Protests erupt in Havana as Cuba struggles to restore electricity

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By Dave Sherwood and Ayose Naranjo Reuters Scattered protests broke out across Havana on Tuesday evening, with residents banging pots, honking horns and shouting “turn on the lights” as millions ‌of Cubans remained without power amid a six-month-long U.S. fuel blockade. Cuba experienced a nationwide outage on ‌Monday — its third this year — but while authorities said most of the country had been reconnected to the island’s grid by late ​Tuesday, many remained in the dark and without electricity as the island doesn’t have enough fuel. The country’s grid operator UNE said it had reconnected the grid from Pinar del Rio, in far western Cuba, to Holguin in the east. Santiago de Cuba, the island’s second-largest city, remained disconnected and without power, authorities said. The U.S. in January ‌cut off Cuba’s fuel supply, then ⁠imposed fresh sanctions that have prompted an exodus of foreign businesses and a near-complete collapse o...
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Greek farmers clash with police in protests over delayed EU farm subsidies

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Greek farmers clashed with police on Sunday during protests in central and northern regions over the delayed payment of European Union subsidies prompted by an investigation into a corruption scandal that has rocked the country.

Hundreds of farmers took to the streets, blocking roads with their tractors in several areas to protest against the conservative government over an estimated 600-million-euro ($696 million) shortfall in EU aid and other payments.

Near the central city of Nikaia, police fired teargas at the protesters who tried to break barricades, a Reuters witness said.

The delay in payments comes amid investigations into a scandal in which some farmers allegedly faked land and livestock ownership to receive EU agricultural subsidies.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), which is investigating crimes against the financial interests of the EU, said this year it had found evidence that Greek farmers, helped by state officials, misappropriated the EU funds.

Greek authorities have launched separate investigations and parliament is probing the government agency OPEKEPE, which distributes roughly 2.5 billion euros in EU aid annually to hundreds of thousands of farmers.

The government, which has promised transparency, has acknowledged that the first instalment of EU subsidies is lower than last year and that over 40,000 of farmers’ applications were under inspection.

SOURCE: REUTERS AND AGENCIES



from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/1hjAcC0

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