Hero
Donald Trump Jr, who reportedly texted his dad’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, on January 6, insisting that the President “condemn” the Capitol riot as it unfolded. According to CNN, Trump Jr sent a message saying: “He’s got to condemn this s*** ASAP. The Capitol Police tweet is not enough.” He then added: “He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand.”
Villain
Huang, a 28-year-old Chinese man who has been jailed after lifting his sleeping ex-girlfriend’s eyelids to unlock her phone using facial recognition, then stealing about £18,000 from her digital wallet. Huang transferred the money from her Alipay account to his, pocketed the phone and fled to another city, using the cash for living expenses and paying his gambling debts.
Villain
Antonio Staglianò, an Italian bishop who told a group of schoolchildren Father Christmas wasn’t real during a rant about the commercialisation of Christmas. “No, Santa Claus does not exist,” said Staglianò. “In fact, I would add that the red of the suit he wears was chosen by Coca-Cola exclusively for advertising purposes.” A lackey later took to Facebook to apologise, admitting that the bishop had “disappointed the children”.
Hero
Vitali Klitschko, the 6ft 7in Ukrainian former world heavyweight boxing champion, now mayor of Kiev, who is preparing for a Russian invasion by calling up a reserve army and promising to “fight for my mother country”. “Can’t we just get Putin to fight Klitschko?” wrote Twitter user. “Putin has branded himself as a strong man so it should be no problem.”
Villains
Simão Peixoto and Erineu Da Silva, two Brazilian politicians who decided to settle their differences with a three-round punch-up in front of hundreds of paying spectators. Silva was reportedly livid at Peixoto, a local mayor, for failing to save a much-loved water park, calling his rival a “rotter” and a “crook”. So the two men duked it out in a 13-minute “ultimate fighting-style rumble in the jungle”, says The Guardian. Despite taking a pasting, Peixoto won on points, sparking cries of “Stitch-up!” from the crowd.
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