Tuesday, June 02, 2009 KABUL: A bomb blew up a vehicle northeast of the Afghan capital Tuesday and killed six Afghan civilians including two children, the interior ministry said.It was not immediately clear if the bomb was planted in the road, which runs past the largest US military base in Afghanistan, or was fixed to the vehicle, interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said. "Two men and two women and two children are killed," he said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for attack. Such blasts are usually directed at the Afghan or foreign security forces that are trying to put down an insurgency led by the Taliban. It comes a week after another bombing in the same area killed three US troops serving with a NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) as well as three Afghan civilians. Insurgents have stepped up bomb attacks in Afghanistan in recent weeks after vowing in April to widen their campaign against the government. Four US soldiers from ISAF were killed in two bomb strikes on Monday in the province of Wardak, which also adjoins Kabul, the force said. Homemade bombs -- called improvised-explosive devices by the military -- cause 70-80 percent of the casualties to foreign troops in Afghanistan but also kill more civilians that soldiers, the military says.
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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