Monday, October 19, 2009 MEXICO CITY - Hurricane Rick, the strongest eastern North Pacific storm in more than a decade, raged across open seas yesterday, but forecasters said it could veer into resorts at the tip of the Baja California Peninsula by midweek.The track of the Category 5 hurricane threatened to disrupt a major sport fishing tournament scheduled to start Wednesday in Los Cabos, where hundreds of fishermen - mainly Americans - were gathering.The hurricane’s winds were still a howling 175 miles per hour yesterday, down slightly from a peak of 180 miles per hour, according to the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami. But it was projected to move over cooler waters and weaken to about Category 2 status, with winds of around 98 miles per hour before hitting land.The eye was cantered about 500 miles south-southeast of Cabo San Lucas yesterday. Rick was moving toward the west-northwest at about 14 miles per hour, and it was expected to begin turning toward the northwest before curving toward the northeast, the centre said.It is still far from clear where the storm will hit land, but the early forecast path would take it almost directly into Cabo San Lucas, where as many as 800 sports fishermen were expected to take part in the Bisbee’s Los Cabos tournament. About 130 boats are scheduled to set off into the Pacific on Wednesday - the day Rick is projected to hit.Clicerio Mercado, tournament organizer, said the event might be held just on Friday instead of the planned three days.Forecasters said Rick could carry enough force to slam into Mexico’s mainland as a hurricane Thursday.Rick was the second-strongest hurricane in the eastern North Pacific since 1966, the start of reliable records, said Hugh Cobb, Hurricane Centre meteorologist.
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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