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Mr Albarelli came across CIA documents while investigating the suspicious suicide of Frank Olson, a biochemist working for the SOD who fell from a 13th floor window two years after the Cursed Bread incident. One note transcribes a conversation between a CIA agent and a Sandoz official who mentions the “secret of Pont-Saint-Esprit” and explains that it was not “at all” caused by mould but by diethylamide, the D in LSD….Mr Albarelli said the real “smoking gun” was a White House document sent to members of the Rockefeller Commission formed in 1975 to investigate CIA abuses…. In its quest to research LSD as an offensive weapon, Mr Albarelli claims, the US army also drugged over 5,700 unwitting American servicemen between 1953 and 1965. None of his sources would indicate whether the French secret services were aware of the alleged operation. —“French bread spiked with LSD in CIA experiment,” Henry Samuel, Telegraph

When her name was called, she stepped up to the microphone. She looked out at the crowd of a hundred people from all over the Eastern Agency, foreigners to her, all of them, except the little island that was us in the back of the room. A man at a table called out a word. He wore thick glasses and an unkempt beard. He pronounced the word clearly, almost too clearly. It was a word Vanessa knew, or at least a word I had known her to spell correctly in practice. Maybe it sounded funny to her, or maybe standing in front of the crowd like that was too much. She didn’t need to get this word right only to have to stand up there again in the second round. She missed it and sat down, her lip jutting out like she wanted to cry.
Everyone consoled her, put their hands on her shoulders and said, “That’s all right. You did great,” and other kind things. Her lip returned to its usual position and she was okay again. It was all okay. In fact, she smiled. She was finished. Her long trial was over. —“The Eastern Navajo Agency Spelling Bee,” Kurt Caswell, Swink

RUBBISH COLLECTORS ACCUSED OF BEATING
Two rubbish collectors have been arrested after they allegedly beat a petrol station attendant following an argument over a parked rubbish lorry. Witnesses said the men parked the lorry in front of the station, causing difficulties for people who wanted to fill up on petrol. The petrol station attendant told them to drive away, prompting the violence.

MAN ACCUSED OF RAPE CLAIMS LOVE
A man has been arrested and sent to court after he was accused of attempting to rape two girls while they slept under a mosquito net. The man is alleged to have scaled a gate to get at the girls, who were sleeping across from a beer garden in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district. The mother arrived and held the man until police arrived. The suspect admitted that he crawled inside the mosquito net, but said he just wanted to talk to one of the girls, whom he loved.

VICE CRACKDOWN CONTINUES IN CAPITAL
Five women described as prostitutes and one man alleged to be their pimp have been arrested following a Saturday raid on two brothels in Phnom Penh’s Russey Keo district. The district’s governor said the raids followed Prime Minister Hun Sen’s calls earlier this year to step up enforcement on brothels. The governor pledged to continue crackdowns, even if brothels reopen. —“Police Blotter,” Phnom Penh Post