International
The FBI director announces that he will resign before Trump takes power
FBI director Christopher Wray announced that he will leave office before the President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, takes power on January 20, 2025.
Wray was appointed by Trump in 2017 during his first term and has only seven years of a ten-year term.
However, the president-elect, who has been very critical of the FBI, has already announced that he will appoint Kash Patel as the new director of the organization, so Wray was going to be fired.
Trump, upset with the FBI
Trump is upset, for example, by the FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago, his Florida mansion, in search of the classified documents he took from the White House after his first term.
Difficult decision
Wray made the announcement during an event with FBI agents.
“It should be obvious, but I’ll say it anyway: this is not easy for me,” Wray said, referring to his decision to resign.
“In my opinion, this is the best way to prevent the FBI from being dragged further into this dispute,” he added.
“I love this place, I love our mission and I love our people, but my focus is, and has always been, on us and on doing the right thing for the FBI,” Wray said.
Trump celebrates the resignation of the FBI director as “a great day” for the United States.
For his part, Trump celebrated the announcement of Wray’s resignation as “a great day” for the country and urged the Senate to ratify the substitute he has proposed for the position, Kash Patel.
Wray, who was appointed by Trump in 2017 during his first term, confirmed that he will not complete his ten-year term and leave the direction of the FBI before the Republican returns to power on January 20.
“Christopher Wray’s resignation is a great day for the United States,” said Trump, who has been very critical of the FBI since the police force raided his mansion in Mar-a-Lago (Florida) in 2022 in search of the classified documents that the Republican took from the White House.
Trump promised to “restore the rule of law” and said he did not understand “what happened” to Wray, whom he accused of having “illegally” raided his house and of “instrumentalizing” justice against him.
The next president took advantage of his message on the Truth Social network to urge the Senate to ratify the appointment as new director of Kash Patel, a fervent Trumpist very critical of the FBI.
“Kash Patel is the most qualified candidate to lead the FBI in the history of the agency and is committed to helping ensure that law, order and justice return to our country again, and soon,” Trump said.
International
Austrian man arrested in Croatia with deceased woman as passenger in his car
A 65-year-old Austrian citizen was arrested at a border checkpoint in Croatia after attempting to enter the country in his car with a deceased woman sitting as a passenger, police announced on Tuesday.
The man was detained in a routine check in late November in Gunja, a border area separating Bosnia from Croatia, the police told AFP. Suspicious because they saw “no consciousness or movement” from the passenger, Croatian officers called a doctor, who confirmed the death of the 83-year-old woman, also Austrian, according to her identification.
The woman’s relationship to the suspect is unknown. She had died in Bosnia, and the man intended to repatriate her body to Austria to “avoid the formalities related to transporting a corpse,” according to the police. Croatian media reported that the man was her legal guardian.
Once her death was confirmed, a funeral service took charge of the body.
International
Colombian nationals arrested for human trafficking and disappearance of migrant boat
Colombian authorities arrested two nationals accused of the illegal trafficking of migrants to the United States and of endangering lives due to the disappearance of a boat with 40 people aboard, U.S. Department of Justice officials reported on Tuesday.
Hernando Manuel de la Cruz Rivera Orjuela, 52, and Luis Enrique Linero Pinto, 40, both Colombian citizens, were arrested on December 13 in Colombia at the request of the United States for their alleged involvement in a “transnational human trafficking operation,” the department said in a statement.
According to the charges, the detainees were transporting migrants to San Andrés Island in the Caribbean, where they would then be taken by boat to Nicaragua. The goal was to reach the United States through Central America and Mexico.
The accused are said to have advised the migrants on how to reach San Andrés Island, where they personally received them, arranged accommodations, and “took them to the boats that transported them to Nicaragua so they could enter the United States illegally,” the statement reads.
“These defendants put several migrants on the boat that disappeared off the coast of Nicaragua in 2023,” said Deputy Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, as cited in the statement.
Both men are “directly and personally responsible for the illicit trafficking of migrants on that vessel,” according to the indictment dated October 23.
