Cuban communists: free ride is over

CUBA: In the first round of major layoffs since the 1960s, Cuba’s communist government will eliminate 10 per cent of government jobs by April 2011, Reuters reported last week. The move is an attempt to increase efficiency while reducing budget deficits and will involve a total of approximately 500,000 job cuts. The news comes as a shock to many in Cuba where the socialist system has historically guaranteed employment. Jobs affected by the cuts include security personnel, healthcare workers and some parts of Cuba’s hospitality sector. Those who lose their jobs will be offered new positions. The Cuban government employs more than five million people.

Israel moves closer to adopting ‘loyalty laws’

ISRAEL: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave his support last week to a new law that would require all new citizens to declare their loyalty to “a Jewish and democratic state,” CNN reported. The proposed “loyalty law” comes as a follow-up to a recent demand by the Israeli government that Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish nation state. Opponents to the law say that it discriminates against the 20 per cent of Israel’s population that are Arab and does not represent a democratic stance. Officials point to similar laws in many western nations – such as Britain, France and the U.S. – where new citizens are also required to swear loyalty.

Who is going to pay?

UGANDA: Yoweri Museveni, the president of Uganda, has announced his country’s willingness to send peacekeeping troops to Somalia if the UN Security Council approves funding, Al-Jazeera reported last week. Uganda has an interest in seeing Somalia return to stable operations after an attack by a Somali rebel group killed more than 80 people in Uganda in July. Somalia has been without an effective central government for nearly two decades. Museveni said he does not care where the funding comes from, but believes his nation’s armed forces are the best equipped to handle the situation.

Political prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

CHINA: The CBC reported last week that Chinese officials were upset with the choice of Liu Xiaobo as winner of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. Xiaobo is a political prisoner in China, convicted of subverting the government after advocating for China to move from one-party rule to a democratic system. The Chinese government condemned the Nobel committee’s decision to award the prize to a criminal. News of the award was censored in the Chinese state media and on the Internet. Meanwhile, world leaders including Barack Obama and Steven Harper congratulated Xiaobo and urged China to change its approach to human rights.

Vivaldi found in Scotland

SCOTLAND: A lost flute concerto written by Vivaldi has been found in Scotland, the BBC reported. The piece, titled Il Gran Mogol, is one of four missing concertos from the famous composer who died in 1741. Experts have completed some slight reconstruction of missing parts of the concerto and a premiere has been scheduled for January 2011. While it remains unclear how a piece by an Italian composer ended up in the Scottish National Archives, some believe it was transported by a flute-playing Scottish lord who obtained it while touring Europe early in the 18th century.