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EL PERIÓDICO GLOBAL MIÉRCOLES 3 DE FEBRERO DE 2021 | Año XLVI | Número 15.906 | EDICIÓN MADRID | Precio: 1,70 euros
Mattarella encargará a Mario Draghi formar un Gobierno técnico
“La pandemia radiografía las roturas de un país”
ITALIA
LAWRENCE WRIGHT
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La ‘ley trans’ plantea el cambio de sexo con solo declararlo La decisión se podrá tomar El sexo por el que se opte será El borrador admite desde los 16 años sin que el que rija en los deportes o las identidades no binarias, haga falta informe médico las prisiones, según el texto ni hombre ni mujer PILAR ÁLVAREZ, Madrid El Ministerio de Igualdad ya tiene listo el borrador de la Ley para la Igualdad Real y Efectiva de las Personas Trans, una norma incluida en el acuerdo de gobierno entre Unidas Podemos y PSOE que ha abierto una agria brecha en el movimiento feminista y entre los propios socios del Ejecutivo, y que prevé cambios de calado para el colectivo. El principal es el de la libre autodeterminación de género, que supone que cualquier persona puede cambiar su nombre y sexo en el Registro Civil solo con una declaración expresa, a partir de los 16 años. No hará falta informe médico o psicológico ni tratamiento hormonal. En edades entre 16 y 18 años, el menor podrá cambiar de sexo aunque sus padres se opongan. Entre 12 y 16 años, se nombrará un “defensor judicial” si no hay acueerdo. La norma prevé el reconocimiento de las identidades no binarias —personas que no se sienten ni hombres ni mujeres— y la posibilidad de eliminar la mención al sexo en sus documentos oficiales. El texto, al que le falta una larga tramitación, prevé que las personas trans participen en las competiciones deportivas según el sexo registral por el que opten y prohíbe “pruebas de verificación del sexo”. Lo mismo ocurrirá, con carácter general, en las cárceles. PÁGINA 26
El BCE sitúa a España a la cola de la zona euro en gasto contra la crisis El Gobierno solo inyectó un 1,3% del PIB, según un informe LUIS DONCEL, Madrid Un informe del BCE sitúa a España como el país de la zona euro que menos recursos públicos destinó en 2020 a combatir la crisis desencadenada por el coronavirus. El documento, realizado a partir de datos aportados por los países a la Comisión Europea, calcula que España gastó en estímulos fiscales el equivalente al 1,3% del PIB, frente a una media del 4% en la eurozona. El Ministerio de Economía rebate el cálculo por excluir partidas como los 40.000 millones gastados en ERTE, y eleva la factura al 5,5%. PÁGINAS 38 Y 39
ELECCIONES EN CATALUÑA
Los vetos cruzados entre partidos abocan a más inestabilidad AFP
Navalni, condenado a tres años y medio de prisión El líder opositor ruso Alexéi Navalni fue condenado ayer por un tribunal de Moscú a ingresar tres años y medio en una colonia penal por violar los términos de la libertad condicional en que estaba desde una sentencia por fraude en 2014. La pena
efectiva es de dos años y ocho meses. El fallo desafía a la protesta ciudadana y la presión internacional por Navalni (en la foto, ayer en el juicio), que volvió a Rusia desde Berlín tras recuperarse de un envenenamiento. PÁGINA 2 / EDITORIAL EN LA PÁGINA 10
Europa cierra la puerta a la vacuna de AstraZeneca en mayores de 65 España ultima su decisión tras el veto en Alemania, Francia e Italia PABLO LINDE, Madrid Los grandes países de Europa han decidido no utilizar la vacuna contra la covid de AstraZeneca en mayores de 65 años por no haberse demostrado su eficacia en esa franja de edad. Después
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de que Alemania, Francia, Italia, Países Bajos, Polonia, Austria y Suecia hayan decidido prescindir de esa vacuna en los mayores, los expertos esperan que España tome hoy una decisión en el mismo sentido en el Consejo
Interterritorial de Salud. Reservar el fármaco de la compañía anglosueca para personas menores de 65 obligará a replantear la estrategia de vacunación, que ahora tiene como objetivo prioritario a los ancianos. PÁGINA 22
La vacuna rusa Sputnik revela una eficacia del 92%
P24
MIQUEL NOQUER, Barcelona La campaña se acerca a su ecuador y el riesgo de que el 14-F engendre otro Gobierno débil en Cataluña es real. Incluso, nadie se atreve a descartar una repetición de los comicios. Los vetos cruzados entre los partidos para posteriores pactos crecen cada día que pasa. PÁGINAS 16 A 18
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W E D N E S D A Y 3 F E B R U A R Y 2021
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(m
Silver of hope
Bargain punters
Speculators of the metal should look to the past - M A R K E T S INSIGHT, PAGE 12
The retailers winning from a desire for discounts — b ig r e a d , p a g e 19
Martin Wolf
EJÍ?
US must co-operate and compete with China - o p in ió n , p a g e 21
i
Russian reply Navalnygiven 3 /. years Injail
Briefing ►Boutique fund man age es take Brexit hit London’sboutiqueinvestmentmanagers have been liit dispioportionately hard by the omission of financial Services from the Brexit ti-ade talks and are strugglingto serve European cllents. - p a g e 10
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, centre, talks to one of liis lawyers durlng a hearing In Moscow’s City Court yesterday before being sentenced to three and a half years in prison. In a case widely seen as an attempt to suppress President Vladimir Puün’s 111 ost prominent c ritic, the judge agreed with prosecutors that Navalny had violated the térras of a suspended sentence for fraud in 2014 by not immediately returningto Russia from Gennanyafter recoveringfroin poisoning last year. “The m ain goal o f this trial is to scare a huge number of people. That’s how it works. They jai! one person to scare off millions,” said Navalny, an outspoken critic of corniption in Russia.
