Android security has come a long way since the early days, thanks largely to Google’s broad suite of virus-busting tools, like Play Protect for apps, Safe Browsing for the web, and the Advanced Protection Program for Google accounts. However, malware can still infect devices from time to time, and the latest threat aims to infiltrate your bank account just before the holidays.

The threat

Dubbed Sturnus, this latest Android threat is a classic Trojan horse malware that bypasses Android’s security protections to gain access to a target device. Once inside, a hacker can spy on your conversations in popular chat apps — like Signal, Telegram, and WhatsApp — and even mimic your bank’s login screen to trick you into handing over your bank login and password.

What makes this malware especially tricky lies in its sophistication. Sturnus doesn’t break the encryption found in the popular apps listed above. Instead it exploits Android’s native accessibility features to view, detect, and record data shown on your screen. The malware even comes with uninstall protection, making it harder to remove from a device once infected.

Here are some things you can do to make sure your Android phone is protected from Sturnus.

How to know if your phone is infected with Sturnus

Sturnus is especially dangerous because it runs completely undetected. There’s currently no way to know for sure that the malware is installed on your device. It could be lurking in your phone right now!

But don’t panic just yet. You’re less likely to be infected if either of these apply to you:

First, Sturnus is only transmitted through downloading and installing an Android app (an APK file, also known as an Android Application Package) directly to your phone. More than that, the infected APK file has to come from a third-party source outside of the Google Play Store — either in an attachment sent through a spam message or via a third-party app store. In a statement provided to Android Authority, Google confirmed that all Android users who strictly download apps from the Google Play Store are safe:

Based on our current detection, no apps containing this malware are found on Google Play. Android users are automatically protected against known versions of this malware by Google Play Protect, which is on by default on Android devices with Google Play Services. Google Play Protect can warn users or block apps known to exhibit malicious behavior, even when those apps come from sources outside of Play.

Second, Sturnus has only been detected in devices based in South and Central Europe so far. Users in the United States aren’t under any direct threat right now, but this could change as we get further into the holidays.

How to prevent Sturnus from infecting your phone

Just to be safe, there are some things you can do to make sure your Android phone is protected from Sturnus or any other downloadable security threat.

Google Play Protect

Make sure Google Play Protect is on. This feature regularly scans the apps downloaded to your phone and checks them for “harmful behavior,” including viruses and malware. To enable Play Protect, open the Google Play Store app on your phone, tap your profile picture in the top right corner, then Play Protect. Make sure it’s turned on.

Screenshots by Zach Laidlaw

Disable ‘Install unknown apps’

The Google Play Store is the default app store found on most Android devices sold in the U.S. Although Android phones can download apps from other sources, most of them ship with this feature turned off by default. Still with Sturnus going around, it’s a good idea to check to make sure your phone can’t accidentally sideload an app from a dubious corner of the internet.

If you have a Samsung Galaxy phone, open the Settings app, tap on “Security and privacy,” then “More security settings,” and finally “Install unknown apps.” Make sure every app on this page is unchecked.

Screenshots by Zach Laidlaw

If you have a Google Pixel phone, open the Settings app, tap on “Apps,” then “Special app access,” and lastly “Install unknown apps.” As with Samsung, make sure every app on this page is disabled.

Screenshots by Zach Laidlaw

For those with other-branded Androids, you should be able to find this feature by opening your Settings app and typing “install unknown apps” into the search bar. As with the devices above, make sure this feature is disabled.

Extra features

Depending on your device, some Android phones come with additional security features that protect against malware, both on the software side and the hardware side. For instance, Samsung Knox protects data and defends from cybersecurity threats. As for Pixels 6 and up, they come with a Titan M2 chip that makes it harder for hackers to access your phone if it’s stolen, plus regular monthly security updates directly from Google ensure that their phones are always up to date.

The fix?

At this time, there is currently no fix for Sturnus, and there isn’t likely to be one anytime soon. Since the malware exploits several important features baked directly into the Android operating system, Google would have to disable these features entirely to get rid of the problem, something that simply can’t be done.

RELATED: Cloudflare crash exposes the internet’s fragile core — and worse may be coming

Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

With Sturnus on the rise, it’s probably not a coincidence that Google recently announced that it is making it more difficult to distribute and sideload unverified apps from third-party sources. The move would prevent this exact kind of malware from infecting devices worldwide, though backlash from avid Android users has caused Google to loosen these restrictions just a bit. The final version of the sideloading changes are expected to roll out starting in late 2026.

As for now, your best bet to keep Sturnus out of your phone is to stay away from APKs that come from anywhere outside of the Google Play Store. Do that one simple thing, and you have nothing to worry about.

​Tech, Malware, Sturnus, Google, Android, Virus 

Police are trying to identify dozens of teenagers who looted a 7-Eleven convenience store in downtown Los Angeles in broad daylight.

The clerk of the store hit the panic alarm Saturday to alert police after someone walked into the store and pointed a gun at him. That’s when a mob of teens started stealing items from the business on Beverly Boulevard.

‘They feel like they can get away with anything — and from the looks of it, they can.’

Video posted on social media showed the laughing teens happily ransacking the store.

One of the teens can be heard boasting on the video: “Bro, it’s worth it because it ain’t got my face on it.”

The teen flash mobs have targeted several convenience stores in California in numerous incidents in recent years, and they often post videos of their crimes on social media.

“Nobody respects anything or anyone,” said Erik Albizures, a resident of L.A., to KTTV-TV. “They feel like they can get away with anything — and from the looks of it, they can.”

KTTV reported that no one had been arrested yet, despite numerous surveillance cameras capturing video at the intersection.

“How do we get this to stop? I don’t even know,” said Aaliyah Robinson, another resident. “Kids don’t listen in general, but maybe if parents start teaching their kids to be more respectful.”

RELATED: Security video shows deputy walk in on 4 thugs robbing 7-Eleven in California

At least one resident actually tried to say economic pressures forced the teens into looting.

“They probably don’t have the money for food,” Malcolm McBride said. “If you go up that block, there are so many homeless people. It’s a systemic issue, and I don’t think California is doing a good job at that. I’d start there.”

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​7-eleven robbery video, Looting of 7 elevens, Flash mob robbery, Los angeles crime, Crime 

What is it about the National Defense Authorization Act that makes it a dumping ground for every dumb liberal pet project?

