IN BRIEF (Page 12)

France

Police arrest 16 over Kardashian robbery

Police in France arrested 16 people on Monday over a robbery in which reality TV star Kim Kardashian was held at gunpoint in a Paris apartment by gangsters who made off on bicycles with jewelry worth $9.5 million. Many of those arrested were known underworld figures and at least three were women. Attackers burst into the luxury property where Kardashian was sleeping on Oct 3, tying her up at gunpoint before making off with a ring and other jewels, police said at the time.

United Arab Emirates

Snake on a plane grounds flight

An Emirates flight from Muscat to Dubai was canceled after baggage handlers discovered a snake in the aircraft's cargo hold. The animal was found before Sunday's flight from Oman, the airline said in a statement, adding that the aircraft was returned to service after being thoroughly searched. First class passengers on an Aeromexico flight in November were confronted by a snake that fell from an overhead storage compartment. Nobody was hurt in the incident but a few passengers were rattled.

United States

VW executive held over fraud

FBI agents have arrested a Volkswagen executive on conspiracy charges in relation to the 'dieselgate' emissions-cheating scandal, The New York Times reported on Monday. Agents arrested Oliver Schmidt, who led the German automaker's US regulatory compliance office from 2014 to March 2015, in Florida on Saturday, the newspaper reported, citing two unnamed sources with knowledge of the arrest.

(China Daily 01/10/2017 page12)