►Germany set for post-Wirecard reform Germany is to créate a special financial watchdog for foreiisicauditsofcompanLessnspected of fraud,part of a wide- rangiug reform of financial regulator BaFin triggered by the WirecardscandaL—p a g e a
►Apollo’s Epstein report fails to allay UN A report by Apollo Global Management lawyers into co-founderLeon Black’sties with late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein is “not enough" to remove it from a watch list, a UNpensions fund official said.- page 7
►NHS fundraiser ‘Capta in Tom’ dies Tom Moo re, tlie second world wa r veteran who became the face of Briüsh civic solidarity during the Covid-19 crisis, has died at the age of 100 after contractingthe disease. - p a g e
Report pago A
i
►Astra set to launch a space Spac
Gove urges Brusseis to quell rising trade tensions in Northern Ireland •• ‘Sinister threats to borcler staff •• Brexit checks halted GEORGE PARKER - LONDON A R T H U R B E E S L E Y — D U B L IN M E H R E E N K H A N A N D M IC H A E L PEEL BRU SSELS
Britain will cali on Brusseis todayto take urgent steps to de-escalate a looming Brexit crisis in Northern Ireland, as the threat of violence and border tensions increased in the región. Michael Gove, Cabinet Office minister, will ask the European Coramission to ease disruption to post-Brexit trade between Great Britain and Northern Ire land, including extending “grace periods” for checkson vital goods. The talles come as checks on animal producís and food arriving from Great Britain at the region’s largest ports were suspended following threats to staff enforclng newtrade rules. Micheál Mar
tin, Irish premier, said the threats were a “veiy sinister and uglydevelopment”. Mr Gove admitted that the problems arisingfrom the Northern Ireland protocol - part of the Brexit deal - were more than just “teetliing problems”, as claimed by Boris Johnson last month. The protocol was part of the prime minister’s 2019 agi'eement tliat paved the way for the UK to leave the customs unión and single market. However, itleff Northern Ireland in the single market forgoods andunder EUcustoms núes. “In the short term, there are a number of issues that I would not describe as teethíng problems,” Mr Gove said. “They are significant issues that bear on tlie Uves of people in Northern Ireland, wlúch do need to be resolved.” Staff were withdrawn from the ports
Plea to extencl goods’ grace periocl
of Belfast and Larue ¡unid local eouncil anxiety over “sinister and menacing behaviour" and grafñti criticising the Northern Ireland protocol in areas doniinatedby hardline unionists. Port staff in Northern Ireland have expressed anxiety over suspicious activity around tlieir workplace, including apparent attempts by people to take down car registration numbers. Talks between Mr Gove and Maros Sefcovic, European Commission vicepresídent, will take place against the backdrop of political anger at Bmssels’ handlingoftheNorthernlielandissue. On Friday the commission rescinded within hours a proposal to override the Northern Ireland protocol to stop vacdnes fro ni entering the región from the EU, a move that would have, in effect,
Staff at the ports of Belfast and Larnewere withdrawn in responsoto ‘menacing behaviour’ and grafflti attacking the Northern Ireland protocol
recreated the borderon the island of Ire land that bo tli sides had tried to avoid. Unionists now want Mr Gove to use the same “emergeney cord” provisions to remove border Controls on trade with the rest of the UK. Arlene Foster, North ern Ireland firstminister, andMichelle O’Neill, deputy first minister, are expected to say that Brusseis had underminedfaith inthe protocol. The first grace period for trade expires at the end of March. Mr Gove wants to extend it and agree “permanent” Solutions on border issues. Mr Sefcovic said: “Throughout last year, we worked tirelesslyto find workable Solutions to implement the proto col.” He added that he hoped the issues would be addressed in the UK-EU joint committee overseeingthe protocol.
