Fear and tension in Myanmar as police clear protests

Issued on: 26/02/2021 

Protesters have rallied daily in Myanmar's largest city 

against a junta that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi from power Sai Aung Main AFP


Yangon (AFP)

Riot police in Myanmar on Friday dispersed hundreds of anti-coup protesters who have rallied daily in the country's largest city against a junta that toppled civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The nation has seen an outpouring of anger and defiance from hundreds of thousands of protesters who have gathered to call for Suu Kyi's release and a return to democracy.

In some cities, security forces have steadily increased their use of force, but in commercial hub Yangon, authorities have exercised restraint, largely relying on barricades and troop presence to prevent gatherings around city landmarks and embassies.

Protesters have bypassed restrictions by moving fluidly through the city, organising around central junctions Hledan and Myaynigone.

But on Friday riot police advanced on the demonstrators -- mostly sitting and chanting pro-democracy slogans -- and warned them to disperse.

Six protesters and a Japanese journalist were arrested after officers cleared a busy traffic artery.

Yuki Kitazumi, a freelance reporter, "was beaten on the head by baton but he was wearing a helmet", his assistant Linn Nyan Htun said on Facebook.

A police officer denied that Kitazumi was beaten, and later said he had been released.

On a smaller residential street off Myaynigone, some demonstrators assembled makeshift barricades -- using barbed wire and stacked tables -- to halt police.

Wearing hard hats, protesters shouted the regular anti-junta refrain: "Failure to the dictatorship is our cause, our cause!"

And uptown off Hledan junction, demonstrators sprinted away in alarm as police warned: "If people do not disperse, we will have to disperse by force!"

One frightened protester ran into a nearby house to hide, telling AFP that police had deployed stun grenades.

"We had to run," Nyo Hlaing told AFP, adding that some protesters retaliated by shooting projectiles using slingshots.

AFP reporters on the ground heard several stun grenades go off with a sharp bang and saw police arrest more people.

As officers searched apartments, residents around Hledan protested by banging pots and pans -- a common act of defiance against the military regime.

Back on the main traffic junction, officers allowed buses and cars to go through.

Some passengers flashed a three-finger salute -- a symbol of resistance borrowed from neighbouring Thailand's pro-democracy movement.

There were also protests in Mandalay on Friday, where thousands of demonstrators gathered in front of the city's biggest shopping mall, dressed mostly in white with face masks and hats in red -- the colour of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party.

As the protesters spread out, police used slingshots to disperse them, according to an AFP reporter. Five people were injured, including one seriously, said Thet Htay, a doctor.

- Tensions high -

Tensions in Yangon are particularly high, with many rattled after a pro-junta rally was allowed to move through the city's downtown area Thursday.

The military supporters carried slingshots, knives and pipes, which they used to attack people living near the site of their protest, according to reporters and residents.

State-run media blamed the clashes on pro-democracy demonstrators.

On Thursday night soldiers and police gathered in a Yangon township to break up a small rally against a junta-appointed municipal administrator, alarming residents who scattered back to their homes to avoid arrests after the 8 pm curfew.

State-run media reported Friday that authorities had deployed stun grenades and fired live rounds in the air to disperse the protesters in Tamwe township.

Twenty-three people will "face action according to the law", it said.

Myanmar coup: Protesters accuse China of backing military junta

Riot police in Myanmar on Friday dispersed hundreds of anti-coup protesters who have rallied daily in the country's largest city against a junta that toppled civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Myanmar's giant neighbour China, which has traditionally taken a soft line, said any international action should contribute to stability, promote reconciliation and avoid complicating the situation. Is Beijing backing the military junta as some protesters suspect? FRANCE 24's Charles Pellegrin tells us more.

UN rights chief hails US shift from Trump migration policies

Issued on: 26/02/2021 - 

Trump mounted a hardline effort to halt illegal immigration, slash legal immigration and drive out undocumented immigrants 

Luis ACOSTA AFP/File


Geneva (AFP)

The UN rights chief on Friday celebrated the shift in the United States under President Joe Biden away from a range of immigration policies introduced under his predecessor Donald Trump.

In her annual global overview of the human rights situation around the world, Michelle Bachelet voiced deep concern over violations committed in a wide range of countries, but was upbeat when her attention turned to the United States.

Speaking in a video message to the UN Human Rights Council, Bachelet said she welcomed "new steps to end several migration policies that violated the human rights of migrants and refugees".

Trump mounted a hardline effort to halt illegal immigration, slash legal immigration and drive out undocumented immigrants, even those in the country for decades.

Bachelet highlighted in particular Biden's executive orders ending a widely criticised Trump policy which separated children from thousands of migrant families.

She urged Washington to "tackle remaining issues, such as the massive detention of migrants" and hailed "broad new measures to tackle structural inequalities and systemic racism," including executive actions by Biden "to redress racially discriminatory federal housing policies (and) combat xenophobia."

- Xinjiang 'assessment' needed -

In her speech, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights meanwhile was less optimistic about the rights situation in Washington's top rivals China and Russia.

She voiced concern over China's curtailment of "fundamental rights and civic freedoms... in the name of national security and the Covid-19 response."

"Activists, lawyers and human rights defenders, as well as some foreign nationals, face arbitrary criminal charges, detention or unfair trials," she said.

The former Chilean president highlighted in particular abuses in Hong Kong since the introduction of a controversial new national security law, pointing out that more than 600 people there were "being investigated for participating in various forms of protests".

Bachelet also voiced concern about the situation in China's northwestern Xinjiang region, where rights groups believe at least one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities have been incarcerated in camps.

After initially denying the camps existed, Beijing later defended them as vocational training centres aimed at reducing the appeal of Islamic extremism.

"Information that is in the public domain indicates the need for independent and comprehensive assessment of the human rights situation," Bachelet said.

She said her office was continuing to "assess the alleged patterns of human rights violations, including reports of arbitrary detention, ill-treatment and sexual violence in institutions, coercive labour practices, and erosion of social and cultural rights."

- No mention of Navalny -

As for Russia, Bachelet voiced particular concern over new legal provisions that took effect last year that "further limit fundamental freedoms, including the constitutionally guaranteed rights to free expression, peaceful assembly and association."

At the same time, "existing restrictive laws have continued to be harshly enforced, including during recent demonstrations across the country," she said.

However, Bachelet made no mention of Alexei Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's most prominent opponent who was transferred Thursday to a penal colony after being sentenced this month to two years and six months there for breaching parole terms while recovering in Germany from a poisoning attack.

© 2021 AFP

THE NEW BOND VILLAN
Powerful Georgian oligarch looms over political crisis

Issued on: 26/02/2021 - 

Bidzina Ivanishvili lives in a lavish mansion overlooking Tbilisi, where he keeps a priceless collection of contemporary paintings and a giant aquarium with sharks

 VANO SHLAMOV AFP/File

Tbilisi (AFP)

A simmering political crisis in Georgia came to a head this week, with the surprise resignation of the prime minister and the dramatic arrest of an opposition leader in a police raid.

For government critics, this turning point in unrest sparked by disputed elections last year had the hallmark signature of one enigmatic figure towering over the ex-Soviet country's political landscape.

