8 NEWS The world at a glance ...
Paris
No more civilized lunches: Because of the pandemic, the French
have begun eating lunch at their desks, something long considered
gauche and American. French labor law specifically prohibits
workers from having lunch “inside the work premises,” and so
many have long, full sit-down meals in restaurants or employee
cafeterias. But with restaurants shuttered and seating in cafeterias
limited because of Covid-19 protocols that require workers to sit
6 feet apart when unmasked—such as
when they’re eating—the government
has temporarily amended the labor code
to allow desk lunches. Not everyone is
pleased. “It’s a catastrophe to eat at your
desk,” retired translator Agnès Dutin told
The New York Times. “You need a pause
to refresh the mind.”Bogotá, Colombia
Venezuelans legalized: Colombia
is granting temporary legal status
to nearly 1 million undocumented
Venezuelan migrants who have
fled their nation’s economic and
social collapse, allowing them to
work and access health care in their new
home. Venezuelans who register with the
Colombian government can remain in the
country for 10 years; the 800,000 who
already have legal status will not have to
reapply for permission to stay for a decade. United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said it was the most
important humanitarian gesture the region had seen in decades. Of
the more than 4.5 million people who left Venezuela since 2014,
nearly 40 percent have settled in neighboring Colombia. Colombian
President Iván Duque called on the international community to
donate money to help vaccinate the refugees against Covid-19.Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Children deported from U.S.: In apparent defiance of President
Biden’s pause on deportations, U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) last week chartered two flights and sent
72 immigrants—including 21 children and a 2-month-old baby—to
Haiti. Biden had ordered a 100-day moratorium on deportations,
a policy change that was temporarily blocked by a federal judge.
However, the judge left in place new guidelines that said only the
most serious immigration cases—including suspected terrorists and
others who might endanger national
security—should be subject to
deportation. Haiti is in a state of spi-
raling political chaos, with President
Jovenel Moïse rejecting the opposi-
tion’s claim that his term ended on
Feb. 7. He has ordered opposition
leaders arrested; two journalists
were shot by security forces while
covering protests this week.
Kingston, Jamaica
Ganja shortage: The marijuana crop in Jamaica was all but ruined
last year, and there is now a shortage of the drug in the homeland
of reggae and Rastafarianism. Exceptionally heavy rains during last
fall’s hurricane season battered the plants, which were then parched
by a drought. Those that survived were largely neglected because a
6 p.m. pandemic curfew kept farmers indoors. Jamaican pot farm-
ers tend their crops at night because marijuana is still technically
illegal. It was decriminalized for personal use in 2015, but individu-
als are only officially allowed to grow five plants apiece. “We’ve
never had this amount of loss,” said Triston Thompson, a broker
for the country’s budding legal marijuana industry. For Jamaica to
be low on weed, he added, is “a cultural embarrassment.”
Rome
Women in the Vatican: Pope Francis has appointed two women
to Vatican posts traditionally held by men. Francis named a
French nun, Nathalie Becquart, to be co-undersecretary of
the Synod of Bishops, which organizes major meetings of world
bishops every few years. And he appointed Italian magistrate
Catia Summaria to be a prosecutor in the Vatican’s Court
of Appeals. “A door has been opened,” said Cardinal
Mario Grech, secretary-general of the synod. The
pope changed church law last month to formally
allow women to assist with Mass, by giving Bible
readings, acting as altar servers, and distributing
communion. Catholic women in the U.S. have
long had such freedom, but in many other coun-
tries they are barred from such roles.Ottawa, Ontario
Crackdown on far-right: Canada declared
the Proud Boys to be a terrorist entity last
week, adding the far-right group to a list
that includes al Qaida and ISIS. The desig-
nation, which came a month after leading
members of the self-declared “Western
chauvinist” outfit joined the violent
mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol, will
allow police to seize the property of the group and its members.
The Proud Boys was formed in 2016 by former Vice Media co-
founder Gavin McInnes, a Canadian who has since left the group.
Canadian authorities also listed Atomwaffen Division and The
Base—both U.S.-based neo-Nazi groups—and the Russia-based
Russian Imperial Movement. “Violent extremism has no place in
Canada,” said Public Safety Minister Bill Blair.AP,Getty,Newscom,^ A
P^ (2 )Venezuelan migrantsProud BoysTakeout for a desk lunch?An anti-Moïse protestFrancis and Becquart