FBI arrests ‘key participant’ behind Benghazi attack, Bondi says

Kraig Pakulski 0 26 Article rating: No rating

By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN

(CNN) — Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Friday that the FBI has arrested a “key participant” behind the 2012 Benghazi terror attack in Benghazi, Libya.

The man, Zubayar Al-Bakoush, is being charged with the murders of Ambassador Chris Stevens and State Department employee Sean Smith, as well as the attempted murder of State Department Special Agent Scott Wicklund, officials said, as well as conspiracy and arson charges.

“We have never forgotten those heroes, and we have never stopped seeking justice for that crime against our nation,” Bondi said at a press conference about the arrest.

Two Navy SEALs, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, were also killed in the attack nearly 14 years ago.

Bondi credited the FBI, State Department and CIA for working together to arrest Bakoush, declining to give details beyond that he was arrested overseas. A plane that departed Misrata, Libya, on Thursday landed at the Manassas Regional Airport in Virginia at 3 a.m. Friday, according to flight data reviewed by CNN.

According to court documents, Bakoush was a member of Ansar al-Sharia, the Islamic militant group that claimed credit for the deadly attack.

Prosecutors say he entered the Benghazi diplomatic mission about 15 minutes after the attack began and tried to break into staff members’ cars.

He was charged eleven years ago, but the case remained sealed until his arrest Friday, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said, adding that she had spoken to the family members of those killed in the attack. Her office will be leading the prosecution.

“Let me be very clear, there are more of them out there,” Pirro said Friday. “Time will not stop us from going after these predators, no matter how long it takes in order to fulfill our obligation to those families who suffered horrific pain at the hands of these violent terrorists.”

Bakoush’s arrest marks another milestone in one of the most challenging FBI investigations in recent years, in part because of instability and factional warfare in Libya since the US helped oust the regime of Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

The US relied on the help of local militants allied with the US-recognized government to help capture Ahmed abu-Khattalah, one of the leaders in the attack, in 2014. He is now serving a 28-year sentence for his role.

FBI Director Kash Patel, who worked as a national security lawyer in the Justice Department at the time, was part of the team that worked on the investigation.

The US captured a second suspect in the attack, Mustafa al-Imam, in 2017.

He was convicted of two charges related to the attack and was sentenced to more than 19 years in prison.

Benghazi was followed with a yearslong political firestorm and several investigations over who, or what, was responsible for the attack and how the administration handled its wake.

Republicans have consistently criticized the Obama administration and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over alleged security failures at the facility and their response to the attack.

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LA Olympics chief faces calls to resign after flirty emails with Ghislaine Maxwell are revealed in Epstein files

Kraig Pakulski 0 24 Article rating: No rating
Casey Wasserman

By Michael Williams, CNN

(CNN) — The head of the coordinating committee for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles is facing calls to step down after emails released by the Justice Department last week show he exchanged racy messages with Ghislaine Maxwell more than 20 years ago.

The messages between Casey Wasserman – who, along with chairing LA28, is also a prominent entertainment and sports agent – and Maxwell were included in the millions of documents released by DOJ last week related to its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

They show that the pair exchanged several intimate messages in 2003, prompting calls from city officials that Wasserman step down.

During one exchange in March, Wasserman asks Maxwell: “So what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?”

In another email, dated April 1, 2003, Wasserman, who was married at the time, says to Maxwell: “Where are you, I miss you,” before asking to book a massage.

Wasserman has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing in relation to Epstein. Messages for Wasserman left through his talent management company and a crisis public relations firm that represents him were not immediately returned on Thursday.

In a statement to other news outlets, Wasserman apologized for his communications with Maxwell while adding he “never had” a personal or business relationship with Epstein.

Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend, was convicted of sex trafficking and other crimes in 2021 and is serving a 20-year sentence. Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.

While some aspects of Wasserman’s association with Epstein were already known, the emails show a deeper and far more intimate relationship with Maxwell than had previously been revealed.

Wasserman’s communications with Maxwell took place years before she was convicted of a crime.

The messages between the pair threaten to create a major distraction as Los Angeles gears up to host the 2028 games, which are forecasted to generate between roughly $13.6 billion and $17.6 billion in additional gross domestic product for the region and create tens of thousands of new jobs.

Several local officials in Los Angeles have called for Wasserman to step away, describing the stakes of the Olympics as too great to be put at risk.

