Saturday, June 20, 2009 TEHRAN: Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday demanded an end to street protests over last week's disputed presidential election, siding with declared winner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Making his first public appearance after daily demonstrations against the results, he ruled out any major fraud in the election and warned that defeated candidates would be held to account over any renewed violence on the streets. "The people have chosen whom they wanted," Khamenei said in a sermon at the main weekly prayers in Tehran.
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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