Free Republic

AI-generated singers routinely rank among the top-streamed country music artists in the United States -- a trend that for now is limited to a genre that industry observers fear is becoming too formulaic. Breaking Rust, Cain Walker, Aventhis, and Outlaw Gospel have more in common that cowboy hats, denim and leather. They are all completely computer-generated, from their faces to their melodies. And they are all hitmakers. "That's a phenomenon I didn't see coming," said Jennie Hayes Kurtz of the country music band Brother and The Hayes. "I thought AI was going to be curing cancer or something." Many of...

The pro-European party of Moldovan President Maia Sandu has claimed victory and a new majority in parliament in Sunday's elections seen as critical for her country's future path to the EU. Sandu had warned of "massive Russian interference" after voting, saying the future of Moldova, flanked by Ukraine and Romania, was at stake. Igor Grosu, the leader of Sandu's Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) which secured about 50% of the vote, said Russia had thrown "everything it had" at the election. Opposition leader Igor Dodon had claimed victory even before results came in and called for protests outside parliament...

And leftists are wearing it proudly. Like everything that is “Palestinian,” the keffiyeh comes from somewhere else. Its name is derived from an Italian word, cuffia, or headdress. It originated among the Bedouins as a protection from the sun, and not just Palestinians, or Arabs in general, wear it; Kurds and Yazidis sometimes sport it as a non-political statement. Nevertheless, the close identification of this headdress with the Palestinian jihad against Israel has made it unmistakable: the keffiyeh is today what the broken cross of National Socialism was in the 1930s and 1940s. It is a symbol of an irrational...