Contested elections, updated

Ukraine: Ukraine’s Kuchma Accepts Changes to Election Law, and

Now entering their third week, the protests in the center of Kiev show no signs of lessening. Apart from hundreds who are camping out in tents on the Khreshchatyk, Kiev’s broad main avenue, others periodically arrive to swell the crowds, particularly in the evening at 7 p.m. when Yushchenko and other politicians speak.

The other evening France2 had a video of the protestors. All the interviewed were elated, and there were a few that had met and married on impulse. Emergency physicians, with no emergencies to treat, were dispensing contraceptives and doing pregnancy tests. There were tents for honeymooners. Mr. Yushchenko predicts a baby boom.

(Curiously, France2 lists Ukranian news under “World” rather than under “Europe”. Must be an EU thing — if you’re not in the EU, you’re not in Europe?)

Update Barcepundit‘s visitor, Monica, reports that a friend living in Kiev told her on the phone that the goverment is cutting off water, electricity, and bus service. The only independent TV station’s been off the air, and the official TV & radio hammers continously the message that the EU “wants to turn Ukranians into slaves”. Police have held individual protestors at gunpoint and warned them of what could happen if they continue to support Yushchenko. There are rumors that the government set criminals free and put them in police uniforms. Much different report than the France2 news.

Puerto Rico: Keeping the lawyers busy: The hearing at the 1st District Court in Boston has been rescheduled for next Monday, December 13. Today there’s a hearing scheduled at the Federal Court in PR, regarding the “mixed votes” I wrote about last month. A couple of small demonstrations were held a few days ago, things are back to normal (as they were before!) with no power outages at all, and the locals are taking the news in stride. Physicians report no changes in activity. The news offered no updates on babies, booming or otherwise.