Free Republic

Airbus will present its new uncrewed air defense system, LOAD (Low-cost Air Defence), at the "Unbemannte Systeme X" trade show in Bonn, Germany. The system is designed to effectively combat enemy kamikaze drone swarms.

Rachel Reeves is set to unveil a £2.2bn boost for the UK’s defence spending at the Spring Statement, including cash to kit out Royal Navy ships with laser weapons. The Chancellor vowed to deliver “security and national renewal” but warned “we have to move quickly in a changing world” amid rising uncertainty over future European defence. Reeves will announce £2.2bn for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) as she delivers her keenly awaited fiscal update in the House of Commons on Wednesday, which is expected to include spending cuts to some government departments as the Treasury grapples with economic difficulties. She...

Some 3 million Americans may benefit from higher Social Security payments beginning in April. Why It Matters In January, two provisions—the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO)—that reduced Social Security benefits for millions of workers were repealed after bipartisan efforts in Congress. Signing the act into law, former President Joe Biden said it would boost Social Security benefits by an average of $360 a month for more than 2.8 million recipients. What To Know Beginning in April, these boosted payments will be made for all relevant recipients, the Social Security Administration confirmed in a news release...

WASHINGTON, D.C.: U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has announced plans to open more land for oil and gas drilling in Alaska and remove restrictions on building an LNG pipeline and mining road. This follows President Donald Trump's order to boost energy development in the state. Burgum said the government will reopen 82 percent of Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve for leasing and allow drilling on 1.56 million acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). He also lifted restrictions on land near the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and Dalton Highway, allowing Alaska to move forward with the Ambler Road and Alaska LNG Pipeline...

Luxury and prestige objects have existed in all human societies, and the Neolithic was no exception. Among the most intriguing artifacts of this period are the obsidian mirrors, finely crafted pieces whose function remains a subject of debate. Recent archaeological studies have allowed researchers to reconstruct their manufacturing and distribution process in Southwest Asia, particularly in Central Anatolia, where findings at the Tepecik Çiftlik site suggest that it may have been the key center for the production of these unique objects.The mirrors, circular and highly polished, were not utilitarian tools but items with a strong symbolic component. Their rarity is...

@btysonmd (Brian Tyson, MD) MAHA is officially over. Talk about being FO by the powers that may be. Lesson learned. Never trust the government for anything!!!! @SecKennedy (@HHSgov Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.) X posts that erroneously attribute Biden-era tweets supporting masks, lockdowns, vaccine mandates, etc. to my @CDCgov Director nominee, Susan Monarez, have understandably provoked agita within the MAHA movement. I handpicked Susan for this job because she is a longtime champion of MAHA values, and a caring, compassionate and brilliant microbiologist and a tech wizard who will reorient CDC toward public health and gold-standard science. I’m so grateful...

An illegal migrant who was convicted of kicking an NYPD cop in the infamous Times Square brawl last year was given a hearty welcome home by a top official in Venezuela — which dissidents of the narco state say is a big middle finger to the United States. Darwin Andres Gomez-Izquiel, 19, was greeted with a warm hug by the Venezuelan Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace, Diosdado Cabello, after he stepped off a deportation flight Monday. Pictures show Gomez-Izquiel with his arms outstretched before a smiling Cabello, a hardliner of the socialist regime of Nicolas Maduro, tightly embraced him....

Sara Haines, co-host of The View, has warned that the Democratic Party’s unhinged screaming and volatile behavior at rallies is not fixing the country and is making things worse for them. Whoopi Goldberg noted that progressive leaders like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., are engaging at rallies “at a moment when leadership roles on the left are wide open.” Goldberg also recalled how Sanders showed in his recent interview that he was “not ready to talk about future party planning yet.” Sanders recently accused ABC “This Week” host Jonathan Karl of asking a “nonsense” question about...

Throughout Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, repeated and escalating warnings of the potential for a wider war have only raised fears in the Baltic states that they could be next in the crosshairs of the Kremlin. Talk about a potential Russian invasion is "very common at parties, gatherings, lunch breaks, water cooler talk," Gabija Stasiukyne, a 32-year-old living in Vilnius, told the Kyiv Independent. "It’s everywhere. The conversation inevitably turns in the direction of — what are you going to do?" Lithuania's government is also taking the threat seriously — the country reinstated conscription in 2015, and Vilnius in January...

