HARARE: An outbreak of cholera in Zimbabwe over the last month has now claimed at least 90 lives, including three deaths of Zimbabweans across the border in South Africa, officials have said. At least 37 people have died in Beitbridge, a town on the border with South Africa, Health Minister David Parirenyatwa said on national radio on Thursday. Three Zimbabweans have died across the border in the South African town of Musina, officials there said. Another 37 people have died in the capital Harare, while a new outbreak in the central town of Gweru has killed 13 people, state media said on Thursday. Doctors Without Borders warned on Tuesday that 1.4 million people are at risk of the disease in Harare alone, and cases of cholera have been detected as far away as Durban, on South Africa's southeastern coast. A South African truck driver was found with cholera in Durban, after he returned from Zimbabwe at the weekend, provincial health official Leon Mbangwa said. Zimbabwe's health system, once among the best in Africa, has collapsed under the weight of the world's highest inflation rate, last estimated at 231 million percent in July. Cholera is endemic in parts of rural Zimbabwe, but had been rare in the cities, where most homes have piped water and flush toilets. But after years of economic crisis, the nation's infrastructure is breaking down, leaving many people without access to clean water or proper sanitation.
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...
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