Kahnawake Reserve, Canada
Mohawks only: A Mohawk reservation has banished its non-native residents—two dozen men and women who are married to or in long-term relationships with tribe members. The tribal governing council decided to kick out non-natives because, it said, intermarriage was threatening the survival of its people. “It has nothing to do with racism,” said Joe Delaronde, a spokesman for the Mohawk council. “It’s just that at the end of the day, we’re saying, ‘Go back home. You don’t live here.’” While the move has been widely condemned, the government’s Indian Affairs department said the Mohawks have the right to determine their own residency requirements.
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
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The long haul: It will take Haiti at least three years to clear out all the debris from the thousands of buildings that collapsed in the Jan. 12 earthquake, President Réne Préval said this week. “It will take 1,000 trucks moving rubble for 1,000 days,” he said. “And until we move out rubble, we cannot really build.” Making matters worse, aftershocks from the magnitude 7.0 quake continue to flatten the weakened buildings that remain. Three children were killed this week when a school collapsed on top of them. Most Haitians are now camping out in the open under tarps, afraid to return to damaged homes. The U.N. said it will not distribute tents, because they are too expensive and don’t last. Instead, it will build temporary shelters with corrugated-iron roofs.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Tot leads Carnival: The youngest samba queen in history broke down in tears during Carnival this week, validating the concerns of child advocates who said a 7-year-old was too young to lead the parade. A child-welfare group had sued unsuccessfully to try to prevent Julia Lira from acting as one of the parade’s 12 drum-corps queens, who lead their samba groups in a dance competition and are usually sultry models in tiny bikinis. Lira, outfitted in a sequined halter and feathered miniskirt, started off gamely but was led away crying after hordes of photographers approached for close-ups. Eventually she returned, but the media were ordered to leave her alone.
Montevideo, Uruguay
Ex-dictator convicted: Former Uruguayan dictator Juan Maria Bordaberry was sentenced to 30 years in prison last week for leading a coup back in 1973. Bordaberry, 81, is already serving a 30-year sentence, under house arrest, for the disappearance of 14 people under his regime. But prosecutor Hebe Martinez Burle said the new conviction had “enormous symbolic importance” for Uruguay. “The issue for us is emblematic, that when someone violates the constitution, when a coup occurs, eventually you’re going to pay,” he said. Bordaberry was elected in 1971 and quickly dissolved the parliament, ruling by decree until the military booted him out, in 1976.
