the highest number ever reported for a conventional flu season.
The long season was likely a factor, Budd said. Another factor was a lack of flu vaccinations. Among the children who died who were old enough for flu vaccinations — and for whom their vaccination status was known — 80% were not fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
Vaccination rates for children are even lower this year. As of Dec. 7, about 41% of adults had received a flu vaccination, similar to the rate at the same point last year. The percentage is the same for kids, but for them that’s a drop from a year ago, when 44% were vaccinated against the flu, according to CDC data.
Vaccination rates are lower still against COVID-19, with about 21% of adults and 11% of children up to date.
Flu experts suggest everyone get vaccinated, especially as people prepare to attend holiday gatherings where respiratory viruses can spread widely.
“All those gatherings that are so heartwarming and fun and joyous are also an opportunity for this virus to spread person to person,” Schaffner said. “It’s not too late to get vaccinated.”
Even so, Louisiana’s health department said in a statement Friday that it was actually backing away from recommending flu and COVID-19 vaccinations. An official wrote that the department’s latest position is that people should talk to their doctors about whether the shots make sense for them.
A department spokeswoman, Emma Herrock, did not respond to follow-up questions about the policy. The state’s surgeon general, Dr. Ralph Abraham, previously expressed concerns about the safety and effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Vaccines save lives and policies that dissuade people from getting protected are irresponsibly dangerous, public health experts and advocates say.
“People are going to die because of this policy,” said Jennifer Herricks, founder of a group called Louisiana Families for Vaccines.
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Associated Press data journalist Nicky Forster contributed.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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This story has been corrected to show that COVID-19 activity is moderate nationally, not low.
(Copyright (c) 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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The Christmas tradition has become nearly global in scope: Children from around the world track Santa Claus as he sweeps across the earth, delivering presents and defying time.
Each year, at least 100,000 kids call into the North American Aerospace Defense Command to inquire about Santa’s location. Millions more follow online in nine languages, from English to Japanese.
On any other night, NORAD is scanning the heavens for potential threats, such as last year’s Chinese spy balloon. But on Christmas Eve, volunteers in Colorado Springs are fielding questions like, “When is Santa coming to my house?” and, “Am I on the naughty or nice list?”
“There are screams and giggles and laughter,” said Bob Sommers, 63, a civilian contractor and NORAD volunteer.
Sommers often says on the call that everyone must be asleep before Santa arrives, prompting parents to say, “Do you hear what he said? We got to go to bed early.”
NORAD’s annual tracking of Santa has endured since the Cold War, predating ugly sweater parties and Mariah Carey classics. The tradition continues regardless of government shutdowns, such as the one in 2018, and this year.
Here’s how it began and why the phones keep ringing.
The origin story is Hollywood-esque
It started with a child’s accidental phone call in 1955. The Colorado Springs newspaper printed a Sears advertisement that encouraged children to call Santa, listing a phone number.
A boy called. But he reached the Continental Air Defense Command, now NORAD, a joint U.S. and Canadian effort to spot potential enemy attacks. Tensions were growing with the Soviet Union, along with anxieties about nuclear war.
Air Force Col. Harry W. Shoup picked up an emergency-only “red phone” and was greeted by a tiny voice that began to recite a Christmas wish list.
“He went on a little bit, and he takes a breath, then says, ‘Hey, you’re not Santa,’” Shoup told The Associated Press in 1999.
Realizing an explanation would be lost on the youngster, Shoup summoned a deep, jolly voice and replied, “Ho, ho, ho! Yes, I am Santa Claus. Have you been a good boy?”
Shoup said he learned from the boy’s mother that Sears mistakenly printed the top-secret number. He hung up, but the phone soon rang again with a young girl reciting her Christmas list. Fifty calls a day followed, he said.
In the pre-digital age, the agency used a 60-by-80 foot (18-by-24 meter) plexiglass map of North America to track unidentified objects. A staff member jokingly drew Santa and his sleigh over the North Pole.
The tradition was born.
“Note to the kiddies,” began an AP story from Colorado Springs on Dec. 23, 1955. “Santa Claus Friday was assured safe passage into the United States by the Continental Air Defense Command.”
In a likely reference to the Soviets, the article noted that Santa was guarded against possible attack from “those who do not believe in Christmas.”
Is the origin story humbug?
Some grinchy journalists have nitpicked Shoup’s story, questioning whether a misprint or a misdial prompted the boy’s call.
In 2014, tech news site Gizmodo cited an International News Service story from Dec. 1, 1955, about a child’s call to Shoup. Published in the Pasadena Independent, the article said the child reversed two digits in the Sears number.
“When a childish voice asked COC commander Col. Harry Shoup, if there was a Santa Claus at the North Pole, he answered much more roughly than he should — considering the season:
‘There may be a guy called Santa Claus at the North Pole, but he’s not the one I worry about coming from that direction,’” Shoup said in the brief piece.
In 2015, The Atlantic magazine doubted the flood of calls to the secret line, while noting that Shoup had a flair for public relations.
Phone calls aside, Shoup was indeed media savvy. In 1986, he told the Scripps Howard News Service that he recognized an opportunity when a staff member drew Santa on the glass map in 1955.
