Rep. María Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., is planning on introducing a bill Saturday commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Monroe Doctrine, which the congresswoman says is "now more important than ever" as "China, Russia and Iran are trying to invade the Western Hemisphere" and win domineering influence on Latin America over the United States. 

As China specifically peddles influence through the Belts and Roads project, essentially bankrupting Latin American countries on the promise of helping them build new roads, dams and bridges, Salazar argues that the U.S. over the past two to three decades has essentially "forgotten the Western Hemisphere." 

"And that is why these evil empires like Russia, China and Iran are invading our territory," Salazar told Fox News Digital. "So we, the United States, we have to wake up and understand that this is our territory and that no other country is going to treat the Latin Americans better than the United States." 

"Before, 200 years ago when Monroe signed it, it was Spain, France and England. They did not have the same type of malicious agenda as the Chinese, the Russians and the Iranians. That's why we need to protect America for the Americans," the congresswoman said. "Because the United States happens to be in the Western Hemisphere is the most generous country — or superpower in the world. And we have the great luck — or blessing to be neighbors with the United States. And that's why we need to keep the relationship very close." 

President James Monroe articulated what became to be known as the "Monroe Doctrine" on Dec. 2, 1823, telling members of Congress in his seventh annual message that, "a principle in which the rights and interests of the United States are involved, that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization" by foreign powers. 

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To commemorate its 200th anniversary, Salazar will introduce a resolution Saturday calling on the House to reassert "the rights and interests of the United States, in accordance with the Monroe Doctrine, to oppose a foreign power extending malign influence that could endanger or undermine the democracies of the Western Hemisphere," and recognize "the principles of hemisphere freedom and independence, as enshrined in the Monroe Doctrine, as an enduring foundational cornerstone of the foreign policy of the United States."

At its onset, the Monroe Doctrine "asserted a spirit of solidarity with the newly independent republics of Latin America" and the United States at a time when the Russian Empire was attempting to claim and colonize areas of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. The U.S. government also evoked the Monroe Doctrine in 1865 to help exert "diplomatic and military pressure" in helping the Mexican president at the time to lead a successful revolt against the French Empire. 

Notably, President John F. Kennedy invoked the Monroe Doctrine nearly a century later when the Soviet Union built missile launch sites in Cuba in 1962, and as part of the successful actions of his administration to see the Soviet missiles withdrawn from the dismantled missile launch sites in Cuba. 

Two centuries after the doctrine's inception, Salazar told Fox News Digital that countries like China and Russia easily peddle influence from across the globe through social media. 

"China, the only thing they want to do is that they want to penetrate and then make those countries slaves like they have with the Uyghurs," Salazar said. "The Chinese — the way they treat their own citizens, how do you think they're going to treat the Peruvians or the Ecuadorians better?… The United States has been a very beneficial influence in the Western Hemisphere since the Spanish crown was kicked out in 1810. So let's keep it that way."

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Salazar told Fox News Digital she believes the massive influx of illegal immigrants making the treacherous journey through Latin America and toward the U.S.-Mexico border is evident of which world superpower has the best perception of taking care of its inhabitants. 

"That's why all of Latin America wants to cross the southern border and come to the United States because they know that the United States is the best out of all the superpowers. I don't see the Hondurans and the Nicaraguans trying to go to China. I see the Chinese trying to come to the United States through Central America," Salazar said. "Unfortunately, the problem is that because we have been so absent from Latin America, we have been so distant. That's why the Chinese have found a pathway. But the moment that Latin America understands that the United States is back to be with them and to fund and to bring some prosperity through the American companies, those doors will be shut to China and Russia."

The Biden administration has faced intense scrutiny from Republicans in Congress over his administration's handling of the border crisis. 

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee in June about the Biden administration's efforts "to strengthen global energy security and counter the PRC’s attempts to create economic dependencies and to coerce others through its ‘Belt and Road’ and similar initiatives."

"In Latin America and the Caribbean, the United States remains the partner of choice – a message I heard repeatedly during my recent trip to Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago," Pyatt assured lawmakers earlier this year. "But we also see the PRC targeting Latin America for investments in critical minerals, energy grids, and renewables." 

According to a draft of the resolution obtained by Fox News Digital beforehand, Salazar stresses how the 2023 posture statement from the U.S. military’s southern command, which is responsible for planning and security operations in South and Central America and the Caribbean, "acknowledges that external malign actors like the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation are aggressively exerting influence over neighboring countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and raises concerns about Iranian intelligence and security activities." 

The southern command also "notes that the People’s Republic of China is encroaching upon sensitive critical infrastructure in the Western Hemisphere through investments, including in deep-water ports, cyber facilities, and space facilities which can have a potential dual use for malign commercial and military activities," and notes that "the Russian Federation undertakes extensive disinformation campaigns in Latin America, bolsters authoritarian regimes like the Republic of Cuba, the Republic of Nicaragua, and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and pursues military engagement and gray zone operations in this region" 

The northern command, responsible for coordinating with the defenses of coordinating with the defenses of Canada, Mexico, and the Bahamas," warned in its 2023 posture statement, "Our competitors and potential adversaries, particularly the People’s Republic of China and Russia, continue to challenge the rules-based ‘international order’ and ‘’seek to advance their interests and gain global advantages through political intimidation, economic coercion, cyber and information operations, asymmetric attacks on infrastructure, and the direct threat or actual employment of military force,’" Salazar’s resolution says. 

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James called out the NFL on social media Wednesday after it was revealed that a viral content creator working for the league was suspended for the season following "his participation" in Tyreek Hill’s touchdown celebration last month. 

Kevin Fitzgibbons, a 20-year-old junior from the University of Miami who has worked on creating content for the Miami Dolphins wide receiver, posted a video to social media earlier this week explaining how his credentials for the seasons were suspended. 

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Fitzgibbons said he had applied for a job at the NFL in 2022 and had been hired to cover Dolphins games in Miami. 

