Thursday, November 05, 2009 KABUL: Five British soldiers were killed yesterday in a shooting at an Afghan police base in Helmand province, the Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday. The soldiers are believed to have been shot by a "rogue" Afghan policeman who opened fire in a police compound, Lieutenant Colonel David Wakefield, a military spokesman, told media. The British soldiers were living and working in the compound in the Nad-e’Ali district as part of an assignment to train Afghan national police officers, Wakefield said. The gunman and a possible accomplice escaped and a search is under way, Wakefield said. Three of the soldiers were from the Grenadier Guards and two from the Royal Military Police, the ministry said. Next of kin have been informed, it added. "The death of five brave soldiers in a single incident is a terrible loss," Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in an e-mailed statement.
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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