A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Reforms under way in Cuba
HAVANA – Cuba’s economic reforms have begun taking shape as the government said yesterday it would allow or expand private enterprise in 178 activities to assure the survival of socialism.
Cubans will be able to open restaurants, repair homes or cars, train animals, rent out homes, give massages, provide transportation and open many other businesses, some prohibited by the communist-led government.
It will be possible to hire employees for the first time since small businesses were nationalised in 1968. – (Reuters)
Slovakia language law 'only for public offices'
BRATISLAVA – Slovakia has said that a Slovak-only language law that stoked tensions between Slovakia and neighbouring Hungary last year and triggered protests by Slovak ethnic- Hungarians would only apply to public offices.
The law, in force from January, was seen by the country’s ethnic Hungarian minority – roughly 10 per cent of the population – as part of former prime minister Robert Fico’s nationalist-minded government’s drive to suppress their culture. – (Reuters)
Kite flyers take to streets in Kabul
KABUL – Hundreds of kites danced over the Afghan capital yesterday emblazoned with messages championing justice, transparency and equal rights for women in an unusual US-backed effort to boost democracy.
Banned under the Taliban, kite flying is a national pastime in Afghanistan with hundreds being flown every Friday.
Afghans’ passion for kites gained international attention in 2003 with Khaled Hosseini’s best- selling novel, The Kite Runner. – (Reuters)
Catholic, Orthodox churches talk on schism
VIENNA – Roman Catholic and Orthodox theologians are reporting promising progress in talks on overcoming their Great Schism of 1054 and bringing the two largest denominations in Christianity back to full communion. Experts meeting in Vienna this week agreed the two could eventually become “sister churches” that recognise the Roman pope as their titular head but retain many church structures, liturgy and customs that developed over the past millennium. The upbeat report reflected growing co-operation between Rome and the Orthodox churches traditionally centred in Russia, Greece, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. – (Reuters)