Then in Week 6 during Miami’s game against the Carolina Panthers, Hill scored a touchdown and ran over to where Fitzgibbons was working, and grabbed his phone as part of the celebration. 

Hill was given a penalty, and Fitzgibbons explained, "the NFL then let me know that I would be suspended for the remainder of the season and possibly for good."

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"Man this is F’d UP!!!" James wrote in a post to his Instagram Stories. "Suspended for the year and possibly for good! C’mon NFL! Do better! S--- ain’t that serious." 

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a league spokesperson confirmed that the league "pulled (Fitzgibbons') gameday credentials for this season following his participation" in the celebration, but he was offered "the opportunity to continue collecting content on other projects."

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Asked whether Fitzgibbons will have sideline access on game days beyond this season, the NFL replied, "Yes."

When asked about the incident after the game in October, Hill said Fitzgibbons hadn't wanted him to take the phone. 

"I seen the camera, and I just took it from him," Hill said. "He didn't want me to take it from him. That's my boy kfitz, man."

The league has faced backlash online after posting the video on social media at the time and later deleting it.

Fox News’ Ryan Morik contributed to this report. 

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

FIRST ON FOX: The National Rifle Association (NRA) slammed a Democrat-led bill Thursday that would restrict magazine capacity and outlaw firearms with a magazine capacity of more than 10 rounds.

"This legislation blatantly violates the U.S. Constitution and U.S. Supreme Court rulings by banning the very types of firearms and magazines most often utilized by Americans for defending themselves and their families," Randy Kozuch, Executive Director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, told Fox News Digital in a statement Thursday. 

"This bill unjustly and improperly places the full burden of the law on law-abiding residents, while doing nothing to take guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals. The NRA opposes this legislation and will fight to protect the constitutional freedoms of all law-abiding Americans," he said.

Sens. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Angus King, I-Maine, introduced the Gas-Operated Semi-Automatic Firearms Exclusion Act (GOSAFE) a month after a gunman opened fire in Lewiston, Maine, and killed nearly 20 people. 

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GOSAFE targets how weapons operate versus how they look. Lawmakers propose strict regulations for gas-operated semi-automatic weapons, creating a prohibited firearms list, preventing illegal modifications, mandating approval for future designs and preventing self-manufactured ghost guns.

"For years, I have said that rather than using the appearance of these guns to restrict them, we should instead focus on how these weapons actually work and the features that make them especially dangerous," King said in a statement Thursday. "The Gas-Operated Semiautomatic Firearm Exclusion (GOSAFE) Act addresses the lethal capacity weapons like the one used in Lewiston and most of the deadliest mass shootings across the country. Nothing can bring back the lives of our family and friends, but responsible actions moving forward can reduce the likelihood of such a nightmare happening again in Maine or anywhere else."

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The bill is cosponsored by Democrat Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Michael Bennet of Colorado. 

The Firearms Policy Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy group for Second Amendment rights — also opposes the bill. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the group said Thursday the bill "is one of the most aggressive rights violations yet."

"Many common-use firearms will be banned. Self-built firearms will be banned. Many self-modifications will be banned. Standard capacity magazines will be banned," the post read.

The bill comes as Democrats have been vying to pass harsher gun control laws across the country. This month, an Oregon judge blocked the state from enforcing a voter-approved law, which also proposes banning the sale of magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds.

The man former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson fought on a JetBlue flight in April 2022 is demanding financial compensation, which the boxer views as a "shakedown."

A lawyer representing Melvin Townsend sent Tyson’s lawyers a "pre-litigation settlement demand" for "injuries and damages" his client suffered on the flight from San Francisco to Florida. The demand is $450,000, according to The New York Post. 

"As a former undisputed heavyweight champion, the potential to cause severe injuries to another person goes without question," Jake Jondle, Townsend’s lawyer, wrote in the legal letter. 

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The letter from the lawyer claims that Townsend had been "excited" to speak with Tyson, as he is a fan. Instead, that chat turned into a brawl, which was filmed by other flyers. 

"There were several other remedies available to Mr. Tyson, but he chose physical violence," Jondle added. The letter also pointed out that Tyson acknowledged being "wrong" in a TV interview with Jimmy Kimmel that addressed the fight. 

"That’s me back in my primitive child stages . . . but I was irritated, tired, high, and pissed off. S--- happens," Tyson said to Kimmel. 

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Jondle said that Townsend "had a severe headache and neck pain" from the incident and is "still suffering from the assault to this day." He also added that Townsend didn’t get medical help immediately due to not having insurance, and he missed out on "several jobs" because of the fight. 

Townsend has been convicted of fraud, grand theft, burglary and other charges in the past. 

After reviewing the letter from Jondle, which laid out the reason for the six-figure payout as ongoing medical care, including medication, therapy and more, Tyson’s lawyer was firm in not cooperating. 

"I have received a shakedown letter related to some instigator’s harassment of Mike a year ago and the aftermath," Alex Spiro, Tyson’s lawyer, said, via The New York Post. 

"There will be no shakedown payment."

The incident on the plane was captured on video, showing Tyson turning around and leaning over his seat to punch Townsend several times. Reps for Tyson said that he reacted to Townsend throwing a water bottle at him. 

Jondle’s pre-litigation demand stated that Townsend simply had been ecstatic to talk to Tyson about "the marijuana industry and psychedelic mushrooms."

Authorities never charged Tyson in the incident. 

The pre-litigation demand stated that Townsend wouldn’t file any future lawsuits against Tyson if the $450,000 were paid out. With Spiro shutting that down, we’ll see whether Townsend plans to move forward with any more litigation.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre angrily stormed out of Thursday's press briefing after being pressed by an African reporter on why he wasn't being called on to ask a question.

The clash marks the latest run-in between Jean-Pierre and Simon Ateba of Today News Africa, who accused the White House in June of discrimination for not allowing him to ask any questions during the briefings.

"Can I ask you a follow-up on Angola?" Ateba asked National Security Council spokesman John Kirby after he finished answering another reporter's question on a different topic. 

