Free Republic

Tech enters government with first AI ministerIn a jaw-dropping debut, Albania’s hi-tech, AI-powered government minister, Diella, addressed parliament on September 18, igniting uproar over innovation and constitutionality. Prime Minister Edi Rama introduced the world’s first artificially intelligent minister to oversee public tenders, promising “100 per cent corruption-free” decisions. Named Diella, meaning “sun” in Albanian, the AI appeared as a woman in traditional attire, declaring, “I am not here to replace people, but to help them.” The appointment, announced last week, is a stab at improving transparency in Albania after a plethora of accusations thrown at the government, which ranks 80th...

Explanation: Early risers around planet Earth have enjoyed a shining crescent Moon near brilliant Venus, close to the eastern horizon in recent morning twilight skies. And yesterday, on September 19, skygazers watching from some locations in Earth's northern hemisphere were also able to witness Venus, in the inner planet's waxing gibbous phase, pass behind the Moon's waning crescent. In fact, this telescopic snapshot was taken moments before that occultation of gibbous Venus by the crescent Moon began. The close-up view of the beautiful celestial alignment records Venus approaching part of the Moon's sunlit edge in clear daytime skies from the...

We gathered some of the journalists closely involved to discuss how we approached coverage and to answer readers’ questions about itCharlie Kirk was shot at a college in Utah, and New York Times journalists began grappling with a series of questions and decisions. What happened? Were graphic videos of his injuries real? Which facts could we confirm without reporters on the scene yet?At 3:01 p.m., we published confirmation of the shooting, and a new round of judgment calls began: Would we show clips of Kirk’s shooting? What words and shorthand would we use for him in headlines — a “right-wing...

Mayor Abdullah H. Hammoud scolded resident Edward “Ted” Barham, a Christian, “Although you live here, you are not welcome here.” “He then turned to a personal attack on his city’s resident, accusing Barham of being “a bigot, and you are racist, and you’re an Islamophobe. Although you live here, I want you to know as mayor, you are not welcome here. And the day you move out of the city will be the day that I launch a parade celebrating the fact that you moved out of this city.” (WND News Center) The Christian minister was objecting to naming street...

Like from a horror movie, in a chilling escalation of ongoing orca-boat interactions, a yacht belonging to a Lisbon-based sailing club sank off the coast near Costa da Caparica on Saturday, September 13, in the afternoon after being repeatedly rammed by a pod of killer whales, according to Portuguese maritime authorities and eyewitness accounts. A second vessel attempting to help the crew was also damaged in a separate incident nearby, leaving crews from both boats requiring rescue operations. The events, captured on video and widely shared across Portuguese social media, show the persistent and growing threat posed by these highly...

The US population is approaching a critical demographic milestone as deaths are now projected to exceed births as early as 2031, two years earlier than previously expected. This shift signals a trend toward near-zero population growth, raising concerns about the country's economic future and social support systems. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) updated its population projections in September 2025, attributing the accelerated timing mainly to declining fertility rates and tightened immigration enforcement resulting from the Trump administration’s recent immigration policies. The Trump-era One Big Beautiful Bill Act, with its aggressive immigration crackdown, is projected to reduce immigration flows significantly, further...

Residents of Palmetto Bay, Fla., have demanded the resignation of Councilman Stephen Cody, who wrote a post mocking Charlie Kirk’s support for gun rights.One by one, the angry residents who had packed the council chambers on Monday night in Palmetto Bay, Fla., stepped to the podium to express their disgust over online comments that a councilman, Stephen Cody, had made about Charlie Kirk.One man called Mr. Cody’s comments “vile.” Another called them “abnormal and dangerous.” A third man said that the councilman’s Facebook post, which went up a few hours after Mr. Kirk was fatally shot in Utah, “smells like...

WASHINGTON (AP) — As a possible federal shutdown looms, the Democratic leaders of Congress are demanding a meeting with President Donald Trump to negotiate an end to what they call “your decision” to shutter government offices if no action is taken by the end-of-the month deadline.Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries said Saturday that Republicans, at Trump’s insistence, have refused to enter talks. Democrats are pushing to preserve health care programs as part of any deal to keep government running past the Sept. 30 funding deadline.“We write to demand a meeting in connection with your decision to shut down...

[Catholic Caucus] Does Pope Leo condone homosexual behavior? Prominent Catholic scholar respondsEdward Pentin conducts an interview with Professor John Rist, a world-renowned scholar of St. Augustine and the Church Fathers, about recent events at the Vatican.Pope Leo XIV has won many plaudits for aspects of his Petrine Ministry so far — his Christ-centred preaching, personal kindness, and emphasis on peace and reconciliation to name a few.But recent events at the Vatican have heightened concerns that Leo is also tolerating, and perhaps even condoning, elements of the previous pontificate that were particularly harmful to souls on account of the public scandal...

Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes in Hong Kong overnight so experts could defuse a large US-made bomb left over from World War II that was discovered at a construction site. Police said the bomb was nearly 5 feet in length and weighed about 1,000 pounds. It was discovered by construction workers in Quarry Bay, a bustling residential and business district on the west side of Hong Kong island. “We have confirmed this object to be a bomb dating back to World War II,” said Andy Chan Tin-Chu, a police official, speaking to reporters ahead of the operation....