First the Trump administration pushed an AI data-center amnesty that would have stripped states of authority over massive, power-hungry facilities. Then lawmakers tried to slip in Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s housing bill, a package built to subsidize Section 8 tenants and builders and to fuel the very forces driving the current housing bubble. After a backlash, both provisions came out of the NDAA. Now congressional leaders plan to pass the Massachusetts Democrat’s housing bill on its own.

The real crisis comes from government debt and the inflation it fuels. This is not a shortage of lumber or land. It is a monetary chokehold created by government policy.

Earlier this year, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-S.C.) worked with Warren to move S. 2651, an omnibus housing package that expands every federal program Trump previously vowed to cut. They attached the legislation to the Senate’s NDAA, then lobbied House conservatives to adopt it in their version of the defense bill. At the last minute, House leaders stripped the language. The House Financial Services Committee now plans to mark up the bill next week.

Here’s the trouble: The bill misdiagnoses the housing crisis. It treats high prices as a supply shortage instead of a government-fueled asset bubble and inflationary pricing distortion.

The result is predictable. Its 40 provisions would expand Section 8, loan subsidies, “affordable housing” grants, and even looser mortgage programs for people priced out of the market. Every one of these items pours accelerant on the factors that drove the 2008 bubble and the post-COVID spike.

Government subsidies for overbuilding and for buyers who cannot afford homes created the crisis. Yet like a dog returning to its vomit, Scott, the president, and Senate Democrats are endorsing Warren’s 2020 campaign platform to revive the same model. The bill promises builders and activist groups federal cash in exchange for regulatory concessions. The trade-off is disastrous.

Section 202 creates a new federal grant program to fund local housing projects in designated zones — a warmed-over version of the community-engineering schemes Obama’s Department of Housing and Urban Development pushed a decade ago.

Meantime, Section 209 establishes a $200 million yearly fund at HUD to award “innovative housing reforms” to localities that reshape zoning to favor dense, subsidized units.

Conservatives would call these incentives an invitation to replicate failed urban policies in red suburbs. The bill rewards grifting nonprofits and community organizers who treat federal housing programs as political infrastructure.

At the same time, the administration is pushing rules that limit red-state zoning authority to clear the way for data-center construction while promoting Section 8 expansion with new incentives and zoning guidance. It revives, in effect, Obama’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing regime — the same racial-gerrymandering tool Trump killed in his first term. Supporting the Scott-Warren bill would revive it in practice.

Worse, the bill rests on a false premise. America doesn’t have a housing shortage. According to Redfin, as of October sellers outnumbered buyers by 36.8% — about 529,000 more sellers — the largest gap since 2013. Census data shows about 148 million housing units for roughly 134 million households, a surplus of around 14 million units. When Trump took office, the vacancy count stood near 11 million, yet prices were far more affordable.

The real crisis comes from government debt and the inflation it fuels. Construction costs surged with inflation. Interest rates spiked to service that debt, creating an interest-rate cliff that locked millions of homeowners into sub-3% mortgages. They cannot sell without doubling their monthly costs. High rates froze the existing inventory in place. This is not a shortage of lumber or land. It is a monetary chokehold created by government policy.

RELATED: Why the kids are not all right — and Boomers still pretend nothing’s wrong

Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images

Federal housing policy adds another layer. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac long prioritized “access to credit” over price stability. By guaranteeing high-risk loans and encouraging low down payments, they allow buyers to bid more than their incomes justify. Subsidized credit lifts prices for sellers, not buyers.

S. 2651 makes the problem worse by expanding the Community Development Block Grant and similar programs, encouraging activist groups and corporate developers to overbuild units no one can afford without subsidies. That process pushes prices upward and strengthens corporate buy-ups of suburban neighborhoods.

The administration previously acknowledged these distortions. In Trump’s FY 2021 budget, the Office of Management and Budget proposed eliminating CDBG and the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, arguing that states and localities were better positioned to address affordability challenges. This new bill reverses that logic entirely.

The Federal Reserve’s rate whiplash — a decade of near-zero borrowing costs followed by sudden hikes — froze supply by trapping owners inside artificially cheap mortgages. Washington’s policies created the gridlock. The inventory exists. Monetary policy quarantined it.

What the administration needs to do is allow prices to fall back toward alignment with median incomes. That adjustment would restore affordability without new federal intervention. Instead, the FHFA is pushing lower credit-score requirements for subsidized mortgages. That mistake will repeat the pattern of enticing families into overpriced homes they cannot sustain.

Housing policy should stop trying to prop up inflated prices. The market must correct. A federal “solution” built around 40 expansionary programs will intensify the crisis, not solve it. Doing nothing would spur more affordability than this bipartisan blunder.

​Elizabeth warren, Housing bill, Data centers, Housing prices, Opinion & analysis, Donald trump, Ndaa, Defense bill, Section 8 housing, Subsidies, Mortgages, Interest rates, Inflation, S 2651, House financial services committee, Tim scott, Affordable housing, Department of housing and urban development, Barack obama, Suburbs, Redfin, Fannie mae and freddie mac 

As one of the last conservative Christians serving as a tenured philosophy professor at a public university, I’ve had a front-row seat to the intellectual circus that critical theory and intersectionality have unleashed on higher education. I call it out on X and Substack. Professors from ASU’s Barrett Honors College and English Department have attacked me for doing so, calling me a “joke” and a “sloppy thinker.” This is the abuse anyone receives for defending God’s word.

But something new — and encouraging — is happening.

Christian students are speaking up. They are filing complaints. They openly quote Scripture in their assignments. And in this case, the university backed down.

Students are calling it out, too.

Last week at the University of Oklahoma, two instructors were removed for blatant viewpoint discrimination against a Christian student. If even 5% of cases like this see daylight, the DEI structure will start to crack within the academic year. If the polls are right, 97% of faculty identify as left or far left. What we see now — open disdain for Scripture — is not an anomaly. It’s the visible edge of a worldview that has captured entire campuses.

Beneath the surface sits the full intersectional framework, built on one central assumption: Christianity is the axle around which oppression supposedly turns.

The assignment that exposed the bias

The student’s psychology assignment was simple: a 650-word response to a study about gender norms and bullying among middle-schoolers.

She wrote: “Society pushing the lie that there are multiple genders and everyone should be whatever they want to be is demonic and severely harms American youth.”

She grounded her argument in Genesis, explained God’s creation of male and female, and correctly defined ezer kenegdo as “a helper equal to man.”

