KABUL: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown arrived in Afghanistan on Monday for talks with President Hamid Karzai on a new strategy to fight the "crucible of terrorism" in the border district with Pakistan. Brown said the new approach, due to be officially unveiled Wednesday, would treat Afghanistan and Pakistan together as "different but complimentary".He visited British troops at Camp Bastion in the southern province of Helmand, and the provincial capital Lashkar Gah, before meeting the head of the Western-backed Afghan government in Kabul, said foreign news agency.
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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