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House Republicans are setting up a vote next week on legislation aimed at keeping biological males out of girls’ and women’s sports at colleges, universities and public schools across the nation.

The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act was introduced by Rep. Greg Steube, a Florida Republican who says it's time to "save women's sports" from biological males who have "no place" competing against women.

The vote comes as the debate over transgender rights and the effect of those rights on American culture continue to stoke controversy. Just last week, NCAA champion swimmer and Independent Women’s Forum spokesperson Riley Gaines was assaulted by protesters at San Francisco State University as she argued against transgender female athletes being allowed to compete against biological female athletes.

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Gaines said she supported Steube’s bill when he introduced it this year.

"As an athlete who has experienced the injustice of competing against a male firsthand, I'm grateful for the leadership of Representative Steube," Gaines wrote. "He has made it clear that he will fight for fairness, privacy, and safety for girls and women in sports."

Under Steube’s bill, educational institutions that receive Title IX funding from the federal government would not be allowed to "permit a person whose sex is male to participate in an athletic program or activity that is designed for women or girls."

The bill says that the sex of an athlete would be recognized only by their "reproductive biology and genetics at birth." The legislation would allow transgender female athletes to train or practice in a girls’ athletic program, but only if no biological female athlete is deprived of a roster spot.

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Steube said his bill is needed to fight back against an invasion of "woke" policies across the country that go against the spirit of Title IX, which was meant to encourage women’s sports.

"The policies of the woke, progressive Left have invaded schools and campuses across America," Steube wrote in March. "Allowing biological males on women’s sports teams and in their locker rooms creates an unfair competitive environment for female athletes."

"Americans deserve the opportunity to see where their elected representatives stand on this incredibly important issue," he added. "I look forward to voting in favor of this legislation to save women’s sports on the House floor very soon."

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The legislation has already split Congress as Democrats have made it clear that most or all of them will oppose the bill on the floor. The House Education and Workforce Committee approved the legislation in a 25-17 vote – every Republican voted for it, and only Democrats voted against it.

Republicans argued that the Biden administration is harming women’s athletics not just by supporting participation by transgender women but by seeking a change to Title IX that would cement the idea that athletic programs must allow transgender athletes to participate in the sport that matches their gender identity.

The House Education and Workforce Committee approved the bill along with a report on the measure that says attempts to allow transgender women to play alongside biological women erodes the purpose of Title IX.

"Allowing men to compete in women’s athletic activities undermines the progress made by women and girls since Title IX’s enactment and uses a groundbreaking antidiscrimination statute to discriminate against the very people it was designed to protect," the report said.

House GOP leaders are allowing all members to propose amendments to the bill, which must be submitted by this week in order to be considered.

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., took to Twitter Sunday afternoon to double down on her belief that the Biden administration should "simply ignore" a federal court's injunction on a popular abortion pill. She also defended her push to impeach Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

In a series of tweets, Ocasio-Cortez said the ruling was "judicial overreach" as it forces the executive branch to limit the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone. She also said judges who "repeatedly break the law" should face impeachment, without specifically naming Thomas.

"If we do not impeach when lifetime appointees repeatedly break the law in stunning shows of corruption, if we do not reign in [the] systematic abuse of judicial overreach, and if all we rely on is for those abusing power to police themselves, we have no one else to blame," AOC said on Twitter. "It must stop."

The New York Democrat said the branches of government differ in function and that Biden’s executive authority allows him to dictate how the ruling should be enforced – or not.

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She also likened the current situation to the Trump administration’s inaction on restoring the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy after a court ordered him to do so.

"GOP are losing their mind over this, but there’s precedent - including their own. Courts ordered Trump to fully restore DACA. They ignored it w/ Republican support," she wrote.

The Democratic lawmaker added: "GOP operate in complete contempt for the law until they’re in a position to shred Constitutional & human rights."

In another tweet, she added: "It’s called agency non-acquiescence. The courts are now going rogue with rulings that no longer even pretend to respect precedent, jurisprudence, or limits to overreach. They are long overdue for a check & balance. Not doing so paves a dangerous road of worsening abuse of power."

AOC’s comments echoed those she shared during an interview Sunday with CNN’s Dana Bash, where she said there was an "extraordinary amount of precedent for this."

"It has happened before, the idea of consistency and governance until there is a higher court ruling," she told Bash, adding that it's "not an unprecedented thing to happen."

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On Friday, U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Texas Matthew J. Kacsmaryk directed the Food and Drug Administration to halt the approval of mifepristone while a lawsuit challenging its safety and approval made its way through court.

The ruling and subsequent suspension will take effect in seven days if a higher court, such as the U.S. Supreme Court, does not issue a stay.

During the weekend interview, the New York lawmaker said she did not think Judge Kacsmaryk or any of the courts have the authority to dictate the actions of the FDA.

