The week at a glance ... Europe

Selfoss, Iceland

Digging up Bobby Fischer: The remains of American chess legend Bobby Fischer were exhumed in Iceland this week so that a DNA sample could be collected for paternity testing. Fischer died in 2008, leaving an estate worth around $2 million, but he had no will. An Icelandic court ordered the DNA testing to check a Filipino woman’s claims that Fischer is the father of her 9-year-old daughter. Two of Fischer’s nephews also claim the inheritance, as does a Japanese chess official who says she was married to Fischer. The U.S. government also wants a piece of the estate, to cover unpaid taxes. Fischer’s U.S. passport was revoked in 1992, when he came out of retirement to play a match in Yugoslavia in violation of a U.N. embargo.

Paris

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Ministers booted over perks: Two French Cabinet ministers were fired this week after they were found to have spent public money on lavish perks. Overseas Development Minister Alain Joyandet reportedly spent $142,000 chartering a private luxury jet to attend a conference in the Caribbean, while Christian Blanc, who is in charge of regional development around Paris, admitted to spending $15,000 on Cuban cigars. The revelations come during a financial crisis in which the government is asking the French to give up some of their treasured social benefits. President Nicolas Sarkozy needs to be “ruthless,” said an editorial in Le Figaro, and force his ministers to abandon their “bling bling” lifestyles.