Reclusive billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who formally resigned from politics this year, lives in a lavish glass-and-steel mansion overlooking the capital Tbilisi, where he keeps a priceless collection of contemporary paintings and a giant aquarium with sharks.

He insists he is no longer a political stakeholder in the country that has weathered revolutions and civil war since it broke from the Soviet Union three decades ago. But many believe otherwise.

"Ivanishvili's former bodyguard is interior minister. The defence minister and head of secret service are former managers in his bank," said Salome Samadashvili, a leader of the opposition United National Movement (UNM).

"He is in full control of the government and owns the country like other oligarchs own companies or islands," the seasoned former diplomat told AFP.

- 'Mission accomplished' -

Born into poverty in the village of Chorvila in western Georgia, Ivanishvili made his fortune in Russia during the cutthroat 1990s when oligarchs amassed huge wealth in privatisation deals.

But his Cartu Bank founded in 1996 along with the luxurious Paragraph hotel on the Black Sea are his only businesses in Georgia where he has bought up property and land worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Ivanishvili, 65, now with a splash of grey in his neatly coiffured hair, cemented his position on the Caucasus country's political landscape in 2012 when his party Georgian Dream ousted the ruling UMN party.

Having removed the party of then-president and flamboyant reformer Mikheil Saakashvili, Ivanishvili stepped down as prime minister in 2013.

In January, he unexpectedly announced his departure from politics entirely and even removed himself as chairman of the party that he named after a song written by his rapper son.

"I have made the decision to finally retire from politics and fully distance myself from the reins of power," he wrote at the time in an open letter, where he also declared that his "mission has been accomplished".

Georgian Dream leaders have since flatly denied claims that he retains a hidden influence over the country's politics.

But with the government mainly composed of his loyal lieutenants, many believe Ivanishvili is ultimately responsible for the latest dent in Georgia's reputation as a democracy among former Soviet countries.

- 'Strong grip on power' -

"All the key positions in the executive and legislative branches, as well as in the judciary system are held by Ivanishvili's people," said Gela Vasadze, an analyst with Georgian Strategic Analysis Centre think tank.

"His grip on power is as strong as it was before his so-called resignation," he added.

Georgia's three decades of independence since the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991 have been marked by a civil war, separatist conflicts, and a series of political upheavals.

The current political crisis was sparked by the elections, which opposition parties said were rigged, leading them to boycott the formation of the new parliament.

The standoff took on dangerous dimensions on Monday when police used tear gas to raid the UMN's headquarters and arrest party leader Nika Melia.

Melia, 41, a charismatic politician who united Georgia's traditionally divided opposition against Georgian Dream, has said his prosecution on "spurious" charges of "organising mass violence" during anti-government protests in 2019 was "Ivanishvili's whim".

On Friday, prime minister Giorgi Gakharia resigned over plans to arrest Melia and was replaced by Ivanishvili's former personal assistant, an ex-prime minister and defence minister Irakli Garibashvili, whom Ivanishvili calls "my beloved boy."

Samadashvili said that Ivanishvili's system, where private interests permeate politics and opposition leaders are either in jail or exiled, "is undoing Georgia's democratic achievements and derails the country from its pro-Western trajectory".

Thousands rally in Georgia after opposition chief's arrest

Issued on: 26/02/2021 

The opposition has staged mass rallies since October 

Vano SHLAMOV AFP


Tbilisi (AFP)

Thousands of anti-government protesters rallied in the Georgian capital Friday to demand early elections after the arrest of a top opposition leader.

Protesters marched through the city's main street, led by the leaders of all of Georgia's opposition parties waving Georgian, EU, and US flags, before staging a rally outside parliament.

Georgia plunged deeper into political crisis following this week's arrest of Nika Melia -- the leader of the country's main opposition force, the United National Movement (UNM), and a violent police raid on the party headquarters.

"I am in prison, but I am free," Melia wrote in an address to demonstrators read out at the rally.

"We are fighting for freedom and we will prevail in this struggle."

Supporters said they were energised by Melia's resolve.

"Nika's example inspires all of us," 20-year-old student Tornike Beridze told AFP.

"We will not stop until he is set free, until Georgia is free from Georgian Dream's authoritarianism," he said referring to the ruling party.

Nata Shavishvili, 46, said Melia had become "an icon of Georgians' aspirations to build a democratic, European country."

Ex-Soviet Georgia has faced political turmoil since parliamentary elections in October that the opposition said was rigged to give the ruling party a narrow victory.

Opposition members have refused to enter the new parliament in a boycott that weighs heavily on the ruling party's legitimacy.

- 'Democratic setback' -

Melia, a 41-year-old who has united Georgia's traditionally divided opposition forces, his prosecution on charges of "organising mass violence" during anti-government protests in 2019 as politically motivated.

A court in Tbilisi last week ordered Melia to be placed in pre-trial detention after he refused to pay an increased bail fee in the case.

Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia resigned over plans to arrest Melia, warning it would escalate tensions, but police moved in anyway and detained him on Tuesday.

Friday's rally was the latest in a series of mass protests the opposition has staged since October, to denounce what it says is political repression and to demand fresh polls.

More protests have been announced for the coming weeks.

The United States led a chorus of international condemnation against Melia's arrest, saying the move was a setback for pro-Western Georgia "on its path toward becoming a stronger democracy in the Euro-Atlantic family of nations".

© 2021 AFP

Armenia opposition supporters rally in Yerevan, demand Pashinyan's resignation

Issued on: 26/02/2021 -

Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan defied calls to resign and accused the military of an attempted coup on Thursday, as divisions over his handling of last year's war with Azerbaijan brought thousands to the streets. Several hundred opposition supporters were camped out in tents outside Armenia's parliament on Friday demanding Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's resignation.

Armenian protesters camp outside parliament demanding PM’s resignation

Issued on: 26/02/2021 -

Several hundred opposition supporters were camped out in tents outside Armenia's parliament on Friday demanding Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's resignation over his handling of last year's war with Azerbaijan.

The small South Caucasus nation plunged Thursday into a fresh political crisis as Pashinyan defied calls to resign, accused the military of an attempted coup and rallied some 20,000 supporters in the capital Yerevan.

The opposition gathered some 10,000 of its own supporters, who put up tents outside the parliament building, erected barricades and vowed to hold round-the-clock demonstrations.

On Friday morning, opposition supporters blocked streets near the parliament building as they prepared to stage a new rally set for 0900 GMT.

A leader of the opposition Dashnaktsutyun party, Gegham Manukyan, told reporters that opposition parties would only speak with Pashinyan about "his resignation."

Pashinyan has said he is ready to start talks with the opposition to defuse tensions, but also threatened to arrest any opponents if they violate the law.

Pashinyan has faced fierce criticism since he signed a peace deal brokered by Russia that ended the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian region that broke from Azerbaijan's control during a war in the early 1990s.

Fresh fighting erupted over the region in late September with Azerbaijani forces backed by ally Turkey making steady gains.

After six weeks of clashes and bombardments that claimed some 6,000 lives, a ceasefire agreement was signed that handed over significant territory to Azerbaijan and allowed for the deployment of Russian peacekeepers.

