Sunday, August 09, 2009 BEIJING: China's state news agency says a plane has been hijacked in the restive western region of Xinjiang, which was rocked by ethnic riots last month.China’s official News Agency did not give any details about the hijacking in a brief report Sunday.A man on duty at the government office in Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital, said he had not heard about the hijacking.The region saw the worst ethnic violence in China in decades last month when deadly rioting in Xinjiang's capital of Urumqi killed 197people and injured more than 1,700, according to official count.The government said the violence was the work of terrorists, separatists and foreign forces as part of a plot to carve up China.
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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