Kirby had previously answered questions related to the visit Thursday of Angolan President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço to the White House.

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Jean-Pierre, who was calling on reporters to ask questions of Kirby, ignored Ateba and called on a different reporter.

"It is so surprising that you don't take — you are receiving an African leader, but you can't take a question from an African journalist," Ateba said after being skipped over.

"OK, we can end this briefing right now," Jean-Pierre said as Ateba protested.

Ateba continued as the reporter called on by Jean-Pierre attempted to ask her question.

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"We can end this briefing if it's not going to be respectful here," Jean-Pierre said, stepping to the podium as a reporter could be heard mumbling, "Oh my God."

"You are receiving an African leader, and you don't take a question," Ateba continued before Jean-Pierre cut him off, picked up her notes and walked away from the podium.

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"Thanks everybody," she said as she exited, appearing angry. 

One reporter attempted to ask another question as she walked away, but Jean-Pierre cut him off as well.

"No. Thanks everybody," she said.

The White House threatened Ateba earlier this year with the revocation of his press privileges after a viral heated clash between him and Jean-Pierre during the June 26 press briefing when he criticized her for not allowing him to ask any questions.

"You’re incredibly rude. You’re being incredibly rude," Jean-Pierre told Ateba at the time. She proceeded to threaten to end the press briefing if Ateba wouldn't fall in line and stop interrupting.

Jean-Pierre’s office directly addressed Ateba in a letter the reporter shared on social media, chiding him for the interruption.

City lawmakers in Brazil have enacted what appears to be the nation’s first legislation written entirely by artificial intelligence — even if they didn't know it at the time.

The experimental ordinance was passed in October in the southern city of Porto Alegre and city councilman Ramiro Rosário revealed this week that it was written by a chatbot, sparking objections and raising questions about the role of artificial intelligence in public policy.

Rosário told The Associated Press that he asked OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT to craft a proposal to prevent the city from charging taxpayers to replace water consumption meters if they are stolen. He then presented it to his 35 peers on the council without making a single change or even letting them know about its unprecedented origin.

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"If I had revealed it before, the proposal certainly wouldn't even have been taken to a vote," Rosário told the AP by phone on Thursday. The 36-member council approved it unanimously and the ordinance went into effect on Nov. 23.

"It would be unfair to the population to run the risk of the project not being approved simply because it was written by artificial intelligence," he added.

The arrival of ChatGPT on the marketplace just a year ago has sparked a global debate on the impacts of potentially revolutionary AI-powered chatbots. While some see it as a promising tool, it has also caused concerns and anxiety about the unintended or undesired impacts of a machine handling tasks currently performed by humans.

Porto Alegre, with a population of 1.3 million, is the second-largest city in Brazil's south. The city's council president, Hamilton Sossmeier, found out that Rosário had enlisted ChatGPT to write the proposal when the councilman bragged about the achievement on social media on Wednesday. Sossmeier initially told local media he thought it was a "dangerous precedent."

The AI large language models that power chatbots like ChatGPT work by repeatedly trying to guess the next word in a sentence and are prone to making up false information, a phenomenon sometimes called hallucination.

All chatbots sometimes introduce false information when summarizing a document, ranging from about 3% of the time for the most advanced GPT model to a rate of about 27% for one of Google’s models, according to recently published research by the tech company Vectara.

In an article published on the website of Harvard Law School’s Center of Legal Profession earlier this year, Andrew Perlman, dean at Suffolk University Law School, wrote that ChatGPT "may portend an even more momentous shift than the advent of the internet," but also warned of its potential shortcomings.

"It may not always be able to account for the nuances and complexities of the law. Because ChatGPT is a machine learning system, it may not have the same level of understanding and judgment as a human lawyer when it comes to interpreting legal principles and precedent. This could lead to problems in situations where a more in-depth legal analysis is required," Perlman wrote.

Porto Alegre's Rosário wasn't the first lawmaker in the world to test ChatGPT's abilities. Others have done so in a more limited capacity or with less successful outcomes.

In Massachusetts, Democratic state Sen. Barry Finegold turned to ChatGPT to help write a bill aimed at regulating artificial intelligence models, including ChatGPT. Filed earlier this year, it has yet to be voted on.

Finegold said by phone on Wednesday that ChatGPT can help with some of the more tedious elements of the lawmaking process, including correctly and quickly searching and citing laws already on the books. However, it is critical that everyone knows ChatGPT or a similar tool was used in the process, he added.

"We want work that is ChatGPT generated to be watermarked," he said, adding that the use of artificial intelligence to help draft new laws is inevitable. "I’m in favor of people using ChatGPT to write bills as long as it’s clear."

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There was no such transparency for Rosário's proposal in Porto Alegre. Sossmeier said Rosário did not inform fellow council members that ChatGPT had written the proposal.

Keeping the proposal's origin secret was intentional. Rosário told the AP his objective was not just to resolve a local issue, but also to spark a debate. He said he entered a 49-word prompt into ChatGPT and it returned the full draft proposal within seconds, including justifications.

"I am convinced that ... humanity will experience a new technological revolution," he said. "All the tools we have developed as a civilization can be used for evil and good. That’s why we have to show how it can be used for good."

And the council president, who initially decried the method, already appears to have been swayed.

"I changed my mind," Sossmeier said. "I started to read more in depth and saw that, unfortunately or fortunately, this is going to be a trend."

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Lawyer Isabel Lazo’s jobs are being systematically canceled by Nicaragua’s increasingly repressive government.

Lazo worked at a university before the government of President Daniel Ortega closed it. She now is employed at a nongovernmental organization that she fears will soon be shuttered too.

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Nicaragua’s poisonous mix of economic decline and repression has led to about half of the country’s population of 6.2 million saying they want to leave their homeland, according to a new study, and 23% saying they had contemplated the possibility deeply enough to consider themselves "very prepared" to emigrate.

"A large proportion of them have already taken concrete steps to try to get out," said Elizabeth Zechmeister, the director of the AmericasBarometer study "The Pulse of Democracy in the Americas."

