Friday, September 11, 2009 WASHINGTON: The United States on Sept 24 will host a summit of UN Security Council member states on nuclear non-proliferation, the White House confirmed on Thursday. President Barack Obama is to chair the meeting, which will be held alongside the UN General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York. It will be the first time a US president leads such a summit and just the fifth in UN history that such a summit is being held, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters. 'We did ask for it, and are heading it,' Mr Gibbs said. The summit was first announced by the US ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice last month. Ms Rice said at the time that the session would 'be focused on nuclear nonproliferation and nuclear disarmament broadly and not on any specific countries.' She said Mr Obama would preside over the special meeting a day after he is due to address the UN General Assembly session.
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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