'Sleazy', 'manipulative' and 'ruthless': Russell Brand convicted of rape, sexual assault

Italian papers La Stampa and La Corrierre della Serra headline with "Bomb threats and chaos in the sky". Eight of the flights diverted on Thursday were flying to or from Italy. La Stampa spoke to a bomb expert who says that it's all connected and part of a "covert war". The news is also on the front page of the British newspaper Financial Times. The paper quotes intelligence leaders who say it's a campaign of "intimidation," "bearing the hallmarks of Russia's hybrid warfare".

French paper Le Figaro writes about the movement that's believed to be behind some of the bomb threats. It's called the "Male State" and it's a Russian far-right, racist and misogynistic movement. The airports in Rome and Sofia received a mysterious email on Thursday, attributed to members of this masculinist group. Bulgaria's bTV quotes the threat that was sent to many people working at these airports: "We, the Male State, will go down in history through our actions today. Your feminist regime will remember this forever. The explosion will take place in 60 minutes. Today, your skies will turn red". Le Figaro writes that the messages haven't been verified and the group hasn't taken responsibility for them. But if the origin of the threat is confirmed, the paper writes, it would mark an unprecedented escalation.

Next, British comedian Russell Brand faces jail time after he was found guilty of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others. The Times reports that Brand now faces years in prison. The crimes took place at the height of his fame. The paper says Brand was described as a "ruthless, calculated and manipulative sexual predator". The convictions follow a joint investigation by The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4's investigative programme "Dispatches". It began in 2019 and took four years to complete. Its reporters spoke to many women from the comedy, TV and film industry, amid hundreds of sources. The Times says that the project was only made possible thanks to the bravery and courage of the women involved.

In another article, The Times looks at Brand's fixation with sex and why and how it began so early. The paper writes that "he became a predator hiding in plain sight". The Independent's columnist Victoria Richards writes that she was personally warned about Brand 20 years ago "and the verdict surprises no one". She writes that "no woman was safe from his sleazy attentions" and that she is "shocked" that "he managed to get away with it for so long".

Elsewhere, The Wall Street Journal writes about kids in Hanoi. They go after tourists: not for their money, but for their English vocabulary. For Vietnamese kids, tourists are often living, breathing Duolingo lessons. The paper writes that practicing English like this is a staple of Asian tourism. Alibaba's Chinese founder Jack Ma gave tours of his hometown lake in exchange for conversations in English when he was a kid. But in Hanoi, particularly by the lake, the phenomenon is everywhere.

Finally, we bring you a fun fact from The New York Times: "Tiny chihuahuas hold a big surprise: a sliver of coyote DNA". They have four percent of coyote in their little bodies. It's confirmed by researchers!

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