A lieutenant colonel promised to have it erased. But Shoup said, “You leave it right there,” and summoned public affairs. Shoup wanted to boost morale for the troops and public alike.
“Why, it made the military look good — like we’re not all a bunch of snobs who don’t care about Santa Claus,” he said.
Shoup died in 2009. His children told the StoryCorps podcast in 2014 that it was a misprinted Sears ad that prompted the phone calls.
“And later in life he got letters from all over the world,” said Terri Van Keuren, a daughter. “People saying ‘Thank you, Colonel, for having, you know, this sense of humor.’”
A rare addition to Santa’s story
NORAD’s tradition is one of the few modern additions to the centuries-old Santa story that have endured, according to Gerry Bowler, a Canadian historian who spoke to the AP in 2010.
Ad campaigns or movies try to “kidnap” Santa for commercial purposes, said Bowler, who wrote “Santa Claus: A Biography.” NORAD, by contrast, takes an essential element of Santa’s story and views it through a technological lens.
In a recent interview with the AP, Air Force Lt. Gen. Case Cunningham explained that NORAD radars in Alaska and Canada —- known as the northern warning system — are the first to detect Santa.
He leaves the North Pole and typically heads for the international dateline in the Pacific Ocean. From there he moves west, following the night.
“That’s when the satellite systems we use to track and identify targets of interest every single day start to kick in,” Cunningham said. “A probably little-known fact is that Rudolph’s nose that glows red emanates a lot of heat. And so those satellites track (Santa) through that heat source.”
NORAD has an app and website, www.noradsanta.org, that will track Santa on Christmas Eve from 4 a.m. to midnight, mountain standard time. People can call 1-877-HI-NORAD to ask live operators about Santa’s location from 6 a.m. to midnight, mountain time.
(Copyright (c) 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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Florence “Fireball Flo” Hackman, the Ohio woman who went viral last year after she received shots to celebrate her birthday, recently turned 106 – and she is still drinking Fireball.
“Flo brightens our days and reminds us about all the fun and joy we can experience later in life,” Kristen Kelly, executive director of the Traditions of Deerfield senior living facility in Loveland, Ohio, where Hackman lives, told Fox News Digital.
Hackman’s happy attitude is “such an inspiring way to live, and we love her for it,” Kelly said.
WOMAN CREDITS THIS DRINK OF CHOICE TO 105 YEARS OF LIFE: ‘A PERFECT MATCH’
Born on Dec. 16, 1918, “Fireball Flo” credits her long life to a positive attitude.
“I just try to be nice to people and try to go one day at a time – that’s all,” Hackman said in a quote published by Traditions of Deerfield.
Florence “Fireball Flo” Hackman, 106, of Loveland, Ohio, celebrated her birthday with a chocolate cake and a shot of Fireball Whisky. (Traditions of Deerfield)
“If you get that one day in, then you can go on to the next one,” she said.
“So that’s what you’ve got to do – one day at a time – think what I’ve got to do today. You’ve got to keep moving as long as you can.”
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There may also be a genetic component to her longevity: Her mother lived to be 104.
In a video posted on Hackman’s birthday, she can be seen thanking everyone for coming out to celebrate her and encouraging them to “have a lot of fun here.”
At her 106th birthday party, Hackman encouraged people to “have a lot of fun.”(Traditions of Deerfield)
Her family “always had a lot of fun, and I never got over that … So maybe that’s why I’m here so long,” she said with a chuckle.
Hackman appeared to heed her own advice.
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She sang “Happy Birthday” and took a shot of liquor before blowing out the candles on her chocolate-frosted birthday cake.
The Ohio native and diehard fan of the Cincinnati Bengals was also recognized by the team on her birthday.
Hackman has been a fan of the Cincinnati Bengals for the entirety of the team’s existence. (Traditions of Deerfield)
She hopes the Bengals, who are currently 6-8 and third in the AFC North, will make it back to the Super Bowl.
“Hope they go to the Super Bowl, and we sure would like that. That would be a big thing. And, I suppose, hopefully they do it while I’m still here,” Hackman said.
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Last year, in honor of her 105th birthday, Fireball sent Hackman 105 shots of its Fireball Cinnamon Whisky, Fox News Digital reported at the time.
Christine Rousselle is a lifestyle reporter with Fox News Digital.
FIRST ON FOX: A pro-tech advocacy group has released a new report warning of the growing threat posed by China’s artificial intelligence technology and its open-source approach that could threaten the national and economic security of the United States.
The report, published by American Edge Project, states that “China is rapidly advancing its own open-source ecosystem as an alternative to American technology and using it as a Trojan horse to implant its CCP values into global infrastructure.”
“Their progress is both significant and concerning: Chinese-developed open-source AI tools are already outperforming Western models on key benchmarks, while operating at dramatically lower costs, accelerating global adoption. Through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which spans more than 155 countries on four continents, and its Digital Silk Road (DSR), China is exporting its technology worldwide, fostering increased global dependence, undermining democratic norms, and threatening U.S. leadership and global security.”
