Greeks protest against govt response to economic crisis

ATHENS: Hundreds of thousands of Greeks joined a nationwide 24-hour strike on Thursday to protest against the government's response to the economic crisis, disrupting transport and shutting down services.Flights to and from Greece were suspended for several hours, banks and schools shut down, in the second nationwide protest against the conservative government since the police shooting of a teenager in December triggered the worst riots in decades."The government is taking measures which are very bad for our salaries. We live in a state of anxiety, we don't know what will happen tomorrow," said Athena Giannogona, demonstrating with a group of fellow elementary school teachers.About 15,000 people marched through the Greek capital, beating drums and holding banners calling for salary increases and the protection of pensions."Demonstrating is one way to show the Greek government our disagreement, and we will also show it in the elections," said Giannogona. Parliamentary elections are due in 2011.Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis's government launched a 28-billion-euro (25 billion pound) bank support package in January but a huge debt and fiscal problems have prevented the ruling conservatives from giving substantial relief to the poor.The strike was called by public and private unions representing about half of the country's 5 million workforce."We have total participation," said Stathis Anestis, a spokesman for the private sector union federation GSEE. "Workers want the (government's) policy to change."

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India's swine flu death rate is increasing

Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in

Cuba's world-famous cigar festival closes in Havana

Sunday, February 28, 2010 HAVANA: Hundreds of wealthy merchants and cigar aficionados from all parts of the world gathered in Havana this week to bid high stakes for humidors full of premium cigars. Cuba's annual Habanos festival ended on Friday night with an auction of ornate humidors of cedar and mahogany stacked with hand-rolled stogies that raised 800,000 euros ($1.09 million dollars). Habanos S.A. executives this month said cigar sales fell 8 percent to $360 million in 2009, so they have created the Julieta, a smaller, milder version of the Romeo y Julieta cigar, aimed specifically at female smokers. Women now make up only 5 to 10 percent of customers for Habanos. But even with the creation of the Julieta, Garcia said Habanos has only modest hopes for 2010 sales, due largely to a weak economy in Spain, the biggest market for Cuban cigars. The flavor of premium tobacco relies on the soil and climate in which it is grown. The western province of Pinar Del Rio, famous fo

Cyprus lace to be declared UNESCO cultural heritage

Tuesday, September 08, 2009 NICOSIA: Traditional hand-made lace produced in the Larnaca district village of Lefkara in Cyprus known as lefkaritiko includeded in UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). Soseilos said that the relevant UNESCO committee has already decided to include lefkaritiko in its list of the world’s ICH, a more recent addition to UNESCO’s long-standing list of World Heritage sites, and the decision will be formally announced at the UNESCO General Assembly next month. The tradition of needlework and lace embroidery in Lefkara goes back centuries.

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