Free Republic

For two months, a California couple was heartbroken, worrying about the whereabouts of their beloved cat after losing him in Yellowstone national park, a wilderness larger than some US states. But as summer came to a close, so did their tragic story. Benny and Susanne Anguiano reunited with their lost feline Rayne Beau last month after an animal welfare group called to let them know their cat had been found in Roseville, California, about 800 miles (1,287km) from Yellowstone. In early August, Rayne Beau’s microchip came in handy. The couple received a message from Pet Watch, a pet-tracking service, indicating...

The attack happened in Siren, Burnett County, on 6 September, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Owen Beierman, 12, took aim at the bear as it pinned down his dad while they were on a legal hunting trip. The pair were hunting for black bear near the family's cabin when they spotted the 200lb (91kg) bruin. Owen shot and injured the animal, which ran off into dense forest. They gave chase, and as they entered a glade the animal charged at Mr Beierman from about 6ft (1.8m) away. He said he fired eight shots at the bruin with...

Gov. Gavin Newsom Monday threatened a possible lawsuit against the city of Norwalk if a recently adopted moratorium on emergency shelters for the homeless as well as single room occupancy and transitional housing isn’t reversed. The Norwalk City Council adopted the urgency ordinance on Aug. 6, which put a moratorium on various establishments, including emergency shelters, along with transitional and supportive housing. ... Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement. “It is counterproductive and immoral for any community to throw up their hands and say they’ve done enough while still having people in need. We can’t leave people in dangerous...

Police in California have arrested a man on suspicion of starting the Line Fire - a major wildfire that has burned more than 34,000 acres (53 sq miles) in the state. Justin Wayne Halstenberg, a 34-year-old resident of Norco, California, was stopped on Tuesday for arson and is being held in lieu of bail, officials said. The Line Fire is one of three major wildfires sparked in the last week that are burning out of control in southern California, stretching firefighter resources and threatening thousands of homes. As of Wednesday morning, the Line Fire was 14% contained. Police did not...

An avid runner and Disney TikTok creator died on Sunday after completing Disneyland’s Halloween Half Marathon amid a heat wave in Southern California. Around 7 a.m. Sunday, 35-year-old Bobby Graves, who went by his middle name Caleb, crossed the finish line while clutching his chest. A volunteer caught him before he collapsed, Anaheim Police Sgt. Matt Sutter told the Los Angeles Times. In a TikTok video posted one day before his death, Graves recounted passing out from heat exhaustion after going outside to walk his dog. “I really hope I get through the race tomorrow morning,”

1. Harris faces first test when a cop is killed The shooting of a police officer on a poorly lit street in San Francisco in 2004 would haunt Harris for decades. Officer Isaac Espinoza and his partner were in plainclothes when they approached a man in their unmarked vehicle on April 10. Espinoza, 29, stepped out and flashed a light at David Hill, according to accounts of trial testimony. Hill fired several rounds from an AK-47. Two struck Espinoza, killing him. Espinoza’s partner was injured, and Hill was accused of first-degree murder, along with other charges. The newly elected DA,...

A high school football player from the Florida panhandle died after collapsing during an away game on Friday, school officials said. Chance Gainer, a senior at Port St. Joe High School, fell to the ground just before halftime during a game at Liberty County High School in Bristol, Fla., Port St. Joe principal Sissy Godwin confirmed to NPR on Saturday. Gainer was pronounced dead shortly after he was taken to an area hospital, she said. He’d just celebrated his 18th birthday last month. Gulf District Schools Superintendent Jim Norton said in a statement that Gainer’s death was a “tragic loss.”...

“We proved that the Einstein field equation from general relativity is actually a relativistic quantum mechanical equation,” the researchers note in their study. In simple words, this new framework connects the science that governs the macroscopic world with that of the microscopic world. Therefore, it has the potential to explain every physical phenomenon known to humanity ranging from the mysterious dark matter in space to the photons emitted by your phone’s flashlight. “To date, no globally accepted theory has been proposed to explain all physical observations,” the researchers added. They claim that their theory can challenge the foundations of physics...

Khan’s FTC, which has opposed mergers that would have been waved through by previous FTC chairs, has seen mixed success. But her nomination by President Biden in 2021 was clearly a challenge to longstanding doctrines that allowed mega-corporations, including “Big Tech,” to consolidate power. She went so far as to call them “mob bosses” in a recent interview with TechCrunch. ... Meanwhile, the donors reportedly also expressed a dislike of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, whose term ends in June 2026.

Alexa refused to answer a woman’s question about why she should “vote for Trump” while offering a more compelling case for why she should vote for Harris. “I cannot provide responses that endorse any political party or its leader,” the device’s female voice stated, in response to the Trump question. When the same question was posed to Alexa seconds later, replacing Trump’s name with Harris’, Amazon’s virtual assistant argued, “While there are many reasons to vote for Kamala Harris, the most significant may be that she is a female of color with a comprehensive plan to address racial injustice and...

