8 NEWS The world at aglance
THEWEEK6February 2021BeaverCreek,Yukon
Vaccinecheats:Amultimillionaire
couplewhotravelledfromtheirhome
inVancouvertoanisolatedcommunity
inYukonprovince,forthesolepurpose
ofhavingCovidjabsintendedfor
vulnerableandelderlyindigenouslocals
havebecomehatefiguresinCanada.
CasinobossRodneyBakerandhis
actresswifeEkaterinacharteredaplane
toflythemtoBeaverCreek,wherethey
posedaslocalmotelworkersandgot
theirshotsatamobileclinic.Swiftlyrumbled,theywerefined
C$2,300–butcriticssaiditwasinsufficientpunishmentforsuch
awealthycouple,andcalledforthemtobejailed.NewYork
Deaths“undercounted”:The deathtollfromCovid-19among
nursinghomeresidentsinthestateofNewYorkmayhavebeen
farmorethantheofficialcountof 8 ,700,accordingtoanew
report.AttorneyGeneralLetitiaJamesre-examineddatafrom
homes,andfoundthatofficialshad“severelyundercounted”
deaths,inpartbecausethey’dexcludedresidentswhodiedafter
beingtransferredtohospitals.Separately,NewYorkgovernor
AndrewCuomohasbeencomingunderincreasingpressureover
theslowpaceofthevaccineroll-outinthestate.Thisweek,he
soughttoblameitonthefederalgovernment.“Wehave 7.
millionpeoplewhoareeligible.Wehave 300 ,000dosesthatwe
getaweek.Dothemath,”hesaid.“There’snothingwecando
aboutthat.”However,hesaidthesupplywasbeingincreased,
whichmightenablerestaurantworkerstogetjabs.WashingtonDC
Greenagenda:PresidentBidenhasorderedthePentagonto
classclimatechangeasanationalsecurityissue,aspart
ofanewwhole-governmentapproach.“Thisisacase
whereconscienceandconveniencecrosspaths,”said
Bidenlastweek.“WhenIthinkofclimatechange
andtheanswerstoit,Ithinkofjobs.”Sincetakingoffice,Biden
hasdirectedtheUStorejointheParisClimateAccord;scrapped
thegiantKeystoneXLoilpipeline;orderedabanonnewoiland
gasleasesonfederalland;setagoalforathirdofallfederallands
tobereserved forconservation;pledged toreplacethe
government fleet of650,000vehicleswithelectricmodels;and
orderedfederalagenciestofast-tracknew renewables projects.Miami, Florida
FBI informer:Thehead of thefar-right “ProudBoys” militia was
oncea“prolific” informer,for boththe FBIand localpoli ce in
Miami, according to old courttranscripts uncoveredby Reuters.
TheseshowthatEnrique Tarrio was givenareduced sentencein
afraud case in 2014, after an FBI agentand afederal prosecutor
testified that hehadsupplied them with inf ormationthat hadled
to theprosecutionofmorethanadozen peoplein casesinvolving
drugs,gambling and people-trafficking.The ProudBoys were
amongthe mob thatstormed theCapitol on6January. However,
Tarriowas not present,havingbeenarrested two days earlieron
chargesincluding burningaBlack LivesMatterbanner that had
beenstolen fromachurch.The FBI later said they’d arrestedhim
in a neffort to prevent theWashingtonattack.Los Angeles, California
Abuse claims:TheHollywoodactress
EvanRachel Wood haspublicly accused
her formerfiancé,therockstarMarilyn
Manson, ofyears of“horrific”abuse.
Twoyears ago,Wood, 33, testifiedto
Congressabout her experience ofsexual
and physicalviolence, but without
identifyingaperpetrator.Thisweek,
however, she named Manson,52,as the
manwho “startedgroomingmewhen I
wasateenager”. Four other womenhave
sincemadesimilarallegations,including
onesofrape.Manson (realnameBrianWarner),whoserecord
label immediatelydroppedhim,hasdeniedwrongdoing.Bogotá
Farc accused:Aspec ial court in
Colombia has chargedeight former
Farc leaderswith warcrimes and
crimesagainsthumanitycommitted duringthe leftist guerilla
group’sdecades-long insurgency.Theyare thefirstmajor charges
brought by the court, since it wasinst itutedin 2016,as part of the
peacedealbetween Farc and theColombian state. Thosecharged
includeFarc’s former top commander, Rodrigo Londoño(aka
Timochenko),and two others whoare now members of Congress.
According to the indictment,the groupabducted 21,396 people
between1990 and2016, almos t2,000 of whom were neverseen
aga in.Under the terms of the deal,the leaderscan avoid jail
sentencesiftheyacceptthe chargeswithin30days.WashingtonDC
Lawyer walkout:DonaldTrump’slegalteamresignedenmasse
on Sunday, followingadisagreementover tacticsat hisSenate
trialnextweek,oncharges ofincitement ofinsurrection.
According toUS media,Trumpwanted hiscase tobebuilt
around hisunevidenced claimthatthe 2 020 election wasstolen
fromhim. Buthis lawyers insistedthey should focus onwhetherit
is constitutional to convictapresidentwhohas already left office.
Trump’s new legalteamisled by David Schoen, who represented
the convicted “dirty trickster”Roger Stone, andBruce L.Castor,
aformeracting attorney generalof Pennsylvania.Thecase will
beginonTuesday, unless they cansecur eadelay.©FACEBOOK