Big Oil hit by record losses from lockdown and clean fuel activism D ER EK B RO W ER AND AN JLI RAVAL
Houslng market’s summer growth suffers winter chlll The boomlng houslng market that defled the wider economlc downturn has been drlven by wealfhler property owners whlle excluding many flrst-tlme buyers. But It is now showing slgns of coollng off, with thousands of people in the mlddle of buylng a home set to mlss out on the stamp duty hollday that ends next month, followed by the wlndlng-up of the furlough scheme. This friction is not what's needed; says one estáte agent Analyslsp- p a g e j
The pandemic’s devastating irnpact on Big Oil was illustrated yesterday when some of the world’s largest energy groups reported record losses, rnarking a brutal 12 montlis for an industry tmder mountiug pressure to speed up a transition tocleanerfuels. ExxonMobil, the biggest US oil producer, racked up losses of more than $20bn last year —t he first annual loss in its history. It capped a year of crisis in which it shed more than 40 per cent of its valué. “The past year presented the most challenging market conditions ExxonMobil has ever cxperienced,” said Darren Woods, chief executive. Meanwhile, BP announced its first annual loss since the Deepwater Horizon disaster more than a decade ago after fourth-quarter profits plunged
96 per cent. It ivas a “tough quarter at the end of a tough year”, said Bemard Looney. chief executive. BP’s full-year losses reached $5.7bn, down from a $10 bn profit in 2019. Crudemarkets craslied last March as a Saudi-Russiaoil-supplywaieruptedjust asgovemments imposed lockdowns and travel bans to curb the spread of coronavirus, crippling global oil demand, fuel sales and refinery margins. In April, US crude prices briefly traded below zero, spreading distress across the industry. In Europe, groups cut dividends, boiTowed hillions and announced thousands of jobcuts, while, in the US shale sector, years of fast growth went into reverse as bankruptcies swept through the industry and operators idled rigs. On top of the devastation to revenues caused by the pandemic, investors and environmental activists have assailed
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Sputnik V, Russia’s flagslúp Covid-19 vaccine, has shown 91.6 per cent efficacy in triáis, a Lancet peer review has found. It is the tliird vaccine globally with above 90per cent efficacy —p a g e s
►Double-dip contraction hits eurozone A double-dip contraction in the final quarter of2020 battered theeurozone economy after fresh restrictions were imposed to contain the pandemic, leadingto a 0.7per cent fall in Q4 output. - page a
Datawatch Bankruptcies drop
Bankruptries
Bankruptcy fllings Clndex, last pre-recession quarter = 100)
^conomies
in adv-anced dodined more than 25 per cent in 2020 relaf ive to pre-pandemie levéis, de spite a historie recession. 80
T h e G reat Lockdow n, 2 0 2 0 T T T T T T T -n rT T T T T T T T - 8 - 6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 Reeesslon quarter 5ource:IMF
That was due to exceptional policy
*0
me asures., ¡n contrast with earlierrecessions.
COMMODITIES HYDROGEN SUMMIT The clean fuel of the future
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Hydrogen has enjoyed waves of popularity before but ¡t has never achieved ifs full potential. But ís that about to change?
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the sector with demands that it step up effoitsto reduce carbonemissions. BP responded last year with a pledge to cut its Long-term oil production, reduce emissions and spend heavily on renewables. Shell and Total, wlúch are also expected to report deep losses in the next week, have made big climate announcements. Exxon has also pledged carbón e mission cuts. A recent oil price rally sparked by vaccination rol louts and hopes that the global economy will recover this year has improved theoutlook. “I think thereare issues about mutations and issues about vaccine rollou t. . . but, at the same time, we have vaednes. so there will be a recoveryM r Looney told the Financial Times. “How longitwill take, time will tell.”
The inaugural FT Commodities Hydrogen Summit will feature top executives, pollcymakers and investors, addressiog the opportunitíes and challenges ¡n harnessing the full power of hydrogen - the most abundant element in the universe.
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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2021
L.A. supports push to boost grocery pay City becomes the nation’s largest to back a temporary $5 hourly raise as hazard compensation. By Dakota Smith, Suhauna Hussain and Faith E. Pinho
Photographs by
Al Seib Los Angeles Times
DR. CHRISTINE CHOI tends to COVID-19 patients at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. The second-year
medical resident recently oversaw a strange ritual born of the pandemic: death by FaceTime.
Health workers’ anguish Being near so much pain as the pandemic wears on can take a toll on the mental health of those on front lines By Soumya Karlamangla Dr. Christine Choi balances the iPad in her hands and scans the callers on the screen. It is a family gathering, pandemic-style: People in the foreground have video-called others, who have video-called a few more. A collage of faces peer back at her. She asks them if they are ready. Yes, they say. Stoic. Choi taps the corner of the tablet. The camera switches from her face to that of a lifeless man in a hospital bed. Their loved one, killed by COVID-19. The quiet in the hospital
“THE SOUND of the family members crying. I probably will never forget that,” Choi says.
room is pierced by wailing. Choi is a tough, upbeat second-year medical resident at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, one of four public hospitals in Los Angeles County. But even for her, the pain of what she witnesses each day — what healthcare workers across the country have witnessed over the last year — can become too much. In the spring, when little was known about how the coronavirus spread and healthcare workers feared falling ill, Choi volunteered to enter COVID-19 patient rooms. She enjoys working in the intensive care unit, where the sickest patients [See Mental health, A7]
Grocery stores, which have served as a lifeline during the pandemic, are now at the center of an increasingly bitter political battle as labor unions and politicians fight to secure hazard pay for workers who have kept the businesses going. Labor groups scored a victory Tuesday, when Los Angeles became the largest city in the nation to back a proposal requiring grocery stores to temporarily pay workers an extra $5 an hour. The raises — also called “hero pay” — have become a hot issue in progressive cities in California and beyond, with backers saying grocery workers have put their health at risk to serve customers as COVID-19 has spread. There have been numerous outbreaks at supermarkets and other retailers, with workers getting sick and in some cases spreading the coronavirus to family members. But grocery owners are fighting back. Following Long Beach’s mandate to pay its workers an extra $4 an hour, grocery giant Kroger announced it would close a Ralphs and a Food 4 Less location in the city. The California Grocers Assn., which represents about 6,000 stores across the state, filed a lawsuit against Long Beach in federal court. Seattle and Santa Monica have already moved forward with hazard pay. The L.A. County Board of Super-
Penn fired up by online criticism Negative comments on working conditions at stadium vaccine site spur scathing memo. By Maya Lau and Laura J. Nelson In New Orleans, Sean Penn lifted people out of Hurricane Katrina’s floodwaters, traversing the swamped city in a boat. A few years later after the earthquake in Haiti, there he was, hauling heavy bags on his own shoulders alongside locals.