The agreement was seen as a national humiliation for many in Armenia, though Pashinyan has said he had no choice but to agree or see his country's forces suffer even bigger losses.

Armenia's military had backed Pashinyan for months but on Thursday the military's general staff joined calls for him to step down, saying in a statement that he and his cabinet were "not capable of taking adequate decisions".

(AFP)

Thousands march in Armenia to demand PM's resignation

Issued on: 26/02/2021 -

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has defied calls to resign 

Karen MINASYAN AFP

Yerevan (AFP)

Several thousand opposition supporters marched through the capital of Armenia on Friday to demand Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's resignation over his handling of last year's war with Azerbaijan which many see as a national humiliation.

Columns of people angry with the prime minister flooded the streets of central Yerevan, waving Armenian flags and chanting anti-government slogans, hours before a planned meeting with the ex-Soviet country's president.

Former Prime Minister Vazgen Manukyan, who has been put forward by the opposition to replace Pashinyan, called on all Armenians to join the protest.

"The people must take to the street and express their will so that we can avoid bloodshed and turmoil," he said at the rally.

"Either we get rid of them," Manukyan said, referring to Pashinyan and his allies who control parliament, "or we will lose Armenia."

The small South Caucasus nation plunged Thursday into a fresh political crisis as Pashinyan defied calls to resign, accused the military of an attempted coup and rallied some 20,000 supporters in Yerevan.

But the opposition gathered some 10,000 of its own supporters, who erected barricades and set up tents and stoves outside the parliament building and vowed to hold round-the-clock demonstrations.

The crisis spilled into a second day after Pashinyan's critics spent the night, then blocked streets near the parliament building in preparation for Friday's rally.

The march led them to the presidency and then to the prime minister's residence, ahead of a meeting with President Armen Sarkisian at 15:40 local time (1140 GMT).

- War with Azerbaijan -

A leader of the opposition Dashnaktsutyun party, Gegham Manukyan, told reporters that opposition parties would only speak with Pashinyan about "his resignation."

Pashinyan has said he is ready to start talks with the opposition to defuse tensions, but also threatened to arrest any opponents if they violate the law.

France on Friday urged talks based on the legitimacy of President Armen Sarkisian, who holds a largely ceremonial role but has vowed to resolve this crisis peacefully, and Pashinyan himself.

"France would like that a dialogue takes hold in this country," Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said after talks with Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba.

"The elements of Armenian democracy must be able to be preserved," he added.

Pashinyan has faced fierce criticism since he signed a peace deal brokered by Russia that ended the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian region that broke from Azerbaijan's control during a war in the early 1990s.

Fresh fighting erupted over the region in late September with Azerbaijani forces backed by ally Turkey making steady gains.

After six weeks of clashes and bombardments that claimed some 6,000 lives, a ceasefire agreement was signed that handed over significant territory to Azerbaijan and allowed for the deployment of Russian peacekeepers.

The agreement was seen as a national humiliation for many in Armenia, though Pashinyan has said he had no choice but to agree or see his country's forces suffer even bigger losses.

"Nikol's time is over," Grigor Airapetyan, a 68-year-old pensioner, told AFP at Friday's rally.

Armenia's military had backed Pashinyan for months, but on Thursday the military's general staff joined calls for him to step down, saying in a statement that he and his cabinet were "not capable of taking adequate decisions".

© 2021 AFP

Chinese coronavirus jab brings relief, and concern in Hungary

Issued on: 26/02/2021 - 

Laszlo Cservak, a 75-year-old pensioner, receives his first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinopharm company and approved by Hungarian authorities ATTILA KISBENEDEK AFP



Budapest (AFP)

"We should be happy to get any vaccine," said Laszlo Cservak, a pensioner queueing in Budapest for China's Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine shot after Hungary became the first EU member to start using it.

The inoculations began Thursday as some Hungarian doctors fret that Sinopharm's Chinese maker has provided only minimal information on clinical trials of its vaccine, particularly for those aged over 60.

Neither Sinopharm nor Russia's Sputnik V jab, which Budapest also started rolling out this month in another EU first, are approved by the EU's European Medicines Agency (EMA).

In surveys of preferences among the five vaccines now used in Hungary, Sinopharm ranks last behind three western-developed vaccines -- Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca -- as well as Sputnik V.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban and health officials have urged citizens to put aside concerns about the Chinese vaccine while pro-government media have promoted its benefits.

For Cservak, waiting restlessly to be called into a vaccination centre -- a pensioners club near the river Danube -- scepticism about the Chinese drug is unwarranted.

"We are a country of 10 million virus experts, and some media are guilty of raising doubts in people who then hesitate to choose non-western vaccines," the 75-year-old told AFP.

- "Can't wait" -

The first batch of 550,000 Sinopharm jabs from China arrived earlier this month accompanied by fanfare in public media.

Hungary expects to get a further one million doses in March and April in total, with 3.5 million more doses arriving in May, a senior minister said Thursday.

Some 50-55 doses each have already been dispatched to family doctors, who have been tasked with arranging appointments with patients on their roster.

"About 70 percent of the 67 patients on my list accepted to come in for a shot," Dr. Emese Bone told AFP while staff helped arriving patients to fill out forms.

"But several elderly heard that there is not enough data on its effects on their age group, and while they think anything is better than getting Covid they decided to wait," said Bone.

"A few worried about the lack of EMA approval, while three changed their mind about coming after hearing they might not be able to travel in Europe if they get non-EU jabs," she said.

According to Szilvi Eszes, a nurse administering the jabs, those in the queue unsurprisingly had few reservations about the Chinese vaccines as they had already registered on a government vaccination website signed so far by around 2.5 million people.

"They might prefer Pfizer or Moderna but this is what is here now, they are free to say no, although who knows what will be available later and when," she told AFP.

After receiving her shot Ilona Mester, 59, said she "can hardly wait" for the second dose in a month's time.

"When they told me yesterday it would be the Chinese vaccine I wasn't worried, I had read good things about it, and only had to think for a bit before accepting the appointment, I would have taken any vaccine, to be honest," she said.

- Inoculation drive -

So far, almost half a million Hungarians have received at least one vaccine dose, mostly Pfizer shots, but officials said Thursday that the pace of inoculations will double with the newly procured Chinese jabs.

All those who have registered on the government's website can be vaccinated by early April, said the country's chief surgeon.

The inoculation drive comes as an extension of a partial lockdown in place since November until March 15 was announced Thursday following a steep rise in new infection cases.

"Without the Chinese and Russian vaccines we would be in big trouble," Orban said Friday in an interview, while criticising the "slow" pace of deliveries from the EU.

"Hungary can be the most vaccinated country in Europe by Easter," he said, pledging to receive his own Sinopharm jab next week.

Critics have accused the 57-year-old premier of pressuring health authorities to green-light non-EU vaccines to win favour from China and Russia.

A government decree last month drastically loosened approval criteria of vaccines worldwide.

A leading doctors association said it could not recommend the Chinese or Russian drugs to colleagues "in good conscience" due to inadequate documentation.

But among those leaving the vaccination centre relief was the main emotion.