In short, she used: Scripture, theology, linguistic analysis, and a historical ethical framework. That is a well-reasoned paper in the humanities. Except when the worldview is Christian.

The instructor’s response?

“Your reaction paper contradicts itself, uses personal ideology over empirical evidence, and is at times offensive.”

And then the tell: “Every major psychological, medical, pediatric, and psychiatric association acknowledges that sex and gender is neither binary nor fixed.”

This is false. No serious biology text claims human sex is nonbinary. Disorders of development exist, but disorders do not replace design.

The deeper problem stood out like a vegan at a Texas barbecue: The Bible does not count as evidence. Even if the rubric justified deductions, dismissing Scripture as “personal ideology” exposed the bias.

Quote Judith Butler or Michel Foucault, and the academy nods solemnly. Quote the Bible, and you lose points.

The modern university’s dogma is simple: The Bible is never admissible. Everything else is.

Christians have known this for decades and quietly self-censored to protect their grades and academic futures. Which raises the question: How did we arrive here?

How we got here

Hostility toward Christianity did not appear overnight. It grew slowly through deliberate gatekeeping. Hiring committees screened out conservatives, shaping departments where 90%-97% of faculty became ideological clones. Administrators learned to view biblical faith as bigotry. DEI offices began to enforce viewpoint discrimination while denying it.

Fair hiring does not produce a 97% monoculture. That is ideological capture.

Christians allowed it because they confused niceness with faithfulness. Niceness — a word that never appears in Scripture — is fear disguised as virtue. It keeps people quiet so they can stay liked.

The left used a strategy straight from Marx, who took it straight from the enemy (“devil,” meaning accuser): Accuse Christians of oppression; rewrite history so the West is defined by its sins, never its virtues; demonize Scripture and its adherents; and weaponize shame to silence dissent.

It worked — for a time. The spell is breaking.

No neutrality

Many Christians assumed universities were neutral. They aren’t. They never were.

Every institution aligns with one of two cities: “the City of God” and “the City of Man.”

The City of Man controls the universities. This is not hyperbole. Romans 1 describes it plainly.

Those who reject God do not become neutral observers. They become evangelists for a rival religion. That rival religion has doctrines:

The Bible is oppressive.Christianity is harmful.Gender is unlimited.Identity is self-created.The highest good is “authenticity.”The greatest sin is disagreement.

A new orthodoxy rules the campus, and the Oklahoma student violated it — praise God that she did.

Something has changed

Christian students are not taking the abuse quietly any more. They are speaking up. They are filing complaints. They are quoting Scripture openly in their assignments. And in this case, the university backed down. The instructors were removed.

Even on a left-dominated campus, viewpoint discrimination remains illegal — even if DEI treats it as sacred ritual.

If this continues, the monopoly may begin to break — maybe even by spring break.

RELATED: Why the kids are not all right — and Boomers still pretend nothing’s wrong

Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images

What you can do

As someone inside the system, here is my advice.

Follow those speaking publicly. We are few, but we are here — and we are not silent.

Equip your children. They will face hostility. They will be mocked. They will be graded down unless they can respond intelligently. Ask pointed questions on campus tours. Get administrators on record renouncing DEI discrimination — then hold them to it.

Consider alternatives. Trade schools, Christian colleges, apprenticeships, online programs — all viable. Many offer a serious education without forcing students through gender theory with Judith Butler 101. Seek professors who teach the great works with a biblical foundation.

Speak boldly. The gospel is not a whisper. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel,” the Apostle Paul writes in Romans, “for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.”

Christian students are rediscovering that courage. It is long past time the rest of us did, too.

​Christian students, Dei, Ou, Opinion & analysis, Higher education, Arizona state university, University of oklahoma, Gender ideology, Gender identity, Bible, Diversity equity inclusion, Judith butler, Michel foucault, Sex, Binary, Leftism, Bias, Christianity, Humanities, Psychology 

The women of “The View” appear to be “grasping at straws” when it comes to their hatred of Donald Trump — and their latest rant about the president has only made that crystal clear.

“His personal stuff, I could care less,” Goldberg began, before asking, “I want to know, what are you doing for us?”

“The president for everybody, but you haven’t been the president for anybody. You’ve been the president just for you,” she added.

“Well, the crypto guys, the people in prison he’s pardoned,” co-host Ana Navarro chimed in.

“But even the people he’s pardoning, he’s not connected to them. He said he was our president. He’s not our president,” Goldberg interjected.

“He’s a guy who likes to get butt-kissed. That’s what he is,” she added, to applause from the audience.

BlazeTV host Pat Gray, co-host Jeff Fisher, and executive producer Keith Malinak aren’t shocked by anything the women on “The View” say anymore.

“‘The people he’s pardoning, they’re not connected to him. What is he doing for us’ — he just pardoned that Democrat lawmaker, and then that guy turned around and said, ‘Yeah, I’m running,’” Malinak says.

“‘Yeah, thanks for pardoning me,’” Fisher mocks. “‘And you know what? I’m going to run for office as a Democrat.’”

“They can’t find a way to position that in a negative way. He just pardoned a Democrat, and so they’re grasping at any straw they possibly can to make it a negative,” Gray adds.

Want more from Pat Gray?

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​Camera phone, Upload, Video, Sharing, Free, Video phone, Youtube.com, Pat gray unleashed, Pat gray, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Whoopi goldberg, President trump, The view, Donald trump, Jeff fisher, Keith malinak, Trump pardons, The trump administration 

Officials at a North Carolina high school are being accused of violating a student’s constitutional rights over a tribute to Charlie Kirk that was called vandalism.

Gabby Stout told Fox News Digital that she called the school in September and asked if she could paint the patriotic tribute on the school’s “spirit rock.” The junior said officials at Ardrey Kell High School had authorized the tribute as long as it didn’t include political speech or vulgarity.

‘I was very intimidated and scared, as I had no idea what I did wrong or that I could be getting in trouble.’

Stout said she and two friends painted a heart on the large stone and added the messages, “Freedom 1776,” as well as, “Live Like Kirk — John 11:25.”

The school responded by painting over the rock and accusing Stout of vandalizing the rock. School officials also said they contacted law enforcement and an investigation was under way.

“If students were responsible for the vandalism, they may be disciplined,” reads a statement from the principal.

Stout said she was shocked by the school’s actions.

