MANTOBEFREED IN INVESTIGATION OF SLAIN JOURNALIST

RUS E , B U LGAR I A Bulgarian authorities on Tuesday planned to release and not charge a man taken into custody in connection with the slaying of Bulgarian television reporter Viktoria Marinova, whose body was found after she highlighted possible government corruption.

The man, who wasn’t identified, was to be freed “very shortly,” said Teodor Atanassov, chief police officer of the northern town of Ruse.

He declined to provide further details on the ongoing investigation.

Police are investigating the rape and slaying of Marinova, 30, who was strangled.

Brazil candidate accused of spreading fake news stories.

S ÃOP AULO» The runoff race for Brazil’s presidency is heating up with a battle over fake news.

The centerleft contender on Tuesday accused his farright rival’s campaign of defaming him with false stories on social media and messaging apps.

Independent fact checkers say Fernando Haddad has been targetedbyawaveoffalseallegations, some accusing him of planning to shut down churches and distribute textbooks teaching children to be gay.

He blamed his adversary, Jair Bolsonaro, of planting or failing to condemn the falsehoods.

Homeland Security to waive laws for South Texas border gates.

HOUSTON» The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday it will waive environmental laws so it can build gates between sections of border barriers in South Texas’ Rio Grande Valley.

The waiver posted online lists 11 locations where the government plans to install gates in existing fencing. DHS has in recent months issued similar waivers of environmental laws for other projects to construct barriers along the southwest border.

The U.S. government already has about 700 miles of fencing on the southwest border.

Wife of exInterpol boss got a chilling call. L

Y ON ,

F RANCE» The call came at night and was chilling.

“You listen, but you don’t speak,” the man on the other end said. “We’ve come in two work teams, two work teams just for you.”

In her first oneonone interview since her husband’s disappearance in China, the wife of the former head of Interpol described the threatening phone call that prompted authorities in the French city where the international law enforcement agency is headquartered to place her under police protection.

French authorities are still trying to determine whether China did indeed, as the mysterious caller menaced, dispatch agents to get to Grace Meng, the wife of Meng Hongwei. But she has good reason to be fearful: Speaking out about the fate of her highprofile husband risks China’s ire and, she said, is putting her “in great danger.”

Report: Pentagon weapons systems vulnerable to cyberattacks.

WASHING T ON» Defense Department weapons programs are vulnerable to cyberattacks, and the Pentagon has been slow to protect the systems which are increasingly reliant on computer networks and software, a federal report said Tuesday.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office said the Pentagon has worked to ensure its networks are secure, but only recently began to focus more on its weapons systems security. The audit, conducted between September 2017 and October 2018, found that there are “mounting challenges in protecting its weapons systems from increasingly sophisticated cyberthreats.”

Pentagon officials have acknowledged for years that the department, the military services and defense contractors are under persistent cyber probes and attacks, including from state actors seeking to steal data to gain an economic or technological advantage.

— Denver Post wire services