"I think one of the things that we need to examine is the grounds of that ruling. But I do not believe that the courts have the authority over the FDA that they just asserted, and I do believe that it creates a crisis," Ocasio-Cortez said.

Separately, Ocasio-Cortez is also pushing to impeach Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who she accused of "repeatedly breaking the law" after an investigation found he shared a yearslong friendship with Harlan Crow, a billionaire donor and real estate developer.

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ProPublica found Thomas took several trips and received lavish gifts from Crow without disclosing them. Thomas subsequently admitted to receiving the "personal hospitality" but defended such behavior as "not reportable."

On Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez said Thomas' position on the court was an "emergency" and said he should be impeached.

The "Squad" member doubled down on her claim during Friday’s interview, after the host asked her to respond to Thomas’ statement defending his actions.

"He stated the reason and the rationale for this exemption was personal hospitality from an old friend. He said himself, in his statement, a friend of 25 years. Justice Thomas has been on the court for 30 years. What he is admitting in his statement, in an attempt to defend himself, is he began this relationship with a billionaire and received these sorts of gifts after he was appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States," Ocasio-Cortez said.

She added: "I think that in and of itself indicates a very serious problem."

The New Yorker also called for Chief Justice John Roberts to come forward and explain whether he was aware and if he allowed the "corruption" to continue.

Ocasio-Cortez said the house was not in session this week, so she would use the time to strategize, but said she may ultimately be the one to introduce impeachment articles against Thomas.

Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.

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EXCLUSIVE: Two former U.S. ambassadors are sounding the alarm on the increasing number of green energy projects nationwide being developed with the involvement of Chinese companies.

Former U.S. Ambassadors Peter Hoekstra and Joseph Cella said Chinese companies, which are subject to strict Chinese laws, have made a concerted effort to take advantage of U.S. green energy goals. The companies, they said, are exploiting American tax incentives to build facilities and projects in the U.S., bolstering Chinese industry and ensuring continued U.S. reliance on technology from China.

"It'd be very ironic if we moved towards electric vehicles to the numbers that the Biden administration is talking about and the key component comes from China," Hoekstra, who served as U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands from 2018 until 2021, told Fox News Digital in an interview. "That is a terrible, terrible place to be."

"Right now electric vehicle sales are about 3 to 5% of new automobile sales," he continued. "Now is the time for the U.S. to establish its own capabilities rather than increasing reliance on an unreliable and a threatening adversary."

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Hoekstra added that China's dominance throughout the green energy supply chain, from developing critical mineral mines in Africa to building battery components, exhibits intentionality that is "very perilous not only for our national security, but our economic security and prosperity as well."

Earlier this year, Hoekstra, who also previously chaired the House Intelligence Committee, established the Michigan-China Economic and Security Review Group, a watchdog group devoted to reviewing Chinese economic investments across the country with a particular focus on Michigan. Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer boasted last month that her administration has recently attracted $16.6 billion worth of electric vehicle (EV) and battery projects to the state.

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Cella — who served as the U.S. ambassador to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tuvalu, and Tonga from 2019 until 2021 — joined Hoekstra's group as a director.

Together, Hoekstra and Cella have specifically called attention to two EV battery plant projects proposed for Michigan. The first, slated for Big Rapids, Michigan, involves the Hefei, China-based Gotion High-Tech while the second, proposed for Marshall, Michigan, involves the Ningde, China-based Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL).

"Subnational incursions are afoot," Cella told Fox News Digital in an interview. "China is on the hunt. The Chinese Communist Party is on the hunt. They are looking for these open doors to kick in, in states. And they have carried great sway. You just need to look at Gotion or CATL — textbook examples of this influence operation."

The former ambassadors said, altogether, the Whitmer administration has promised about $4 billion in tax incentives and infrastructure improvements to facilitate the construction of the Gotion factory and the second facility, a Ford Motor factory which CATL has promised to provide key technology for.

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"The details of the business relationship between CATL and Gotion are different," Hoekstra said. "But the bottom line is we are enriching the Chinese battery industry at the expense of providing the opportunity for American or companies in our allied countries to expand and grow their business."

In October, Whitmer announced that Gotion would invest $2.4 billion to construct two 550,000 square-foot production plants along with other supporting facilities spanning 260 acres in northern Michigan. She applauded the proposal, saying it would shore up Michigan's status as the" global hub of mobility and electrification."

However, Republican lawmakers and local leaders have increased scrutiny on Gotion's proposal, pointing to its Chinese ownership and ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The corporate bylaws of Gotion High-Tech, whose California-based subsidiary Gotion proposed the Michigan plant, requires the company to "carry out Party activities in accordance with the Constitution of the Communist Party of China."

Amid massive uproar from locals who have expressed concern about a CCP-affiliated company building a factory nearby, Gotion put its plans on hold in February. On Wednesday, Gotion leaders and local officials held a virtual public roundtable in an attempt to assuage the concerns.

