Stuff going on in places you've never heard of:

Burundi:

A group of 600 Burundians, who had been living in Tanzania for more than two decades, has arrived in Burundi after the government in Dodoma expelled them for being in the country illegally, officials said.

"Some women came without their children, others were expelled with their children, leaving their husbands behind," Mohamed Feruzi, governor of Burundi's northeastern province of Muyinga, said on Sunday.

Guinea-Bissau:

Officials in Guinea-Bissau on Wednesday declared the once embattled nation's capital mine-free and said citizens were safe to roam anywhere in the city.

"The city of Bissau without mines represents a great satisfaction for all of its inhabitants," said Bissau Mayor Duarte Vieira during a special ceremony to mark the occasion.

The ceremony was held in a former minefield in the neighbourhood of Enterramento. The mines were sewn during Guinea-Bissau's 1998-1999 civil war.

Turkmenistan:

Turkmenistan's authoritarian leader, Saparmurat Niyazov, has promised a Mercedes to each of his ministers to mark the 15th anniversary of the country's independence in October.

«Each of you will receive a Mercedes car from me,» he told his ministers during a government meeting broadcast on national television on Saturday and Sunday. «The regional chiefs will receive a 4X4. But if you fulfil your duty and bring in the cotton harvest on time you will also receive a Mercedes,» the president added. There are 20 ministers in the Turkmen government, in addition to the five regional leaders. Despite its rich natural gas reserves, Turkmenistan is one of the poorest countries of the former Soviet Union, with 58 percent of the population living below the poverty line.

Gibraltar:

The GHA regrets Opposition criticism in respect to the installation of new revolving doors at the hospital entrance. This installation is one more aspect of the continuing programme of improvement of health facilities being carried out by the GHA.

The original design of the entrance was accepted and installed according to the programme of works. However, due to the influence of microclimatic conditions at the hospital entrance the new rotational door was proposed and accepted in the best interest of our patients and the working conditions of our staff.

Qatar:

Doha • Workers of Bilfinger Berger and Al Hamed were in for a major shock as they were carrying out excavations yesterday near the erstwhile Jaidah Petrol Station. The work was being carried out on behalf of the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) in connection with the multi-million riyal Doha expressway project.

While the stereotype goes that dig anywhere in Qatar and oil will bubble to the surface, this time, the workers found a huge cave mouth with a massive presence of water

Tooele County, Utah.

With the Senate in recess during August, Utah's longtime Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch is making his presence felt in Tooele County.

Hatch has battled vigorously to keep high-level nuclear waste out of Skull Valley. He said support for Private Fuel Storage's plan to store spent nuclear fuel rods on the Goshute Indian Reservation is waning considerably. "We've come a long way in that battle, but the plan is not dead yet. Fifty percent of the companies have pulled away from the temporary storage plan. Yucca Mountain is the only place where they have the methodologies to store the waste."

And of course, Tonga:

Oku kau he ongoongo fakamamahi ki he kau va'inga moe ngaahi kalapu ko e fakaha koia he CEO, Sakopo Lolohea kuo'osi 'a e $5 kilu hono fakamoleki he ta'u ni. Ko e pa'anga ko 'eni 'oku 'omai fakata'u he kautaha 'akapulu 'a mamani 'oku 'iloa ko e IRB. 'Oku nau 'omi 'a e $5 kilu he kamata'anga 'oe ta'u kotoa pe.

'I he lau 'a e sea fo'ou 'oe poate, Sangster Saulala na'a nau huatu ke kamata 'a e ngaue he mahina ni kuo talamai ia kuo'osi 'a e $5 kilu ia 'a e IRB. Pea ko e tu'u he taimi ni ko e pa'anga 'a e poate 'akapulu 'a Tonga ko e fo'i noa. Pea ko e me'apango ia ka 'oku lolotonga fai 'a e ngaue 'a e poate fo'ou ke fakama'opo'opo mai 'a e ngaahi feitu'u ne 'ave kiai 'a e pa'anga.

This entry was posted by Michael Reynolds, on Wednesday, August 16, 2006. You can leave your response.