When most people are done eating the sweet, juicy flesh of a watermelon, they toss the rind.

But the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently added an official nutrition profile for watermelon rind, providing new information about its nutritional value while highlighting a potential way to reduce food waste.

A one-third-cup serving of raw, seedless watermelon rind contains 10 calories, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 140 milligrams of potassium and 4 milligrams of vitamin C, according to the USDA. While the rind is edible, it is not necessarily a replacement for the fruit's nutrient-dense flesh.

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Watermelon rind nutrition has previously been analyzed by other institutions around the world, but not according to the USDA's standardized requirements, Stephanie Barlow, senior director of communications for the Florida-based National Watermelon Promotion Board (NWPB), told Fox News Digital.

The NWPB funded the watermelon rind analysis and spearheaded the effort to add watermelon rind to the USDA's FoodData Central database, Barlow said.

"Most consumers do not know the rind is edible," she said. "Plain and simple."

A watermelon is, on average, 70% flesh and 30% rind, and 62% of consumers throw out the rind, according to the NWPB's 2023 Watermelon Consumer Usage Study.

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Barlow said that amounts to an average of five pounds of rind that could instead be used in a wide range of recipes.

"The watermelon rind is an interesting addition to the nutrition conversation, especially because it is a part of the fruit we typically throw away," Lisa Young, registered dietitian and adjunct professor of nutrition at New York University, told Fox News Digital. "Eating the rind can be a simple way to get a little more nutrition while reducing food waste."

Young added that she wouldn't call watermelon rind a nutritional powerhouse or suggest eating it instead of the juicy flesh. 

"The flesh provides important nutrients and antioxidants, including lycopene," she said. "Rind is tougher and less sweet, so preparation matters. … Just be sure to wash the watermelon well before cutting and eating the rind."

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As more consumers look for ways to stretch their food budgets and use food in new ways, interest in watermelon rind recipes and the rind's versatility has increased year after year, Barlow said.

"Food creators on TikTok and YouTube have contributed to watermelon rind awareness in recipes from around the world, and interest continues to grow," she said.

Because of increasing consumption of the rind, "we wanted to explore what the nutritional benefits of the rind were," Megan McKenna, NWPB's senior director of marketing and food service, told Fox News Digital.

"This required employing the services of a USDA-approved lab to do the testing, as well as working with health professionals to verify the results."

"The new USDA nutrient profile gives dietitians and health professionals standardized data they need to confidently incorporate watermelon rind into recipes and nutrition guidance," Barlow added.

"It helps consumers – and also food service – get even more value from every watermelon they bring into their kitchens."

For someone interested in trying watermelon rind, one of the easiest preparations is adding it to a smoothie, she said.

Her favorite way to incorporate it is in a rind slaw that involves shredding pieces of rind and adding vinegar, sugar, salt and oil.

The recipe "even leaves on the edible outer green skin and is easily made with simple ingredients," she said.

Watermelon rind can also be pickled, used in stir-fries, roasted or incorporated into baked goods.

"Proper food safe handling at home with all watermelon must start with washing the watermelon under cool, running water," Barlow said.

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"A simple rinse is best, no need for any abrasive scrubbing or solutions. Once your whole watermelon is rinsed and dried, it's ready for cutting into slices, dices, sticks and cubes, reserving that rind for recipes."

If a recipe calls for removing the green outer skin, a vegetable peeler works well, she said.

"The rind skin is similar to its cousin, the cucumber, and it peels right off," Barlow said.

For storage, the NWPB recommends refrigerating cut watermelon in a glass or plastic container, where it should keep for three to five days, McKenna said.

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"Our watermelon rind pickles keep for up to two weeks when sealed in a glass jar and refrigerated," she said.

In "Breaking Bad," the character Walter White explains to a major drug dealer why cheaper knockoffs of his signature Blue Sky methamphetamine are just not enough: "So… it’s grade-school tee-ball vs. the New York Yankees. Yours is just some tepid… off-brand, generic cola. What I’m making is classic Coke."

