Saturday, September 19, 2009 BAGHDAD: Seven people were killed and 21 others wounded by a car bomb just outside Baghdad on Friday evening, a security official said. The bomb exploded in the town of Mahmudiyah, south of Baghdad, at around 6:00 pm (1500 GMT) in a popular market as people were shopping for food to break the fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The town lies within a confessionally mixed region known as the Triangle of Death because of the frequency of insurgent attacks during the worst of Iraq's insurgency in the wake of the 2003 US-led invasion. The number of violent deaths in Iraq hit a 13-month high in August, raising fresh concerns about stability after the government admitted that security is worsening. Government statistics showed that 456 people -- 393 civilians, 48 police and 15 Iraqi soldiers -- were killed. That was the highest monthly toll since July 2008, when 465 died.
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...
Comments