“I was completely shocked,” Stout said to Fox News Digital. “I was very intimidated and scared, as I had no idea what I did wrong or that I could be getting in trouble for simply sharing and expressing my views and beliefs.”

The school later announced that it was not an act of vandalism, Stout would face no disciplinary action, and there had not been a law enforcement investigation.

Stout said that she has faced health issues from the ostracization, alienation, and stress over the accusations. She claims to have received hateful messages that included, “Die like Kirk.”

The lawsuit was filed by Alliance Defending Freedom on behalf of Stout’s parents and accuses the school of violating her constitutional rights. They point out that the school had allowed other political statements before the Kirk tribute, including one for the “Black Lives Matter” movement.

“So they’ll facilitate that kind of left-wing student expression and not just facilitate it, but praise the students who participated,” ADF senior counsel Travis Barham said. “But let Gabby express a conservative or Christian view on the spirit rock, and criminal charges fly.”

RELATED: Liberals spew hatred against moment of silence for Charlie Kirk on Thursday Night Football

The lawsuit says she was targeted because of her beliefs.

“I don’t think it was fair what happened to me because of my beliefs or my views, which are religious and conservative,” she said. “This has never happened to another group that the school district or school has agreed with. I thought that I was going to get in trouble for sharing my views and my beliefs.”

The board declined to comment to Fox News Digital on the lawsuit.

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​Rock tribute, Ardrey kell high school, Gabby stout lawsuit, Charlie kirk tribute, Politics 

A 42-year-old male violently attacked an elderly woman in downtown Seattle last week, Seattle Police said.

Just before noon Friday, a number of citizens reported witnessing a male swinging a wooden stick with a metal screw at the end of it along 3rd Avenue and James Street, officials said.

‘He’ll be out in no time to strike again thanks to the Lunatic Leftists running Seattle and Washington State.’

Moments later, the male approached a woman waiting at the crosswalk at 3rd and James and swung the stick like a baseball bat, intentionally striking the woman in the face from behind, officials said.

With that, the victim fell backward to the ground with “a laceration that was bleeding heavily,” officials said, citing the police report.

Numerous bystanders came to the victim’s aid and called 911, officials said.

The Seattle Fire Department treated the 75-year-old woman for serious facial injuries, and paramedics transported her to Harborview Medical Center, where she underwent emergency surgery, officials said.

Even though the suspect walked away from the scene, an analyst with the Real Time Crime Center located the suspect and told officers where he was, officials said.

RELATED: 13-year-old punk accused of stealing woman’s purse, punching her, throwing her to ground; but he’s soon kissing concrete, too

Within five minutes of the assault, nearby deputies with the King County Sheriff’s Office found the suspect and detained him without incident, officials said.

Deputies transferred the suspect to Seattle police custody, officials said, adding that the suspect was arrested after Real Time Crime Center video of the attack was reviewed.

Officers booked him into the King County Jail for assault in the first degree, officials said, adding that police recovered the weapon as evidence.

Officials added that the suspect had been given a “Violent Person” caution and is a felon previously convicted for assault.

Commenters under KIRO-TV’s video report about the incident don’t appear to be holding out much hope that justice will prevail:

“He’ll be out in no time to strike again thanks to the Lunatic Leftists running Seattle and Washington State,” one commenter wrote.”What’s new,” another commenter wondered, adding that “it’s a third-world sewage dump.””Shocking,” another commenter added, with tongue firmly in cheek. “Failed policies don’t work no matter how you feel about them.”

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​Arrest, Elderly victim, Elderly woman, Physical attack, Police, Seattle, Stick, Weapon, Metal screw, Felon, Previous assault conviction, Crime 

After sitting back as billions of taxpayer dollars from his state went to Somalia, President Trump called Minnesota Democrat Governor Tim Walz the forbidden R-word — and Walz is now fuming. But Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck is looking at the cold hard facts regarding Trump’s brutal statement.

“I also have a problem with a guy who, you know, surrounds himself with people who call the president a Nazi. I don’t know which one’s worse — Nazi or retarded,” Glenn says on “The Glenn Beck Program.”

“Yeah, Nazis were really bad. That’s actually a pretty serious accusation. Fascist is another one, pretty serious accusation. … That is exactly the reason he was on the ticket, is because he was name-calling other people and calling them weird,” BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere agrees.

“It’s his only qualification, outside of he’s, you know, massively inept and corrupt and all the other things that would, of course, qualify him to be on a Democratic ticket. But outside of that, the only reason he stood out from all the other loser Democrats was that he said the word ‘weird’ on TV once,” he continues.

But perhaps Walz’s most egregious political fault is his inability to look at the Somalian population in Minnesota with a discerning eye — especially after the mass fraud that went on directly under his nose.

And instead of taking on the fraud that he let happen, he’s focusing on the “danger” of President Trump’s name-calling.

“This creates danger. And I’ll tell you what, in my time on this, I’d never seen this before. People driving by my house and using the R-word in front of people. This is shameful. And I have yet to see an elected official, a Republican elected official, say, ‘You’re right, that’s shameful. He should not say it,’” Walz said.

“So, look, I’m worried. We know how these things go. They start with taunts. They turn to violence. So, deeply concerned,” he added.

“Founder of the taunt of ‘weird’ thinks that that taunt could lead to violence. That’s so strange,” Stu comments, laughing.

Meanwhile, the “Nazi” and “fascist” name-calling directed at President Trump and Charlie Kirk has resulted in very real violence — which unfortunately ended in the passing of Kirk this September.

“But it’s the R-word being yelled at Tim Walz when … he waddles out to get his mail — that’s the thing we’re supposed to be concerned about,” Stu says.

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​Camera phone, Upload, Video, Sharing, Free, Video phone, Youtube.com, The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Tim walz, R word, President trump, Nazi, Fascist, Charlie kirk, Left name calling, Somalian fraud, Minnesota fraud, Tim walz r word 

Netflix has announced a new spin on an old fairy tale, but many on social media find the idea cliche at best — and nefarious at worst.

“Steps” will portray the evil stepsisters from the Cinderella tale as the good guys, turning the story on its head. Comedienne Ali Wong and actress Stephanie Hsu will voice the stepsisters.

‘The persistent theme in animation today is that villains are just misunderstood.’

“I wanted to create a film for everyone who has ever felt like they didn’t belong — and show how a single act of kindness can change everything,” co-director Alyce Tzue said about the film.