"A year ago I felt myself a young man, now I am an old man, I horribly miss not going to the pool or gym, and travelling, so I came here to get liberated and my old life back," said Laszlo Cservak.

© 2021 AFP

ITS NOT A SPORT IT'S SADISM

British gymnasts to begin legal action against governing body over alleged abuse

Issued on: 26/02/2021 -

Britain's Jennifer Pinches performs at the 2012 Olympics in London 

BEN STANSALL 

London (AFP)

A group of 17 former gymnasts including three Olympians are to launch legal action against British Gymnastics for alleged "systemic physical and psychological abuse" by coaches targeting children as young as six.

The athletes have served a letter before action on the sport's governing body in the UK.

The letter says athletes were aged between six and 23 at the time of the alleged abuses, which included "widespread inappropriate use of physical force" by coaches and enforcement of "baseless" weight-management techniques.

An independent review to look into complaints of mistreatment within the sport is currently under way.

Jennifer Pinches, who retired from international competition after helping Team GB reach the final at the 2012 London Olympics, said British Gymnastics had spent too long prioritising "podiums over people".

"It is a heart-breaking truth to face, knowing the level of abuse that we and so many others were subjected to," added Pinches, who is now the community director of the Gymnasts for Change group.

"This is just the beginning of the sweeping changes that we are demanding, and the justice that we will fight for."

Gymnasts for Change campaign director Claire Heafford said: "This is not and has never been about a few bad apples, this is about decades of systemic abuse, encouraged and covered up by those at the top.

"The hopes and dreams of countless children and young adults of competing as professional gymnasts have been destroyed and their love for the sport is now shrouded in fear and suffering."

The group is demanding a response from British Gymnastics, which includes a formal apology, compensation and improved coaching guidelines.

© 2021 AFP

Charlotte Gainsbourg says Serge would struggle with today's censorship


Issued on: 26/02/2021 - 

Serge Gainsbourg and British actress and singer Jane Birkin in Nice - AFP/File


Paris (AFP)

Charlotte Gainsbourg didn't like discussing her father, the pioneering troubadour Serge Gainsbourg, as she struggled to share her personal grief with a public that still reveres him as the epitome of French libertine cool.

Now, on the 30th anniversary of his death, she is finally letting go, throwing open his home and able to enjoy the flood of tributes coming from artists and fans, young and old.

"I held back from giving interviews about him for a long time," she told AFP from her Paris home. "I told myself the anniversaries were too painful.


"But people weren't waiting for me, which is good. The statements are so beautiful. I told myself: 'Maybe I can speak about it, too.'"

A flood of album reissues, documentaries, books and podcasts have underlined the reverence with which Serge Gainsbourg is still held as France marks the anniversary of his death on Tuesday.

Charlotte was just 19 when her father suffered a fatal heart attack, but if there is one consolation, it is perhaps that he would have been an awkward fit in today's easily offended world.

"He had so many facets. He expressed his dark side. He kept no secrets," she said.

"Today, we live in a world that is so censored -- I wonder how he would have coped with that. Would he have been banned from television? He was such a rich personality, who married a great sensitivity with a great taste for provocation. We don't see that at all anymore."

- 'Such class' -

Charlotte, now 49 and a hugely successful actor and singer-songwriter in her own right, says she has been "incredibly moved" by the tributes, especially from young artists.

"I find that incredible. It's only today that I really realise it. Before I was in my grief, my pain. Now, I realise the impact that he has had on generations and generations, and that it hasn't stopped," she said.

"My father was not trapped in one era because he touched on so many styles, and with such class. He was a master of classical and modernist writing, and he did it with humour. It's what one dreams of being able to do, this refinement, such agile gymnastics. It set the bar very, very high."

Time and distance have also allowed her to complete a long-delayed project to open the family home on rue de Verneuil on the Parisian Left Bank to the public.

"It was all I had left of him, so I held on to it like a treasure," she said.

"But when I left for New York six years ago, I had some distance and I understood that it had to be done -- for the public, but also for my mental health, I need to let go. It needs to be a place of French heritage, that is accessible."

- Stuff everywhere -

The opening of the house, where Serge lived from 1969 until his death, was due to happen in March but has been pushed back towards the end of the year by the pandemic.

"It's him, his personality," Charlotte said of the home.

"We have an image of artists in immense, luminous spaces, but this is fairly modest. It was a former stables so the ceilings are not high -- it's not a classic Parisian apartment. There's a miniscule kitchen.

The atmosphere has been immacutely preserved, from the baroque statues to the ashtrays still brimming with Gitanes cigarette butts.

For Charlotte Gainsbourg, the most moving item is a bust of her mother, the actor Jane Birkin: "It's a cast of her body, it's very, very beautiful.

"During my mother's time, there were not many things. Later, there was more and more stuff everywhere. He transformed it into a museum packed with objects. It became difficult to walk around without breaking something."

As for her own music, she confirms she is deep into her new album, which she started during the first lockdown a year ago.

"I'm very happy. It's starting to take form, finally. It should come out in 2022 -- it must!"

© 2021

THE NINTIES ARE BACK; RETURN OF THE YUPPIE SANDAL
Birkenstock steps into big league with new luxury owners

Issued on: 26/02/2021 - 

German sandalmaker Birkenstock goes high-end after an LVMH-backed

 company and the French group's billionaire owner snaps up the iconic brand. 

John MACDOUGALL AFP


Berlin (AFP)

Germany's unabashedly frumpy but comfortable flat sandal maker Birkenstock stepped into the luxury league on Friday, with an LVMH-backed company and the French group's billionaire owner snapping up the iconic brand.

No details were given about the sum paid by LVMH-linked equity firm L Catterton and Bernard Arnault's family holding fund Financiere Agache, but analysts have put the price tag at around 4.0 billion euros ($4.9 billion).

"For the next 250 years we need partners sharing the same strategic and long-term vision as the Birkenstock family," brothers Christian and Alex Birkenstock said in a statement.

The new co-owners "bring both a deep understanding of the details of a manufacturing business that is all about quality and a respect for brands with a long heritage like ours," said the two brothers, who will retain a stake in the company.

The ownership switch marks a watershed for the company which was founded in 1774 to make orthopaedic shoes. By 1897, Konrad Birkenstock had made the first flexible sole fitting the contours of the feet.

The company remained in family hands and the flat sandals were given an international push when they were brought to the United States in the 1960s.

They were quickly adopted by hippies who took to their no-frills comfort but also saw their utilitarian look as an anti-fashion badge.

But a new era dawned in the 1990s when supermodel Kate Moss donned them for a fashion shoot.

Soon, the wide-strapped flat sandals became standard footwear for Hollywood stars in the summer.

And brands from Paco Rabanne and Valentino to Celine have customised their versions of Birkenstocks, even putting them on runways.

Actress Frances McDormand padded on stage at the Oscars in February 2019 in a yellow pair -- vindicating the idea that footwear does not need to be painful to be glamourous.

- 'Casualisation trend' -

With hippies and stars alike all making up its customers, Birkenstock sold 23.8 million pairs of shoes in the financial year through September 2019, with revenues rising 11 percent to 721.5 million euros.

The pandemic has also appeared to give it a boost, with the company reporting record revenues in 2020 even though much of walk-in retail was shuttered across the world as governments scrambled to halt coronavirus contagion.