The study, which was released on Wednesday, shows that the number of Nicaraguans wanting to leave rose from 35% five years ago to almost half today, and that about 32% of people in 26 Latin American countries surveyed say they want to migrate.

Lazo, 42, and her husband Guillermo Lazo, 52, a systems engineer, both taught at the University of Northern Nicaragua until the Ortega government shut it down in April. It was one of 26 universities that closed because Ortega accused them of being centers of revolt, or failing to register or pay special taxes to the government, which has feuded with the Roman Catholic church, as well.

The couple lives in the northern city of Somoto, where Isabel Lazo now works for a European-backed NGO. Ortega's government has outlawed or closed more than 3,000 civic groups and NGOs.

In May, the government ordered the Nicaraguan Red Cross shut down, accusing it of "attacks on peace and stability" during anti-government demonstrations in 2018. The local Red Cross says it just helped treat injured protesters.

Lazo said Thursday she is worried that it's only a matter of time for the group where she now works.

"This will be ending soon," she said dispiritedly, The couple is now awaiting a decision on a U.S. application for "humanitarian parole," a program under which up to 30,000 people are being allowed each month to enter the U.S. from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Until then, there are few prospects for them, even though they are among Nicaragua's educated elite.

"We were left without jobs from one day to the next," Lazo said. "And even though we have graduate degrees and master's degrees, we haven't found decent jobs. You can kill yourself studying here and it's worth nothing."

Thousands have already fled into exile since Nicaraguan security forces violently put down mass anti-government protests in 2018. Ortega says the protests were an attempted coup with foreign backing, aiming for his overthrow.

Rosemary Miranda is another educated Nicaraguan who wants to leave. A psychologist, she graduated from the Jesuit-run University of Central America, also closed and confiscated by the government.

Miranda, 24, works for a microfinancing firm at an office in Managua, the capital, but the $402 per month she earns there doesn't even cover the cost of commuting, meals and clothing.

"In this country, the majority of people work just to eat. They can't buy clothing or shoes without waiting a month between purchases," Miranda said.

She has wanted to emigrate for some time, but she helps her family by giving them some of what little money she earns. With the purchasing power of wages falling, she is now rethinking her decision to stay.

"The situation here is very difficult. Every month the price of food, electricity, water and transportation rises," she said. "What have I gotten in return for studying so much and graduating?"

Don Samuels, Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar's Democrat challenger, said the 'Squad' member is 'not cute enough' to ignore voters, prompting blowback from the contentious lawmaker.

Samuels, who nearly defeated Omar during the 2022 Democratic primary, made the comments during a Nov. 21 appearance on "The Break Down with Brodkorb and Becky" podcast while speaking on how Omar is not "responsive" to her constituents.

"And so to see government not be responsive like that to the people who pay them, it is offensive to me," Samuels said on the podcast. "And to not be responsive and available to those people? To meet with them and find out what their concerns are and to answer their tough questions? To not get back to people on the phone? Who do you think you are? And who do you think you're working for? You're not cute enough, you don't dress well enough, nothing about you is attractive enough to overcome that deficit."

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Samuels' comments provoked Omar to react on social media, where she said his remarks were "beneath the dignity of any adult" and sexist.

"This is beneath the dignity of any adult, let alone someone seeking public office," Omar wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. "It is reminiscent of the worst kinds of lies and misogyny that we are hearing from people like Donald Trump, who think they can say anything about women and get away with it."

"Like Trump, instead of engaging in an adult debate, [Don Samuels] relies on lies and sexism," she added. "We need civility now more than ever and Don's behavior should be alarming to anyone who agrees."

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Samuels, a former Minneapolis City Council member, is again challenging Omar during the 2024 elections after narrowly losing to her in the 2022 Democratic primary. 

During the previous campaign, Samuels ran as a pro-police candidate and hammered the "Squad" member over her anti-law enforcement views.

Samuels lost to Omar by just 2,500 votes in the 2022 Democratic primary after she convincingly won her 2020 primary by 35,000 votes. 

Pittsburgh Steelers star receiver Diontae Johnson is sharing his thoughts about his apparent lack of effort during a critical play in last Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

On Wednesday, Johnson took responsibility for his actions and said that it would be a one-time thing. 

"It was really just me owning up to what I did on Sunday to the team and just let them know it won’t happen again," Johnson said via TribLive.com. 

"How I feel and how I should go about the situation next time it occurs. I own up to it. I am not perfect. So, all I can do is keep moving forward and just play football. That’s all I’m worried about."

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The play in question happened in the first quarter of a Week 12 game when quarterback Kenny Pickett handed the ball off to Jaylin Warren. Warren fumbled the ball, and Bengals cornerback DJ Turner II recovered it. 

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NFL fans watching the Steelers-Bengals game noticed Johnson not blocking on the run and acting nonchalantly as Turner recovered the fumble.

He faced accusations of not giving full effort on the play.

Shortly after the game, Johnson claimed he did not see the ball when it was on the turf. But Johnson's latest statement appears to be an admission that he could have done more to recover the ball.

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Johnson was visibly frustrated after what seemed like a catch in the first quarter was ruled incomplete.

Earlier this week, longtime Steelers coach Mike Tomlin addressed Johnson's perceived lack of effort on the third-down play, acknowledging Johnson should not have "let the emotions of the previous down affect the next down."

Johnson had three catches for 38 yards at halftime and finished the game with four catches for 50 yards. 

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The latest criticism comes after an ESPN report that said Johnson and a teammate were involved in a "heated argument" after a Week 11 loss to the AFC North rival Cleveland Browns. 

Last week, Tomlin confirmed one of the most stable franchises in the NFL made an unusual in-season move to fire a coach, offensive coordinator Matt Canada.

Fox News' Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.

A baby who was left alone in the woods just one hour after she was born now has a forever family — thanks to deputies and residents who brought the child to safety nearly a year ago.