International
Homemade landmine explosion in Michoacán kills two soldiers, injures five
Two soldiers were killed and five others were injured by the explosion of homemade landmines planted by a criminal group in a mountainous area of the Mexican state of Michoacán (west), the Secretary of Defense reported on Tuesday.
The attack occurred on Monday morning in the municipality of Cotija, a border area between Michoacán and the state of Jalisco, when the military was conducting a reconnaissance mission after receiving information about an armed camp in the area, explained Secretary General Ricardo Trevilla.
“At that moment, an improvised explosive device detonated. Unfortunately, two soldiers lost their lives, and five others were injured,” the military leader detailed. The affected soldiers were airlifted to hospitals in the region by a military helicopter, while the rest of the team continued with the reconnaissance of the area.
Trevilla stated that before the explosion, the military unit had located the dismembered bodies of three people, and upon continuing the mission, they confirmed the camp was abandoned.
Asked about the individuals responsible for placing the explosives, the general suggested they could be criminals linked to the local group Cárteles Unidos, which operates in Michoacán and uses these tactics in their territorial dispute with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of the most powerful criminal organizations in the country.
-
International5 days ago
Dismembered bodies of five found in Guanajuato pickup truck
-
Central America5 days ago
Massive fire destroys 100 shops in Honduras capital market
-
Central America5 days ago
El Salvador intensifies monitoring of Conchagua seismic activity
-
International3 days ago
France will send a diplomatic delegation to Syria after 12 years without official representation
-
Central America5 days ago
El Salvador anticipates 125,000 international tourists during holiday season
-
Central America5 days ago
President Bukele expresses condolences over tragic Los Chorros collapse
-
Central America1 day ago
El Salvador’s $9.663 billion budget for 2025 focuses on key sectors with no new debt issuance
-
Central America3 days ago
Honduras Seizes Over 26 Tons of Cocaine in 2024, Marking Major Drug-Fighting Achievements
-
Central America3 days ago
Costa Rica takes step toward full membership in Pacific Alliance to Stimulate Trade and Jobs
-
International1 day ago
Chrystia Freeland resigns as Canada’s deputy PM over dispute with Trudeau on U.S. Tariff Threats
-
International1 day ago
Venezuela announces 179 new releases in post-election violence cases
-
International1 day ago
At least 12 injured in shooting at abundant life christian school in Wisconsin
-
International3 days ago
Gustavo Petro visits the Galápagos Islands for bilateral talks with Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa
-
International1 day ago
Trinidad and Tobago Education Minister Lisa Morris-Julian dies in house fire with her children
-
International1 day ago
Milan’s Via MonteNapoleone overtakes Fifth Avenue as world’s most expensive retail destination
-
International2 days ago
El Salvador’s bitcoin reserves soar in value as cryptocurrency’s bullish surge continues
-
International3 days ago
María Corina Machado says that Nicolás Maduro is “cornered” inside and outside Venezuela
-
International1 day ago
Nearly 40 dead in Istanbul after consuming contaminated alcohol in six weeks
-
International3 days ago
Venezuelan opposition in Argentine embassy urges Brazil to expedite safe passage
-
International3 days ago
Netanyahu: “Israel’s policy in Syria will depend on the emerging reality”
-
International3 days ago
Mayor Brandon Johnson Vows to Protect Chicagoans from ICE Actions
-
International3 days ago
Ecuador police intercept major drug shipment destined for Europe
-
International9 hours ago
Homemade landmine explosion in Michoacán kills two soldiers, injures five
-
International3 days ago
The new Syrian authorities plan to end compulsory military service
-
International3 days ago
Lula asks for severe sanction if the guilt of general arrested for coup is proven
-
International3 days ago
The Constitution of Venezuela, a quarter of a century later
-
International9 hours ago
Colombian nationals arrested for human trafficking and disappearance of migrant boat
-
International9 hours ago
Austrian man arrested in Croatia with deceased woman as passenger in his car
-
International9 hours ago
Ecuador announces debt swap of $1.527 billion to protect Amazon rainforest