While some are looking forward to the movie release, others suggested there was a sinister motive at work in movies portraying misunderstood villains.

“The persistent theme in animation today is that villains are just misunderstood and sometimes demons are the good guys. Consider whom this narrative benefits and why,” BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey responded.

Others agreed that the theme seems to downplay the presence of evil in the world.

“It’s also terrible writing and lazy storytelling. Are they no longer capable of writing new stories? Why is everything lately a remake or recycled material? It’s so boring and unoriginal,” author Jennifer Greenberg responded.

“Subversion is supposed to be a seasoning, not a food group,” another user joked.

“Cinderella’s stepsisters as ‘misunderstood angels’? Netflix’s woke rewrite turns villains into victims. Ali Wong’s snark can’t save this fairy-tale felony. 2026 trash fire,” another detractor said.

“Lol, sounds terrible. But I’d totally love my granddaughters thinking evil villains are just misunderstood. Netflix should do a show making Adolph [sic] Hitler sympathetic too,” another response reads.

RELATED: Netflix CEO defends Dave Chappelle against left-wing outrage: ‘Used to be a very liberal issue’

“Cant [sic] villains just be villains anymore? What next? Satan was sweet and actually misunderstood?” another user joked.

“Steps” is produced by actress Amy Poehler and is slated for a 2026 release.

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​Netflix movie, Misunderstood villain, Allie beth stuckey show, Online backlash, Politics 

Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota boldly argues that the real reason his political opponents focus so much on him is not because of bad policy, but because of his overwhelming masculinity.

The failed vice presidential candidate joined fellow Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California to discuss the “toxicity” in masculinity. In a clip of a March episode of “This Is Gavin Newsom” that circulated on social media this week, the California Democrat argued that this “toxicity” needs to be disentangled from masculinity, while Walz proudly exclaimed that his masculinity was simply too much for his political rivals to handle.

‘I’m serious!’

“This notion of toxicity in masculinity needs to be separated,” Newsom said. “And I think it’s been conflated. And I think we’re going to have to work on that a little bit.”

Newsom began to describe the Democratic Party’s regression among demographics like young men. But before Newsom could prescribe an antidote to the Democrats’ loss with male voters, Walz chimed in to suggest that those who criticize him and some of his fellow male Democrats feel threatened by their masculinity.

RELATED: ‘Very low-IQ person’: Jasmine Crockett launches Senate campaign with funny video that may give the GOP the last laugh

Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images

“I think some of us scare them,” Walz replied. “I think I scare them a little bit. That’s why they spend so much time on me.”

Newsom erupted in laughter at the notion that Walz’s masculinity was alienating young men from the Democratic Party.

“No, I’m serious!” Walz said. “Because I can fix a truck, they know I’m not bulls**tting on this.”

RELATED: Tim Walz tries gaslighting Americans again — this time about Trump’s ‘garbage’ remark

Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images

“I’m not putting this in people’s grill,” Walz said. “My identity is not hunting. My identity is not football coaching. My identity is not, you know, a beard and a truck.”

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A Democratic Georgia state politician was indicted by a grand jury for alleged fraud related to pandemic unemployment she received.

State Representative Sharon Henderson is accused of fraudulently receiving nearly $18K after claiming to have worked as a substitute teacher in 2020. Prosecutors said she had not worked the job since 2018.

‘Politicians who violate the public trust and steal from the needy to enrich themselves will be held accountable.’

She allegedly claimed to have lost wages as a substitute at Henry County Schools because of the pandemic closures and submitted eight weekly certifications that were false.

The Democrat was arrested Monday.

Henderson is charged with two counts of theft of government funds and 10 counts of making false statements.

“It is shocking that a public official would allegedly lie to profit from an emergency program designed to help suffering community members,” reads a statement from U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “Politicians who violate the public trust and steal from the needy to enrich themselves will be held accountable.”

She is expected to plead not guilty.

Henderson’s profile at the Georgia legislature website said she previously served as a pastor of the New Bethel Love Center in Summerville, South Carolina. She is married to a pastor, and they have four children.

RELATED: NC Dem used pandemic loan to throw herself lavish 50th birthday party, prosecutors say

“Sharon Henderson allegedly chose greed over compassion by fraudulently obtaining funds meant to help those in need, some in her own Georgia House district,” said FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Paul Brown.

Henderson was first elected to the legislature in 2020 and was re-elected twice since then.

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President Donald Trump has angered the left yet again, this time by calling Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and her Somalian friends “garbage.”

“Ilhan Omar is garbage — her friends are garbage,” he said.

“When they come from hell and they complain and do nothing but bitch, we don’t want them in our country. Let them go back to where they came from and fix it,” he said during his ninth cabinet meeting of 2025.

And Somalian immigrants are not happy.

“The Somali are so pissed off about President Trump calling Somalian criminals garbage that they’re, you know, respectfully pushing back and taking the high road, I guess,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales comments on “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered.”

“And well, no, actually, they’re not, because they’re literally peeing on President Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which, as it turns out, is just proving his point,” she says, showing a video on social media of an immigrant proudly doing just that.

“Do you know who would do that? A garbage individual,” she adds.

But Somalians aren’t just peeing on Trump’s star to prove their non-garbage state.

They’re also explicitly laying out their plans to take over the United States because, as Gonzales points out, “they never intended to come here to assimilate and become American.”

“My biggest fear in life is that this man may never witness our full takeover,” a man said in a video posted to TikTok under the account name @boqol562. “Yes, he may never witness that. He already witnessed our partial takeover, our little success in America. He’s old and sick, I know. He may not witness our full takeover, but I promise you that his sons will witness, just like him.”

“We came to exist in this country. See? The land of free men, the land of opportunities. And we’re here. Yes. And we’re not leaving, actually. We’re not going back,” he added while holding a picture of Donald Trump.

“The arrogance and the entitlement,” Gonzales comments, disturbed. “‘We’re here. We’re not going back.’ I mean, you are if we say you are. Denaturalization is a thing if you don’t hold up your end of the bargain, which it doesn’t sound like any of you guys are.”

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement is locking up more pedophiles and violent criminals as the Department of Homeland Security launches a new “worst of the worst” searchable website.

A press release obtained exclusively by Blaze News highlighted the Monday arrests of five criminal illegal aliens.

‘This is all about transparency and showing results.’