Siebert reportedly intended to resign after Trump publicly said that he wanted him ousted from his position. The president’s administration had pressured Siebert to investigate New York Attorney General Letitia James for mortgage fraud.“Today I withdrew the Nomination of Erik Siebert as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, when I was informed that he received the UNUSUALLY STRONG support of the two absolutely terrible, sleazebag Democrat Senators, from the Great State of Virginia. He didn’t quit, I fired him! Next time let him go in as a Democrat, not a Republican,” he wrote on Truth Social.Siebert wrote an...

National Democrats and media critics slammed President Donald Trump’s choice to deploy the National Guard to the crime-ridden streets of Washington, DC as ineffectual and unnecessary — or worse, a dangerous sign of creeping fascism. As it turns out, one week after Trump’s emergency order commandeering local police quietly expired, his action was a lesson in how quickly empowered law-enforcement officers can clean up a city.Thirty days after Trump’s August order, the crime statistics are undeniable: Both violent crime and property crime have dropped by roughly a fifth, and carjackings alone declined by 37%. The dramatic change in DC’s public...

The hysteria merchants are in high gear again as they respond to the news that Jimmy Kimmel’s ABC talk show has been “preempted indefinitely.” Kimmel got the gate from ABC because of his reckless remarks about the death of Charlie Kirk. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called the decision “despicable” and undemocratic, asserting that Kimmel has “the right to free speech.” Illinois governor and obvious presidential candidate JB Pritzker said that ABC’s decision was “an attack on free speech and cannot be allowed to stand.” Schumer, Pritzker and the many other supposed champions of free speech, of course, blame...

Portland Antifa militants got a personal message from federal officers about how this whole designated-terrorist-organization thing is going to work. On Thursday night of this week, federal protective officers paid a visit to an Antifa safe house in the West Coast, Messed Coast™ city of Portland, Ore. This feel-good story leads this week's West Coast, Messed Coast™ report. [snip] Since at least July, Antifa has been using an apartment across from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) headquarters in Portland, Ore., as a bathroom, refreshment stand, and place of respite. The apartment has also been used as a dressing room...

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Governor Ned Lamont Friday announced he’s received a letter of resignation from Marissa Paslick Gillett, who will be stepping away from her role as chairman of the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA). Her resignation will be effective Oct. 10.

There is a deep human impulse to whittle reality down into familiar and self-flattering fairy tales. We all gravitate toward information that validates our preconceptions and vindicates our in-groups. It is cognitively taxing to revise one’s model of the world. And it is emotionally uncomfortable to recognize fault in our allies or merit in our adversaries. So, we are all tempted to sand the jagged edges off events until they fit into ideologically convenient frames. If this impulse is universal, however, liberals (such as myself) like to believe that we are less vulnerable to it. After all, we are the...

Two minutes before Charlie Kirk died, I was searching for him on X. I knew he had just kicked off his latest round of college debate tours and I wanted to see him in action.The first video I saw from his visit to Utah Valley University showed him wearing a broad smile and tossing hats to an audience ready to celebrate him — and disagree with him. He always welcomed both sides.Then I hit refresh on my feed, and saw the unthinkable. A ghastly scene. Kirk was hit by a bullet. Blood was pouring out of his neck.At first I...

Federal agents deployed tear gas and pepper balls Friday to disperse an unruly mob of anti-ICE protesters — including a Democratic mayor — attempting to blockade an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility outside Chicago. More than 100 protesters surrounded the ICE Broadview Processing Center as they “assaulted law enforcement, threw tear gas cans, slashed tires of cars, blocked the entrance of the building, and trespassed on private property,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement. (snip) Daniel Biss, the Democratic mayor of Evanston, Ill., was among those taking part in the demonstration. “We. Will. Not. Be. Intimidated,”...

As India corners the world’s silver and China gobbles gold, Western investors pile into sky-high tech valuations—could one major move into silver send prices rocketing in the blink of an eye?…… The Great Silver Rush: Is India Outsmarting the World? India isn’t just importing silver—they’re scooping up every ounce they can find, pushing prices through the roof and sending a signal to global markets. Can anyone stop India’s relentless pursuit of “the people’s precious metal”? What do they know that Western investors ignore? China’s Golden Appetite: Why Gold, Why Now? Just as India is flooding its vaults with silver, China...

[Catholic Caucus] African cardinal: Same-sex ‘blessings’ document ’caused a lot of harm’Cardinal Ambongo said he believes Pope Francis ‘changed his mind’ about the release of Fiducia Supplicans after speaking with the African prelate.Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu has said that Fiducia Supplicans “caused a lot of harm to the Catholic faithful” and was a “bad chapter” in Pope Francis’ pontificate.Ambongo, who is the archbishop of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, made his latest critical comments about Francis’ document permitting homosexual “blessings” during a visit to Poland for the 12th Council of Gniezno peace summit.He told OSV News that a...