Free Republic

Intelligence agencies investigating mysterious "attacks" that led to brain injuries in U.S. personnel in Cuba and China consider Russia to be the main suspect, three U.S. officials and two others briefed on the investigation tell NBC News. The suspicion that Russia is likely behind the alleged attacks is backed up by evidence from communications intercepts, known in the spy world as signals intelligence, amassed during a lengthy and ongoing investigation involving the FBI, the CIA and other U.S. agencies. The officials declined to elaborate on the nature of the intelligence. The evidence is not yet conclusive enough, however, for the...

Hillary Clinton emails containing classified information were forwarded by an aide to former congressman Anthony Weiner, the director of the FBI testified Wednesday as he defended his handling of politically sensitive probes surrounding the last year’s presidential race.

David Letterman‘s mother Dorothy Mengering, who made many memorable appearances on her son’s Late Show on CBS, has died at the age of 95.

Syrian rebels launched a massive attack on Damascus Sunday amid government bombardments of rebel-held areas as a new round of U.N.-brokered peace talks was scheduled to begin in Geneva this week. The presidential palace was rocked by explosions, Twitter user Eboumhna Remaly reported.

ISIS: "Oh, you Chinese who do not understand what people say. We are the soldiers of the Caliphate, and we will come to you to clarify to you with the tongues of our weapons, to shed blood like rivers and avenging the oppressed." China: Bury the corpses of terrorists and terror gangs in the vast sea of the people’s war.

2 hours ago - NEW YORK — The closely watched Dow Jones industrial average reached historic levels on Friday, breaching 20,000 points for the first time ...

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The Uzbek government has confirmed the death of President Islam Karimov, six days after he was taken to hospital with a suspected brain haemorrhage. One of Asia's most authoritarian leaders, Mr Karimov, 78, died after 27 years in power.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he is and has always been fond of communist "ideas", while also comparing the Soviet code of conduct to the Holy Bible, independent news agency Interfax reported. ... "I was not, as you know, a party member by necessity," he said. "I liked communist and socialist ideas very much and I like them still."

Rebels with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) on Wednesday repelled an offensive by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in central Syria, destroying 10 government tanks despite repeated fire from a Russian air assault, their leaders claim.

An elite team of military personnel, who entered the warehouse in Tianjin to remove 700 tonnes of sodium cyanide, have found that the toxic chemical has leaked into underground drain water. Sodium cyanide has now also been detected in the sewage water, personnel from the Environment Protection Bureau told The Beijing News.

)—If you cared deeply about something, would you protest? Make a sign? Join a demonstration? How long could you keep going for, in the face of indifference and inaction? When more than 200 Nigerian girls were kidnapped from their school a year ago by Boko Haram militants, millions of people around the world joined a social media campaign to plead for their safe return. Charles Alasholuyi was one of those people -- from celebrities to world leaders -- voicing their anger via #BringBackOurGirls, one of the top Twitter hashtags of 2014, used in more than four million tweets. But as...

On Wednesday, Brent crude broke $64 a barrel while WTI crude broke $61 for the first time since 2009. Both benchmark oil indexes were down more than 4%. Brent got as low as $63.72. WTI got as low as $60.55. Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/oil-prices-drop-december-10-2014-12#ixzz3LW4F7cMt

The Hong Kong government said Monday that riot police have pulled back from pro-democracy demonstrations around the city. Explaining the move, the government said in a statement that the protesters on the streets are "calm again." It urged the protesters to disperse to allow emergency vehicles, public transport and other traffic to pass.

The senior leadership of one of the most influential Syrian rebel organisations has been wiped out in a devastating blast that is likely to greatly diminish the group as a fighting force. The blast killed at least 12 senior leaders of Ahrar al-Sham, including its leader, Hassan Abboud, when it hit a meeting where the group had gathered in Syria's northern Idlib province, near the Turkish border. The cause of the explosion remained unexplained almost a day later, with some Ahrar al-Sham members insisting a rival group had been responsible, while others claimed an explosion had mistakenly taken place in...

The undeclared truce between the regime and the Islamic State group seems to have run its course after both sides achieved all they could in their marriage of convenience. Nothing better illustrates this than the devastating assault launched by the Islamic State group on the al-Shaer gas field in Homs on July 16 that may have left up to 300 regime troops and civilian employees dead. Meanwhile, the regime continues to launch airstrikes on the Islamic State group headquarters and training camps in Raqqa, an indication that the gloves are now definitely off.

More than 700 people were killed in Syria over the course of Thursday and Friday, in what activists say were the bloodiest 48 hours of fighting in the conflict to date. ... Abdul Rahman said the death toll of Thursday’s clashes was 396 people, while Friday’s total reached 314, adding that 90 more people were still unaccounted for, although they were also expected to have been killed.

IDF ground forces began to move into the Gaza Strip on Thursday evening, the prime minister's office confirmed. The purpose of the operation was to destroy the Gazan terror tunnels leading to Israel, according to a statement released by the prime minister's office.

President Obama escalated sanctions against Russia on Wednesday by targeting a series of large banks and energy and defense firms in what officials described as the most punishing measures to date for Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine. While the latest moves do not cut off entire sectors of the Russian economy, as threatened in the past, the administration’s actions go significantly further than the financial and travel limits imposed so far on several dozen individuals and their businesses. The new measures will severely restrict access to American debt markets for the targeted companies.

At least 38 people were killed in a fire on Friday in the trade union building in the center of Ukraine's southern port city of Odessa, regional police said. In a statement, the police said some had been overwhelmed by smoke and others were killed when they jumped from the building's windows.