“Americans may be busy with Christmas parties and shopping, but the mission to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens never stops — and neither does ICE law enforcement,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated.

“Every day, our law enforcement are removing the worst of the worst from across our nation,” McLaughlin continued. “Just yesterday, ICE arrested pedophiles, armed robbers, and drug traffickers. Thanks to our new website, Americans can see for themselves the criminal illegal aliens that we are arresting and removing from their communities.”

ICE nabbed Juan Aucenjio-Natalio, a Mexican national who was previously convicted in Fort Bend County, Texas, for indecency with a child by exposure.

RELATED: Illinois, Gov. Pritzker have released almost 1,800 violent illegal aliens back onto the streets in defiance of ICE, DHS says

Juan Aucenjio-Natalio. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

Federal agents captured Phathana Phouthavong, an illegal alien from Laos who was convicted of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Phathana Phouthavong. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

Immigration officials also arrested Ernesto Leonardo Mercado-Mejia, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador. He was previously found guilty of assault with a deadly weapon and carrying a concealed weapon in Santa Maria, California.

Ernesto Leonardo Mercado-Mejia. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

Salvador Flores-Castellenos, a Mexican national, was convicted of robbery and assault with a firearm in Fresno, California.

Salvador Flores-Castellenos. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

ICE agents also captured Miguel Angel Rodriguez-Ramos, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who was convicted of selling cocaine in Randolph County, North Carolina.

RELATED: Exclusive: ICE arrests criminal illegal alien who allegedly operated shady unlicensed dental clinic

Miguel Angel Rodriguez-Ramos. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

The agency’s recent arrests coincide with the launch of wow.dhs.gov, a webpage that highlights the “worst of the worst” criminal illegal aliens nabbed by federal immigration officials since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January. The website provides their names as well as their country of origin, arrest location, and prior arrests and convictions. Users can search for arrests by both country of origin and state.

The DHS announced the new searchable website on Monday.

“This new worst of the worst webpage allows every American to see for themselves the criminal illegal aliens that we are arresting, what crimes they committed, and what communities we removed them from. This is all about transparency and showing results,” McLaughlin said.

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The creator of ICEBlock, an iPhone app that allows users to report sightings of federal immigration agents, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Monday over alleged violations of free speech.

The app’s website describes ICEBlock as “an innovative, completely anonymous, crowdsourced platform that allows users to report Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity with just two taps on their phone.”

‘ICE tracking apps put the lives of the men and women of law enforcement in danger as they go after terrorists, vicious gangs, and violent criminal rings.’

In the lawsuit, the app’s creator, Joshua Aaron, admitted that he created the program in response to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement crackdown. Aaron claimed that he feared President Donald Trump’s “incendiary rhetoric about immigration would lead to aggressive, indiscriminate enforcement of immigration laws, exposing immigrants and citizens alike to violence and rampant violations of their civil liberties.”

“Aaron was right,” the lawsuit contended.

Aaron’s complaint accused the Trump administration of retaliation, threats, and false claims, citing comments from several federal officials, including Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who said the app “looks like obstruction of justice,” and Attorney General Pam Bondi, who said it was “not protected speech.”

RELATED: House Democrats’ ICE ‘tracker’ will ‘put our lives in danger’: DHS agent

Photo by John Moore/Getty Images

“[Aaron] believes that speech about publicly observed law and immigration enforcement activity — the expression enabled by ICEBlock — lies at the heart of the interests the First Amendment was intended to protect,” the complaint read. “The Bill of Rights — including the First Amendment — was crafted precisely to safeguard the People’s ability to question authority, expose governmental abuse, and hold public officials accountable: a reflection of the founders’ belief that an informed and vocal citizenry is the ultimate guardian of liberty.”

The suit alleged that the app was ultimately removed from Apple’s App Store because of pressure from the Trump administration.

RELATED: ICE locks up pedophiles, other violent illegal aliens as DHS launches ‘worst of the worst’ searchable site

Photographer: Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images

“ICE tracking apps put the lives of the men and women of law enforcement in danger as they go after terrorists, vicious gangs, and violent criminal rings. Our law officers are facing more than a 1,150% increase in assaults against them and an 8,000% increase in death threats,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement provided to Blaze News.

“But, of course, the media spins this correct decision for Apple to remove these apps as them caving to pressure instead of preventing further bloodshed and stopping law enforcement from getting killed,” McLaughlin added.

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Opponents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations are thrilled over a viral video showing a priest publicly condemning ICE agents from his church.

The priest stands defiantly outside of a church bellowing against ICE and mocking President Donald Trump before his supporters applaud and clap at his speech.

‘I don’t know what god you worship, maybe an orange one, but my God is love! Now go and don’t come back!’

And it’s completely fake.

“You’re not welcome here, not today, and not on this church! I don’t know what god you worship, maybe an orange one, but my God is love!” the priest yells. “Now go, and don’t come back!”

The post was published Dec. 1 and has garnered tens of thousands of views, but it depicts events that never happened and are generated by artificial intelligence, according to PolitiFact.

The user who posted the video apparently sells courses on how to make money with AI content on social media. That user has also posted numerous videos with a similar script on several platforms, including Facebook and TikTok.

PolitiFact said AI-detecting software indicated the video was “99.9% likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content.”

One version of the priest AI video was published on PolitiFact’s YouTube channel. A separate version with the same script was posted to the X platform as well.

RELATED: Los Angeles Democrats vote to ban ICE from using masks — DOJ issues defiant response

While that video is fake, there are some liberal church leaders who have used their religious platforms to protest against immigration. The Lake Street Church of Evanston in Illinois created a Nativity scene in which the baby Jesus was put in zip ties to depict him as being hunted by ICE.

In another protest from Saint Susanna Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts, the Nativity scene is empty, and a sign reads, “ICE was here,” implying that they dragged away the holy family. The Boston archdiocese has called for its removal, but the church is resisting.

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A Catholic church’s Nativity display criticizing the administration’s immigration policies was ordered to be removed by the Boston Archdiocese, but church leaders are trying to stall the decision.

The Saint Susanna Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts, has displayed an empty Nativity scene with a sign reading, “ICE was here,” implying that the biblical figures were dragged away for detention. There’s also a sign with a phone number people can call if they spot an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.

‘Any divisiveness is a reflection of our polarized society, much of which originates with the changing, unjust policies and laws of the current United States administration.’

