Meanwhile in ... Kazakhstan, an entire nation is struggling to learn a new alphabet

And in Rabat, Morocco, women surfers are beginning to take to the waves. 

Kazakhstan, an entire nation is struggling to learn a new alphabet. Last year Kazakhstan’s president-for-life Nursultan Nazarbayev decreed that the country would switch from reliance on Cyrillic script to use of Latin script – a move away from the country’s former Russian colonizers and toward the West. But in a country where more residents speak Russian than Kazakh, there’s nothing simple about this change. The government has budgeted $670 million to deal with the transition, while small-business owners are scrambling to rework signs, and schools are rushing to train their teachers. The transition is scheduled to take place over seven years and to be completed by 2024. 

Rabat, Morocco, women surfers are beginning to take to the waves. Most wear wet suits and many say they have been harassed in some way while surfing, but their numbers are growing. In September 2016 the country held its first international women’s surfing contest. Surfing has been popular in Morocco since the 1960s, but up until recently it was not considered an appropriate activity for women.  =

Cave hill, barbados, players from six countries (the United States, Sweden, Singapore, India, Britain, and Germany) arrived last month to compete in the four-day annual Barbados Cup Segway Polo In Paradise Tournament. Segway Polo is similar to horse polo, except that, instead of horses, players cruise the field on Segways. The two-wheeled personal transporter was brought to market in 2001 and the sport was invented shortly thereafter. The rules of the field have been adapted from bicycle polo and horse polo. Team Barbados took first place in the International Segway Polo Association Woz Cup (Segway Polo World Cup) in 2009, 2010, and 2015.