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"There is no communist plot within Gotion to make Big Rapids a center to spread communism," Chuck Thelen, Gotion’s vice president of North American operations, said during the event, MLive reported.

Ahead of the event, though, Hoekstra and Cella penned a letter to Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew Olsen and the Department of Justice's Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) Unit. They asked Olsen and the FARA unit to investigate individuals in Michigan who are advocating on behalf of foreign interests.

"The speed and secrecy which officials in the State of Michigan have operated with State and local leaders imperils our national security and must be given the strictest of scrutiny through both a [Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)] Review and an investigation to ascertain FARA has been violated," they said.

Similarly, national security experts and lawmakers have raised the alarm on Ford's agreement with CATL to build an EV battery plant of its own in Michigan. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., the vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, requested a CFIUS review of that plan.

Hoekstra and Cella argued that the Biden administration has largely been absent from key conversations regarding the Gotion and CATL facilities in addition to other projects across the country with Chinese involvement. CATL is reportedly in talks to provide technology for a Tesla plant in the U.S. and announced in March it would help develop a battery storage plant in Texas.

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"The Biden administration — there's not a clear, consistent policy on how to react and deal with China," Hoekstra told Fox News Digital.

In late March, the Biden administration proposed a series of rules on how it would implement EV tax credit provisions of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Under the provisions, consumers will only be able to receive tax credits for EVs that are manufactured with a certain amount of critical minerals and components from the U.S. or nations the U.S. is in a free trade agreement with.

However, the administration refused to weigh in on whether the Ford-CATL or Gotion proposals, as domestic projects with Chinese involvement, would be eligible for tax incentives.

"States cannot be sovereign entities when it comes to national security," Cella said. "I think that speaks to the importance of the review group's mission. We'll be scaling this and fighting this elsewhere, not only for projects that are underway, but looking at things that are currently there and averting things that may be underway."

Biden set a goal shortly after taking office for half of all cars sold in the U.S. to be zero emissions by 2030 as part of his aggressive climate agenda and has repeatedly visited EV manufacturing facilities, including some in Michigan.

China currently boasts 78% of the world’s cell manufacturing capacity for EV batteries, according to a Brookings Institution analysis released in July. The nation also controls a large share of the world's mining and mineral refining capacity.

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

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Bud Light's vice president of marketing discussed in a recent interview how she was inspired to update the "fratty" and "out of touch" humor of the beer company with inclusivity. 

Alissa Heinerscheid did an interview with the podcast "Make Yourself At Home" on March 30, where she discussed her work in transforming the Bud Light brand. 

"I’m a businesswoman, I had a really clear job to do when I took over Bud Light, and it was ‘This brand is in decline, it’s been in a decline for a really long time, and if we do not attract young drinkers to come and drink this brand there will be no future for Bud Light,'" Heinerscheid said. 

Heinerscheid's comments have gone viral days later, after Bud Light and its parent company Anheuser-Busch received backlash for partnering with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney. The beer maker ignited a firestorm earlier this month when it celebrated Mulvaney's "365 Days of Girlhood," by sending Mulvaney custom-made cans featuring the influencer's face. Mulvaney said the cans were her "most prized possession" on Instagram with a post featuring "#budlightpartner." A video then featured Mulvaney in a bathtub drinking a Bud Light beer as part of the campaign.

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After the host asked Heinerscheid about how her background, perspective, and values impacted the Bud Light brand, the Bud Light vice president said, "I’m a businesswoman, I had a really clear job to do when I took over Bud Light, and it was ‘This brand is in decline, it’s been in a decline for a really long time, and if we do not attract young drinkers to come and drink this brand there will be no future for Bud Light.’"

She added further that she had a "super clear" mandate that "to evolve and elevate this incredibly iconic brand." She said that what she "brought" to the brand was a "belief" that to evolve and elevate means to incorporate "inclusivity, it means shifting the tone, it means having a campaign that’s truly inclusive, and feels lighter and brighter and different, and appeals to women and to men."

BUD LIGHT SAYS PACT WITH TRANS ACTIVIST DYLAN MULVANEY HELPS ‘AUTHENTICALLY CONNECT WITH AUDIENCES’

Heinerscheid suggested that "representation is sort of at the heart of evolution, you have got to see people who reflect you in the work."

She then disparaged the work of Bud Light’s past branding. 

"We had this hangover, I mean Bud Light had been kind of a brand of fratty, kind of out of touch humor, and it was really important that we had another approach," she said.

BUD LIGHT SAYS PACT WITH TRANS ACTIVIST DYLAN MULVANEY HELPS ‘AUTHENTICALLY CONNECT WITH AUDIENCES’

Mulvaney's posts caused backlash for Anheuser Busch, but the beer company defended the partnership. 