Fr. Stephen Josoma said the scene is supposed to protest the poor treatment of immigrants in his community.

“That some do not agree with our message does not render our display sacrilegious, or as the cause of any scandal to the faithful,” the church pastor claimed. “Any divisiveness is a reflection of our polarized society, much of which originates with the changing, unjust policies and laws of the current United States administration.”

However, the Archdiocese of Boston has ordered it to be shut down over rules against politicizing sacred objects.

“The people of God have the right to expect that when they come to church they will encounter genuine opportunities for prayer and Catholic worship, not divisive political messaging,” read a statement from the archdiocese.

“The church’s norms prohibit the use of sacred objects for any purpose other than the devotion of God’s people,” the archdiocese added. “Regarding the recent incident, St. Susanna Parish neither requested nor received permission from the Archdiocese to depart from this canonical norm or to place a politically divisive display outside the church. The display should be removed, and the manger restored to its proper sacred purpose.”

Josoma said he wants to meet with Archbishop Richard Henning before deciding whether to follow the order.

Church parishioner Jeannie Connerney told WHDH-TV that she believed the order was not in line with statements from higher Catholic leaders criticizing the president’s immigration policies.

“The pope has condemned ICE. The American bishops have condemned ICE. I don’t know why the Archdiocese is against them,” she said.

This is not the first time the church has politicized its Nativity scene to oppose immigration policies.

RELATED: City officials back down after rejecting Nativity display at Christmas farmers’ market

In 2018, members put the baby Jesus in a cage and closed off the wise men behind a wall. Josoma said at the time it wasn’t necessarily against the Trump administration and instead referred to it as “gospel activism.”

A similar Nativity scene has been set up outside of an Illinois church, where the baby Jesus had zip ties on his hands and centurions were depicted as ICE agents, even though the gospels make no mention of Roman centurions at the manger in Bethlehem.

“It’s really important how we treat our neighbors because we find out if you read the Gospels, how we treat our neighbors is how we are treating Jesus,” said Rev. Dr. Michael Woolf of Lake Street Church of Evanston.

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Before the Magna Carta, the King of England was the law. After, he was under the law. It created the principle of due process, habeas corpus protection from arbitrary arrest, and limited taxation without consent.

“Rule of law, jury trials, rights of the accused, limits on government, protection of property, accountability of leaders — all of that comes from the Magna Carta,” Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck explains on “The Glenn Beck Program.”

“That gave birth, 500 years later, to us and our ideas,” he says.

However, now all of that is changing.

“The birthplace of the Magna Carta is now thinking about getting rid of jury trials and arresting more than 12,000 people every year for what they call speech crimes — 12,000,” Glenn says.

“In 2023, Russia arrested 4,000 people for speech crimes against the Russian military for Ukraine — 4,000 in Russia, 12,000 in England. The number I saw, and we don’t have all the numbers, but the number I saw that were arrested for speech crimes in China was 120,” he continues.

“Not for violence, not for theft, not for treason — 12,000 in England for words,” he adds.

But it gets worse, as the prime minister is “floating the idea of eliminating” most jury trials.

“It’ll only be for murder, manslaughter, oh, and something else like that,” Glenn says.

“This goes against the Magna Carta, the lawful judgment of your peers. OK? That is the safeguard that stands between you and an out-of-control state. This is the first and ancient firewall against tyranny. It is what makes England, England,” he continues.

“And if England, of all places, tosses that aside, what does the word ‘free’ mean anymore? OK? What does it mean? You can’t speak, and you have no jury trial of your peers. Wait, what?” he says.

“First of all, understand this: A nation that polices speech is not free. A nation that dissolves juries is not just unfree; it’s prepping for something worse, because the entire architecture of the Western world, the liberty that we have, rests on a single radical belief,” he says, adding, “The truth does not need a king.”

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While Republicans may have suffered some defeats in the elections last month, one Republican with a proven track record is tossing his hat into the ring in New York.

On Tuesday, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman announced that he will be running for New York governor in 2026, challenging Democrat incumbent Kathy Hochul.

‘I am ready to take on Kathy Hochul and fight for our families.’

“It is official. I am running for Governor of New York. Our state is struggling with high taxes, rising utility bills, and rising crime. New Yorkers deserve a proven leader who will Put New York First,” Blakeman announced in a Tuesday morning post.

“New York needs leadership that works. I am ready to take on Kathy Hochul and fight for our families,” Blakeman added.

RELATED: Trump slams Hochul’s endorsement of ‘communist’ Mamdani: ‘No reason to be sending good money’

Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Blakeman’s announcement video touted his ties to President Trump as well as his successful track record as Nassau County executive. Blakeman’s wins include Nassau County being named the safest county in America and the successful ban of males in girls’ sports.

Kathy Hochul and her team offered a variety of responses to Blakeman’s announcement.

“Bruce Blakeman is another MAGA cheerleader running to do Donald Trump’s bidding in New York — and raise your costs. Not on my watch,” Hochul said on her personal X account.

“Meet Bootlicker Blakeman, #1 fan of Trump’s expensive tariffs. 100% MAGA, 0% committed to fighting for New York,” Hochul’s team said above an attack video on X.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) previously announced her candidacy as well.

According to Fox News, Stefanik’s campaign said of Blakeman’s announcement: “Public polling has repeatedly shown Elise Stefanik leads Blakeman by 70% in a primary, including beating him soundly on Long Island. Elise is the strongest candidate against Kathy Hochul by a long shot.”

Trump has previously praised both Stefanik and Blakeman for their work in New York, so it is unclear who will ultimately gain his endorsement.

“I don’t think the president has to make a decision now. Let’s see how it plays out,” Blakeman said in an interview on “Fox & Friends.”

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Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) ratified legislation in January 2023 prohibiting health care providers from providing sex-altering surgeries or drugs to minors.

The law, which enraged gender ideologues and other non-straight activists, also required the Utah Department of Health and Human Services to conduct a “systematic review of the medical evidence regarding hormonal transgender treatments and provide recommendations to the Legislature.”

The HHS’ statutorily mandated review, which was completed last year then submitted in May 2025 to the legislature, painted the ruinous trans-drugs — which are also used to sterilize sex offenders — in a positive light, characterizing them as “effective.”

According to a damning new report from the medical advocacy group Do No Harm, however, the Utah review — which was conducted on behalf of the HHS by the University of Utah College of Pharmacy’s Drug Regimen Review Center — “is filled with falsehoods and serves as an aid to push harmful medical interventions as the answer to minors’ confusion, all while blatantly ignoring the associated risks.”

