Monday, November 02, 2009 SYDNEY: Fifteen people have been rescued after a boat carrying about 40 people sank off Western Australia, an official told media on Monday, adding there were "grave concerns" for the others. A merchant ship and Taiwanese fishing vessel are searching for more survivors in rough, pre-dawn seas after the boat got into trouble about 700 nautical miles northwest of the Cocos Islands. "We obviously have grave concerns about the safety of those who are still in the water, given they've been in there for some time now," a spokeswoman for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said. "The LNG Pioneer (merchant ship) is still conducting search and rescue now," she added. "It's throwing out its life-raft in the hope of recovering more people from the water."Authorities have not confirmed whether the sunken boat was one of dozens of people-smuggling vessels which have headed to Australia this year carrying asylum-seekers, many of them from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. The boat got into trouble overnight on Sunday, prompting a plea for help by Australian authorities which was answered by the LNG tanker and Taiwanese fishing craft. "We received a distress call from the vessel yesterday morning when they indicated they were taking on water," the maritime safety spokeswoman said.
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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