Tuesday, June 09, 2009 DONETSK: Rescue teams on Tuesday pressed on with efforts to find seven miners missing deep underground in Ukraine's Donbass coalfield more than 24 hours after an accident that killed six of their comrades.Rescue workers have conceded there is little chance of finding the missing men alive at the Skochynsky colliery, with gas levels still high and underground temperatures of 43 Celsius (109 Fahrenheit). Thirty-one teams of rescue workers and medics have been dispatched to the mine in Donetsk, the coalfield's main centre.Officials say the accident, 1,000 metres (3,300 feet) below the surface, was caused by a release of methane and a rock fall during maintenance work at the pit, equipped with some of Ukraine's most sophisticated safety equipment.
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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