‘Utah legislators must not rely on a report that clearly undermines the safety and well-being of minors.’

While the executive summary for the review states that the HHS “does not take a position on whether to lift the moratorium” and the authors were not contracted to include a synthesis of the evidence they came across, the over-1,000-page review nevertheless delivers what is effectively an endorsement of sex-altering drugs for minors:

After having spent many months searching for, reading, and evaluating the available literature, it was impossible for us to avoid drawing some high-level conclusions. Namely, the consensus of the evidence supports that the treatments are effective in terms of mental health, psychosocial outcomes, and the induction of the body changes consistent with the affirmed gender in pediatric GD patients. The evidence also supports that the treatments are safe in terms of changes to bone density, cardiovascular risk factors, metabolic changes, and cancer.

Do No Harm indicated that the Utah review “deviates from established standards for systematic reviews, emphasizes the volume of evidence over its quality, relies uncritically on guidelines from self-proclaimed experts, neglects significant life-altering adverse effects, and includes input from advisers, some of whom demonstrate bias in favor of ‘gender-affirming care’ for minors.”

RELATED: ‘Not medicine — it’s malpractice’: Trump HHS buries child sex-change regime with damning report

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Do No Harm noted, for instance, that the review glossed over some of the worst, most life-changing effects of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists, known as “puberty blockers,” and cross-sex hormones — namely infertility, sterility, and sexual dysfunction. While admitting that “infertility is a known risk,” the authors of the review didn’t bother including it as an outcome of focus in their report. The risk of sexual dysfunction, meanwhile, was apparently not mentioned once.

Extra to leaning heavily on low-quality scientific literature, much of which was observational and not trial-based, the review may have also been ideologically contaminated. After all, among the advisers who consulted on the project were Nikki Mihalopoulos, chief of the division of adolescent medicine for the department of pediatrics at the University of Utah School of Medicine, and Brooks Keeshin, a professor of pediatrics at the university. Both have written positively about “gender-affirming care” for minors in recent years.

Mihalopoulos co-authored a 2021 paper that stated, “Pediatric health care providers can play a critical role in building solutions in policy and advocacy … to improve the health of transgender/gender diverse youth. Many government entities, especially at the state and local level, actively resist efforts promoting equal rights.”

Keeshin wrote in an article published last year that “as states pass adolescent bans on gender-affirming care across the country, Utah offers a potential pathway forward in restrictive states to help maintain or open access to care.” Keeshin also suggested that some adolescents could benefit from radical sex-rejecting medical interventions.

Do No Harm concluded on the basis of these and other issues with the review that Utah lawmakers are better off turning to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ thorough and peer-reviewed report, which was released last month.

The federal HHS’ report underscored that “the harms from sex-rejecting procedures — including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgical operations — are significant, long-term, and too often ignored or inadequately tracked.”

Michelle Havrilla, Do No Harm’s director of programs, said in a statement, “This Utah Report is unreliable, unscientific, and fails to meet the standards of a systematic review.”

“The Report’s inaccuracies and bias diminish its credibility and allow left-wing activists to weaponize it for their political machinations. Utah legislators must not rely on a report that clearly undermines the safety and well-being of minors,” added Havrilla.

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Several of Apple’s top executives have left the company, and another is signaling he may jump ship.

It took just four days for four of Apple’s C-suite executives to file their resignations from the company, with three of them announcing their retirements.

‘Our approach is to help advocates leading the charge for change in Black, Hispanic/Latinx, and Indigenous communities.’

John Giannandrea, Apple’s head of machine learning and AI strategy, announced his retirement last week, with 9to5 Mac relaying that he will serve as an adviser before his full retirement in spring of 2026.

Jumping silicon ships

Giannandrea’s departure from the company’s AI department may be the canary in the coal mine and certainly points to a strategy shift moving forward. For example, several outlets, including Fortune, have repeatedly noted that Apple is fumbling and stumbling in terms of AI integration, causing employees to leave for more generous packages from competitors.

This includes design executive Alan Dye — who helped create Apple’s Vision Pro headset, iPhone X, and Apple Watch — leaving the company to join Meta.

At the same time, Johny Srouji, senior vice president of hardware technologies, also allegedly told CEO Tim Cook he is considering leaving Apple. Srouji allegedly said that if he does leave, it will likely be to go work for another company.

RELATED: Here’s how to get the most annoying new update off of your iPhone

Photo by Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch

Retirement party

In addition to Giannandrea’s retirement, Kate Adams, Apple’s general counsel, and Lisa Jackson, vice president for environment, policy, and social initiatives, are also both retiring.

As reported by NBC News, Adams has been in charge of the Apple’s legal team as it has faced increased litigation, particularly around the iPhone App Store.

Jackson is known for her social justice approach, advancing the company’s “equity” efforts across the world — a word that was mentioned 77 times in a 2023 Racial Equity and Justice Initiative report. “Justice” appeared 107 times in the Apple document.

“Across the board, our approach is to help advocates leading the charge for change in Black, Hispanic/Latinx, and Indigenous communities. Our goal is to amplify their voices, never to substitute our own,” Jackson wrote in the report’s foreword.

NBC News claimed Jackson’s job had lost relevance under Trump’s second administration, due to the lack of focus on race politics.

RELATED: India surpasses China in Apple exports to US, up 240% from last year

Photo by Pedro Fiúza/NurPhoto via Getty Images

AI initiative

The Guardian, among others, reported that Apple has been lagging behind others in terms of rolling out its generative AI features, predominantly those intertwined with Siri.

Apple has been promising an AI-focused upgrade to Siri for more than a year but has postponed the release due to not reaching its “high-quality bar,” according to Craig Federighi, Apple’s vice president of software engineering.

Cook also said in an earnings call that the company was “making good progress on a more personalized Siri” and hopes to release it in 2026.

Amar Subramanya, Giannandrea’s replacement, is expected to fill the gaps needed around AI advancement, having previously served as the corporate vice president of AI at Microsoft. He also worked at Google as the head of engineering for Google Gemini.

“Subramanya brings a wealth of experience to Apple,” the company wrote in a press release. “His deep expertise in both AI and ML research and in integrating that research into products and features will be important to Apple’s ongoing innovation and future Apple Intelligence features.”

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