Friday, November 20, 2009 KABUL: Two coalition troops have been killed in bomb blast and clashes in Afghanistan belonging to UK and Denmark. The British Ministry of Defence has announced that a soldier from the Royal Military Police has been killed in southern Afghanistan. The ministry said on Wednesday that the soldier was killed during operations in the Babaji area in Helmand province. Lieutenant Colonel David Wakefield, a spokesman for Task Force Helmand, said, "It is with deep sadness I must inform you that a soldier from The Royal Military Police was shot and killed." The death brings the number of the British soldiers killed in Afghanistan to 235 since the US-led invasion in 2001. Ninety-eight British service personnel have lost their lives in 2009 alone, making it the bloodiest year for the UK troops since the Falklands War in 1982. On the other hand a Danish soldier seriously wounded in a bomb explosion in Afghanistan in late October died on Wednesday, the Danish armed forces announced.Rune Westy Zacharias Nielsen, 22, was on foot patrol when the blast occurred near his unit's Barakzai base, in southern Helmand province, where Taliban insurgents are active.His death brought to 27 the number of Danish troops killed since international forces deployed in Afghanistan in late 2001 in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in the United States.More than 700 Danish soldiers are taking part in NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. Most of them are under British command
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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