Friday, August 14, 2009 TAIPEI: About 300 people are estimated to have been killed by a massive landslide that wiped out much of a village in southern Taiwan, news agency reports quoted a government official, as saying on Friday.The tragedy is said to have taken place in the village of Hsiao Li.The official death toll in Taiwan from "Typhoon Morakot" till last weekend stood at 116. The worst floods in decades washed out roads, snapped bridges and sent low-rise buildings crashing into rivers, according to the latest statement by the disaster agency.Pressure is mounting on Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou to expedite operations to rescue hundreds of residents of remote mountainous villages buried or stranded in the aftermath of the typhoon.
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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