Free Republic

Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau is stepping down after facing heated backlash for a video statement he made almost entirely in English after a fatal plane crash earlier this month – snubbing Montreal’s official language of French. Rousseau, who became CEO in 2021 and served in top positions at the airline for nearly two decades, told the board he will retire by the end of the third quarter of 2026, Air Canada said in a statement Monday. Asked whether Rousseau’s retirement is tied to the backlash, an Air Canada spokesperson said Rousseau “has reached a natural retirement age” and that...

Chaos at Ultra Music Festival time: Miami cops shoot a man in his 20s acting erratically outside the YVE Hotel Saturday morning around 7AM. Taser and pepper spray? Useless. Dude turns violent...

A Delta plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Brazil late Sunday after an apparent engine glitch sent flames and sparks shooting from the packed jet. Delta Flight DL104, which was bound for Atlanta with 272 passengers and 14 crew on board, suffered a mechanical issue with its left engine as it was taking off at Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport. The airline blamed a “mechanical issue” for the wild mishap. “The Airbus A330-300 landed safely and was met by ARFF (Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting), then customers were taken by bus to the terminal,” a spokesperson said in...

Four teenagers have been charged following an attack on a search and rescue volunteer and his trained dog. Three boys, one aged 13 and two aged 15, and a girl aged 16, have been charged with various offences including assault. Ryan Gray, from K9 Search & Rescue NI, was walking his dog Max through Bangor on Friday evening when they were both assaulted.

🚨 BREAKING: President Trump's FDA is ABOLISHING inhumane treatment and testing of beagles, chimpanzees and other animals Good! This is common sense! STOP abusing dogs. Commissioner Makary says ALL beagles that the FDA housed were removed from custody "Scientists have really preyed on beagles because beagles are docile animals...Those kennels are EMPTY, and so we are making massive strides to reducing animal testing in different classes of medications on a roadmap that we have." "I'm also proud to report that you no longer need to submit data using 144 chimpanzees for a class of drugs called monoclonal antibodies. That was...

As Iran bombards Middle Eastern countries with swarms of suicide drones, unmanned aerial systems (UAS), similar to those used in war can be found for sale online, sometimes marked as “model planes.” Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba features multiple listings for drones, which are categorized for commercial use, yet carry an uncanny resemblance to the Iranian Shahed-136 suicide drone. Shahed-136 drones carry a warhead of up to 90 kilograms and fly in swarms before crashing into their targets. Alibaba’s terms of service ban the sale of military equipment on the site. Yet, in recent days, it has come under scrutiny for...

On Monday, in an unusual step, the Spanish government closed its airspace and the use of its military bases to aircraft involved in the ongoing operations in Iran. The decision includes a sweeping ban on the landing, takeoff, or refueling of fighter jets at the strategic "Rota" and "Morón" bases. Following the move, and in coordination with the government in Madrid, Washington canceled its plan to deploy heavy bombers of the B-52 and B-1 types at Morón Air Base, which is considered a critical logistical hub for the US Air Force. Amid tensions with the United States, Spanish Prime Minister...

Mikie Sherrill’s Ramadan Hijab and Palm Sunday Silence: Selective Faith for Political Gain? New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill has never been shy about showcasing her solidarity with the state’s Muslim community. During Ramadan and the Eid al-Fitr celebrations that concluded in mid-March, she made sure the cameras were rolling. Sherrill visited mosques, posed for selfies in a traditional hijab, and posted warmly on social media: “Assalamu Alaikum and Eid Mubarak, New Jersey!” The images circulated widely—governor in headscarf, breaking bread with local Muslim leaders, emphasizing inclusion and respect. Public appearances during Ramadan draw attention That was then. This past weekend,...

I got this email: Your Experian credit file has new alerts, including an increase in credit balance. Then they want me to log on to my (rarely used) account. There's no urgency in the tone of the message. And they say there's an increase in a credit balance. Yeah, maybe it's because I use a credit card for a lot of purchases (which, I pay off regularly). ??

Hizbullah's retaliatory missile attacks against Israel, following the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, have created an existential threat for the group. Hizbullah is miscalculating its heavy losses from military operations, which intensified after the group violated the November 27, 2024, ceasefire agreement. On March 13, Hizbullah Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem called the conflict an "existential battle," but analysts unanimously assess this will be the group's last war. "Hizbullah is waging its final, losing battle, defying the Lebanese state's designation of it as an illegitimate entity and a faction operating under the orders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps...