Now, the two-time Oscarwinning actor and disasterrelief philanthropist is deploying his organization’s army of volunteers and staff at COVID-19 vaccine sites in Los Angeles and testing sites across the U.S., earning praise for taking action when the government came up short. But not everyone is so enchanted, namely two people who claim to work for Penn’s nonprofit, Community Organized Relief Effort, which is assisting the City of Los Angeles at the Dodger Stadium mass vaccination site. Penn, in turn, is seething. [See Penn, A7]
By Molly O’Toole SAN DIEGO — President Biden’s administration pledged early executive action to undo many of his predecessor’s immigration policies. But in Biden’s first weeks in office, officials have found themselves pleading for patience, saying they are constrained by former Presi-
dent Trump’s tangle of executive orders and administrative restrictions on immigration, as well as by public health concerns amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On Tuesday, Biden signed a series of executive orders and directives on immigration that primarily call for the review of, rather than an end to, Trump policies. These include the program known as “Remain in Mexico,” under which thousands of asylum seekers remain stuck at the border, and the “public charge” rule, which essentially requires a wealth test for immigrants. Biden officials have not
A balancing act in vaccine ramp-up Officials face challenges of securing enough doses while ensuring racial equity. CALIFORNIA, B1
Trump is accused of using mob like ‘cannon’ Defense cites freedom of speech, and says it’s too late to try him on impeachment charges. By Sarah D. Wire and David Lauter
Irfan Khan Los Angeles Times
SEAN PENN , left, elbow bumps Gov. Gavin Newsom while L.A. Mayor Eric
Garcetti looks on at the Jan. 15 opening of the Dodger Stadium vaccine site.
Biden signs raft of immigration orders Actions will review Trump policies, in effort to undo ‘moral and national shame.’
visors is also expected to vote soon on a similar plan. The City Council’s unanimous embrace of the pay raise proposal marks another win for labor groups, which previously worked alongside L.A.’s politicians to raise the city’s minimum wage and require larger hotels to pay higher wages. At the same time, a $1.9trillion plan unveiled by President Biden last month to tackle the nation’s economic and public health emergencies specifically addressed hazard pay, with the president calling on businesses to provide pay boosts for front-line essential workers, such as grocery and retail staff. Ahead of Tuesday’s City Council vote to draft a payraise ordinance, business leaders warned council members that stores would raise prices and cut pay if the city moved ahead with the wage plan. Some council members, however, said requiring grocery stores to pay the wage was a matter of economic justice. Others said the chains have seen big profits as people stocked up on food and stayed inside during the [See Grocery, A9]
said what they’ll do with another highly controversial policy, Title 42, a public health authority invoked by the Trump administration amid COVID-19 that border officials are using to quickly expel asylum seekers without due process. “There’s a lot of talk, with good reason, about the number of executive orders that I sign. I’m not making the law. I’m eliminating bad policy,” President Biden said Tuesday evening from the Oval Office as he signed the directives, flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas,
who was confirmed in a largely party-line vote Tuesday afternoon. In one concrete step, Tuesday’s orders establish an intergovernmental task force to reunite separated families. “We’re going to work to undo the moral and national shame of the previous ad[See Immigration, A6]
Senate confirms Mayorkas for post Biden’s historic choice to lead Homeland Security overcomes strong GOP opposition. NATION, A5
Goff reflects on sour ending Quarterback is trying to figure out how it went so wrong with the Rams that he was traded. SPORTS, B6
The stage’s Mark Twain Actor Hal Holbrook, who was known for his acclaimed portrayal of the humorist, has died. CALENDAR, E1
Weather Morning fog. L.A. Basin: 66/49. B10
WASHINGTON — House impeachment managers said in a brief filed Tuesday that former President Trump “summoned a mob to Washington, exhorted them into a frenzy, and aimed them like a loaded cannon down Pennsylvania Avenue,” putting everyone on Capitol Hill in grave danger. Trump’s lawyers, however, claimed that whatever statements he made to his supporters were protected by the 1st Amendment. In their initial response to the charges in his second impeachment, his lawyers also argued that the Constitution does not allow the Senate to try the case because he no longer holds office. The impeachment case is a legal “nullity” since “the 45th president cannot be removed from an office he no longer occupies,” the lawyers wrote. Trump’s supporters in the Senate have urged him to emphasize the claim that the Senate no longer can try him. That argument allows Republicans to side with him without saying they endorse his conduct. Last week, all but five Republican senators backed a procedural vote aimed at dismissing the impeach[See Impeachment, A6]
BUSINESS INSIDE: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is stepping down, but he’s not going away. A8
Nxxx,2021-02-03,A,001,Bs-4C,E1
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House Case Calls Trump ‘Singularly Responsible’ For Rampage at Capitol Impeachment Defense Team Argues That Senate Lacks Jurisdiction for Trial By NICHOLAS FANDOS and MAGGIE HABERMAN
KENNY HOLSTON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
Rose Woodside, 93, left, with her daughter, Adora Lee, 70, receiving a prevaccine screening at a wellness center in Washington.