"Anheuser-Busch works with hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics. From time to time we produce unique commemorative cans for fans and for brand influencers, like Dylan Mulvaney. This commemorative can was a gift to celebrate a personal milestone and is not for sale to the general public," an Anheuser-Busch spokesperson told Fox News.

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In a previous interview with Forbes, Heinerscheid claimed that "female representation is a personal passion point of mine." 

Since the controversy broke out, Bud Light's related social media accounts have been silent. Bud Light has not posted on Instagram to its 377,000 followers since March 30 and the brand’s 311,000 Twitter followers have not seen any posts since April 1. Additionally, the beer brand has not posted to its over 7.5 million Facebook followers since March 30.

Brian Flood contributed to this report. 

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Two Louisiana men were arrested by Texas Department of Public Safety troopers for smuggling illegal immigrants into the Lone Star State, according to a report released Sunday night.

The agency said a DPS trooper attempted to pull over a gray Toyota for a traffic violation Friday at around 9 a.m. on U.S. 90 in Kinney County, Texas. A vehicle pursuit began after the driver refused to pull over. 

During the chase, the car was driven through a gate, which caused it to stall, and resulted in the driver and a passenger attempting to flee the scene on foot before they were quickly apprehended.

While searching the vehicle, troopers discovered six illegal immigrants, including two inside the trunk, from Guatemala, Honduras and Ecuador. 

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Two handguns were also found inside the vehicle during the search. The agency said the guns were handed over to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for trace and National Integrated Ballistic Information Network analysis. 

The DPS identified the driver as 26-year-old Donald Ray Graves and the passenger as Najoua Jabarie Harris, 25. Both men are from Louisiana.

The agency added that the U.S. Attorney's Office accepted federal alien smuggling charges on Graves and Harris, and they were turned over to federal custody for prosecution. 

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According to a report from WAFB Baton Rouge, Graves is a confirmed Bloods street gang member. He is wanted by the Baton Rouge Police Department for two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder in connection to a gang-related shooting in February 2022.

Two people were killed and two others were wounded during the "highly-planned" and "targeted" attack, Baton Rouge Police Sgt. L’Jean McKneely said at the time.

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A man in China was sentenced to prison after he snuck onto his neighbor's property and scared 1,100 chickens to death.

The man, identified only by his last name Gu, snuck onto his neighbor Zhong's chicken farm and used a flashlight to frighten the chickens, causing them to kill each other, China Daily reported.

The light from the flashlight terrified the chickens, causing them to flee to a corner of the coop where they trampled over one another trying to get away.

The incident came during a feud between the two neighbors that began in April 2022, when Gu cut down Zhong's trees without his permission, the outlet reported. Zhong's wife then towed the trees away, which infuriated Gu.

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Gu then snuck onto Zhong's property one night and startled the chickens by shining a flashlight on them, causing 500 chickens to flee into a corner and die from crushing one another.

Police arrested Gu and ordered him to pay Zhong 3,000 yuan, or roughly $436, but Gu was not deterred.

Gu returned to Zhong's property a second time and used the same tactic, which caused an additional 640 chickens to die, according to China Daily.

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According to Chinese authorities, the roughly 1,100 chickens that died in the two incidents were worth about 13,840 yuan, or about $2,015. 

A court in Hengyang County, located in central China's Hunan province, ruled Tuesday that Gu had intentionally caused Zhong to suffer property loss, according to China Daily.

The court sentenced Gu to six months in prison and one year of probation.

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An explosion that collapsed a residential building in France’s port city of Marseille early Sunday has rescuers racing to find any victims trapped under the debris as a fire burns beneath the rubble. 

The five-story building collapsed just before 1 a.m., and six victims have been hospitalized with injuries, Marseille Mayor Benoit Payan said at a televised briefing. 

"I would like us to prepare for a difficult situation - we could have victims today," Payan said.

Hours after the collapse in France's second-largest city, it was still unclear whether anyone was killed or what caused the explosion.

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French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin arrived at the scene later Sunday morning and told reporters that between four and 10 people were believed to be trapped under the rubble.

But the fire burning underneath the rubble complicated rescue efforts, with more than 100 firefighters working to put out blazes under the huge piles of debris while trying not to harm any potentially trapped victims.

"We’re trying to drown the fire while preserving the lives of eventual victims under the rubble," said Lionel Mathieu, commander of the Marseille fire brigade, adding that the intense heat made it impossible to send in dog teams to search.

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Residents were evacuated from two neighboring buildings that partially collapsed during the incident. Payan said one of the buildings was in danger of collapsing.

The mayor said the explosion was the "probable" cause of the building collapse, although he stressed that an investigation would ultimately determine the cause.

The explosion could be heard throughout the old quarter in the center of France’s second-largest city and resounded in other neighborhoods.

Nearby streets were blocked off as rescue efforts continued.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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