This week, veteran Democratic political strategist James Carville released his own uncut, undiluted classic product to a nation of rage addicts. Blue Sky rage.

What set off Carville was telling. He and others were outraged that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries met with Trump’s son-in-law and close adviser Jared Kushner to discuss areas of common ground. Such dialogue "with the enemy" is unthinkable in what I consider our "age of rage," particularly for someone like Carville. The political strategist who previously threatened that, once Democrats are back in power, Trump allies and institutions that enabled the president should be treated the same way as Nazi collaborators were after World War II.

Carville went into his signature berserker trance on his podcast, appropriately called the "Politics War Room": "These people are a pack of felons and traitors, and you do not meet with them! You do not meet with them. There’s only one thing you can do with people that you genuinely believe deep inside of every fabric of your body are a pack of thieves and a pack of traitors."

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As usual, Carville delivers the line with the intensity of a man seconds away from a self-induced stroke. The message, however, is clear. Anyone seeking a middle ground or compromise is a traitor and will be dealt with the same way as Nazi collaborators once Democrats regain power.

What is really on display is rage politics. When you feed this addiction, you have to keep your product pure to avoid the pain of rage withdrawal. Carville is asking Democrats the same question as Walter White when asking whether they really want some cheap knockoff when they can have the real thing. Go with the classic. Go with the rage.

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Over in what's become the social media safe space for liberals, BlueSky, Carville is being heralded as a prophet of furor. It was a perfect combination. BlueSky was created for liberals to remove themselves, particularly from X, because of conservatives returning to social media after years of censorship.

Many in the media saw BlueSky as the future, as they predicted the rapid death of X. It did not exactly work out that way.

Some liberal influencers proclaiming their abandonment of X never actually left, and many others have returned. BlueSky is now little more than a progressive boutique in comparison to X. It has an estimated 43 million users, as opposed to up to 600 million for X. (Monthly active users drop to around 27 million versus more than 300 million.)

In practice, BlueSky has developed a reputation for a largely liberal political culture and robust user-controlled moderation tools. It offers a protected zone for liberals to rave among themselves without the distraction of as many opposing views or voices.

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It is a social platform that is premised on the same "you do not meet with them" screed offered by Carville.

Recently, the seasoned strategist has lashed out at the far left of his party, such as Democratic Socialists, over their radical agenda. However, he and other establishment figures are primarily objecting to the fact that it appears these radical policies will not succeed in the upcoming midterm elections and return them to power.

Carville appears to have no problem trashing the system to secure and maintain power. He previously called for packing the Supreme Court but notably told Democrats not to actually talk about it: "If the Democrats win the presidency and both houses of Congress, I think on day one, they should expand the Supreme Court to 13. F— it. Eat our dust. Don’t run on it. Don’t talk about it. Just do it."

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Other Democratic leaders continue to try to co-opt the mob for their own uses. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer dismissed questions about the DSA platform to eliminate the presidency, the Supreme Court, and the Senate. These are small differences, according to Schumer, compared with the need to win elections: "Not everyone has the same exact view on every single issue."

One of those small disagreements is the very existence of the institution that Schumer so desperately wants to lead.

Carville and Schumer, however, appear to agree on the key element of the political strategy of keeping the rage alive. The greatest threat to that strategy is any dialogue between Democrats and their Republican neighbors. If reason were to break out before the elections, all could be lost.

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The effort reflects the fact that the rage in an age of rage eventually burns off. People look into a mirror on both sides and realize that we have become grotesque by yielding to the anger and hate. Once people start to talk with one another again, it is harder to hate so completely and blindly tap into the rage that hate traffickers need.

So Blue Sky rage is hitting the streets. The Classic Coke of hate is to be injected directly into the veins of a nation of rage addicts.

After all, as Walter White asked his fellow traffickers, "Do you really wanna live in a world without Coca-Cola?"

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JOHANNESBURG: A top State Department official has hit out at China for what analysts are calling ‘the China shock wave’ effect now crippling African economies.