Where Poor Suffer Most, Wealthy Find Vaccines End of an Era: Bezos Gives Up Efforts to Fix Inequities Amazon Reins in Distribution Face By ABBY GOODNOUGH and JAN HOFFMAN
WASHINGTON — As soon as this city began offering Covid vaccines to residents 65 and older, George Jones, whose nonprofit agency runs a medical clinic, noticed something striking. “Suddenly our clinic was full of white people,” said Mr. Jones, the head of Bread for the City, which provides services to the poor. “We’d never had that before. We serve people who are disproportionately African-American.” Similar scenarios are unfolding around the country as states expand eligibility for the shots. Although low-income communities of color have been hit hardest by Covid-19, health officials in many
Lingering Hurdles cities say that people from wealthier, largely white neighborhoods have been flooding vaccination appointment systems and taking an outsized share of the limited supply. People in underserved neighborhoods have been tripped up by a confluence of obstacles, including registration phone lines and websites that can take hours to navigate, and lack of transportation or time off from jobs to get to appointments. But also, skepti-
cism about the shots continues to be pronounced in Black and Latino communities, depressing signup rates. Early vaccination data is incomplete, but it points to the divide. In the first weeks of the rollout, 12 percent of people inoculated in Philadelphia have been Black, in a city whose population is 44 percent Black. In Miami-Dade County, about 7 percent of the vaccine recipients have been Black, even though Black residents comprise nearly 17 percent of the population and Continued on Page A6 SUPPLY BOOST Moderna is seek-
ing to increase the amount of vaccine in each vial. PAGE A6
JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES
F.B.I.’s Deadliest Day in Years Two agents were slain and three others were hurt in a shooting near Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Page A11.
By KAREN WEISE
SEATTLE — When Jeff Bezos founded an online bookseller named Amazon in 1994, he said the question that he was asked most frequently was, “What’s the internet?” Mr. Bezos answered by building Amazon into a $1.7 trillion behemoth that sold so many different items online it became known as “the everything store.” In the process, he upended the retail industry, turned Amazon into a logistics giant, and expanded into cloud computing, streaming entertainment and artificial intelligence-powered devices. For a time, he was the world’s richest person. On Tuesday, Mr. Bezos, 57, said his run at the top of the Seattlebased company was over. As Amazon reported its latest set of blockbuster financial results, Mr. Bezos said he planned to hand over the reins this summer and transition into the role of executive chairman. Andy Jassy, 53, the chief executive of Amazon’s cloud computing division, will be promoted to run the entire company. The change will be effective in the third quarter, which starts in July. “As much as I still tap dance into the office, I’m excited about this transition,” Mr. Bezos wrote in an email to Amazon’s employees. As executive chairman, he said, he intends “to focus my energies and attention on new products and early initiatives.” The changing of the guard is set to ripple out beyond Amazon, which Mr. Bezos has personified for more than two decades. His impact on corporate America and his remaking of the way that goods are sold turned him into one Continued on Page A11
Floyd Case Fit Pattern of Roughness by Officer Accused in Killing By JAMILES LARTEY and ABBIE VANSICKLE
Nearly three years before the Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd as he cried out that he couldn’t breathe last May, Zoya Code found herself in a similar position: handcuffed facedown on the ground, with Mr. Chauvin’s knee on her. The officer had answered a call
of a domestic dispute at her home, and Ms. Code said he forced her down when she tried to pull away. “He just stayed on my neck,” ignoring her desperate pleas to get off, Ms. Code said. Frustrated and upset, she challenged him to press harder. “Then he did. Just to shut me up,” she said. Last week, a judge in Minnesota ruled that prosecutors could present the details of her 2017 arrest in their case against the for-
History of Chokeholds in New Accounts mer officer, who was charged with second-degree unintentional murder in Mr. Floyd’s death. Ms. Code’s case was one of six arrests as far back as 2015 that the Minnesota attorney general’s of-
fice sought to introduce, arguing that they showed how Mr. Chauvin was using excessive force when he restrained people — by their necks or by kneeling on top of them — just as he did in arresting Mr. Floyd. Police records show that Mr. Chauvin was never formally reprimanded for any of these incidents, even though at least two of those arrested said they had filed formal complaints. Continued on Page A12
WASHINGTON — The House impeachment managers on Tuesday laid out their case against Donald J. Trump, asserting that he was “singularly responsible” for the deadly assault on the Capitol last month and must be convicted and barred from holding public office. In an 80-page brief filed on Tuesday, the managers outlined the arguments they planned to make when the Senate opens Mr. Trump’s trial next week, contending that the former president whipped his supporters into a “frenzy” as part of a concerted campaign to cling to power. Spinning a vivid narrative of a harrowing day when lawmakers were forced to flee as a violent proTrump mob breached the Capitol, the prosecutors also reached back centuries to bolster their case, invoking George Washington and the Constitutional Convention. “The framers of the Constitution feared a president who would corrupt his office by sparing ‘no efforts or means whatever to get himself re-elected,’” wrote the nine House Democrats, led by Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, quoting directly from the 1787 debate in Philadelphia. “If
G.O.P. Leaders Walk Tightrope Over 2 Rebukes By CATIE EDMONDSON
MOSCOW CITY COURT, VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
Aleksei A. Navalny was given a term of more than two years.
