Free Republic

The parent company behind well-known shopping channels QVC and HSN has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. QVC Group, which filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, announced the filing in a press release Thursday, saying the company will undergo a restructuring support agreement (RSA) to reduce its debt from $6.6 billion to $1.3 billion. The goal of the RSA is to emerge from bankruptcy within 90 days. "The company has ample liquidity to support the business and, importantly, the terms of the RSA provide for vendors, suppliers and all other general unsecured creditors of the...

Iran is planning to execute four more protesters in an attempt to quell further uprisings while the Islamic nation is in talks with the U.S. The four people, Mohammadreza Majidi-Asl, Bita Hemmati, Behrouz Zamaninejad, and Kourosh Zamaninejad were arrested in January and sentenced to death earlier this week. Bita Hemmati is the first woman to be publicly executed for her ties to the anti-regime protests. A reporter asked President Trump about these executions, and this was his response. A pretty amazing response from President Trump to this reporter question:REPORTER: Iran is going to execute four more protesters, including the first...

New York sanctuary politicians are determined to release an illegal alien arsonist who killed multiple people in order to stick it to Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Mexican national Roman Amatitla randomly selected an NYC apartment building to set ablaze on March 16. He injured seven people and killed four, including a toddler. Now he faces eight counts of second-degree murder and first-degree arson, according to New York Post. The local authorities ought to be handing the illegal alien over to ICE, but they refuse to do so. Democrats have become so fanatical in their opposition to federal immigration...

This is a serious question. It seems that on alternate days, “Iran” declares that the Strait of Hormuz is open. The Strait is closed. The Strait is open with strict Iran-favorable conditions. The Strait is closed to all except Iran friends and family. We never get a straight story. I follow the shipping news closely and even in the darkest days of the Iran crisis, a least a few ships appeared to be getting through. Early on, Iran made some threats that they were never in any position to follow through on. Nonetheless, insurance companies panicked, ship owners got cold...

It's not a done deal but the situation in Iran appears to be heading for an off-ramp just as the situation in Cuba might be gearing up. Here's what we know at the moment. First, U.S. officials quietly visited Cuba last Friday to directly make the case for reform.The meeting last Friday itself marks a diplomatic breakthrough because it's the first time a U.S. government plane has touched down since President Obama visited a decade ago in an effort for rapprochement...A senior State Department official told Axios that multiple meetings took place but would not name the participants, except for...

Tyler Robinson was back in court today where his defense team argued that they needed an additional six months just to read and view all of the evidence against their client which prosecutors have turned over to them.Prosecutor Ryan McBride laid out a massive "mountain of proof" against the suspected assassin, arguing that a six-month delay requested by the defense is unnecessary because the state’s evidence already far exceeds the legal bar for trial...[Defense attorney Richard] Novak characterized the state's production as "gigantic and voluminous," telling the court that his lawyers haven't finished reading the thousands of pages of discovery...

The Speaker of Iran's Parliament has declared the opening of the Strait of Hormuz null and void. In a tweet posted on X, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused President Trump of violating the deal opening the Strait of Hormuz and said the Strait is now closed."With the continuation of the blockade, the Strait of Hormuz will not remain open."Meanwhile, CENTCOM said today they will continue the blockade until Trump tells them not to. https://t.co/1zFz6q3MVt— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) April 17, 2026"With the continuation of the blockade, the Strait of Hormuz will not remain open."Meanwhile, CENTCOM said today they will continue the blockade...

The lawyer for Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell thinks President Trump is likely to pardon her... The US Air Force meeting its recruiting goal...2026 fiscal year five months ahead... The US extending its easing of sanctions on Russian oil... "The US President has made seven claims in the span of one hour, all seven of which are false" Iran's Parliament Speaker... President Trump speaking of ending ten wars... Meeting in Havana...US State Department officials...grandson of former Cuban ruler... ...judge in Los Angeles ruling that actor Alec Baldwin can be sued... White House upbeat...meeting with the CEO of AI creator "Anthropic"......

The UCC is a really interesting denomination because it was once a genuine powerhouse in American Protestantism. The UCC was formed in 1957 through a merger of two older traditions—the Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church. And for the record, Congregationalism mattered a lot in early American history. In The American Religious Landscape, I make the point that Congregationalists likely represented the single largest religious tradition during the Revolutionary era. Today, the UCC is best understood as a mashup of Congregational polity—especially its strong emphasis on local church autonomy—and German Reformed theology. It’s one of the so-called...

The Trump administration on Friday renewed a waiver allowing countries ‌to buy sanctioned Russian oil at sea for about a month, even as lawmakers accused the government of going easy on Moscow as its war on Ukraine grinds on. The move is part of the administration's effort to control global energy prices that have shot higher during the ​U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. It came after countries in Asia, suffering from the global energy shock, pressed Washington to allow alternative ⁠supplies to reach markets. "As negotiations (with Iran) accelerate, Treasury wants to ensure oil is available to those who need it,"...