Fflur Roberts, analyst at Euromonitor International, said Birkenstock had benefitted from the fact that home working was pushing people to opt for more casual dress.

"This casualisation trend is expected to continue for the short- to medium-term at least," she said, noting that the fashion industry was "already going through a transitional period where 'athleisure' and a more relaxed approach to dressing was becoming increasingly popular" even before the pandemic.

Further, the company which employs 4,300 people around the world will also seek to get a firm footing in the huge Asian market through its new connections with Arnault's luxury empire.

"We will get excellent market access and contacts in Asia through the new co-owners, and can push on with our growth at an accelerated pace," Birkenstock chief executive Oliver Reichert told business weekly Handelsblatt.

© 2021 AFP

NOT SO MODEST MODI, EGO SIZE OF INDIA

Spider-Man star caught in Indian Twitter storm mix-up

Issued on: 26/02/2021

British actor Tom Holland is caught in an identity mix-up on Twitter in India

 Jesse Grant 

GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP


New Delhi (AFP)

"Spider-Man" star Tom Holland was grappling with an angry Twitter storm in India on Friday in a case of mistaken cyber identity.

A historian with the Twitter handle @holland_tom tweeted a post mocking Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday after a huge cricket stadium was renamed after him.

"I'm a huge admirer of the modesty Modi showed in naming the world's largest cricket stadium after himself," the tweet said.

The post prompted an angry backlash in India, where people mistook the Twitter account with that of another Tom Holland -- the 24-year-old British star of the "Spider-Man" series of Marvel movies -- whose handle is @TomHolland1996.

Soon the hashtag #BoycottSpiderMan started trending in the country of 1.3 billion people.

"This is India's internal matter. We will teach you a lesson of lifetime. #boycottspiderman," said one user in response to the historian's tweet.

"You conspirator, conspiring against global leader (Modi). You just wait, Delhi police is coming for you," said another.

The actor has been active on Twitter this week, teasing fans with possible titles for the newest film in the series.

The #BoycottSpiderMan hashtag then gained further traction as Twitter users mocked others for their misdirected vitriol.

Historian Holland later apologised, tweeting: "Oh dear -- I seem single-handedly to have destroyed prospects for the next Spider-Man in India."

"I should have remembered that with great power comes great responsibility," he said, echoing a famous Spider-Man quote.

Tongue-in-cheek, he added: "Just for the record, & to save Marvel's profits in India, I freely acknowledge that Narendra Modi is a man of immense humility, and that his naming the world's largest cricket stadium after himself is in no way quite hilariously immodest."

The stadium in Ahmedabad in Gujarat state was renamed on Wednesday from Motera to Narendra Modi.

The 110,000-seat venue was the pet project of Modi who was the state's chief minister before becoming India's prime minister in 2014.

© 2021 AFP

DEADPOOL PAYS WELSH FOOTBALL PLAYERS TOP DOLLAR
Hollywood owners offer Wrexham players £250,000 bonus for promotion

Issued on: 26/02/2021 

Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds will contribute to a £250,000 bonus pot should Wrexham achieve promotion 

Cindy Ord GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File

London (AFP)

Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney will pay Wrexham players a £250,000 bonus ($353,000) should the club win promotion into the Football League this season.

Deadpool star Reynolds and McElhenney, who is best known for his role in "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia", completed their takeover of the Welsh club earlier this month.

Wrexham are currently seventh in the fifth-tier National League and occupy the final play-off position.

Players will receive £200 for each win and £50 for a draw, as long as Wrexham remain in a play-off position, while a £250,000 bonus pot will reward promotion.

Wrexham's new ownership believe the incentive scheme is the most generous ever offered since the Red Dragons' relegation from the English Football League in 2008.

Executive director Humphrey Ker told the club's official website: "Rob and Ryan wanted to recognise the players' confidence that they can reach this season's play-offs and provide an added financial incentive to achieve this."

Wrexham captain Shaun Pearson said: "The takeover has brought exciting times for the whole club, the town and the community and we want to bring more excitement through our achievements on the pitch too."

Reynolds and McElhenney have made a £2 million investment in the club since taking 100 per cent control from the Wrexham Supporters Trust on February 9.

The pair said on completion of the deal that "first-team player identification will be a priority", as well as promising money to enhance the women's football programme, community initiatives and the Racecourse Ground.

Russian diplomats arrive from 

virus-hit North Korea on rail trolley

GOVT SAYS THERE IS NO CORONAVIRUS IN THE PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC 

Issued on: 26/02/2021 - 

The group waved and cheered as they made the final approach towards their homeland 

Handout RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY/AFP

Seoul (AFP)

Eight Russian diplomats and family members -- the youngest of them a three-year-old girl -- have arrived home from North Korea on a hand-pushed rail trolley due to Pyongyang's coronavirus restrictions.

Video posted on Russia's foreign ministry's verified Telegram account showed the trolley, laden with suitcases and women, being pushed across a border railway bridge by Third Secretary Vladislav Sorokin, the only man in the group.

They waved and cheered as they approached their homeland, the culmination of an expedition that began with a 32-hour train trip from Pyongyang, followed by a two-hour bus ride to the border.

"It took a long and difficult journey to get home," the ministry said in the post late Thursday, speaking of the final stretch.

"To do this, you need to make a trolley in advance, put it on the rails, place things on it, seat the children -- and go," it said.

"Finally, the most important part of the route -- walking on foot to the Russian side."

Sorokin was "the main 'engine' of the non-self-propelled railcar", it said, and had to push it for more than a kilometre.

Once on Russian territory, they were met by foreign ministry colleagues and were taken by bus to Vladivostok airport.

"Don't leave your own behind", the ministry added as a hashtag.

North Korea imposed a strict border shutdown in January last year to try to protect itself from the coronavirus that first emerged in neighbouring China and has gone on to sweep the world.

The shutdown has cancelled all flights in or out of the nuclear-armed, sanctions-hit country, and cross-border trains.

- 'Rigorous and demanding work' -

With staff and supplies unable to enter, the restrictions have severely hampered the activities of diplomats and aid workers, and several Western embassies have pulled out their entire staff.

But Russia has close relations with the North and maintains a significant diplomatic presence.

On Friday, the Kremlin said the journey out of North Korea demonstrated that diplomatic service is no walk in the park.

"It seems very pleasant and elegant but in reality this is very complex, rigorous and demanding work," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, himself a trained diplomat, told reporters.

"Things like this can happen too," he added.

Stalin's Soviet Union played a key role in the North's foundation after it and the US decided to split the peninsula into two zones either side of the 38th parallel following the World War II surrender of Korea's colonial overlord Japan.

Moscow still has a grand embassy in a prime spot in central Pyongyang, close to the North Korean leadership compound.

In South Korea, people online reacted gleefully to reports of how the diplomats departed.

"I am glad I was not born in North Korea," one posted on South Korea's biggest internet portal Naver.

Another joked: "Please return your cart to where you found it."

