Our daily field trip around the world

🇬🇧 The UK government committed $104 million to build the world’s most powerful laser. Scientists say the new *Dr. Evil voice* laser beam, dubbed the Vulcan 20-20, will be "a [frickin’] million, billion, billion times brighter" than the Sun in the Sahara Desert, with each pulse delivering more power than the entire UK National Grid in a trillionth of a second. Once construction of the Vulcan 20-20 is complete in 2029, it will be used by scientists (and definitely not Dr. Evil) to gain insights into the fundamental properties of all matter, with a particular focus on essential products like batteries.

🇪🇸⚽ Spanish prosecutors charged FC Barcelona with “active bribery.” The soccer club is accused of paying more than $7.3 million to companies linked with the former vice president of Spain’s national refereeing committee between 2001 and 2018, per court documents made public late last week. Spanish prosecutors allege Barça executives paid the refereeing official to influence La Liga matches in the team’s favor, while the club claims the payments were for “technical advice” and didn’t violate league rules. If convicted, Barça could potentially be banned from football altogether, per The Telegraph.

🇫🇷 France is investigating LVMH CEO Bernault Arnault for alleged money laundering. French prosecutors said they opened a probe into Arnault, the world’s second-richest man with a net worth of ~$167 billion, after receiving an alert from the country’s anti-money-laundering unit in 2022 over what it considered to be suspicious money transfers between Arnault and a Russian businessman. A lawyer representing Arnault called the investigation absurd and unfounded.