Sunday, October 11, 2009 HELD AL-QUDS: US Middle East envoy George Mitchell met Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad on Saturday, a Palestinian official said.No statement was issued after the meeting, which was held at the US Consulate General.Mitchell, who is struggling to get Israel and the Palestinians to resume peace talks, is to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday afternoon, Netanyahu's office announced.Israeli public radio said the US envoy should also be meeting later Saturday with two advisors to Netanyahu.On Friday, the former US senator had stressed Washington's commitment to a Palestinian state after meeting Israeli and Palestinian leaders, at a time when hopes of a peace breakthrough appear dimmer than ever."We discussed our common vision for a viable, independent Palestinian state with contiguous territory," Mitchell told journalists after his talks in the West Bank city of Ramallah with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas."President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton are deeply and fully committed to that," he added.But Mitchell gave no indication any progress was made in the separate talks with Abbas and Netanyahu.Israel has insisted the world should give up the notion that a comprehensive solution to the decades-old conflict will be found any time soon. Palestinian officials have said the deadlock was caused by the Jewish state's refusal to stop building homes for Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
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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