© 2021 AFP

ORIGINAL 1% PARASITE
Spain's tainted former king settles tax debts

Issued on: 26/02/2021 - 

Juan Carlos has since lived in self-imposed exile in the United Arab Emirates since last year 

OSCAR DEL POZO AFP/File


Madrid (AFP)

Spain's former king Juan Carlos, who moved to the UAE last year under a cloud of scandal, has settled a debt of nearly 4.4 million euros ($5.3 million) with the Spanish tax authorities to try to avoid an embarrassing lawsuit.

The debts -- the second batch Juan Carlos has settled in less than three months -- have renewed questions over the 83-year-old's financial affairs and further dented the reputation of the Spanish monarchy.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he shared Spaniards' "rejection" of what he called Juan Carlos' "uncivic behaviour".

"An institution is not being judged," Sanchez said, amid anger over the delayed payment.

"What is being questioned is the behaviour of a person."

The back-taxes were due on the value of private jet flights -- worth eight million euros, according to press reports -- that were paid by a foundation based in Liechtenstein belonging to a distant cousin of Juan Carlos.

The value of the flights are considered taxable income on the part of the ex-king. The payment comes after he made a voluntary declaration of this income, his lawyer said in a letter Friday, confirming press reports.

In December Juan Carlos, who has since August lived in self-imposed exile in the United Arab Emirates, settled another tax debt of nearly 680,000 euros.

That settlement is linked to a probe made public last month by Spain's attorney general.

It is investigating whether he used credit cards linked to accounts not registered in his name -- which could constitute a possible money-laundering offence.

The credit card payments took place after Juan Carlos abdicated in 2014, which could mean that he is not shielded by the immunity from prosecution he enjoyed as head of state.

He is also the target of two other investigations over his financial dealings, including those linked to a high-speed train contract in Saudi Arabia.

- Coalition tensions -

Prosecutors are examining the contract won by a consortium of Spanish companies in 2011, seeking to establish whether the then-monarch was paid a commission.

According to Swiss daily La Tribune, the late Saudi king Abdullah deposited $100 million into a Swiss private bank in 2008 to which Juan Carlos I had access, prompting suspicions it was a kickback for the contract which was awarded three years later.

Juan Carlos has not been charged with any crime, and his lawyers have said he would return to Spain if required for legal reasons.

But Cristina Monge, a political scientist at the University of Zaragoza, said this second batch of debts "further soils the image" of the former king, who on Tuesday missed a Madrid ceremony to mark 40 years since a failed military coup.

Juan Carlos' intervention helped defeat the 1981 coup attempt and he won widespread admiration for his role in steering Spain to democracy following the death of longtime dictator Francisco Franco in 1975.

But a steady drip of revelations about his love life and lavish lifestyle have severely tainted the monarchy in recent years.

The latest tax settlement "could complicate the relationship" between the ruling Socialist party and its junior coalition partner, the hard left Podemos which is strongly opposed to the monarchy, Monge said.

- 'Shameful' -

The Socialists in contrast are "worried" about the former king's financial affairs and their impact on public opinion, and remain cautious in their censure of Juan Carlos, she added.

"This is not good news," Socialist Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo said Friday, when asked about the latest debts the king had needed to pay.

Podemos MP Gerardo Pisarello said it was "shameful" that the former king was "voluntarily paying the tax office millions which he should have declared years ago".

Podemos has governed in a minority coalition with the Socialists since January 2020. It is the first time that an anti-monarchy party has been in power since Spain returned to democracy in the 1970s.

Since ascending to the throne in 2014, Juan Carlos' son King Felipe VI has taken steps to improve the monarchy's image, such as imposing a "code of conduct" on royals.

Last year he stripped his father of his annual allowance of nearly 200,000 euros after new details of allegedly shady financial dealings emerged.

Boeing studied 777 engine upgrade before Denver incident: report

Issued on: 25/02/2021 -

Boeing had been studying upgrades to 777 engine covers ahead of the weekend incident that deposited debris on a Denver suburb 

Michael Ciaglo GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File



New York (AFP)

Boeing had been working to strengthen engine covers on the 777 for about two years before last weekend's scare on a United Airlines flight, according to a report Thursday.

Boeing was working with the Federal Aviation Administration to strengthen protective engine covers following similar problems on earlier flights preceding Saturday's emergency landing, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The report comes amid a National Transportation Safety Board investigation of Saturday’s United flight, which returned to Denver soon after disembarking after the engine caught fire and began breaking apart.

No one was hurt in the incident, but the episode raised questions about maintenance on the jets.

On Tuesday night, the FAA ordered inspections of all Pratt & Whitney engines similar to the one that broke apart.

Investigators have attributed the Denver incident to a fan blade that broke off soon after takeoff due to metal fatigue and apparently breached the engine cover, known as a cowling.

Both Boeing and the FAA avoided discussing specifics on the efforts to modify the 777. Such changes typically require signficant evaluation and testing.

Boeing is "in constant communication with our customers and the FAA, and engaged in ongoing efforts to introduce safety and performance improvements across the fleet," a Boeing spokesman said.

"We will continue to follow the guidance of the FAA on this issue and all matters related to safety and compliance, and we continue to provide updates to our customers."

The FAA said it focused on fan blade inspections in its most recent order on the Pratt & Whitney engines and on an earlier directive after a 2018 incident on a 777.

"Redesigning airframe and engine components is a complex process. One of the top priorities to date has been reducing the risk of a fan-blade failure that could lead to cowling damage," an FAA spokesman said.

"The FAA engages with manufacturers to continuously enhance safety. Any proposed design change to a critical piece of structure must be carefully evaluated and tested to ensure it provides an equivalent or improved level of safety and does not introduce unintended risks."

© 2021 AFP

Fire poses long-term risk to forest carbon sink: study


Issued on: 25/02/2021 

As Earth continues to heat due to ever higher concentrations of greenhouse gases in its atmosphere, both the number of fires and how fiercely and long they burn for increases 

MATEUS MORBECK AFP/File


Paris (AFP)

Stronger and more frequent wild fires are reducing forests' ability to store carbon in a trend that will likely not be offset by planting new trees, a study said Thursday.

As Earth continues to heat due to ever higher concentrations of greenhouse gases in its atmosphere, both the number of fires, as well as how fiercely and long they burn, increases.

Slower growing tree species are better at surviving such intense blazes, but they capture less atmospheric carbon and reduce nutrient availability, according to research led by the University of Cambridge.


Analysing decades of data on the impact of fires on ecosystems across the world, the team of experts found that repeated fires were driving long-term changes in forest composition, while reducing their population size.

They found that after 50 years, regions with the most extreme annual fires had 72 percent less biomass than regions that had not burned.

Writing in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, the researchers said there were 63 percent fewer trees in hard-hit regions compared to areas untouched by fires.

Because not all areas are suitable for mass reforestation, and because the long-term impact of fires take decades to gauge, the team said simply replanting the trees would likely fail to offset the reduction in forests' capacity to absorb carbon from the atmosphere.

"Planting trees in areas where trees grow rapidly is widely promoted as a way to mitigate climate change," said Adam Pellegrini in the University of Cambridge's Department of Plant Sciences.

"But to be sustainable, plans must consider the possibility of changes in fire frequency and intensity over the longer term."

