SPAIN
Legionnaires put on diet
The fierce reputation of Spanish Legion soldiers is being put to the test: Too fat, some of them have been offered a weight-loss plan to save the “prestige” of the force. All legionnaires of the rapid reaction force — more than 3,000 soldiers — in September last year underwent a medical exam that measured their body mass index (BMI), a measure of body fat. The result: “Six percent of the members, or 180 legionnaires, had a BMI of over 30 [the obesity limit] and the decision was taken to launch a plan to help them,” a military source, who asked not to be named, told reporters. “Those who join the Legion’s brigade are very competitive, everyone wants to take part in everything, but those with a high BMI won’t participate in military parades or activities that affect the image of the Legion.”
UNITED STATES
Poop-smearer diverts flight
A United Airlines flight from Chicago to Hong Kong was diverted to Alaska after the flight crew reported a man on board had vandalized two airplane lavatories by spreading human waste, airport police said on Friday. “We received a report of a passenger who had messed up the bathrooms with his own feces,” Anchorage Airport Police Lieutenant Joe Gamache said by telephone. The man, a 22-year-old Vietnamese passport holder with US residency, was escorted off the plane in handcuffs on Thursday night and met by law enforcement in the terminal, Gamache said.
UNITED STATES
City fights rats with dry ice
Any mists spotted rising over the swamp might just be Washington wielding its newest weapon in its never-ending war on rats: dry ice. The city’s rodent control division program manager, Gerard Brown, told the Washington Post that the frozen form of carbon dioxide complements the poison the city uses, as reported rat complaints reach a four-year high. Brown and Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser last month oversaw a demonstration in which health department staffers stuffed dry ice into a rathole. As the ice smoked, the emanating carbon dioxide suffocated the rats, Brown said.
ITALY
Al Thani lists stolen gems
The Al Thani Collection on Friday revealed details of the precious jewels stolen on Wednesday from a Venetian palace exhibit in a brazen theft that sorely embarrassed Italian security officials. One was a delicate, tasseled pendant, featuring a flawless 10-carat diamond surrounded by a ring of rubies and diamonds, it said. The other was a set of two pear-shaped 30.2-carat diamond earrings surrounded by smaller, irregular-cut diamonds, the collection said. A manhunt has been launched for the thieves, who calmly pocketed the gems and mixed in with the crowd to make their getaway.
UNITED STATES
Clinton Foundation probed
The FBI is investigating whether the Clinton Foundation accepted donations in exchange for political favors while Hillary Rodham Clinton was secretary of state, two people familiar with the probe confirmed on Friday. It is unclear when or why the probe began, but the people said it has been ongoing for several months, with prosecutors and FBI agents taking the lead from their offices in Little Rock, Arkansas, where the foundation has offices. Critics have accused the Clinton family of using the foundation to enrich themselves and give donors special access to the department when Clinton was secretary of state.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
‘DELUSIONAL’: Targeting the families of Hamas’ leaders would not push the group to change its position or to give up its demands for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli aircraft on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate ceasefire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated ceasefire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of