As of Wednesday, Nov. 29, the baby girl was officially adopted, Public Information Officer Brian Bruchey of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) in Winter Haven, confirmed to Fox News Digital.

"We have an exciting update to share with you," the PCSO posted on Facebook. "Nearly one year ago, on January 28th, at about 1:47 in the morning, PCSO deputies rescued an abandoned newborn baby girl in Mulberry."

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"The girl was wrapped in a blanket, still attached to the placenta. The temperature outside was in the lower 50s, and members of Polk County Fire Rescue checked the girl out and determined that, based on the girl’s temperature, she had been born about an hour before she was found."

"Fortunately, a nearby resident heard the baby girl’s cries, and called 911."

The couple who adopted the child are declining interviews at this time — but they allowed police to share photos with everyone who followed the baby's story "and prayed for her well-being," the PCSO wrote on Facebook.

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"We are thrilled to share with you these photos from this morning of this precious angel with her new mom and dad, along with PCSO's Detective Green and Sgt. Ryan," the post read.

In a Jan. 29 press conference, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told reporters some of the details surrounding the baby's abandonment.

He said deputies received a call shortly after 1:45 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 28, about what sounded like "a baby crying outside" in a wooded area near the Regal Loop Mobile Home Park on Bailey Road in Mulberry, Fox News Digital previously reported.

The noises started late Friday into early Saturday, Judd said, when a neighbor heard what she thought was the sound of "some cats screaming and fighting."

The screaming subsided for roughly an hour and a half, until the woman "heard screaming and crying again."

"She went outside and said, ‘Well, that's a baby.’ So, she got her husband and the two of them searched around and out in the woods," Judd went on. "They found this infant, this beautiful baby girl." 

Deputies arrived to find the baby girl on a hill wrapped in "some old blankets" in outdoor temperatures reaching the lower 50s.

Police estimated she had been born roughly an hour or so before she was found, and weighed about six-and-a-half pounds. 

At the time, Judd had named her Angel Grace Lnu.

"She’s as beautiful as an angel. It’s by the grace of God she’s not dead and the Lnu [means] the last name is unknown," Judd said during the January press conference.

Judd said the baby appeared to be of Hispanic descent. Efforts to find the mother were deemed unsuccessful as investigators questioned neighbors for information, while the PCSO deployed a K-9 unit, a bloodhound, a drone and an aviation unit in the search for answers.

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"Usually it’s a younger person who does not want the child or has somehow hidden the presence of the child from their parents," Judd said.

It’s an event that the department hasn't seen very often due to Florida's Safe Haven Law, Judd explained.

"You can legally take a baby a week or less in age to a fire station, EMS station or a hospital and hand it over anonymously and you have no criminal proceedings against you for child neglect or abandonment or anything like that," the sheriff added.

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On Wednesday, the PCSO announced on Facebook that the girl's mother has never been located or identified, "despite an extensive effort" by detectives.

Now, 10 months and one day later, the child has officially been adopted, the PCSO shared.

The Florida Safe Haven Law was put in place to prevent the abandonment of newborns in the state, according to Clay County's official government website.

"The Safe Haven Law is a safety net that allows parents to leave their unharmed newborns, not more than a week old, at any Safe Haven facility recognized by state law, anonymously and without fear of prosecution," the site states.

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Since 2000, when Safe Haven laws were enacted, there have been 376 babies "not abandoned in Florida" and left at Safe Haven (fire/EMS and hospitals), according to A Safe Haven for Newborns 501c3.

Every U.S. state has a Safe Haven law, according to the nonprofit, though each state varies by the following:

For more information, visit asafehavenfornewborns.com or call (877) 767-2229.

Stephanie Pagones contributed to this report.

For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxnews.com/lifestyle.

A federal appeals court is hearing a case challenging a Texas state law that would require booksellers to rate every book in the state's school libraries based on its sexual content.

The "Reader Act," which was signed into law on June 12 and is currently blocked while the case is litigated, "requires library material vendors to issue appropriate ratings related to sexually explicit material and sexually relevant material previously sold to a public school district or public school." 

The bill would "prohibit the possession, acquisition, and purchase of any harmful material or library material that is sexually explicit or pervasively vulgar or educationally unsuitable," "recognize that obscene content is not constitutionally protected" and require vendors "to issue a recall for all copies of such material in active use." 

In addition, the law would "prohibit the removal of material based solely on the ideas contained therein or the personal background of the material's author or characters." 

FLORIDA BECOMES LATEST STATE TO CUT TIES WITH AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION AFTER ‘MARXIST’ CONTROVERSY

In September, a U.S. District Court judge blocked the law from going into effect and opening statements for the case "Book People vs. Martha Wong" began Wednesday morning in New Orleans. 

While the law carves out exceptions for books included as part of a curriculum in schools, vendors still argue it places an undue burden on them. 

"That is not physically possible," Charley Resjek, CEO of Austin bookseller, Book People, which is a plaintiff in the case, told KWTX. "There’s no way that I could pay booksellers to read and rate every book that’s available to schools and a stay in business."

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Republican State Representative Jared Patterson, who penned the bill in the Texas Legislature, said the lawsuit was being challenged by "liberal book store owners who want to keep pushing sexually explicit materials into the hands of our children."

"In summary, ‘Nothing in the First Amendment prevents the state from adopting standards for its own officials to keep pornographic materials out of public schools, or from requiring that schools give parents notice of what is being provided to their children,’" he wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

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If the court rules in favor of the law, book vendors would need to rate school books by April for the 2024 school year.

FIRST ON FOX: A group of Republicans led by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., are planning to introduce legislation that would prohibit automakers from benefiting from a wide range of federal incentives if they move to offshore domestic manufacturing.

The Putting American Automakers First Act — on track to be introduced early next week by Rubio and original cosponsors Sens. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Eric Schmitt, R-Mo. — would bar automakers from participating in 12 federal incentive programs if they offshore production, manufacturing or final assembly of their products for 10 years. The bill comes weeks after the largest U.S. autoworker union ratified new contracts with the "Big Three" American automakers.

