NEWS OF THE DAY
1 Ex-CIA agent freed: An American ex-CIA agent has won a last-minute reprieve and will no longer be extradited from Portugal to Italy, where a court convicted her of taking part in the kidnapping of a Muslim cleric. A Lisbon court ruled Wednesday that Sabrina de Sousa must be released immediately, because Italy had canceled its detention and extradition request. The surprise decision came hours before de Sousa was due to be extradited and a day after Italy’s president granted her a partial clemency. President Sergio Mattarella shaved one year off her four-year sentence for her role in the abduction of Osama Moustafa Hassan Nas in Milan in 2003.
2 Expensive mold: The international auction house Bonham’s says it has sold a small, patchy disc of mold for $14,597. The off-white, nearly 90-year-old swatch of microbes has a rather extraordinary history: It was first created by Alexander Fleming to make penicillin, a revolutionary discovery that brought the world its first antibiotic. The mold was sold Wednesday during an auction in London. The germs are preserved in a glass case and feature an inscription by Fleming on the back, identifying it as “the mould that first made penicillin.”
3 Combat drone: China’s latest-generation combat drone has made its maiden flight in what its developer says is a sign that the country is catching up with industry leader the United States. The Wing Loong II, which flew for the first time on Monday, can carry up to 1,058 pounds of bombs and missiles, tucking six under each wing, according to information viewed Wednesday on the Aviation Industry Corporation of China’s microblog. The drone has a wingspan of 67 feet, 3 inches, can stay airborne up to 20 hours and fly at a maximum altitude of 29,500 feet, according to the company known as AVIC. State media say the drone should become a leading export item for China.
4 Mass murderer: A Norwegian appeals court says the country didn’t violate the human rights of mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik by isolating him in jail, overturning last year’s lower court ruling. The Borgarting Court of Appeal says Brevik, serving a 21-year sentence for killing 77 people in a 2011 bomb-and-shooting rampage, “has not been subjected to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment.” Defense lawyer Oystein Storrvikk said after Wednesday’s ruling that Breivik would now appeal to Norway’s Supreme Court and possibly to the European Court of Human Rights. Breivik had claimed his solitary confinement has deeply damaged him and made him even more radical in his neo-Nazi beliefs.
5 Family planning: Organizers say some 50 countries have signed up to attend a family planning conference convened to see how nations can make up for a funding gap left by President Trump’s ban on U.S. funding to organizations linked to legal abortion. The participants agreed to attend a conference planned for Thursday in Brussels on short notice. Belgian Vice Premier Alexander De Croo said, “This should not be a moment where we are taking steps back into the Dark Ages.” Trump’s decision withholds about half a billion dollars in U.S. funding from international groups that perform abortions or provide information about abortions. Officials in many European nations and around the world say the move will hurt women and girls who need family planning most.