FBI: NO EVIDENCE OF HOMICIDE IN DEATH OF BORDER AGENT
A Border Patrol agent whose death in November fueled President Donald Trump’s calls for a border wall appears to have died in an accident, according to FBI findings released Wednesday.
Border Patrol Agent Rogelio Martinez, 36, was found dying at the bottom of a roadside culvert along a span of Interstate 10 in West Texas on Nov 18. Within hours, union officials said they believed Martinez had been ambushed by smugglers in a gruesome rock attack.
The agent’s death became a political flash point less than a day later when Trump tweeted that Martinez had been “killed” and his assailants would be brought to justice.
But the FBI said it has found no evidence of a homicide, despite mobilizing significant resources to investigate Martinez’s death that involved 37 field offices.
Vatican to interview Chile victim in person.
CITY» The Vatican’s VATICAN sex-crimes expert is changing plans and will fly to New York to take in-person testimony from a Chilean sex abuse victim after his pleas to be heard by Pope Francis were ignored previously, the victim told said Wednesday. Juan Carlos Cruz, a survivor of Chile’s most notorious pedophile priest, wrote the pope that one of the priest’s proteges, Bishop Juan Barros, was present for his abuse and did nothing. Cruz questioned Francis’ decision to make Barros a diocesan bishop.
Fancy Bear hackers took aim at U.S. defense contractors.
Russian cyberspies pursuing the secrets of military drones and other sensitive U.S. defense technology tricked key contract workers into exposing their email to theft, an Associated Press investigation has found.
What ultimately may have been stolen is uncertain, but the hackers clearly exploited a national vulnerability in cybersecurity: poorly protected email and barely any direct notification to victims.
The hackers known as Fancy Bear, who also intruded in the U.S. election, went after at least 87 people working on militarized drones, missiles, rockets, stealth fighter jets, cloud-computing platforms or other sensitive activities, the AP found.
Employees at small companies and defense giants such as Lockheed Martin Corp., Raytheon Co., Boeing Co., Airbus Group and General Atomics were targeted by the hackers. A handful of people in Fancy Bear’s sights also worked for trade groups, contractors in U.S.-allied countries or on corporate boards.
Kim’s sister to go south for Olympics.
SEOUL, SOUTH
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister, an increasingly prominent figure in the country’s leadership, will be part of the North’s delegation to the South Korean Winter Olympics, officials said Wednesday. Kim Yo Jong, believed to be about 30, will be the first member of North Korea’s ruling family to visit South Korea since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. Analysts say her inclusion in the Olympic delegation shows North Korea’s ambition to use the Olympics to break out from diplomatic isolation by improving relations with the South, which it could use as a bridge for approaching the United States.
Germany’s main parties agree to form a coalition.
BERLIN» After a grueling all-night negotiating session, Germany’s two leading parties reached an agreement Wednesday once again to form a governing coalition, after inconclusive elections in September mired the country in four months of political gridlock.
The months of wrangling and repeated failures to come up with a coalition had left Germany, and particularly Chancellor Angela Merkel, weakened at a time when Europe was seeking a strong leader.
The talks between Merkel’s party and the Social Democrats extended past a self-imposed deadline and a two-day grace period into Wednesday morning, when party leaders finally overcame key differences on issues such as health care and labor policy.
Yet even after all these negotiations, one hurdle remains, the Social Democrats have insisted on a party-wide vote on the final deal, and its youth wing has been actively recruiting members to vote against it.