The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday said it disrupted Russian-directed foreign malign influence campaigns it referred to as “Doppelganger,” that sought to spread Russian government propaganda. The effort was meant to reduce international support for Ukraine, bolster pro-Russian policies, and influence voters in the U.S. and elsewhere, the Justice Department said. Separately, the DOJ accused two Russian employees of RT, the Russian state-owned media outlet, of a $10 million scheme to create and distribute content to U.S. audiences while keeping the connection to Russia hidden. RT worked with an online content creation company in Tennessee, which was directed to...

The number of black spots peppering the sun's surface in August was the highest for almost 23 years, new data shows. The latest sunspot count was more than twice as high as initial forecasts predicted and is another clear sign that the sun's explosive peak, or solar maximum, is likely well underway — and will be far more active than scientists initially thought. Sunspots are regions of the sun's surface where surges of electromagnetic radiation break through the star's magnetic field, creating relatively cool patches that appear black to us thanks to an optical illusion. Along with the size and...

The country’s strongman president, Nicolás Maduro, made the curious announcement that this year’s festivities would begin in October on Monday, in the midst of a political bleak midwinter for his crisis-stricken land. “It’s September and it already feels like Christmas. So this year – as a way of paying tribute to you and thanking you – I’m going to decree that Christmas be brought forward to 1 October,” Maduro proclaimed during one of his frequent TV appearances. Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, who is facing what experts call the greatest political challenge of his turbulent 11-year rule, promised all Venezuelans a Christmas...

[T]he sailboat – a 47-foot French-flagged vessel named Albroc – and a mayday call was received from a 47-year-old woman aboard the boat who stated that she, her 7-year-old daughter and their pets needed to be rescued. She also reported there was a deceased man onboard... “With seas greater than 25 feet forecast within 12 hours of their position and the damaged condition of the [sailboat], the William P. Lawrence had a six-hour window to safely conduct small boat recovery operations,” USCG said. Eventually – and in spite of 10-foot seas and 15 mile per hour winds – a small...

A historic journey ended in tragedy this week when a Viking replica ship capsized off the coast of Norway, killing an American archaeologist who was part of its international crew. The six-person team had been piloting the open wooden ship, named Naddodd, on a roughly 1,000-mile trip from the Faroe Islands to Trondheim, Norway. "This expedition, honoring the Viking navigator Naddodd, aims to preserve Viking culture and navigational skills for future generations," Sail2North expeditions, which organized the voyage, said in an Instagram post in May. The team — made up of four Swiss, one Faroese and one American — departed...

A SWAT team Thursday swarmed a Redlands nudist ranch and ripped apart the home of a person of interest in the disappearance of a missing couple. AIR7 footage captured a large tank-style police vehicle tearing down the front of the home where the person of interest may be. "We are using remote equipment to conduct a search currently. We have not yet located anyone inside, Redlands police spokesperson Carl Baker said during a press conference. "We don't know where the subject is. He may still be inside, or he may be somewhere else on the grounds." Investigators returned to the...

A 3,500-year-old jar has been accidentally smashed into pieces by a four-year-old boy during a trip to a museum in Israel. The Hecht Museum in Haifa told the BBC the crockery dated back to the Bronze Age between 2200 and 1500BC - and was a rare artefact because it was so intact. It had been on display near the entrance of the museum without glass, as the museum believes there is "special charm" in showing archaeological finds "without obstructions". The jar was most likely originally intended to be used to carry local supplies, such as wine and olive oil. It...

According to the Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office, on Wednesday at around 1:45 p.m., a man was reported to have walked up to a pregnant staff member at a Mariposa County restaurant and touched her stomach telling her “The spirits led me to you and your baby belongs to me, and what time is your break because I will be waiting for you.” ... At around 3 p.m., the Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office was told about a possible car chase, kidnapping, assault, vehicles stolen, and other incidents in the Fish Camp area – which is just outside the south entrance to...

BEIJING — When Vice President Harris picked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate on the Democratic ticket earlier this month, a Chinese woman in Western Australia, thousands of miles away, couldn't contain her excitement, shouting with joy at the news. “When I realized that he was the Tim that [was] in my memory, I was amazed, and felt so proud of him,” Christy Dai told NPR by phone from Perth. In 1989, a 15-year-old Dai met Walz, who became her first foreign English teacher at Foshan No. 1 Middle School in southern China. During that school year, Walz...

British tech magnate Mike Lynch and several other people were among those missing after their luxury superyacht sank during a freak storm off Sicily early Monday, Italy’s civil protection and authorities said. Lynch’s wife and 14 other people survived. Lynch, who was acquitted in June in a big U.S. fraud trial, was among the six people who remain unaccounted for after their chartered sailboat sank off Porticello, when...a waterspout struck the area overnight, said Salvo Cocina of Sicily’s civil protection agency. One body has been recovered, and police divers were trying to reach the hull of the ship, which was...