Free Republic

Plastics – rich in carbon and hydrogen – can be converted into a clean energy source, using sunlight. Credit: Adelaide University Scientists are exploring a method to convert plastic waste into fuels and valuable chemicals using sunlight, potentially addressing both pollution and energy challenges. Scientists are developing a potential solution to two major global problems, plastic pollution and clean energy, by using sunlight to turn discarded plastics into useful fuels. A new study led by University of Adelaide PhD candidate Xiao Lu examines how solar-powered systems can convert plastic waste into hydrogen, syngas, and other industrial chemicals. This approach could...

Francken just had a bad idea and acted on it. In today’s NATO summit in Turkey, Belgium is one of the lowest-investing countries in the alliance – and now, its Defense Minister has gone on a limb against Donald J. Trump because of his social media spat with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken is aware that Europe needs the U.S. to defend the continent, and he thinks the alliance leaders should be careful not to alienate Trump. While the Trump-Meloni spat escalated on Sunday with the US President posting a photo of Meloni, joking that...

The £50million phone hacking case brought by Prince Harry, Doreen Lawrence and a raft of other high-profile figures against the publishers of the Daily Mail was today dismissed in full. The case brought by the Duke of Sussex and six fellow claimants, including Sir Elton John and Elizabeth Hurley, was heard at a three-month trial at London's High Court at the beginning of this year. The trial judge, Mr Justice Nicklin, accepted that every article complained about was lawfully sourced. The claim was brought against Associated Newspapers, which publishes the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday. In an executive...

Good morning. For many Democrats, Graham Platner represented something much bigger than a fresh face to take on the seemingly unbeatable Republican Sen. Susan Collins. He was blue collar, progressive, and—seemingly—a true Mainer. For many, he seemed too good to be true. Maybe he was. On Monday, Politico dropped a bombshell report about a past girlfriend alleging sexual misconduct by Platner. Platner denied the report, but—for the first time—suggested he might be exiting the race against Collins. “Regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting but mindful of the political reality it will inflict, we are taking the time to reflect...

I have used USAA for my auto insurance for 11 years and have been reasonably satisfied with them.However this morning I got an email from them informing me my auto insurance rate is going up by 20%, TWENTY PERCENT!I have no traffic violations, speeding tickets or other violations and the only time I've used them was 9 years ago with a car tow.My credit score is 700+ BUT I am turning 75 years old this month and that has to be the reason for the huge rate increase.Although I've been loyal to USAA I'd like some other auto insurance companies...

A Midtown high-rise was evacuated Tuesday morning after massive beams inside the under-construction building started buckling — sending some floors caving in and bricks raining down under the crushing strain. The 38-story commercial building at 235 East 42nd Street was cleared around 8:11 a.m. after construction workers spotted two faulty support beams bending and starting to give way on the 21st and 22nd floors, according to the NYPD and FDNY. Fire officials said floors between the 21st and 26th floors were sagging from the pressure. It’s unclear what caused the columns to buckle. All construction workers made it out of...

"You . . . are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 2:5). Christians share common spiritual characteristics with Old Testament priests. Peter identified believers as holy priests, but many Christians don't really know what that means because priests aren't part of our culture as a whole. The primary purpose of an Old Testament priest was to offer acceptable sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. Priests were chosen by God Himself, specially cleansed through prescribed ceremonies, clothed in a prescribed manner,...

"You . . . are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 2:5). Christ’s death provided access to the Father for all believers. Throughout history, false gods have been portrayed as remote, indifferent, and apathetic to human needs and generally unapproachable by the common masses. Out of fear, a man might attempt to appease his idols but he has no desire or capacity to draw near to them. Even those in Old Testament times who worshiped the true God had limited access to...

Volodymyr Zelensky has issued a stark warning to NATO: Europe cannot afford to wait years for a new generation of anti-ballistic missile systems while Russia continues expanding its missile attacks. Speaking at the NATO Defence Industries Forum in Ankara, the Ukrainian president said ballistic missiles remain “Russia’s last major advantage” and called for the rapid development of affordable, mass-produced European air-defence systems. His warning came after Russia launched another devastating missile and drone assault on Kyiv, killing 26 people in the second major attack on the Ukrainian capital in just four days. The strikes highlighted a growing weakness in Ukraine’s...

Three tankers were struck by projectiles Tuesday in the Strait of Hormuz, the British military said, in the latest attacks targeting vessels moving through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf. One of the tankers was traveling off the coast of Oman and caught fire, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center. Iranian state television said the liquefied natural gas tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings but did not directly claim the assault. Two other tankers were also hit, including one that was struck by a drone. It was not immediately clear where they were at the...