"Despite the recent negotiations resulting in big wins for autoworkers, automakers still have the upper hand," Rubio said in a statement to Fox News Digital on Thursday. 

"They can still undermine these deals by offshoring production to countries with cheaper labor," the Florida Republican continued. "This legislation would create a strong incentive for automakers to keep jobs right here in America and allow workers to share in the profits that they helped create."

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The New Clean Vehicle Credit, Commercial Clean Vehicle Credit, Used Clean Vehicle Credit, Clean School Bus Program and Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicle Program are among the 12 programs that Rubio's legislation would block automakers from participating in. The programs save consumers and businesses thousands of dollars, bringing down the costs of electric vehicles (EV), which remain more expensive than gas-powered alternatives.

For example, under the new clean vehicle credit, Americans can save up to $7,500 on an EV if it means certain material and sourcing requirements outlined under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. According to Cox Automotive data, factoring in credits, the average transaction price for electric cars was $53,469 as of July 2023 while the average price of gas-powered vehicles was $48,334.

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And Rubio's bill was designed to prevent automakers from moving production abroad after the recent labor negotiations between the United Auto Workers and Ford, General Motors and Stellantis. Republicans and experts have warned workers may bear the brunt given the projected costs of the agreements and recent struggles of the EV sector.

 "I support the UAW’s demand for higher wages, but there is a 6,000-pound elephant in the room: the premature transition to electric vehicles. While EV supply chains are still heavily concentrated in China, the Biden administration sends billions to that industry every year," Vance said in September.

"While most Americans want to drive a gas-powered car, the Biden administration pursues a policy explicitly designed to increase the cost of gas," he said. "They do this in the name of the environment, but all they’re doing is enriching the dirtiest economy in the world at the expense of auto workers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan."

On Thursday, Ford projected that the new UAW agreement, which came after a weeks-long strike at multiple auto plants nationwide, will cost it $8.8 billion over the life of the contract which lasts until 2028, CNBC reported. One day earlier, General Motors projected the contract would cost it more than $9 billion.

In addition, while EV sales continue to increase incrementally, automakers have struggled to see a significant return on investment. Ford projected earlier this year that its EV division was projected to lose a staggering $4.5 billion in 2023 alone and earlier this month scaled back an ambitious billion-dollar EV battery plant in Michigan.

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers claim the intelligence community is concealing information about unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) and scuttling attempts to release the information to the public.

The group of congressional leaders led by Florida Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna said the Pentagon and other agencies needed to grant Congress, as well as the American people, more answers to the unidentified objects, some of which have been observed flying in ways that appear impossible with current technology.

"The American people are not stupid, we can handle this information. Other countries have declassified similar information, and it's time that the United States stepped up to the plate and did the same," said Florida Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna.

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The UAP issue exploded earlier this autumn after whistleblower David Grusch alleged that the intelligence community "has not conducted any audit, inspection, evaluation or review" of supposed programs to investigate the strange flying objects.

"In my short time in office, it has become very clear and evident that there is an apparent attempt to an orchestrated attempt to deny this access, and it appears that that is coming from the intelligence community," Luna said.

Grusch will grant permission for lawmakers to view his report, Luna said Thursday, but lawmakers were still baffled at the secrecy from the government as well as other members of Congress.

"Why are folks who are in charge of committees, whether they are in the House or in the Senate, opposed to this disclosure?" said Rep. Jacob Moskowitz, D-Fla. 

"This is not about whether there are aliens or there are not aliens," he added, but the response to questions about the UFOs. "The problem is when we ask those questions, rather than being provided information that would prove it false, they stonewall the information and that is what piques the interest."

UFO WHISTLEBLOWER TESTIFIES HIS LIFE WAS THREATENED OVER SECRET ALIEN TECH RETRIEVAL

An amendment to the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) offered by Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., would create a baseline of transparency and declassification of information regarding UFOs, which some lawmakers view as just a starting point. 

"It is insufficient though to seek this transparency from the Department of Defense alone. We have to have cooperation, so that all 50 authorities through the intelligence community are also subject to review [and] the FAA, the NSA, the FBI, even state and local authorities that have information are able to have that cataloged, assessed and then put out before the public," said Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.

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"Whether it's little green men, American technology, or worse, technology from the CCP, we need to know. There needs to be better cooperation between agencies, and Congress has a right, an obligation to know. This is about transparency, this is about accountability. The truth is out there, and the American people are ready."

The New York Giants earned their fourth victory of the season on Sunday - an ugly 10-7 battle against the New England Patriots.

New England fell to 2-9 as Chad Ryland hooked a 35-yard attempt that would have tied the game to send it into overtime.

It's been a rough go for the Pats dating back to even last year. They are in danger of missing the postseason for a second-straight year for the first time since 1999 and 2000.

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So, when Patriots defensive back Jabrill Peppers met up with his former Giants teammate Saquon Barkley after the game, he kept it pretty blunt.

"You lucky we a--," Peppers said to the star running back.

Peppers played for Big Blue from 2019 to 2021, and before that, he played for the Cleveland Browns, so he's done some seldom winning in his NFL career.

New England won their first game back in Week 3 against the New York Jets and then pulled off a wild upset in Week 7 when they beat the Buffalo Bills, 29-25. 

But since then, they've lost four in a row, having scored just 47 points in those contests combined, and just 13 in their last two.

Peppers signed with the Pats before the 2022 season on a one-year pact and opted to stay with them, signing a two-year deal before this season.

The Michigan product recovered a fumble in the contest, but it wasn't enough.

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Congressional hardliners on the left and right are uniting in opposition to talks of saving a controversial surveillance tool of the U.S. government by linking it to an annual must-pass military and defense bill. 

The House of Representatives is no stranger to public division, but it’s rare for issues to unite progressives and conservatives like this. 

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) has been both credited with preventing terror attacks on U.S. soil and accused of being a vehicle for spying on U.S. citizens. 

It lets the government keep tabs on specific foreign nationals outside the country without first obtaining a warrant to do so, even if the party on the other side of those communications is an American on U.S. soil.

