Free Republic

Waymo has recalled its entire fleet of vehicles after some of its driverless cars were caught speeding into freeway construction zones.The voluntary recall on June 13 of the California-based tech company’s 3,871 vehicles is to fix its 5th-generation Automated Driving System (ADS) software so that it will recognize and avoid construction zones.“Waymo’s mission is to be the world’s most trusted driver, and the data shows that we’re making roads safer in the communities in which we operate,” a Waymo spokesperson told The Epoch Times.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) estimates that the entire fleet carries the software defect, according...

America’s largest cities are increasing their spending at almost unprecedented rates.A RealClearInvestigations (RCI) analysis of cities with at least 500,000 residents found they cumulatively raised their per-person spending by 18 percent over the last 10 budget cycles, accounting for inflation. The only equivalents on record are the spending surges ignited by the Great Society programs of the 1960s and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal during the 1930s.But unlike those past eras, today’s cities do not have the revenue to support their heavy spending. State and federal funding have dropped off from their record highs during the COVID-19 pandemic, and local...

One of the joys of living in Japan is the lack of wokeness. It is not that it doesn’t exist – there is a Tokyo Pride, the odd Gaza protest, and gender equality is increasingly discussed – it’s simply that the concept doesn’t quite translate. Like the strikes that only take place at the weekend so as not to inconvenience customers, woke protesters here are tiny in number, generally polite and devoid of the threatening aggressiveness of the West. And diversity isn’t really a thing. Maybe that’s another reason tourist numbers have exploded. You can get away from all that...

The successful first flight represents a significant step forward for Dassault Aviation. Dassault Aviation has achieved a major milestone in its business jet program as the all-new Falcon 10X successfully completed its maiden flight. The step marks the beginning of the aircraft’s flight-test campaign and demonstrating the maturity of the development program. The inaugural flight took place from Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport in France, where test pilot Sébastien Dupont de Dinechin and copilot Fabrice Dougnac lifted off aboard the Falcon 10X for a mission lasting approximately two and a half hours. During the flight, the crew evaluated the aircraft’s handling characteristics and...

The Coast Guard said no fatalities have been reported, and all crew members from Coast Guard Air Station Sitka have been transported to Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center. The United States Coast Guard confirmed Monday that an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter has crashed in Sitka, Alaska, during a training flight with four people on board. The Coast Guard said no fatalities have been reported, and all crew members from Coast Guard Air Station Sitka have been transported to Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center. The cause of the crash, which occurred Monday morning, is currently under investigation. "The safety, well-being, and rescue of our...

SpaceX shares tumbled 16% Monday – their third straight day of declines — on news that Elon Musk’s rocket company could launch a massive borrowing binge. After a blockbuster initial public offering earlier this month, SpaceX on Monday revealed in a regulatory filing that it plans to sell investment-grade bonds. The bond offering would aim to raise about $20 billion, according to reports, and could help bankroll costly AI development and longer term goals like building data centers in space. In addition to the offering of senior unsecured notes, the filing disclosed about $100.8 billion in cash. The shares on...

@SenRandPaul Last week, Anthony Fauci notified us that he will not voluntarily testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, even though he had previously agreed to do so. Therefore, today we have issued a subpoena for him to publicly testify.

Germany banned a U.S. movie that, "was inspired by a notorious case in Hamburg in 2016, when a group of teenagers gang-raped a 14-year-old girl and left her for dead, only for the perpetrators to walk free with suspended sentences." https://variety.com/2026/film/global/armie-hammer-citizen-vigilante-banned-germany-uwe-boll-1236785839/

The note, received around February 6, was a major shift from the earlier message from the same IP address that had demanded millions in bitcoin for her safe return. The latter note adopted a “new, less confident tone” and included a “sputtering and labored” apology for her “inadvertent death,” sources told Air Mail in a detailed report on the investigation. The person claiming to be the kidnapper reportedly floated returning her body in exchange for payment. After the second note was received, Savannah Guthrie posted a video addressing the alleged kidnapper. "We received your message and we understand," Savannah Guthrie...

A federal judge on Monday shut down the Trump Administration’s pilot program restricting the purchase of soda and junk food with SNAP benefits. US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, an Obama appointee, said Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins applied the wrong law in approving a pilot program for states that wanted to restrict junk food purchases. 23 states applied for the pilot program in an effort to limit the purchase of soda, candy and other junk food. Plaintiffs in five states filed the lawsuit against Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins. Judge Berman Jackson’s ruling applies to five states: West Virginia, Tennessee,...