Prison Sentence Stifles the Voice Of a Putin Critic By ANTON TROIANOVSKI
MOSCOW — A Russian court sentenced Aleksei A. Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opposition leader, to more than two years in prison on Tuesday, a decision likely to send him for a lengthy term in a far-flung penal colony for the first time. Tuesday’s sentencing represented a pivotal moment for President Vladimir V. Putin’s Russia. Mr. Navalny, one of the main challengers of the Kremlin, has inspired some of the biggest street protests of the Putin era and repeatedly embarrassed the president and his close allies with investigative reports about corruption that were viewed many millions of times on YouTube. The authorities previously tried to contain him with short jail terms of a few weeks to avoid making Mr. Navalny into a political martyr. In August, Western officials say, Russian agents tried to assassinate Mr. Navalny by poisoning him. Now, the decision to send him to prison removes his direct voice from Russia’s political landscape, but it could energize his supporters and further rally Russian opposition to Mr. Putin around the figure of Mr. Navalny. “Hundreds of thousands cannot Continued on Page A9
TRACKING AN OUTBREAK A4-7
NATIONAL A10-17
BUSINESS B1-6
Doubly Devastated in L.A.
Democrats Propel Aid Package
A C.E.O. in the Hot Seat
Stark inequality is both a symptom and a cause of Covid-19’s overwhelming spread through Los Angeles. PAGE A7
Even as the president negotiated with Republicans on his $1.9 trillion rescue plan, his party advanced a process to allow for quick passage. PAGE A16
Vlad Tenev of Robinhood incited his customers’ fury by curtailing trading on the app amid a stock market frenzy, a response that some say reflects a troubling pattern at the top. PAGE B1
Cuomo’s Dubious Valentine The governor’s hopeful plan to reopen New York City restaurants on Feb. 14, when case counts are quite high, has many scratching their heads. PAGE A5 INTERNATIONAL A8-9
ARTS C1-8
When Picasso Is Nonessential Museums in Arizona have been open, but they’ve stayed closed in other states not as hard-hit by the virus. PAGE C1
Rollback of Barriers to U.S. President Biden signed three executive orders to reverse some of his predecessor’s immigration priorities. PAGE A16 SPORTSWEDNESDAY B7-9
Myanmar’s Army Returns
Exploring Selena’s Legacy
Sure Bets, at Least for Now
With the coup, the generals are ending a democratic front for a political system that still heavily favored them. PAGE A9
A podcast examines why the Tejano star, who was killed in 1995, has had such a lasting effect on culture. PAGE C1
As the Super Bowl approaches, online gambling sites are offering can’t-lose propositions to lure customers. PAGE B7
provoking an insurrectionary riot against a joint session of Congress after losing an election is not an impeachable offense, it is hard to imagine what would be.” In Mr. Trump’s own shorter filing, specked with typos and stripped of the former president’s usual bombast, his lawyers flatly denied that he had incited the deadly attack on the Capitol and repeatedly argued that the Senate “lacks jurisdiction” to try a former president. They repeatedly urged an immediate dismissal of the single charge against him, “incitement of insurrection.” “The Senate of the United States lacks jurisdiction over the 45th president because he holds no public office from which he can be removed, rendering the article of impeachment moot and a nonjusticiable question,” the lawyers, Bruce L. Castor Jr. and David Schoen, wrote in their 14-page response to the charge. Their other broad argument was that Mr. Trump’s remarks on Jan. 6 and in the weeks before were constitutionally protected. While they did not argue explicitly that Mr. Trump had won the 2020 election, as some said he wanted Continued on Page A15
UNDER ATTACK Liz Cheney faces
a reckoning over her role as a Republican leader. PAGE A15
FOOD D1-8
Bleak Future for Big Oil ExxonMobil, BP and other corporate giants lost billions in 2020 because of the pandemic and face broad questions about how they will adapt to climate change and regulations. PAGE B1 EDITORIAL, OP-ED A18-19
Thomas L. Friedman
WASHINGTON — Republicans fighting over their party’s future face a turning point on Wednesday as House leaders confront dueling calls to punish two members: one for spreading conspiracy theories and endorsing political violence, and the other for voting to impeach former President Donald J. Trump. Trump loyalists want to strip Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the No. 3 Republican, of her leadership post as payback for her vote to impeach. Trump critics want to strip Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia of her committee assignments for endorsing false claims, bigoted language and violent behavior, including calling for the execution of top Democrats. The fates of the two lawmakers, which are expected to be discussed at a private meeting among Republicans on Wednesday, are now a proxy battle for the party’s future, prompting a clash among its top leadership. On one side is Mr. Trump, who has praised Ms. Greene, and a majority of House Republicans who backed the former president after the Capitol riot on Jan. 6. On the other are a growing number of Republican senators, including Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, who have rallied behind Ms. Cheney. Caught in the middle is Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the House Republican leader, who is under pressure from both sides and who met with Mr. Trump in Florida last weekend. At the same time, Mr. McConnell, who rarely wades into party disputes in public, inserted himself into the fray by issuing two statements on Monday night. One Continued on Page A13
PAGE A18
A Toast to Applejack America’s first moonshine is returning, but without all the backwoods stills and fighting with the law. Our writer says it has the patina of fine brandy. PAGE D1
U(D54G1D)y+"!]!@!$!#
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2021 ~ VOL. CCLXXVII NO. 27
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DJIA 30687.48 À 475.57 1.6%
NASDAQ 13612.78 À 1.6%
STOXX 600 405.92 À 1.3%