To day I have made this human rights complaint against Anthony Albanese to the United Nations: I, Geoff Fox, hold the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responsible for the denial of the Aged Care pension to me and the violation of my human rights under Articles 1 (denial of a spirit of brotherhood), 5 (no cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment ), 21 (denial of the right to equal access to public service in Australia), 22 (denial of indispensable economic rights) and 25 (denial of the right to security in old age).

A court in Japan has ordered the disbandment of the controversial Unification Church, which came under scrutiny after the shock killing of former prime minister Shinzo Abe in 2022. The alleged assassin had confessed that he held a grievance against Abe because of the ex-leader's ties with the church - he blamed the church for bankrupting his family. Japan's education and culture ministry sought the church's dissolution and accused it of manipulating followers into making huge donations and other financial sacrifices. But the church, more popularly known as the "Moonies", argued that the donations were part of legitimate religious activities....

The cause of this unusual color might never be fully understood. Image courtesy of Julie Maggert =========================================================================== Birders in Michigan are scratching their heads over unusual photos of a snowy owl. The animal is perfectly perched on a telegraph pole, but instead of snow white and black feathers, the owl's feathers are colored orange. Spotted in Huron County, the bird was photographed by amateur wildlife photographer Julie Maggert. Since sharing the images on social media, theories have been rife about what could have caused the bird's feathers to become orange. One theory suggested that the owl had become covered in...

Jeremy Clarkson has "declared victory" 17 years after Elon Musk sued him for defamation over a candid review of a Tesla car. Back in 2008 on an episode of Top Gear, Clarkson shared his thoughts on the Tesla Roadster, calling it "unreliable," "ridiculously expensive," and humoured it "weighed more than most moons" meaning "it didn't handle very well". On Sunday (23 March) in The Times, Clarkson explained: "Musk was very angry about this and sued us for defamation, claiming I had a problem with electrical cars and had written the piece before even setting foot in the car. He lost...

A video collection of women with TDS. Starting with one woman who thinks Trump wants to bring back segregation.

The atomic energy of betavoltaic batteries can power a variety of devices, from aerospace and robots to your future smartphone, for up to a century without recharging. ================================================================== In the world of batteries, duration is king. Whether nestled in the smallest wearable or providing back-up power for the electric grid, a battery that provides reliable energy for longer will always outlast the competition—figuratively and literally. The U.S. led the way in nuclear battery innovation over the past 70 years—and even developed the first battery that ran on nuclear radiation in the 1950s. But in the 21st century, China has become...

A female TPUSA Chapter President was violently attacked with a bike lock on Tuesday.The attacker, who appears to be female, may be a transgender.According to TPUSA president Charlie Kirk, TPUSA Chapter President Paige Neumann, and her secretary, Grace, were violently assaulted while tabling at the University of Texas at Dallas on Tuesday.The violentl leftist assaulted Paige and Grace with a metal bike lock before peddling away.Paige was hit in the head, but she is doing ok.

President Trump’s 2024 campaign is nothing like 2016. This time, he’s not walking in blind. He’s learned from past mistakes—and one of the biggest lessons was trusting Swamp creatures just because they pretended not to be lurking beneath the murky waters. A hard lesson—but one that many would argue has made him politically wiser. Now, as he gets settled back into the White House, he’s flanked on both sides by an America First posse, ready to take a sledgehammer to the chaos and confusion erected during Biden’s installation. Because honestly, the key to Making America Great Again starts with putting...

Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman will allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty again in Los Angeles, undoing one of the signature policies of his predecessor, George Gascón. The move comes as little surprise: Hochman campaigned on the issue almost as soon as he announced his challenge to Gascón in 2023. But it still marks a significant shift in one of the largest prosecutor’s offices in the nation. Under California law, the death penalty can only be sought in cases where a defendant is accused of murder with special circumstances. That can include multiple homicides or cases where the victim is...

Top Democrats tell us their party is in its deepest hole in nearly 50 years — and they fear things could actually get worse:

Researchers have found statin use significantly reduces the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and hepatic decompensation among patients with chronic liver disease (CLD). Statins, particularly lipophilic statins like atorvastatin and simvastatin, were associated with a substantial decrease in the likelihood of liver cancer and complications. Longer duration of statin use further increases this protective effect. Researchers conducted a historical cohort analysis of data from the Research Patient Data Registry, clinical data from hospitals within the Mass General Brigham health care system, covering 2000-2023. Participants included 16,501 adult patients aged 40 or older diagnosed with CLD and a baseline Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4)...