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The program expires at the end of this year if not reauthorized. Multiple sources told Fox News Digital that congressional leaders are discussing punting that fight until early 2024 by attaching a temporary extension of FISA to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

The NDAA is an annual bill laying out priorities for the Pentagon and other U.S. defense programs.

Freedom Caucus Policy Chair Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital that he believes that combining the two would ensure the least conservative of each was passed.

"They want to use clean FISA, which I oppose. But a thirty- to sixty-day extension of FISA while we negotiate reforms, not the end of the world if it's standalone, right? Because then it's kind of staying on its own merit. I can vote no, maybe it passes," Roy explained.

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"But if you take FISA and you add it to the NDAA, and we know that the NDAA is going to be stripped of our fixes on our side on abortion tourism, transgender surgeries, DEI, critical race theory…you're using the fear of the security of this country under FISA collection of data, and you're using that extension to pass a crap NDAA bill," Roy continued.

Critics of FISA on both the right and have claimed it encroaches on Americans’ civil liberties, specifically if the FBI conducts warrantless surveillance on communications between Americans and foreign nationals.

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A letter objecting to combining the measures was signed by more than 50 lawmakers on Wednesday, led by Reps. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, and Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, along with Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.

"A temporary extension would be entirely unnecessary, and it would be an inexcusable violation of the public’s trust to quietly greenlight an authority that has been flagrantly abused," the letter addressed to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said.

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"If Section 702 is to be reauthorized for even a single day, it must be through standalone legislation subject to robust, open debate and amendment."

Fox News Digital reached out to Speaker Mike Johnson's office to confirm the discussions but did not immediately hear back.

Ben Rhodes, a former deputy national security adviser to President Barack Obama, penned a guest essay in the New York Times criticizing the Biden administration’s support for Israel's right to self-defense against the terrorist group Hamas. 

In an opinion piece, titled "Henry Kissinger, the Hypocrite," published after the German-born American diplomat, academic and presidential adviser, died at the age of 100 on Wednesday, Rhodes took the opportunity to bash the current presidential administration for its support of Israel in its fight against Hamas following the October 7 terrorist attack on the country. 

"In Gaza, the United States has supported an Israeli military operation that has killed civilians at a pace that has once again suggested to much of the world that we are selective in our embrace of international laws and norms," Rhodes argued.

"All of this cannot be laid on Henry Kissinger’s shoulders," he warned. "In many ways, he was as much a creation of the American national security state as its author. But his is also a cautionary tale."

Rhodes currently serves as a contributor for MSNBC and co-host of Pod Save the World. He is known for his anti-Israel sentiments and has previously criticized the Biden administration's policies, as reported by The Federalist.

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In an interview on the "Occupied Thoughts" podcast in 2021, Rhodes told anti-Zionist Peter Beinart that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policy toward Palestinians was to be "corrupt and cruel." 

He also criticized the Biden administration's pro-Israel approach, stating it felt like it was "in a defensive crouch." He said "these issues are shaped and framed and defined from the right" and that "if you’re a mainstream Democrat, not only are you expected to take a set of positions, but you are expected to apologize for the people to your left."

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The clash between Israel and Hamas has created a divide in the Democratic Party with more traditional liberals in favor of Israel's right to self-defense, while the more progressive wing of the party has increasingly taken on a pro-Palestinian stance in calling for a cease-fire. 

Visitors to the Edinburgh Zoo had their final chance to see and bid farewell Thursday to a pair of popular giant pandas who are returning home to China after more than a decade in Scotland.

Yang Guang and Tian Tian are leaving in early December after a 12-year stay. They have been a popular attraction since people lined the road outside the zoo to greet them when they arrived in 2011.

They are the latest pandas to leave the West after exchange agreements have expired and not been renewed by China.

3 GIANT PANDAS LEAVE DC'S SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL ZOO FOR CHINA, ENDING 50-YEAR RUN

The only U.S. zoo with pandas is in Atlanta and its agreement expires next year. Washington’s National Zoo sent its three pandas — Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and their cub, Xiao Qi Ji — to China earlier in November. The black and white bears at the San Diego Zoo were sent home in 2019 and the remaining panda at the Memphis, Tennessee, zoo returned earlier this year.

Veteran China-watchers have speculated that the People’s Republic is gradually pulling its bears from American and European zoos due to tensions with Western governments over a host of issues.

However, Chinese President Xi Jinping said during his recent trip to the U.S. that his government was "ready to continue" lending bears to American zoos, giving hope to U.S. panda fans that they haven't seen the last of them.

GIANT PANDAS TO LEAVE THE NATIONAL ZOO IN D.C. FOR CHINA EARLIER THAN EXPECTED

The pair in Scotland are the only pandas in the U.K. After unsuccessful breeding attempts — natural and artificial — the zoo said it has no plans to bring in others because a global biodiversity crisis requires it to work on protecting more endangered animals.

"With more than a million species at risk of extinction and our natural world in crisis, Yang Guang and Tian Tian have had an incredible impact by inspiring millions of people to care about nature," said David Field, chief executive of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. "That added interest in the pandas’ departure this year has allowed us to connect many more people with the conservation causes (we are) actively involved with, and with nature more generally."

The pandas were loaned to the zoo in 2011 under a 10-year agreement that the China Wildlife Conservation Association extended for two more years.

The panda exhibit was being closed to the public Thursday afternoon to allow staff to begin preparing the bears for their return.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, is taking aim at Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry for jetting off to lead the U.S. delegation at the annual United Nations conference in Dubai.

In a statement to Fox News Digital on Thursday, Ernst accused Kerry and the Biden administration of hypocrisy for flying on airplanes to attend the UN's COP28 summit where delegates are expected to condemn fossil fuels and push green energy alternatives. Kerry is leading the U.S. delegation which includes Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, White House clean energy czar John Podesta among other senior officials.