“Los Angeles cannot trust our financial future to someone connected with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell,” City Controller Kenneth Mejia said in a post on X, calling for Wasserman to “take accountability and resign.”

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez, who also called for Wasserman to step aside, said in an interview with Spectrum News that she was “incredibly disappointed” to lea

Juegos Olímpicos de Invierno 2026: conoce todos los deportes y disciplinas que se disputan

Kraig Pakulski 0 23 Article rating: No rating

Por Federico Leiva, CNN en Español

Puede que no tenga la cantidad de disciplinas de los Juegos Olímpicos de Verano, pero en la edición de Invierno de 2026 no hay tiempo que perder. Las competencias comenzaron incluso antes de la ceremonia formal de apertura del evento, programada para este viernes, e incluso ya desde el sábado se empezará a llenar el medallero.

Unos 3.500 atletas están llamados a competir en las 16 disciplinas seleccionadas para esta edición. Estas son:

Es una competencia que mezcla esquí de fondo y tiro. Los atletas parten esquiando y deben dar una serie de vueltas, debiendo afrontar al final de cada una una prueba de tiro que puede ser de pie o acostado, intentando acertar a cinco blancos que tienen delante.

Existen varias variantes, como la sprint (dos vueltas) y la individual (cuatro vueltas).

Además, está la persecución (donde los atletas persiguen al mejor tiempo de la clasificación), la salida masiva (donde salen de a grupos, según los mejores tiempos) y los relevos (equipos de cuatro atletas).

Una disciplina donde el más mínimo detalle puede costar caro. Los atletas comienzan empujando un trineo para ganar velocidad, saltan a su interior y luego lo manejan desde el frente a través de un camino de hielo extremadamente curvo. Requiere muchísima disciplina, pues el más mínimo movimiento ralentiza el vehículo.

Habrá cuatro pruebas: monobob femenino (una sola mujer a bordo), dobles femenino y masculino (dos mujeres o dos hombres a bordo, con el de atrás manejando el freno) y cuádruple masculino (cuatro hombres a bordo).

La prueba es una mezcla de esquí de fondo y salto de esquí. Para el salto se utiliza un trampolín, que puede ser de dos medidas diferentes, tras lo cual sigue una carrera de 10 kilómetros.

Habrá tres pruebas: trampolín normal, trampolín gigante y sprint por equipos. Esta última consiste en dos atletas por país que saltan desde el trampolín grande para obtener una puntuación, que luego determinará el orden de salida en la prueba de relevo de esquí de fondo, donde los dos deben completar 7,5 kilómetros.

Los atletas arrojan piedras enormes para ubicarlas cerca de la “casa”. El ganador es el que más cerca quedó de la casa, y suma un punto por cada piedra que haya dejado más cerca que la primera del rival. Es decir, si las tres piedras más cercanas a la casa son del jugador A, sumará tres puntos y el otro cero. Los participantes pueden barrer el piso para calentar el hielo y darle mayor alcance al lanzamiento. Cada partido se juega a 10 entradas (o “ends”), y en cada una se juegan ocho piedras por equipo.

Habrá tres pruebas: femenino, masculino y dobles mixtos (es a ocho entradas y con cinco piedras por equipo).

Hay 15 pruebas en total.

En moguls se desciende por un recorrido lleno de montículos de nieve haciendo acrobacias (femenino y masculino), mientras que en moguls paralelos se hace con dos atletas compitiendo entre sí al mismo tiempo (femenino y masculino).

También están las pruebas aerials, donde se parte desde una rampa y se realizan trucos en el aire (masculino, femenino y por equipos mixtos).

El skicross consiste en atravesar una pista con saltos, baches y curvas, y en el esquí acrobático halfpipe se deben hacer trucos en una pista semicilíndrica con forma de U. En esquí acrobático slopestyle se hacen acrobacias en un circuito con obstáculos y en el esquí acrobático big air se desciende por una rampa enorme para realizar trucos en el aire. Todas estas competencias tienen la variante mujeres u hombres.

Hay diez pruebas diferentes, algunas basadas en la velocidad, como el descenso (femenino y masculino) y el supergigante (femenino y masculino), donde los atletas deben pasar por el medio de unas puertas.

También están las disciplinas más técnicas, como el eslalon (femenino y masculino) y el eslalon gigante (femenino y masculino), donde

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