PEOPLE BEING PEOPLE

Sweden’s spy agency, Säpo, is struggling to explain why it spent some $800,000 in taxpayer money on a James Bond–themed party for its staff. The bash, in the summer of 2011, featured casino tables, a swing band, and a gourmet spread. The lavish event only came to public attention last week because of an accounting error: Säpo claimed more than the permitted amount in sales-tax reimbursement. Säpo head Anders Thornberg said the party was a rare perk for staff after several terror threats and an Islamist suicide bombing the previous year. “We’d been subjected to extreme pressure,” he said. “We thought that we needed a special gathering.