Free Republic

Turkish police used tear gas and water cannon as hundreds of people at a pro-Palestinian rally on Sunday tried to storm an air base that houses U.S. troops, hours before U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due in Ankara for talks on Gaza. Turkey, which has stepped up its criticism of Israel as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has worsened, supports a two-state solution while hosting members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Since the Israel-Hamas war started, protests have erupted across the country. Earlier this week, the IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, an Islamist Turkish aid agency, organised a...

Without warning, hundreds of noncommissioned officers were ordered via email to report to the recruiting school at Fort Knox, Kentucky, in less than a week, with hundreds more set to start at the school in December -- a sudden unexpected move by the Army as the service scrambles to boost its recruiting force by 800 by the end of the year. The orders came after a breakdown in how the Army tracks how many recruiters it has coming through the pipeline along with retention of existing ones, according to Lt. Gen. Douglas Stitt, the Army's top personnel officer. The sudden...

A driver tried to crash through the exit gates of a South Carolina nuclear plant Thursday night about an hour after security asked the same car to leave when it tried to enter, authorities said. A pop-up security barrier stopped the car with an Arkansas license plate at the Oconee Nuclear Station near Seneca around 8 p.m., Oconee County Sheriff’s spokesman Jimmy Watt said in a statement. The driver backed up and tried to drive down a dirt road as Duke Energy security tried to block him in. The driver tried to hit the guards, then drove through a fence...

DENVER (KDVR) — Some people are not getting their paychecks Friday due to a banking system issue. Deposits are reportedly delayed at multiple banks across the U.S. The Federal Reserve is reporting an issue with the Automated Clearing House, which is the primary system agencies use for electronic funds transfers. Customers of Bank of America, Chase, U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo and other banks have been reporting issues with deposits on X, formally Twitter, and Downdetector. Both Chase and Bank of America gave statements to CNN, confirming that some deposits may be delayed. The Fed reported a batch of transfers had...

One branch in Darien, Conn., charged as much as $18 for a Big Mac combo meal, which includes medium fries and a medium soft drink. Meanwhile, that same Big Mac combo will run hungry patrons $13.69 at a McDonald’s in Times Square. Shares of McDonald’s closed up 1.7% to $260.15. Net income rose to $2.3 billion, up from $1.98 billion in the same period last year, and same-store sales in the US increased by 8.1%, again attributed to price hikes. During an earnings call with investors, CFO Ian Borden confirmed that the company’s US prices did increase in the third...

New resources will encourage zero emissions conversions and transit-oriented development that increase housing supply and cut climate pollution Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing new actions to support the conversion of high-vacancy commercial buildings to residential use, including through new financing, technical assistance, and sale of federal properties. These announcements will create much-needed housing that is affordable, energy efficient, near transit and good jobs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, nearly 30 percent of which comes from the building sector. Office and commercial vacancies across the country are affecting urban downtowns and rural main streets. A new blog released today by...

Today, President Biden is issuing a landmark Executive Order to ensure that America leads the way in seizing the promise and managing the risks of artificial intelligence (AI). The Executive Order establishes new standards for AI safety and security, protects Americans’ privacy, advances equity and civil rights, stands up for consumers and workers, promotes innovation and competition, advances American leadership around the world, and more. As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s comprehensive strategy for responsible innovation, the Executive Order builds on previous actions the President has taken, including work that led to voluntary commitments from 15 leading companies to drive...

Societal order is beginning to collapse in the besieged Gaza Strip after thousands of desperate people raided UN warehouses in search of food, amid continuing bombardment by Israeli airstrikes and a widening ground offensive as the war enters its fourth week. Thomas White, the head of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), said on Sunday that wheat, flour and hygiene supplies had been taken the day before from several UN-run centres across the blockaded 41km by 12km strip, home to more than 2 million trapped people. “This is a worrying sign that civil order is starting to break down...

The U.S. has stopped issuing export licenses for most civilian firearms and ammunition for 90 days for all non-governmental users, the Commerce Department said on Friday, citing national security and foreign policy interests. The Commerce Department did not provide further details for the pause, which also includes shotguns and optical sights, but said an urgent review will assess the "risk of firearms being diverted to entities or activities that promote regional instability, violate human rights, or fuel criminal activities." The Commerce Department declined to comment beyond the posting on its website. The halt covers most of the guns and ammunition...

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, along with the National Counterterrorism Center, issued the Joint Intelligence Bulletin sharing information and a threat assessment advising state and local law enforcement agencies that “lone offenders inspired by, or reacting to, the ongoing Israel-HAMAS conflict pose the most likely threat to Americans.” The bulletin – obtained by CNN – also notes “the FBI has seen an increase in reports of threats against faith communities, particularly Jewish and Muslim communities.” While Hamas has not specifically called for attacks on US soil, the bulletin says, other foreign terrorist organizations have called for attacks...