10-YR. TREAS. g 8/32 , yield 1.105%
OIL $54.76 À $1.21
GOLD $1,830.50 g $30.30
Google rode a continuing recovery in global ad spending in the fourth quarter to propel parent Alphabet to record revenue of $56.9 billion. B1 The mania centering on GameStop and AMC suffered its sharpest reversal yet and CME Group moved to rein in the use of borrowed money in another hot market, silver. A1 U.S. stocks rose, with the Dow and Nasdaq both advancing 1.6% and the S&P 500 gaining 1.4%. B13 SolarWinds’ new CEO said evidence is emerging that hackers were lurking in the company’s Office 365 email system for months. A3 Exxon and BP posted annual losses of $22 billion and $18.1 billion, respectively, as pandemic-related curbs have sapped demand for oil. B1 Kraft Heinz is nearing a deal to sell its Planters snack business to Skippy peanut butter owner Hormel. B1 Uber said it reached a deal to buy alcohol-delivery service Drizly for $1.1 billion. B1 UPS reported a 21% jump in fourth-quarter revenue to $24.9 billion, a record for the company. B3
World-Wide House impeachment managers said they were on solid constitutional ground in seeking to convict Trump of inciting an insurrection ahead of the Capitol attack, while the former president’s lawyers denied that he sparked the deadly riot and argued that it is unconstitutional for the Senate to convict an impeached former officeholder. A1 Biden rallied Senate Democrats to pass a large Covid-19 relief package, as party lawmakers pushed forward with a legislative process that would allow them to pass a $1.9 trillion package without Republican votes. A3 Biden formed a task force to reunite immigrant families separated at the southern border by the Trump administration. A4 U.K. authorities said they found a potentially supercharged version of a morecontagious coronavirus variant that appears to make some vaccines less effective. A7 Russia’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine showed high levels of efficacy and safety in a peer-reviewed study whose interim results were published in the Lancet. A9 A Russian court sentenced Kremlin critic Navalny to 3½ years in prison, but with credit for about a year already served. A18 Italy’s president is expected to ask former ECB chief Draghi to try to form a new government. A18 Two FBI agents were killed and three others wounded while serving a warrant in South Florida. A3 CONTENTS Arts in Review... A13 Business News.. B3,7 Crossword.............. A14 Heard on Street. B14 Markets.................... B13 Opinion.............. A15-17
Personal Journal A11-12 Property Report... B6 Sports....................... A14 Technology............... B4 U.S. News............. A2-6 Weather................... A14 World News. A7-9,18
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YEN 104.98
Tech pioneer to serve as executive chairman amid growing scrutiny of company’s power BY DANA MATTIOLI
THROUGH THE GLASS: Alexei Navalny, making a heart gesture toward his wife at his court appearance, was sentenced in Moscow on Tuesday to 3½ years in prison, though the court gave him credit for about a year already served. A18
GameStop, Silver Plummet As Trading Terms Get Tighter ing more than $9 billion in market value, despite a flurry of posts on online forums such as Reddit’s WallStreetBets exhorting traders to hold on to the shares. AMC dropped 41%. The rout in WallStreetBets favorites came after CME Group Inc. raised margin requirements for silver futures, which on Monday had posted their largest one-day rise in more than a decade—a move many traders attributed to posts on social media calling for traders to buy silver. On Tuesday, silver futures fell 10%
A weekslong mania centering on GameStop Corp. and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. suffered its sharpest reversal yet on Tuesday, followBy Joe Wallace, Amrith Ramkumar and Gunjan Banerji ing an exchange operator’s decision to rein in the use of borrowed money in another hot market, silver. GameStop shares suffered their largest-ever decline, dropping 60% and surrender-
Coup Draws Myanmar Into U.S.-China Contest
and the largest silver exchange-traded fund fell 8.3%. Tuesday’s selloff came as popular trading app Robinhood Markets continued easing the restrictions it adopted during last week’s heavy trading. The firm reduced the number of stocks that face trading curbs to five, and further loosened restrictions on how many shares users can buy of GameStop, though the stock continues to carry the most stringent limitations. Robinhood earlier raised billions of dollars from investors to ride out the continuing
The conflict tests President Biden’s promise to marshal allies against authoritarian rule coup, detaining Aung San Suu Kyi and other civilian leaders. An announcer on army-backed TV declared the military’s top general was running the country. The takeover, coming against the backdrop of a deepening U.S.-China rivalry, pits the foreign-policy strategies of the two powers against each other. And it thrusts Myanmar on to the front lines of an increasingly tense geopolitical competition for global leadership. The U.S. has framed its approach to Myanmar as a push Please turn to page A10
SINGAPORE—Myanmar’s transition from military rule toward democracy that began a decade ago was trumpeted as a strategic victory for Washington in China’s By Niharika Mandhana, Warren P. Strobel and Feliz Solomon backyard. Eager to blunt Beijing’s influence, Myanmar opened its doors to diplomatic and commercial ties with the West. On Monday, Myanmar’s soldiers seized power in a
The Hottest Job Market? Snow Shoveling i
i
i
Too much snow plus too few teens equals fee spike; no price break for parents BY LESLIE BRODY This week’s blizzard turned into a windfall for intrepid teenagers who discovered the old-fashioned rewards of shoveling snow—for big bucks due to a flurry of demand. Kyle Barreto, a 17-year-old in Brooklyn who started shoveling this winter, said he used to be addicted to lounging with videogames and television. But after months trapped indoors by the pandemic, he jumped to join a friend seeking snow jobs during the storm. Working from dawn until 11 p.m. in temperatures that Dig dipped into the 20s