African manufacturing is reportedly being battered by a surge of Chinese imports. It’s a triple whammy — China takes raw materials, including critical minerals, from the continent and floods Africa with state-subsidized products. And Beijing isn’t importing anywhere near an equal amount of African products.

The China Global South Project reported that in 2025, Chinese exports to Africa hit $225 billion in value, whereas imports from Africa were roughly only half that — $123 billion.

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Now the Trump administration aims to change this imbalance — and create opportunities for American businesses.

"China continues to flood Africa with exports," Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Frank Garcia, told Fox News Digital. He added, "No country is immune to the negative impacts of China’s unfair trade practices and state-subsidized overcapacity. China’s economic engagement with African countries has often led to unsustainable debt, economic coercion and an oversupply of Chinese imports threatening to displace and preventing the development of local industries."

He continued, "The U.S. government aims to offer credible alternatives that leverage public and private financing in priority areas that make America safer, stronger and more prosperous. The United States is committed to maintaining the strong, open investment environment that benefits our economy and our people, while enhancing our ability to protect our nation from new and evolving threats that can accompany foreign investment."

Elaine Dezenski, senior director and head of the Center on Economic and Financial Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) told Fox News Digital China is the number one trading partner for many African countries, but warned" that doesn’t mean that African countries are moving up the value chain. On the contrary, some African countries are increasingly tied into a cycle of mineral and other natural resource exports to China, only to be on the receiving end of finished goods, also from China."

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Dezenski added, "Africa wants to manufacture. Chinese exports are getting in the way. Key exports from China are substituting for specific products that could be manufactured in Africa. As China is increasingly shut out of U.S. and European markets through high tariff regimes, Africa is feeling the effects, while China still claims it's supporting emerging economies."

China has lent the money to build new roads, bridges and other infrastructure in Mozambique. But in this, the fifth-poorest country in the world where jobs are in short supply, Beijing insisted that Chinese companies should do the construction. Mozambicans in some cases stood by, while workers brought 7,000 miles from Beijing to dig up the streets became a feature in this African country.

Beijing has now targeted Africa in another way. Between 17% and 40% of all car sales in South Africa are for vehicles from China. The goal appears not to stop at imports. The Chinese government-owned carmaker Chery has recently bought South Africa’s Nissan plant, and will make Chinese models such as Jetour near Johannesburg.

But China has won over many South African consumers. "China is delivering better vehicles and better prices to South African consumers — and this is pushing Western-oriented firms out of the market," analyst Frans Cronje told Fox News Digital.

Cronje, President of the Washington-based Yorktown Foundation for Freedom, added, "the South African and broader sub-Saharan business communities have always shown a Western lean or bias, in large part a consequence of the region's colonial past. But China's industrial influence is changing, and as the South African vehicle industry shows, that change can be rapid and occur with the support of consumers. Privately many Western firms say they don’t know if they can remain competitive." 

The U.S. is making its own waves in Africa though. The administration’s Bureau of African Affairs has reported it has worked on 37 commercial transactions that have closed since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term — representing $25.67 billion in total value, with more still being reported.

There’s a way to go. While American goods traded with Africa last year were valued at $83.4 billion by the Office of the United States Trade Representative, Beijing’s General Administration of Customs claimed bilateral trade between China and Africa reached $348 billion for the same period.

The will to succeed, though, is clear. Assistant Secretary Garcia added, "The United States is committed to reshaping the global critical minerals and rare earths market to make it more diverse, secure and reliable. We will work with African partners to address risks from non-market actors and ensure supply chain security. We are using diplomatic and economic tools to promote fair and transparent markets that work for everyone."

Fox News Digital reached out to the Chinese embassy spokesman in Washington D.C. for comment.

The Washington Redskins name and iconic logo that the NFL team in the nation's capital abandoned in 2020 is back in a manner of speaking. It's on full display and for sale in the team's current merchandise shop.