Al Jazeera correspondent Dorsa Jabbari reported that “at least half a dozen” cities in Iran have seen protests break out in the wake of the hospital attack. From her vantage point in the capital Tehran, she explained that demonstrators moved from the city’s Palestine Square to the French Embassy, where they chanted against the violence. “There is the sense that this was something catastrophic,” Jabbari explained. “The Supreme Leader of Iran spoke earlier on Tuesday and he said once the Muslim countries, the Muslim nation and the people become angry, it is very hard to prevent them from expressing their...

September 20, 2023 Washington, D.C. – Today, the House Financial Services Committee considered Majority Whip Emmer’s (MN-06) CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act. The bill was passed out of the Committee and reported favorably to the House floor during the markup session, an important step toward passing this legislation through Congress. Transcript of Remarks: Thank you, Chairman McHenry. I’m extremely proud to have this legislation, that frankly, I have been working on for three years at least, the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act, included in your markup today. It’s the first anti-central bank digital currency legislative effort introduced in the United States and...

The Biden administration announced its latest regulatory action targeting home appliances late Friday, this time targeting popular home gas-powered furnaces. The Department of Energy (DOE) said the energy efficiency regulations would slash household utility costs by $1.5 billion on an annual basis while reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the residential sector. The proposal, according to the agency, require non-weatherized gas furnaces and those used in mobile homes to achieve a far higher level of efficiency than cheaper models on the market. "At the direction of Congress, DOE is continuing to review and finalize energy standards for household appliances, such as...

An 85-year-old Indiana-based trucking and logistics company and its affiliates recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection less than nine months after it was acquired by private-equity firm Transport Acquisitions. Founded in 1938, Otwell, Indiana-based Elmer Buchta Trucking, which offers bulk, dry van and pneumatic trucking services, has 100 drivers and more than 230 power units, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s SAFER website. No reason was given as to why the entities were forced to file for bankruptcy protection. Transport Acquisitions purchased the trucking company and its affiliates in January from the Wright Family Investment Group, which...

It would appear Australia is one step closer to embracing a cashless society after Macquarie Bank announced plans to scrap cash transactions across all of its branches. The fifth-largest bank in Australia revealed they will be dropping cash, cheque, and phone payment services from 2024 with payments to be conducted entirely digitally and all cash withdrawals to take place entirely at ATMs from November 2024. “Between January 2024 and November 2024, we’ll be phasing out our cash and cheque services across all Macquarie banking and wealth management products, including pension and super accounts,” Macquarie Bank said in a statement. “Customers...

Citigroup become the digital custodian for the BondbloX fractionalized bond exchange. The global investment bank also debuted a pilot program for turning customer deposits into digital tokens, according to a report. Citigroup is expanding its digital asset services with a new custodian partnership and a pilot program for tokenized deposits. The global investment bank became the first digital custodian for the BondbloX Bond Exchange, it said in a statement on Sept. 15. BBX is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and is described as the world’s first fractional bond exchange that uses atomic settlement and distributed ledger technology. The...

Orbcomm, a major provider of ELDs to the trucking sector, is dealing with a ransomware attack that has limited the ability of its customers to use its Fleet Manager offering, which includes its Blue Tree ELD systems, the company has confirmed. Resolving the issue may take up to two weeks. (snip) In a notice to Orbcomm customers Wednesday, supplied to FreightWaves by an Orbcomm customer, the company said under the heading “Rebuild and Restore” that it is “targeting to restore full use of our BT product line and the supporting platforms as well as RCOM Reports by September 28.” The...

One of the containers involved was carrying perchloric acid, which is used in explosives as well as a variety of food and drug products, Tysver said. The car that exploded had been stationary for a couple hours beforehand, authorities said. Joanna Le Moine, deputy director of the Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency, said officials are monitoring the situation and the weather to determine which direction the smoke will go “to help keep responders and citizens safe out of an overabundance of caution.” The railyard where the explosion happened covers 2,850 acres (1,153 hectares) and stretches as wide as eight miles...

Researchers from Pritzker Molecular Engineering, under the guidance of Prof. Jeffrey Hubbell, demonstrated that their compound can eliminate the autoimmune response linked to multiple sclerosis. Researchers at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) have developed a novel vaccine that, in laboratory tests, can completely reverse autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, and Crohn’s disease — all without shutting down the rest of the immune system. A typical vaccine teaches the human immune system to recognize a virus or bacteria as an enemy that should be attacked. The new “inverse vaccine” does just the opposite:...

On September 6th, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced its designation of 483 Community Disaster Resilience Zones. Community Disaster Resilience Zones will build disaster resilience across the nation by driving federal, public and private resources to the most at-risk and in-need jurisdictions. Designated zones will have prioritized support to access federal funding and technical assistance for resilience and mitigation projects. Dr. Ned Gardiner of the CEE division, program manager for Climate-Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI), negotiated with the awardee of the CSCI grant as well as with FEMA to have CSCI included in the FEMA announcement. On September 6th, FEMA announced...