Monday, they made about $500 to share. They were at it again on Tuesday, despite sore backs and arms. “I used to sit home all day,” Kyle said. “I finally have something to do.” His mom, Melissa Lopez, was thrilled. “I’m excited he’s off the couch,” she said. As the storm pounded the Northeast, homeowners scrambled to find help digging out via friends and social media. Many weren’t ready for such a rapid pileup. The National Weather Service said some spots near New York City saw more than two feet of snow by Tuesday in Please turn to page A10
trading frenzy. U.S. lawmakers said they plan to hold hearings on short selling, online trading and the role of social media. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has called a meeting with financial regulators to discuss volatility related to GameStop, a Treasury spokeswoman said. The meeting is expected to take place as early as Thursday. Ms. Yellen has asked to see officials from the SecuriPlease turn to page A6 GameStop activists sowed seeds for frenzy........................ B1
Jeff Bezos is stepping down as chief executive of Amazon.com Inc. to become executive chairman, marking the biggest change in leadership of the tech giant since he started it in a Washington state garage more than 26 years ago. Amazon said on Tuesday that he will be succeeded as CEO in the third quarter by Andy Jassy, Mr. Bezos’ closest lieutenant and the longtime head of the company’s booming cloud-computing business. Mr. Bezos, 57 years old, is handing over the day-to-day reins as Amazon’s core businesses of online retail and business-computing services are booming because of the way the Covid-19 pandemic has shifted work and life to the internet more than ever. The company made public his changing role as it reported that revenue in the fourth quarter soared 44% to $125.56 billion—surpassing $100 billion for the first time in a three-month span—and profit more than doubled. Please turn to page A2 Amazon reaches sales milestone....................................... B1 Google ads propel Alphabet profit................................................ B1 UPS revenue leaps 21% on e-commerce................................. B3
Trump, Democrats Detail Arguments For Senate Trial
INSIDE
BY REBECCA BALLHAUS AND SIOBHAN HUGHES
ISTOCK
eff Bezos is stepping down as Amazon’s chief executive to become executive chairman. The company said that he will be succeeded as CEO in the third quarter by Andy Jassy, his closest lieutenant. A1, A2 Amazon capped its pandemic-fueled 2020 financial performance with record quarterly sales driven by a surge in online holiday shopping. B1
ALEXEY PAVLOVSKY/MOSCOW CITY COURT/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
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Amazon Founder Bezos To Leave CEO Post
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PERSONAL JOURNAL Book reading offers a therapeutic escape during the pandemic. A11 BUSINESS & FINANCE Mr. Peanut packs his bags as Kraft, Hormel near a $3 billion deal. B1
WASHINGTON—House impeachment managers said they were on solid constitutional ground in seeking to convict Donald Trump of inciting an insurrection ahead of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, while the former president’s lawyers denied that he sparked the deadly riot and argued that it is unconstitutional for the Senate to convict an impeached former officeholder. In their trial brief arguing that the Constitution’s framers anticipated the threat of presidential abuse, the impeachment managers wrote that “it is unthinkable that those same Framers left us virtually defenseless
against a president’s treachery in his final days, allowing him to misuse power, violate his Oath, and incite insurrection against Congress and our electoral institutions simply because he is a lame duck. There is no ‘January Exception’ to impeachment or any other provision of the Constitution.” Mr. Trump’s lawyers argued in their 14-page filing that the aim of convicting a president in the Senate is removal, making it unconstitutional to hold such a trial for one who has left office, and they called for the case to be dismissed. Ahead of next week’s trial, the House Democrats in charge of taking the impeachment case to the Senate submitted a brief Please turn to page A4
Vaccine Skeptics Widen Reach By Joining With Mask Critics Antivaccine activists have expanded their reach by joining forces with antimask advocates and others dedicated to what they call “health freedom,” a sign of mistrust in By Susan Pulliam, Betsy McKay and Kris Maher government that is complicating efforts to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic. At an Arizona event in November, vaccine opponents gathered with critics of mask requirements, chanting “My body, my choice.” They carried signs promoting healthy eating as a vaccine alternative— “Force veggies, not vaccines”—and “End AZ mask mandate.” Opponents of vaccine requirements have found com-
When an FDA-approved vaccine for Covid-19 is available to you for free, do you think you will...? Get it as soon as you can
Wait and see how it’s working
January 2021
41%
December 2020
34%
Get it only if required
Definitely not get it
31 39
Already vaccinated*
7 9
6
13 15
*At least one dose. December survey did not have an option for respondents to indicate they had already been vaccinated. Respondents who didn’t know or refused to answer are not shown. Source: Kaiser Family Foundation telephone polls of 1,676 U.S. adults conducted Nov. 30-Dec.8 and 1,563 U.S. adults conducted Jan. 11-18; margins of error +/- 3 percentage points
mon ground during the pandemic with people suspicious of drug companies, business shutdowns and other government restrictions, many of whom embrace nontraditional health practices and are worried about the safety of Covid-19 vaccines. On Saturday, protesters dis-
rupted a mass vaccination site at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, holding signs that said “Covid=Scam” and “End the Lockdown,” and describing one company’s vaccines as Please turn to page A6 Vaccine supply to states to increase again........................... A6