Although the gear bearing the Redskins name is rare and limited to a Mitchell & Ness throwback line of T-shirts or jerseys bearing the name of former players who played with the Redskins name and helmet insignia, it is indeed for sale.

Anyone can go to the brick-and-mortar store at Northwest Stadium or online and buy, for example, an Art Monk T-shirt bearing the Pro Football Hall Fame receiver's likeness in his old uniform and in his Redskins helmet.

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The back of that T-shirt is emblazoned with "Washington Redskins" and Monk's career statistics and records. The shirt costs $49.99.

For the same price, fans can purchase a Sean Taylor T-Shirt with the likeness of the former safety in his Redskins uniform before he was tragically slain in 2007. Like Monk, Taylor played for the Redskins, not the Washington Commanders.

Taylor's retired No. 21 jersey, complete with the Redskins name on the front and a 75th anniversary Washington Redskins patch, is available for $114.99.

The interesting thing about this is the franchise is marketing this gear emblazoned with Washington Redskins script and logos as Commanders gear.

The jersey, for example, is described as a Sean Taylor Black Washington Commanders Retired Player Name & Number Mesh Top – even though the Commanders nickname does not appear on the jersey.

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This is what happens when an NFL franchise builds a long and storied history as the Washington Redskins from 1937 to 2019, then decides the Redskins nickname is racist or otherwise offensive under pressure from liberal fans, some Native American groups and sponsors.

The Washington Commanders, as they're known now, have vowed never to return to the Redskins nickname.

Current owner Josh Harris said in September 2023 that he understands the nostalgia for the former name but that "there was a portion of our fan base that felt disrespected by the former name."

So why, if the Redskins name is bothersome, are the Commanders selling Redskins merchandise? And why are they later this season wearing an alternate helmet with a spear piercing the W insignia, much like the old feathered arrow helmet the Redskins wore in the 1960s?

The spear that is part of the so-called "Raise Hail" alternate uniform is an obvious reach at Redskins nostalgia.

The gear in the team gift shop is being made available to keep the old trademark in commercial use, according to WUSA9 in Washington.

"We are required to maintain the marks in commercial usage so that marks remain under franchise control," a club spokesman told the television station.

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A trademark may be deemed abandoned if its use is discontinued with intent not resume use. The Lanham Act says that three consecutive years of nonuse is prima facie evidence of abandonment.

The statutory standard also requires "bona fide use … in the ordinary course of trade," rather than merely token sales made solely to reserve rights.

That might be a problem for the Commanders because their contention is that these Redskins items are sold on a limited availability.

It should be noted that there are Native American groups who believe the Redskins nickname to be indeed racist. But other native individuals, including a Navajo Code Talkers Association leader and a former Blackfeet tribal chairman, have publicly supported retaining the old nickname and the Native-profile logo.

Walter "Blackie" Wetzel, a former chairman of the Blackfeet Tribe and former president of the National Congress of American Indians, helped persuade the club in 1972 to replace its "R" helmet logo with the Native chief helmet portrait most associated with the team.

In a 2002 interview, Wetzel said: "It made us all so proud to have an Indian on a big-time team. It’s only a small group of radicals who oppose those names. Indians are proud of Indians."

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A college baseball player was fatally shot by police in Pennsylvania after he accidentally tried to enter the wrong home after a night out, his family said.

The Office of Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele confirmed to Fox News Digital that Glenwood "Bubba" Pysher IV, 22, was killed on Sunday, Aug. 23

Investigators say a 911 call came in early Sunday, just after midnight. The Upper Pottsgrove Township Police Department responded to a call about a possible break-in at a home on Snyder Road.

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The DA's office confirmed police arrived on scene "to find a male in the rear of the residence," he said.

They said police shot and killed him after an "encounter."

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Pysher was a college baseball player who had made stops at Francis Marion University, Northampton Community College and Holy Family University, and was preparing for his senior year at St. Elizabeth College in New Jersey, according to his obituary.

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His mother, Erin Pysher, told Fox News Digital her son was not armed when he was allegedly "shot twice" by an officer.