- Sink almost full -

Wildfires themselves are a major source of planet-warming carbon pollution, with annual blazes releasing CO2 equivalent to around a fifth of fossil fuel emissions.

But they also reduce nature's capacity to absorb the carbon pumped into the atmosphere.

Previous research has shown that frequent fires reduce the levels of soil nutrients such as nitrogen.

Thursday's study showed that this favours slower growing tree species that have adapted to surviving with fewer nutrients.

These species limit the forest's ability to recover as they hold on to nutrients rather than replenishing the soil as they grow.

Throughout human history, forests have maintained the ability to suck carbon from the atmosphere, proving a key line of defence against climate change.

But with relentless emissions growth, they are losing their capacity to do so.

One study from last year suggested that major forests such as the Amazon may soon tip over from being a carbon sink -- i.e. they absorb more carbon than they release -- to a source, perhaps within 15 years.

"As fire frequency and intensity increases because of climate change, the structure and functioning of forest ecosystems are going to change in so many ways because of changes in tree composition," said Pellegrini.

© 2021 AFP

UN Security Council to discuss the ‘gravest threat’ to global peace and stability

Holly Ellyatt@HOLLYELLYATT
PUBLISHED TUE, FEB 23 2021

KEY POINTS

Climate change represents a “grave threat” to global peace and security, the U.K. will say when it chairs a special session of the UN Security Council on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to warn the UN Security Council that unless the global community takes “urgent action to tackle climate change, the world risks worsening conflict, displacement and insecurity,” the government said in a statement.


A resident holding a child walks past debris from damaged homes after Hurricane Iota made landfall on Providencia Island, Colombia, on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Climate change represents the “gravest threats” to global peace and security, the UN Security Council will hear on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to warn the UN Security Council that unless the global community takes “urgent action to tackle climate change, the world risks worsening conflict, displacement and insecurity,” the government said in a statement.

The U.K. currently has a one-month presidency of the Council, which is charged with ensuring international peace and security. Its permanent members are China, France, Russia, the U.K. and U.S. Johnson will address the group at 1.30 p.m. London time.

Ahead of the session, Johnson said the Council “is tasked with confronting the gravest threats to global peace and security, and that’s exactly what climate change represents … From the communities uprooted by extreme weather and hunger, to warlords capitalising on the scramble for resources – a warming planet is driving insecurity.”

He added that “unlike many issues the Council deals with, this is one we know exactly how to address” and that by helping vulnerable countries adapt to climate change, and cutting global emissions to net zero, “we will protect not only the bountiful biodiversity of our planet, but its prosperity and security.”

Well known naturalist and TV personality David Attenborough will also address the Council on Tuesday. He said in a statement released late Monday that “if we bring emissions down with sufficient vigour we may yet avoid the tipping points that will make runaway climate change unstoppable.”

He said the upcoming UN climate change meeting, known as COP26, that will take place in Glasgow in November, could be the “last opportunity to make the necessary step-change.”

“If we objectively view climate change and the loss of nature as world-wide security threats – as indeed, they are – then we may yet act proportionately and in time,” he said.


UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Sudanese climate activist Nisreen Elsaim will also brief the Security Council live on Tuesday.

Briefing ahead of the session, the U.K. noted that “the impacts of climate change are already being felt around the world, with the effects of rising temperatures and extreme weather forcing population movements and creating competition over increasingly scarce natural resources. Of the 20 countries ranked most vulnerable to rising global temperatures, 12 are already in conflict.”

For its part, the U.K. has committed in law to reach net zero emissions by 2050 and has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 68% by 2030 – the steepest reduction of any major economy.

Alongside the UN Security Council’s permanent members there are 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms. These members are currently Estonia, India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico, Niger, Norway, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia, and Vietnam.

Global efforts to tackle climate change are high on the agenda for the international community, although environmental experts fear that too little too late is being done to combat the issue.

The U.S. is the world’s second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases behind China. Under President Joe Biden’s administration, the country has now officially rejoined the Paris climate agreement, a landmark pact among nations to reduce carbon emissions, having left under former President Donald Trump.

1% ENTITLED TO THEIR ENTITLEMENTS

Head of Canada Pension Plan board received COVID-19 vaccine in Dubai: reports

The head of Canada's largest pension fund investment board travelled to the United Arab Emirates and received the coronavirus vaccine ahead of millions of Canadians, according to multiple reports.

© Provided by Global News Canada Pension Plan Investment Board President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Machin waits to appear at the Standing Committee on Finance on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa on Tuesday, November 1, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

The Wall Street Journal first reported Thursday that Mark Machin, who serves as CEO of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), flew to Dubai and was given a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Read more: Why jumping the coronavirus vaccine queue is a problem

The Canadian Press and the Globe and Mail later reported that Machin sent an internal memo to CPPIB staff in the wake of the initial report, confirming he took a "very personal" trip to the Middle East city.

Machin, 54, who has been in his current role since 2016, reportedly said in the memo that he is still in Dubai with his partner, and lamented that the Wall Street Journal's reporting had sparked "expected criticism" over the trip.

He said he followed all travel protocols related to his role as head of the pension fund while on the trip, according to the reports.





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Global News has not seen the internal memo nor confirmed Machin took the trip. Attempts to reach Machin were unsuccessful Thursday.

A request for comment sent to the CPPIB was not immediately returned.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the finance ministry called the reports of Machin's trip "very troubling."

"The federal government has been clear with Canadians that now is not the time to travel abroad. We were not made aware of this travel," the spokesperson said.

The Canadian government is actively discouraging Canadians from travelling abroad and recently implemented strict quarantine measures for those returning home.

Read more: Court date set for B.C. couple accused of jumping vaccine queue in Yukon

The CPPIB is an independent fund manager for the $475.7 billion Canada Pension Plan, which covers employees in most parts of Canada except for Quebec, which has its own provincial plan.

Canada has not yet opened up vaccinations for people in Machin's age group. Some provinces have begun allowing people aged 80 and over to sign up for their shots this week, after health-care workers and long-term care home residents were prioritized. Other jurisdictions like Ontario are still waiting for adequate supply before starting vaccinations for the general public.

The country has faced numerous delays in deliveries of vaccine doses this month from both Pfizer and Moderna, the two manufacturers whose vaccines have been approved by Health Canada. Roughly 640,000 doses of both vaccines were delivered to provinces this week, the largest delivery to date.

The issue of vaccine "queue jumping" has already led to charges and public backlash in Canada.

Video: Saskatchewan premier asks residents not to ‘jump the queue’ for COVID-19 vaccines

In January, the then-CEO of Great Canadian Gaming Corp. and his wife allegedly flew from British Columbia to a remote Yukon community and received the Moderna vaccine while posing as essential workers.

The couple, Rod and Ekaterina Baker, are due in a Whitehorse courtroom on May 4 to face charges under Yukon’s Civil Emergency Measures Act. Rod Baker later resigned from his CEO position after the allegations became public.

The couple's alleged actions, which have not been proven in court, was criticized by members of the Yukon and B.C. governments and the White River First Nation, whose members were due to receive the vaccine at the same clinic the Bakers visited.