@EvanAKilgore Tucker Carlson says he no longer supports the Republican Party and that it is "no longer loyal to the United States." He says the GOP puts foreign nations over America and that there is no way he can defend the GOP anymore.

Whether you relate more to the allure of the green M&M or the charisma of the red one, you can rest easy in the fact that both of those colors are here to stay—which sadly can’t be said for all of the M&M’s colors you’ve come to know and love. That’s right, the popular chocolate candy brand is doing away with two of its iconic colors, but not without good reason. Mars, the maker of M&M’s, is phasing out synthetic food dyes, and M&M’s is slated to go au naturel come August. Currently, the small candy-coated chocolates come in seven...

ALERT: Homeless man steals a cop car and leads police on an over 40-mile car chase. Sacramento police said officers received a call about a 28-year-old homeless man, Isaac Paval, throwing a tire at a woman's car before chasing her with a big stick. Police then tried to detain Paval, who was shirtless, and after several attempts, Paval managed to get into a patrol vehicle and took off. California Highway Patrol took over the pursuit, and after ramming the back of the car, Paval motions his hands out of the window, slows the vehicle to a stop, and exits the...

Despite her famous family and high profile diplomatic career, Caroline Kennedy doesn’t often issue public statements. This week, she made an exception, sharing a message of support for her son Jack Schlossberg. He is currently running as a Democrat for the U.S. House of Representatives in New York's 12th Congressional District. She said in a video shared to Schlossberg’s Instagram account. “We need a new generation that still believes in the old values. Vote for Jack by June 23rd.” The message comes shortly after news broke that Caroline and her husband Ed Schlossberg have moved in with their son-in-law Dr....

@opinion_black The circus has begun. You have little to no idea who this WEF puppet Andy Burnham is. A left wing tax and spend socialist who is a Manchurian candidate operating on behalf of the corporatists and oligarchs that control this country. A man sent to destroy what’s left of this once great country. A man who will surround himself with other puppets dedicated to that same ideal. The UK needs an election not a coronation. If that does not work then certainly a revolution.

The city's main liquified natural gas (LNG) processing site suffered a "technical accident" in Ras Laffan industrial zone on Sunday night, the interior ministry said, with the city's skyline turning orange because of the explosion. Qatar's Energy Minister Saad Sherida al-Kaabi said the explosion would not affect the country's exports, adding "this was an accident and not sabotage or hostile in nature". The Ras Laffan Port is the largest artificial harbour in the world and has the world's largest LNG export facility. ... On Sunday, QatarEnergy, which is the country's state-owned energy company, confirmed the explosion occurred at "Barzan local...

WASHINGTON — The leaders of three Republican House committees threatened Monday to hold Democratic fundraising powerhouse ActBlue in contempt of Congress after the firm refused to turn over more than 400 documents, citing attorney-client privilege. A letter from House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), and Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) gave ActBlue until Friday to provide the messages, including statements by two members of its legal team indicating the fundraiser was not being forthcoming about overseas donations that were illegally funneled to Democratic campaigns. “These documents reportedly contain evidence that ActBlue accepted...

MANILA, Philippines — Two students armed with hand guns opened fire in a high school in the central Philippines on Monday, killing three fellow students and wounding another seven, police said. The suspects, aged 14 and 15, were arrested. The suspects and the victims were students of the San Jose National High School in Tacloban city, where the mid-morning shooting happened, regional police chief Brig. Gen. Jason Capoy said. An investigation was underway to determine the cause of the shooting in the government-run school, which has more than 1,500 students. Capoy said that the suspects, who were close friends, said...

"A 12-year-old boy was killed when a suspect opened fire during a "brawl" that happened in Nashville's theater district on Sunday night. Damarion Morehead was shot in the head when a fight involving "six to seven" people broke out at the intersection of Representative John Lewis Way and Deaderick Street, which is right next to the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. Morehead was later pronounced dead at the hospital..... The Metro Nashville Police Department arrested 24-year-old Devin Orr, who is the suspected shooter. Investigators were able to examine video from the incident. In a statement, the Metro Nashville Police Department said,...

Explanation: Is this what will become of our Sun? Quite possibly. The first hint of our Sun's future was discovered inadvertently in 1764. At that time, Charles Messier was compiling a list of diffuse objects not to be confused with comets. The 27th object on Messier's list, now known as M27 or the Dumbbell Nebula, is a planetary nebula, one of the brightest planetary nebulas on the sky and visible with binoculars toward the constellation of the Fox (Vulpecula). It takes light about 1000 years to reach us from M27, featured here in colors enhanced by red for hydrogen and...