President Donald Trump on Tuesday resurrected his push for the U.S. to acquire Greenland, and suggested the U.S. could pull all of its armed services members out of Europe in response to the continent’s continued pushback on the issue. The island territory “should be controlled by the United States,” Trump said shortly after he arrived in Ankara, Turkey, for a summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO. The 32-member alliance — which includes Denmark, of which Greenland is a part — fell into a crisis in January, as Trump demanded that the U.S. must take control of the...

The Maine Senate race has turned into a disaster for Democrats after more allegations, this time alleging rape, were dropped against Graham Platner yesterday afternoon. While Platner has not dropped out of the race yet and has not indicated what he plans to do, several prominent Democrats have withdrawn their endorsements and called on him to drop out. That means Democrats have to find someone to run against Republican incumbent Susan Collins. Governor Janet Mills dropped out of the race ages ago, not seeing a path to victory, so it's unclear if she'd return to try again. But there's a...

Ancient inscriptions written in Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, have revealed a forgotten chapter of early Christianity's rise across the Roman Empire. Etched into stone, the text mentions both Jesus Christ and Mithras, the deity worshipped by a mysterious all-male religion once popular among Roman soldiers and merchants. The inscriptions were discovered at the entrance to an underground Mithras temple in southeastern Turkey, where researchers say it records the sanctuary's symbolic closure by early Christians around 1,700 years ago. Located at Zerzevan Castle, the remarkably preserved temple still contains four sacrificial hangers, a basin believed to have collected the blood...

President Trump on Sunday posted an image of former President Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, waving before boarding an Air Force One that had been spray-painted with graffiti. It came months after another post by the president that showed the couple as primates in a jungle. That one was deleted after stiff, bipartisan backlash. The latest image shows the Obamas smiling and waving at the top of stairs alongside a baby blue and white presidential plane with graffiti painted on it that included the Democrat’s campaign slogan “Yes We Can,” “Obama” and “BLM,” short for Black Lives Matter. The...

Seth Rich (LinkedIn) The corrupt Deep State is crumbling, and the truth they desperately tried to burn is finally clawing its way to the light. Attorney Ty Clevenger, who has spent nearly a decade battling the FBI and DOJ for transparency in the Seth Rich case, revealed a stunning new development on X. Clevenger wrote: SETH RICH UPDATE: Today an attorney for the government told me that I would soon be getting confirmation that several hundred pages of documents related to Seth Rich were found in a previously-hidden room at FBI headquarters. You may recall that on July 30, 2025,...

A diner was shocked and appalled after allegedly getting calorie-shamed by a restaurant’s order screen, per a viral Reddit post. According to the thread, shared to the forum’s “Mildly Infuriating” forum, the customer had ordered three lamb skewers at an undisclosed “all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant.” This seemed standard enough, but when the patron went to check out digitally, they received an on-screen pop-up warning about their food intake. “For your own health concern, an average adult’s intake should not exceed 1,000 calories,” the advisory read. “Your current calorie intake is 2,000 calories. Are you sure you want to proceed?” In the...

The Presbyterian Church (USA), the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States, has passed a measure expressing support for body-deforming sex-change surgeries for youth exhibiting gender dysphoria. At a plenary session for the PCUSA's 227th General Assembly held last week, delegates voted 441-30 in favor of an overture called GEN-02, also known as “On Access to Healthcare.” The rationale for the overture describes so-called “gender-affirming care” as “medically necessary and evidence based for the well-being of many transgender, non-binary, and gender- expansive people who experience symptoms of gender dysphoria or distress that result from having one’s gender identity not match...

2023: “Twitter rebrand to X is destined to fail.” 2026: “Fastest-growing website among the top 20 in the world.” X in June 2026: → 4.399 billion visits → Up 4.66% from May → Fastest-growing website among the top 20 in the world → 3rd fastest-growing website among the top 50 in the world

DAPHNE, Ala. — Andrew Gillum, who lost to Ron DeSantis by an extremely slim margin in the 2018 Florida governor’s race and served as Tallahassee’s mayor from 2014-2018, was arrested last week in Alabama on drug charges, Local 10 News learned Tuesday. According to online jail records, the former politician was arrested Thursday night in Daphne, Alabama on charges of possession of dangerous drugs, drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana. He has since been released from jail. Further details surrounding the 46-year-old’s arrest were not immediately released. Local 10 News has requested a copy of his arrest report from the...

Nigel Farage says he will resign as an MP for Clacton, triggering a by-election which he says he will stand in