Free Republic

Extremely cold temperatures across the region have created extraordinary demands on the power system. We are asking businesses and the public to help by immediately reducing electricity use as much as possible without sacrificing safety.

People are dying in Australia and the country can’t seem to figure out why. According to a release by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there were 128,797 deaths in the country by August 31, and that is a huge number for Australia. How big? Well, while the mortality rate reportedly typically fluctuates by just about 1-to-2 percent each year, this number marks an increase of about 18,671 deaths and a 17-percent rise above the historical national average.

NANTUCKET — For anyone who enjoys the free ebb and flow of ocean air and currents over their bare skin, the coast is now clear for people of all genders to legally go topless on Nantucket beaches. Seven months after Nantucket voters approved a bylaw amendment specifically to allow all people — including women — freely to eschew torso coverings while spending time on the island's beaches, Attorney General Maura Healey has given the change her seal of approval. Her endorsement was required before the so-called "Gender Equity on Beaches" amendment could become Nantucket law. Nantucket is the first town...

The season of baby fairs is here once again in South Korea. Busy, noisy affairs held in cavernous conference halls where hundreds of vendors try to sell expectant parents everything they could possibly desire for their new bundle of joy – and plenty of other things they never knew they needed. But this is a shrinking business, and the customer base is dwindling. South Korea recently broke its own record for the world’s lowest fertility rate. Figures released in November showed the average number of children a South Korean woman will have in her lifetime is down to just 0.79....

Prosecutors have charged a five-time felon with armed carjacking after he allegedly showed up in court to support one of his accomplices and authorities recognized him by his facial tattoos. Fabian Alonzo, who has said he prefers to target Hispanic people because they are less likely to cooperate with authorities if they’re in the country illegally, also committed an armed robbery outside a Wicker Park Mexican restaurant shortly before the hijacking, prosecutors said. Around 3:40 a.m. on September 18, Alonzo and three accomplices committed an armed robbery outside El Mexico Moderno, 1247 North Ashland, prosecutors said during a bail hearing...

A new video of the North Carolina woman who suffered a broken neck after being brutally beaten at a Mexican resort shows her laughing with her friends just hours before she died.In the video shared by the Neighborhood Talk, Shanquella Robinson, 25, can be heard joking about her friends taking too long to get ready inside their Fundadores Beach Club villa. 'It don't take that long to get naked. Where y'all at?' Robinson jokes in a video of her walking around the San Jose del Cabo resort. The woman, who later sustained a broken neck and severed spine, walks around...

Two died in Johor while the third died in Kelantan.The police today confirmed that three voters died while waiting for their turn to cast their ballots in the 15th general election (GE15). Without providing further details, Inspector-General of Police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said two deaths were reported in Johor and one in Kelantan. "These incidents are quite upsetting because these voters had health problems and died while queuing to vote," he told a press conference at the Gombak district police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. He also mentioned an incident where a 23-year-old man grabbed a bottle of indelible ink...

The victim and the woman were sitting in his parked car when two suspects approached the car, removed the victim from the vehicle before assaulting him and taking cash from him.Menlo Park police are investigating a brazen attack on a man who was meeting a woman he met on a dating app. Two men approached the victim’s vehicle and dragged him out, pistol whipped and beat him, then stole his cash. The woman took off with the men. Police in Menlo Park are investigating an armed robbery and assault that occurred on the 3600 block of Haven Avenue Friday evening....

We’re still days away from the official beginning of the 2022 World Cup, and we already have our first tense encounter between a reporter and a Qatari official caught on live television. Danish reporter Rasmus Tantholdt was reporting live on TV2 when a group of men approached him in a golf cart, clearly upset with him filming. One man waved at the camera, but another tried to cover it up, which quickly escalated into a heated exchange.

A Tesla burst into flames on a Pennsylvania highway late Tuesday morning, burning so hot as to only be recognizable by its rims, firefighters said. Multiple fire departments were dispatched to a vehicle fire at Mile Marker 137 on Interstate 80 Westbound in Cooper Township just before 11 a.m. Tuesday. The daughter of the couple driving the car told WTAJ they were driving their Tesla Model S when a "large piece of debris" went underneath the car, causing it to begin to smoke. The couple, identified as "Michelle and Bob," pulled over and got out of their car. Neither were...