"Once again, the Biden administration exposes the hypocrisy of their own radical green fantasy," Ernst told Fox News Digital. "Joe Biden’s Climate Czar is jetting off again emitting the greenhouse gases he warns against, wasting taxpayer dollars, and undermining U.S. strength on the world stage. While the Biden administration’s weakness has caused chaos across the globe, President Biden doubles down on combating climate change instead of terrorism."

"Just another area where he allows China, the world’s largest polluter, to eat our lunch in lip service to the radical green wing of his own party," she said. "Make no mistake, virtue signaling is no virtue, and Americans have had enough of an administration with their head in the clouds. It’s time for Biden bureaucrats to face the facts, as terrorists threaten the safety and security of Americans, fossil fuels are not the enemy."

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COP28 kicked off on Thursday and is slated to take place over the next two weeks through Dec. 12. Ahead of the summit, UN officials led by Secretary General António Guterres have raised the alarm about the risks posed by global warming and the summit is expected to garner agreements to curb fossil fuel reliance in the coming years.

During remarks Thursday, Guterres said global warming should "send shivers down the spines of world leaders" and added that the world is living through "climate collapse in real time." His comments came shortly after the World Meteorological Organization declared 2023 the warmest year ever recorded in an announcement as the conference began and a day after Kerry outlined his ambitious goals for the summit.

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"It’s safe to say that there literally will be hundreds of initiatives that will be announced, many of them coming from the United States but also many coming from other parts of the world, and I think it’s going to be a very exciting presentation of a global effort that is taking place, even though it’s not happening fast enough or big enough yet," the U.S. climate czar told reporters Wednesday.

"What is very clear to us – and we will be pushing this the next two weeks that we are here negotiating – we have to move faster," Kerry added. "We have to be much more seized of this issue all around the planet. There’s too much business as usual still."

The summit comes one year after COP27, last year's UN climate summit in the luxurious resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, that Kerry, President Biden and hundreds of other U.S. government officials attended. 

Following that summit, Ernst and fellow Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., asked the Government Accountability Office to determine and disclose the total carbon footprint of the trip. However, the agency released a report in June stating it couldn't fulfill the request because the State Department, which houses Kerry's climate office, hasn't created a mechanism for tracking such information.

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In December 2021, Biden signed an executive order to require federal agencies to track and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from travel.

"Joe Biden and his officials say they are addressing an ‘existential’ crisis by participating in climate conferences, all while traveling on private jets to and from the conferences," Cotton said at the time. "The Biden administration should instead focus its efforts on American energy production — or at the very least, let American taxpayers know about the private travel they are paying for."

In his role as special presidential envoy for climate, Kerry regularly travels around the world, attending high-profile climate summits and diplomatic engagements in an effort to push a global transition from fossil fuels to green energy alternatives.

He has also received criticism for his use of a private jet owned by his family. According to flight tracking data obtained by Fox News Digital in July 2022, a Gulfstream GIV-SP jet owned by Kerry's family made a total of 48 trips that lasted more than 60 hours and emitted an estimated 715,886 pounds, or 325 metric tons, of carbon over the course of the Biden administration's first 18 months.

However, one month after the Fox News Digital report that highlighted the jet's extensive carbon footprint, and after lawmakers blasted Kerry for apparent hypocrisy, the Gulfstream jet was sold to an energy-focused hedge fund in New York City. Whitney Smith, a State Department spokesperson, confirmed the sale in a statement earlier this year and said Kerry travels commercially in his current role.

Kerry's office didn't respond to a request for comment.

Former British finance minister Alistair Darling, a central figure in the U.K.’s response to the 2008 financial crisis who later helped organize the campaign against Scottish independence, has died. He was 70.

Darling had been treated for cancer and died in a hospital in Edinburgh, his family said in a statement on Thursday. He served as Britain’s Treasury chief between 2007 and 2010 under Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who praised him as a "popular and effective’’ government minister.

Though Darling held a variety of posts during his 28 years in the House of Commons, he is likely to be remembered most for his work in steering the nation’s finances during the global credit crunch. The package of measures he implemented were credited with preventing an even more dramatic slide after the crisis threatened the nation’s banking system.

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"Alistair will be remembered as a statesman of unimpeachable integrity whose life was defined by a strong sense of social justice and who gained a global reputation for the assured competence and the exercise of considered judgment he brought to the handling of economic affairs," Brown said.

When Scotland held a referendum on whether to leave the United Kingdom and become independent in 2014, Darling was appointed to chair the "Better Together" campaign. Voters backed remaining in the U.K. by a margin of 55% to 45%.

Former Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond, who led the pro-independence campaign in the referendum, remembered Darling as a "hugely significant figure in U.K. politics" and "an extremely courteous man."

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who appointed Darling to several government roles between 1997 and 2007, said he had been "highly capable, though modest, understated but never to be underestimated, always kind and dignified even under the intense pressure politics can generate."

"He was the safest of safe hands. I knew he could be given any position in the Cabinet and be depended upon," Blair added.

Greek novelist Vassilis Vassilikos, whose political book "Z" inspired the Academy Award-winning film of the same name, died Thursday in Athens at age 89.

The best-known among the scores of books he wrote, "Z" was based on the murder of a left-leaning Greek member of Parliament by right-wingers in 1963.

Published in 1966, it was translated into several languages but was banned in Greece by the right-wing dictatorship that ruled from 1967-74. It quickly became a symbol of resistance to the regime.

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The 1969 movie by Greek director Costa-Gavras won the Academy Award for best foreign language film.

Vassilikos was born Nov. 18, 1934 in the northern town of Kavala, and studied law, as well as television directing. He was exiled by the military regime in 1967, and lived in Italy and France. From July 2019 to May 2023 he served as a member of Greece's Parliament with the left-wing Syriza party.

Culture Minister Lina Mendoni praised Vassilikos' narrative skills and understanding of Greek society.

"He was a basically political author who used his writing skills to serve his beliefs," she said Thursday.

Vassilikos is survived by his wife, Greek soprano Vaso Papantoniou, and their daughter. No funeral arrangements were immediately made public.