Welcome, Bobby Fischer
The week's news at a glance.
Reykjavic, Iceland
Iceland’s parliament gave Bobby Fischer Icelandic citizenship this week so that the American chess champ can settle in Iceland and avoid U.S. charges. Fischer was arrested in Japan last year. He has been wanted by U.S. authorities since 1992, when he violated an embargo against Yugoslavia by accepting $3 million to play a chess match there. Since then, he had surfaced only in the occasional radio interview, railing against Jews and Americans. But in Iceland, the scene of his famous 1972 defeat of Soviet champ Boris Spassky, he is still seen as a genius and an artist. “He’s like Rembrandt or Mozart, one of these very big people,” Icelandic activist Einar Einarsson told The New York Times, “so his personality is beside the point.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'His story should be here'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
'Not cross buns': the row over recipe revamps
Talking Point New versions of the Easter favourite have sparked controversy but sales are soaring
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
The England kit: a furore over the flag
Why everyone's talking about Nike's redesign of the St George's Cross on the collar of the English national team's shirt has caused controversy
By The Week UK Published