Free Republic

A new long-range airliner soared high over California on Monday before finally touching down in France on Tuesday morning after flying for more than 24 hours straight from Australia, Qantas Airways announced. Built for the carrier’s Project Sunrise, the cutting-edge Airbus A350-1000 is designed to fly passengers nonstop from the east coast of Australia to London and New York — a “world first,” according to the company. Per public flight records, the aircraft departed from Melbourne at 5:30 p.m. on Monday and passed directly over Los Angeles and Las Vegas on Monday afternoon after crossing the international date line. It...

US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have presented a $112 billion reconstruction plan to Gulf officials to build a “high-tech metropolis” atop the remains of Gaza, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. The 32-page PowerPoint presentation labeled "sensitive" and titled "Project Sunrise" was developed over 45 days and reportedly presented to officials from Qatar, UAE, Egypt, and Turkiye. The plan envisions turning the Gaza Strip into a "high-tech metropolis" over the next two decades with four phases of reconstruction beginning in southern Gaza. It also calls for turning Rafah into Gaza's new "administrative center," housing over 500,000...