MANILA: The United States and the Philippines have announced plans for a 4,000-acre “Economic Security Zone” in Luzon (ESZ), a new industrial hub meant to strengthen supply chains for critical goods and deepen allied manufacturing ties, according to a US State Department fact sheet and a post by Under Secretary of State Jacob Helberg. The project, about 1,618.7 hectares (16,187,000 square metres, about 16.187 square km) is being described as the first “AI-native investment acceleration hub” under "Pax Silica", a US-led initiative aimed at building secure supply chains among partner countries. Officials said the site is intended to help secure...

Look in the sky! It's a bird. It's a plane. It's an invitation to this year's prom? Prom season is here, which means students are coming up with creative ways to ask their dates to accompany them. The tradition has become known as a "promposal." One such promposal was shared on social media by Mason City Schools in Mason, Ohio, after a senior made a grand gesture and reached sky-high with his request. "Mia Fischette fly to prom with me!" the banner on a plane said as it flew above the MHS campus. "I honestly I get really excited because...

The California governor's race is heating up, with Emerson College polls showing two Republicans leading after Eric Swalwell's departure. Steve Hilton leads with 17%, followed by Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco at 14%. Democratic billionaire Tom Steyer is tied with Bianco at 14%. Trailing Democrats include former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and former Representative Katie Porter both tied at 10%. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan follows with 5%. The poll also found that 23% of likely voters said they are still undecided, meaning the race remains wide open.

Up to 60 Christians were massacred by Islamists in the province of Ituri, north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), on April 1. A source affiliated to Islamic State (IS – also known as ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) reported that its fighters “targeted Christians” after they “rejected the generous offer made to them by Islamic State, based on the just rulings of Islam.” This “generous offer” was likely a demand for members of the Christian community of Bafwakoa, a village in the territory of Mambasa, to convert to Islam or accept dhimmi status as subjugated, supposedly protected, people. One of several...

President Donald Trump on April 16 defended his criticism of Pope Leo XIV’s stance on the Iran war, saying he has a right to disagree with the Holy Father and that a meeting is not necessary to resolve their differences. Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Trump said he has “no disagreement with the fact the pope can say what he wants, and I want him to say what he wants, but I can disagree.”“I want him to preach the Gospel. I’m all about the Gospel,” Trump said of Pope Leo at another point. “But I also know you...

PHOENIX (AP) — The top election official in Arizona’s most populous county will get more authority in running elections after a judge sided with his office in a prolonged legal fight with the local board that shares responsibility for overseeing the vote.The decision could have broad implications in one of the nation’s most prominent battleground states, which will have several high-profile races this fall. Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, has been roiled by election conspiracy theorists ever since President Donald Trump lost the state to Democrat Joe Biden during his bid for reelection in 2020.Justin Heap, the Republican recorder in...

A cousin of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, is throwing his tech fortune behind two of the governor’s biggest critics. Siebel Systems founder Tom Siebel, second cousin of Siebel Newsom, gave $50,000 to San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan’s bid for California governor and another $10,000 to Republican former Fox News Host Steve Hilton. Siebel sold Siebel Systems, an enterprise software firm, to Oracle to 2006 for approximately $5.8 billion, making him a billionaire with an estimated net worth of around $4 billion currently.

Maren Morris took to social media to label her first relationship with a woman as “f–ked up.” The songstress opened up to fans about her “bisexual journey” in a TikTok on Wednesday, which she described as “pretty short.” SNIP “I’m not kidding, within like, three weeks of this completely falling apart, it was lies, threats to my reputation and borderline extortion,” the Grammy winner recalled. “It was pretty -–--- up. And for that to be my first experience, it was just so depressing,” the songstress lamented, concluding that she’s “just really cool being alone” after the fling. Morris shared that...

Iran insisted its uranium was “not going anywhere” despite Donald Trump claiming a deal had been struck for the US to remove the nuclear material.The US president told Reuters that he would work with the Iranian leadership to extract the radioactive element from the country at a “nice leisurely pace” before taking it back to America.But Iran’s foreign ministry rejected Mr Trump’s claim, insisting that no such deal existed.“Iran’s enriched uranium is not going to be transferred anywhere,” Esmaeil Baqaei, a spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry, said.Tehran officials also denied Mr Trump’s suggestion that the Islamic Republic had agreed...

A box containing roughly 500 ballots from recent elections was discovered near a dumpster behind a Renton strip mall, raising concerns among state lawmakers and others about potential vulnerabilities in the state’s mail-in voting system. Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen and chair of the Washington State Republican Party, said the ballots appeared to have been mailed to voters but were never delivered or returned. While most were destined for King County voters, there are other ballots for people in Snohomish and Pierce counties. A man in Renton found the ballots in February, and they were stacked inside a box on the...