Tuesday, July 14, 2009 KANDAHAR: A helicopter carrying civilian contractors working for foreign troops in Afghanistan crashed on Tuesday in the south of the country killing at least six people on board, NATO said. It was not immediately clear why the helicopter came down in the Sangin district of Helmand province, where US Marines, British and Afghan forces are pressing assaults against Taliban strongholds in the run-up to key elections. "At around 9:00 am (0430 GMT) this morning, a private helicopter has crashed outside Sangin military base.We have at least six people killed," said a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). "The passengers were all civilians," he added, speaking from the biggest NATO base in southern Afghanistan at Kandahar. Another ISAF spokesman said the aircraft was carrying civilian contractors, but their nationalities were not immediately known and it was not clear how many people were on board.
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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