"He's never been in trouble—he was a good kid. I don't know what prompted the cop to think that the shooting was necessary," she said.

Before he was fatally shot, he was "bar-hopping with friends" and walked up to a home on the street he had mistaken for a friend's and tried to get in, his mother said.

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"I dropped him off with his friends at a bar to celebrate his friend's 21st birthday," she said. After the bar, the men were headed to a friend's house to continue their evening.

The friends eventually split up, Pysher said. She told Fox News Digital her son opted to walk to the house.

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"He took a wrong turn and ended up at the wrong house," she said.

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"After a few drinks, he didn't realize it—he was at their back door knocking, thinking it was his friend's house, saying, 'Hey, let me in,'" Erin Pysher said. "The homeowners, not knowing, called the cops saying it was an attempted burglary."

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"He was the biggest sweetheart—carefree and loving. He loved life, loved hanging out with his friends, and fishing. Baseball was his life; he played it in college and was getting ready to leave Sunday afternoon to start his senior year. He wanted to become a history teacher and coach baseball," she said.

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The police department confirmed the officer involved was placed on administrative leave following the incident.

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The DA's office told Fox News Digital, "The fatal shooting is an active investigation. When the investigation is complete, we will provide media with the findings."

"He was a great kid; I couldn't ask for a better son. A little jokester—we had our inside jokes, and he loved teasing his three younger sisters. There's a huge hole in our life without him. He was the best kid ever; I don't know how else to describe him," Erin Pysher said.

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A Charlotte man indicted on five felony counts accusing him of threatening mass shootings against five area public schools was released from jail just three days before students were scheduled to return to class.

Drew Andres Owens, 33, was released from the Mecklenburg County Jail at 11:30 a.m. on Aug. 22, according to jail records. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools students were scheduled to return on Aug. 25.

A Mecklenburg County grand jury indicted Owens in March 2025 on five counts of communicating threats of mass violence on educational property. He has pleaded not guilty, and the cases remain pending.

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Four counts allege Owens sent emails on Feb. 15, 2025, threatening West Charlotte High School, Ardrey Kell High School, Community House Middle School and Hawk Ridge Elementary School.

According to court documents reviewed by Fox News Digital, Owens allegedly sent messages threatening to "slaughter staff and students."

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A separate indictment alleges a mailed threat against Garinger High School. The affidavit claimed that a student, who was armed with two shotguns and an AR-15, would carry out the mass shooting. School administrators later determined that no student by that name was enrolled there, according to the affidavit.

The warrant affidavit states that Darryl Owens, Drew's father and a West Charlotte High School ROTC instructor, told police he also believed his son was responsible for the school threats.

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Darryl Owens allegedly told authorities that his son had harassed relatives, neighbors and family friends after being removed from the family home in 2021, and had sent unsigned emails and letters threatening to kill or shoot people at multiple locations.

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The father told police he had previously obtained a restraining order against his son, that Owens had been arrested for violating it and that the order was later dismissed. He also told police that Owens had recently sat outside neighbors' homes and photographed his car at West Charlotte High School "to try to lure him outside."

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According to court records, the bond in the four-school case was lowered from $135,000 to $60,000 in May 2026. Docket records indicate the four-school case had originally been set at a $135,000 secured bond with electronic monitoring in February 2025.

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A judge reduced that amount to $60,000 on May 1, 2026. The separate case tied to Garinger High School carried a secured bond of $15,000. Owens satisfied the court-ordered pretrial bond conditions and was released Saturday, Aug. 22.

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Court records showed a $60,000 secured bond in the four-school case and a $15,000 secured bond in the Garinger case. A professional surety posted the $60,000 bond the previous Friday night.

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WSOC previously reported that Owens’ record included arrests for resisting arrest and shoplifting. The local outlet did not report a total number of prior arrests and Fox News Digital has reached out to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department for additional details.

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Following his release, parents told WSOC that they are nervous to send their kids off to school as the school year kicks off.