On 19 October 2016, a 46-year-old suspect with the surname of Seong started attacking people. He had various weapons, including homemade guns, a bomb, a hammer, and knives. He was wearing an electronic tracking device on his ankle. From Korea JoongAng Daily: An ex-convict went on a shooting spree in northern Seoul’s Gangbuk District Wednesday night using a gun he manufactured himself, fatally shooting a police officer before he was apprehended. The ex-convict was wearing a type of bullet-proof vest and helmet and had with him 16 more homemade guns, a bomb and seven knives.The suspect, a 46-year-old surnamed Seong,...

Jay Leno is in a burn center after suffering a serious injury to his face ... TMZ has learned. Jay was in the L.A. garage where he stores his cars on Sunday when one of the cars erupted into flames without warning. Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the flames burned the left side of Jay's face, but thankfully did not penetrate his eye or his ear.

Stanford University recently removed from the basement of a campus housing unit an Alabama man who had pretended to be a student and lived in the dorms for 10 months. William Curry, from Birmingham, described himself as “pre-med at Stanford University” and completing a “Bachelor of medicine – Bachelor of Surgery – MBBS, Neuroscience,” according to his LinkedIn profile. Curry (pictured) also listed “Stanford 25’” and “@CokeScholars” on his Instagram page, referring to the Coca-Cola Scholars foundation. The charity offers $20,000 college scholarships to “young people who are creating positive change in their communities and around the world,” according to...

In a tragic turn of events, Santino Godoy Blanco, just 4 years old, has passed away from pneumonia on Nov. 3, according to multiple reports. If that name sounds at all familiar to you, that’s because Blanco was the face of one of Argentina’s various vaccination campaigns. You can see an example of the type of campaign that Blanco was featured in below: Santino Godoy Blanco, 4 year old star of vaccination campaign in Argentina, dies pic.twitter.com/rEwJ6KZqrT — Tiossinob (@tiossinob) November 13, 2022 The above ad is promoting vaccinations against measles, rubella, mumps and polio. As multiple Argentinian outlets are...

The Avon cosmetics conglomerate is shutting down its facility in the Village of Suffern after 136 years. The company plans to close at the end of 2024 and will begin laying off workers this coming February. There are currently 136 employees at the factory. At one point, there were more than 1,000 workers there. Mayor Michael Curley says this might not necessarily be such a bad thing due to the tax breaks that Avon receives on their property. "They made a deal years ago with the Village of Suffern, County of Rockland, school district and the town,” said Curley. “They...

The Taliban has ordered Afghan women to wear burkas in public. The burka, which covers the wearer from head to toe and leaves only a person’s eyes exposed, became the group’s staple order on women in Afghanistan during its first reign of terror, between 1996 and 2001. The decision to re-introduce the garment serves as a chilling echo of the drastic restrictions Afghan women are once again facing under the Taliban’s control. If women have no important work outside the home, they should stay at home, the group also declared. Refusal to comply with the order can result in a...

Cops have released surveillance images of a heartless goon who they say pummeled a 10-year-old girl and her mom onboard a Bronx train last month, authorities said. The mother and daughter were standing onboard a northbound No. 5 train at the Simpson Avenue station, near Westchester Avenue, just after 4:30 p.m. Oct. 18 when a woman approached them and started punching both in the face and mouth, police said. The motive for the assault remained unclear Friday. The suspect got off the train after the attack, cops said. The mother and daughter were taken to Jacobi Medical Center in stable...

BRITISH financier Sir Evelyn de Rothschild has died aged 91, his family announced today. Sir Evelyn was the son of Anthony de Rothschild and Yvonne Cahen d’Anvers of the Bischoffsheim banking family. His family confirmed he died "peacefully at home" in a statement. The financier was born in London in 1931 to the famous banking family.

Two masked gunmen woke up a house full of Philadelphia college students and forced them into the basement during a home-invasion robbery Friday morning, cops said. Eleven Temple University students were sleeping in the off-campus home on North 15th Street at about 6 a.m. when two men in black hoodies woke them up and “gathered” them in the basement, Philadelphia police said in a statement provided to The Post. The thieves made off with cellphones, debit and credit cards — and the keys to a 2015 Lincoln MKZ, which they stole and used as a getaway car. None of the...

After a biologically male shop teacher, identified as Kayla Lemieux, began teaching class while wearing a blonde wig, tight bicycle shorts, and most notably obscenely large prosthetic breasts with protruding nipples, the local school board decided that, despite backlash, this attire would be permitted.