Havana

Where’s the bandwidth? More than a year after the first fiber-optic cable reached Cuba, the island nation still has no high-speed Internet connection. The undersea cable, laid from Venezuela last year with much fanfare and praised by retired dictator Fidel Castro, has never gone online. Cubans speaking anonymously told the Associated Press this week that embezzlement and corruption had strangled the project. Several top telecom officials were arrested, but there’s been no more official discussion of the project. The cable was intended to provide high-speed Internet access to schools, hospitals, and government offices, not to home computers.

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Buenos Aires

Gay wedding site: The government is encouraging foreigners to come to Argentina for their same-sex weddings. The country legalized gay marriage two years ago and has been enjoying a boom in gay tourism ever since. Gays and lesbians are estimated to number around 15 to 20 percent of international visitors to Buenos Aires. To capitalize on the trend, the National Congress has passed a law allowing foreign gay and lesbian couples to marry. Prospective mates must submit a request five days in advance and obtain a temporary address and a local lawyer.

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