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"Is he going to show up at one of the schools? It’s not good," said one parent. "I’m not going to feel at ease, I’m not going to pretend it’s OK."

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"In this situation it’s confusing because he had a $200K bond," another parent said. "He’s clearly a public safety threat, so what took the threat level down?"

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"He’s out and that’s it, and the rest of us have to deal with it and teachers have to go to school on Tuesday and deal with it," another parent said.

It was not immediately clear if Owens had an attorney representing him.

FIRST ON FOX: There’s an ugly political fight brewing in the Lone Star State over data centers, and both candidates running for Senate are racing each other to unveil their plans to slow the AI boom in Texas.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is rolling out his own plan to address what has become a political pressure point in Texas politics during this midterm cycle: how to add guardrails to the explosion of data centers across the state as voters’ concerns rise about skyrocketing power and water costs.

The four-point plan, first obtained by Fox News Digital, details steps at the federal and state levels on the issue and comes in the waning weeks of a closely watched contest for power in the Senate between Paxton and state Sen. James Talarico, the Democratic nominee.

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"There’s no doubt in my mind that the United States will beat the Chinese Communist Party in the AI race," Paxton said in a statement. "This plan will ensure that happens while putting Texas First, protecting our culture and land, and safeguarding our families and communities. My plan will also work to ensure that data centers are not utilized to power AI platforms that endanger our children."

His plan comes after Talarico, who has used the issue of data centers as a political cudgel against Paxton, convened bipartisan roundtables and hit the Republican nominee for taking in nearly $500,000 in campaign donations to a variety of political action committees (PACs) that support him.

"Ken Paxton took nearly half a million dollars from data center companies and has ignored Texans in Hood County who asked him to help block a data center development in their community," Talarico campaign spokesperson JT Ennis told Fox News Digital.

"While Ken Paxton funnels data center money into his campaign, James is fighting to hold data centers accountable. Texans can’t afford a Senator who’s bought by big data center companies," he continued. "Texans can’t afford Ken Paxton’s corruption."

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He’s also not scot-free from receiving data center-adjacent money, either.

Talarico’s political operation, through his Lone Star Rising PAC, has received about $10 million from LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, an advocate for data centers who has argued about the value that they present in the AI arms race against China.

"While James Talarico and his campaign infrastructure accept millions of dollars from data center-affiliated donors and put their interests first, I will lead with Texans at the forefront. That’s exactly why I am proud to release my 4-Point Plan that will put Texans First and protect our communities," Paxton said.

The first three pillars of Paxton’s plan address actions against data centers at the federal level.

They would see Paxton author two bills in the Senate to prevent Chinese technology from powering data centers or being used in American infrastructure and creating criminal liabilities for data center companies if the centers empower AI chatbots that undermine children's safety.

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He would also join as a co-sponsor on the DATA Act, a bill from Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., that would create a new federal category for data centers to produce their own independent power away from preexisting power grids.

Talarico’s offering would repeal state tax exemptions for data centers, mandate that data centers cover 100% of grid connection costs, and require closed-loop water recycling systems. It would also give local governments the power to veto project developments.

Paxton similarly wants to undo sales tax exemptions for data centers, something he notably supported over a decade ago while in the state legislature.

Back in 2013, when he was serving as a freshman state senator in the Texas Legislature, Paxton voted in favor of 100% sales tax exemptions for data centers, which passed on a nearly unanimous vote out of the state Senate.

While that exemption required a hefty ground-floor investment of $200 million and employment requirements to receive, it also sparked the present-day boom in data centers.

Meanwhile, at the state level, Paxton would also push Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s new directive unveiled earlier this month to effectively freeze the data center explosion.

Abbott touted earlier this week that his directive has so far halted roughly 1,800 data center projects in the Lone Star State. It requires data centers to disclose how much power they’re using and whether they will produce independent power, their water consumption, financial incentives they’ve received, a plan to lower the impact on local communities and documented ownership of the center.

"These guidelines are now the universally applied standard in Texas," Abbott said on X.