The report outlines how Chinese AI models censor historical events that could paint China in a bad light, deny or minimize human rights abuses, and filter criticism of Chinese political leaders.
CATE BLANCHETT WORRIES AI COULD ‘TOTALLY REPLACE ANYONE’
China’s President Xi Jinping attends a meeting with Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in Brasilia, Brazil, Nov. 20, 2024. (REUTERS/Adriano Machado)
“China is executing an ambitious $1.4 trillion plan to dominate global technology by 2030, with open-source systems as the cornerstone of its AI strategy,” the report states. “While many Western companies focus on paid, proprietary AI models, China is aggressively promoting free and low-cost alternatives to drive rapid global adoption.”
The report continues, “By making much of its AI technology freely accessible, Beijing aims to ensure its systems and standards become embedded in the world’s financial, manufacturing and communications backbone. Through coordinated action between government and industry, China is working to reshape the global technology landscape while programming CCP values and control mechanisms into critical systems worldwide.”
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The report explains that China is “racing” to deploy AI while the United States is bogged down on prioritizing AI regulation.
“While American and European governments focus on regulating AI, China is aggressively pushing its AI systems into global markets,” the report states, adding that, “This playbook mirrors China’s successful strategy with 5G technology, where Huawei gained dominant market share through aggressive pricing and rapid deployment before Western nations could respond effectively. Now in AI, one Chinese firm alone, Alibaba Cloud, has released over 100 open-source models in 29 different languages, flooding global markets while Western companies must navigate increasingly complex regulatory requirements.”
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China’s President Xi Jinping talks after joining a group photo during the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
The report lays out the differences between China and U.S. AI model responses and provides policy recommendations to “preserve U.S. AI leadership,” which includes seizing the “historic opportunity to secure lasting American AI leadership” and avoiding “unilateral restrictions on exporting and access to U.S. AI systems.
“If America loses the global race to dominate both open-source and closed-source AI technology, authoritarian Chinese systems will write the future, and Washington policymakers can’t let that happen,” Doug Kelly, CEO of the American Edge Project, told Fox News Digital.
The report concludes that “the implications of Chinese leadership in global AI development are profound.”
“A world of unchecked, Beijing-built AI ecosystems would be a major blow to the U.S. and to humanity writ large,” the Center for New American Security says in the report. “If Chinese AI goes global, so too will brazen non-compliance with international agreements on the technology.”
Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to [email protected].
One of the leading candidates to fill Vice President-elect JD Vance’s Ohio Senate seat recently traveled to President-elect Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence as a decision from the state’s governor draws closer.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine traveled to Trump’s Florida home with fellow Republican Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, who is believed to be a top candidate to replace Vance, in recent days, although the specifics of any conversation are unclear, News 5 Cleveland first reported, and Fox News Digital has confirmed.
State law dictates that DeWine will select a Republican to take Vance’s spot in the Senate until a special election is held in November 2026 to determine who will serve the rest of Vance’s term, which ends in 2028. The winner of that special election could then run again in 2028 in order to start a new six-year term.
Multiple sources told Fox News Digital that a final decision on the Senate appointment is expected in the next few weeks as the new Congress will be sworn in on Jan. 3.
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Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine will name the replacement for VP-elect JD Vance in the Senate(Getty Images)
DeWine’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
The Governor’s spokesperson, Dan Tierney, told Fox News Digital last month that DeWine will be looking for a “workhorse” who is “qualified and ready to earn the trust of Ohio voters for another term.”
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Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted speaks during the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 15, 2024. (Getty Images)
Fox News Digital previously reported that DeWine is considering, along with Husted, several candidates for Senate, including attorney Mehek Cooke, Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, former Ohio GOP Chair Jane Timken, Rep. Mike Carey and others.
“Governor DeWine has a crucial decision ahead in selecting Ohio’s next Senator,” Cooke told Fox News Digital on Friday night. “If Jon is the workhorse he picks, he is the right choice.”
“He’s battle-tested, with decades of experience fighting for Ohioans and securing a stronger future for our state. If Jon is the pick, I’m 100% behind him—there’s too much at stake, and we need someone who will put Ohio first. It was an honor to interview with the Governor, and he knows my commitment is to always put Ohio’s interests first.”
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An endorsement from Trump and Vance will be critical for any DeWine appointment, given that both are popular in the Buckeye State, where their ticket won by 11 points in November.
Husted, who is believed to be the only Senate candidate to travel to Trump’s home, has served as Ohio’s lieutenant governor since 2019 after serving eight years as Secretary of State and a member of both the state Senate and Ohio House of Representatives before that.
Husted has widely been expected to run for governor to replace DeWine, and his team has recently taken steps to allocate resources to that race. Sources tell Fox News Digital that former presidential candidate Vivek Ramawamy’s interest in running for governor has caused some potential gubernatorial candidates to re-evaluate their options, given Ramaswamy’s deep pockets.
Husted has remained tight-lipped about the potential Senate appointment other than to say, “I will continue serving this state as long as the people of Ohio will have me. As for the future, I intend to make my plans known early next year.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump transition team for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to [email protected].