The global energy shock triggered by the ongoing Iran war is rippling through the United States farm sector, where soaring input costs are placing US farmers under severe financial strain and raising concerns about future food prices... The closure and instability around the Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery for global oil and fertilizer shipments, have pushed fuel prices sharply higher and tightened supplies of key agricultural inputs. The result is a double blow for US farmers already dealing with tight margins. Higher input costs reduce profitability, while uncertainty about supply availability complicates planting decisions. In some cases, farmers are...

When Vladimir Putin has been asked to justify his war for control over Ukraine, his answer is typically that Ukraine and Russia have always been one country. And there is some truth to that. The Russian state traces its roots back to something called the Kievan Rus in the 9th century, with its capital at Kyiv. In the period prior to the 20th century, there were times when parts of today’s Ukraine were controlled by other states (like Poland or Lithuania), but never a time when Ukraine was a fully independent country separate from Russia. And yet somehow a tremendous...

AI can lead mentally unwell people to some pretty dark places, as a number of recent news stories have taught us. Now researchers think sycophantic AI is actually having a harmful effect on everyone. In reviewing 11 leading AI models and human responses to interactions with those models across various scenarios, a team of Stanford researchers concluded in a paper published Thursday that AI sycophancy is prevalent, harmful, and reinforces trust in the very models that mislead their users. "Even a single interaction with sycophantic AI reduced participants' willingness to take responsibility and repair interpersonal conflicts, while increasing their own...

President Donald Trump suggested, late Sunday, that he is getting ready to move on from Casey Means — his Surgeon General nominee — amid heavy criticism of her qualifications. Speaking with reporters on board Air Force One, the president opened the door to pulling Means’s nomination. “Are you considering withdrawing Casey Means for Surgeon General and nominating someone else?” A reporter asked. “Well, we’re looking at a lot of different things,” Trump said. “I don’t know how she’s doing in the nomination process. I’m more focused on Iran. But, you know, something like that would be possible. We certainly have...

Trump says the roughly $400M project is already ahead of schedule and under budget, replacing the old East Wing demolished in October President Donald Trump said Sunday that the military is constructing a "massive complex" beneath a planned White House ballroom, which he said will feature bulletproof glass and drone-proof protections while being funded entirely by private donors... "The military is building a massive complex under the ballroom, and that’s under construction, and we’re doing very well," Trump said.

California Democrats have a problem with their leading candidates. One doesn’t live in the state but allegedly lived, in the euphemistic sense, with a Chinese spy. Another has the looks and personality of a distempered boar and can’t stop screaming at staffers, reporters and anyone late with her lunch. A third is a billionaire who convenes events at luxury hotels to explain how he’ll fight against the billionaires for the working class he sometimes reads about in the paper. And those are their most popular candidates. But since this is California, the real problem is that all of those candidates...

It was a time for the future of America to speak up. The No Kings 3 rally at the Historic Courthouse, a passionate and peaceful response to the policies of the Trump administration, featured only high school speakers and was one of four demonstrations held Saturday in Chester County. The event was sponsored by Chester County Indivisible and donations were directed to The Fund for Women and Girls.

When I write about threats to Western civilization, I struggle to find the sweet spot between describing the myriad problems we face and my firm belief that we are capable of winning this fight. I do not think all is lost. I do, however, think that it is important for as many people as possible to recognize what our enemies are doing. When we are being attacked from all sides — culturally, politically, economically, socially, parentally, morally, religiously, psychologically — it is sometimes difficult to recognize that these attacks are all connected. Those who wish to destroy Western civilization use...

Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) said the military conflict in Iran will be looked at as one of the greatest “presidential blunders of our time.” Host Kristen Welker said, “The U.S. has reportedly sent Iran a 15-point plan addressing its ballistic and nuclear weapons program, and some analysts have already drawn some comparisons to the talks under the Obama administration. The deal that was struck during the Obama era. Do you support the Trump administration’s efforts to try to negotiate a deal with Iran to bring this war to an end?” Booker said, “I don’t...

Science in Poland reports that a medieval document has been recovered at a large residential structure at the site of Old Dongola in Sudan by a team of researchers from the University of Warsaw. The text, written in Arabic on paper, is an order issued by King Qashqash, a ruler thought by some to be a legendary figure known only from mention in a nineteenth-century work. The building where the document was found also contained textiles made of cotton, linen, and silk; objects made of ivory and rhino horn; amulets; and more than 20 letters and administrative and legal documents....