Cuba: President Fidel Castro gave Cuban women some good news on International Women's Day: rice cookers are coming to every household.
In a speech lasting almost six hours to cheering women on Tuesday, the Cuban leader announced 100,000 pressure cookers and rice cookers would be available each month at subsidised prices.
"Those of you who like rice cookers, raise your hands," he said to applause from hundreds of women. The 78-year-old leader spent two hours talking about the merits of pressure cookers. His gesture may have carried some irony, coming on a day commemorating women's battles for equality. But many Cuban women, who do the vast majority of domestic work despite advances towards equality, were only too happy to hear the Chinese-made rice cookers were on their way.
The appliance is treasured in communist-run Cuba, where the basic diet is black beans and rice. They were banned a decade ago to save energy when Cuba was plunged into economic crisis due to the loss of Soviet aid and oil.