— With files from the Canadian Press and Reuters

Climate Point: We made it back to Mars, but your earthly home might be in flood zone

Mark Olalde, USA TODAY 
2/25/2021

Welcome to Climate Point, your weekly guide to climate, energy and environment news from around the Golden State and the country (and the galaxy). In Palm Springs, Calif., I’m Mark Olalde.

© NASA/JPL-Caltech This is the first high-resolution, color image to be sent back by the Hazard Cameras (Hazcams) on the underside of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover after its landing on Feb. 18, 2021.

America is back on Mars! If you're anything like me, that means you spent the past week obsessively consuming news about NASA's Perseverance rover that landed on the red planet. If not, then I've got you covered. First, check out this AP video of the moment that touchdown was confirmed because cheering scientists either mean you're watching the end of a '90s movie or we just did something wild. Then, check out this USA Today piece on how the mission team has taken steps toward diversity. Next, Florida Today has more information on some quirks of the Mars mission. And, finally, head over to Perseverance's Twitter feed for a plethora of cool stuff, ranging from sounds recorded on Mars to insights from NASA.

Back on Earth, here's some other important reporting....

Politics as usual. Currently, all eyes in Washington, D.C., are on U.S. Department of the Interior confirmation hearings, where Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., could become the first Native American to hold a cabinet position. But, conservatives aren't making life easy for her, as they argue she would be bad for fossil fuels — Haaland previously came out in favor of the progressive Green New Deal. HuffPost has an interesting look at the irony of politicians who voted against action on climate change lecturing her to "respect the science." Still, as CNN reports, fossil fuel-friendly Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., announced he will support her, likely meaning she'll be confirmed. Meanwhile, the Detroit Free Press reports that former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who has pushed for both electric vehicles as well as renewables, has been confirmed by the Senate to helm the Department of Energy.

High water mark. Next up, here's one that you might not have heard about but could make your wallet a lot slimmer or a lot fatter, depending on where you live. USA Today reports on new data that speaks to an overhaul of the federal flood insurance program. The data from research group First Street Foundation estimates that average insurance rates need to quadruple in places to keep the program solvent. "For some 265,000 properties, annual premiums would need to climb $10,000 or more to match the actual risk," the team writes. This story is complete with helpful maps and tools, so if you live anywhere near water, take a look at how you might be impacted.

Lights out. After a cold snap brought much of Texas' grid to its knees, it's supposed to be 72 degrees in Dallas tomorrow. Welcome to the modern, wildly variable climate. The thaw is also bringing time to reflect on what exactly went wrong after rolling blackouts caused by a variety of factors — not least of which was natural gas infrastructure that wasn't weatherized — left people without power for days. ProPublica and The Texas Tribune are out with a deep dive on the event, chronicling how "lawmakers and regulators, including the (Texas Public Utility Commission) and the industry-friendly Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates the oil and gas industry, have repeatedly ignored, dismissed or watered down efforts to address weaknesses in the state’s sprawling electric grid." Meanwhile, the Austin American-Statesman, which previously reported that members of the board overseeing the majority of Texas' grid did not live in the state, writes that five members are resigning.

© Joshua Roberts/Getty Images Rep. Deb. Haaland on Dec. 19, 2020, in Wilmington, Delaware.

POLITICAL CLIMATE

California courtroom. I grew up watching legal dramas with my mom, so, now that I cover the Golden State, I've realized a courtroom TV show about California environmental litigation is long overdue. For The Desert Sun, I've got the details about two important cases currently underway in the state. First, a judge refused to strip temporary protections from Joshua trees in a case that has implications on whether climate change is a justifiable reason to protect species. Then, an environmental group is targeting state oil regulators, filing a suit to compel them to more closely follow environmental laws when handing out drilling permits.

Video: Regulatory Agency Permanently Bans Fracking, Natural Gas Drilling Near Delaware River (CBS Philadelphia)

Don't cross the Delaware. Speaking of hydrocarbons, there's some big news out East, where the Pocono Record reports that fracking has been banned on 13,539 square miles of land surrounding the Delaware River. This comes from a vote by representatives of the governors of Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and New York.

Legislating lumens. Back in the West, Sam Metz of AP reports that Nevada's Senate unanimously upvoted a bill to recognize "dark sky places." The legislation will "create a state program aligned with the International Dark Sky Association" to protect areas around the state that have some of the best stargazing in the world.

Battery battles. And finally on the U.S. politics front this week, High Country News published a feature that looks at the debate over America's nascent lithium mining industry. On one hand, lithium plays a key role in the batteries that will store the energy fueling the clean energy transition. On the other hand, tribes, environmentalists and ranchers argue that rushed mining proposals are threatening land in states like Nevada. Take a look at how this conflict is playing out near the Fort McDermitt Paiute Shoshone Reservation.
GOING GLOBAL

Disaster on the horizon. This week, I want to briefly take you around the world, where some important environmental stories are quickly unfolding. Let's start in Yemen, where the ongoing war could have a surprising victim — the country's coastal and marine ecosystems. For Newlines Magazine, Lylla Younes reports that an oil tanker has been sitting moored 4 miles offshore for five years after it was abandoned. The ship holds more than 1 million barrels of crude, and neglect and saltwater are eating away at it. If the tanker isn't pulled to shore and emptied soon, then it could cause a spill four times as massive as the infamous Exxon Valdez.

Extreme extraction. Humans aren't so great at the three R's — reduce, reuse, recycle — leading us to ever more extreme ways of digging up new resources. The latest international battle is centered on seabed mining, which is the fledgling practice of stripping the bottom of the ocean for minerals and dumping the refuse back into the water. If practiced on a large scale, it's expected to be hugely destructive. Under increasing pressure, though, a territory in Australia has outright banned the mining technique, The Guardian reports.

Breaking the ice. In a dizzying sign of the times, Bloomberg writes that a tanker made the first-ever February trip through Arctic sea ice after another hot year. Russia's deputy prime minister's response was that he's "confident that the Northern Sea Route is competitive." Without a shred of irony, the expedition was a return trip after dropping off a load of liquified natural gas in China.© David Goldman, AP Broken sea ice emerges from under the hull of the Finnish icebreaker MSV Nordica as it sails through the Victoria Strait while traversing the Arctic's Northwest Passage on July 21, 2017.
AND ANOTHER THING

Much ado about nothing. And to kick this week's edition, let's keep things international, where Politico digs into the latest intergovernmental attempt to address a changing climate. "When it comes to climate change, bombs don’t work, so the United Nations Security Council prefers words to action," reporter Karl Mathiesen writes. But Russia, which as a permanent member of the council has veto power, warned against any move to recognize warming as a threat to global security.

Scientists agree that to maintain a livable planet, we need to reduce the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration back to 350 ppm. We’re above that and rising dangerously. Here are the latest numbers:© George Petras Atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases continue rising.

That’s all for now. Don’t forget to follow along on Twitter at @MarkOlalde. You can also reach me at molalde@gannett.com. You can sign up to get Climate Point in your inbox for free here. And, if you’d like to receive a daily round-up of California news (also for free!), you can sign up for USA Today’s In California newsletter here. Mask up; we’re doing it! Cheers.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Climate Point: We made it back to Mars, but your earthly home might be in flood zone