Sunday, December 13, 2009 BEIJING: Police in central China encircled Sunday a remote hilltop where a gunman suspected of killing 12 people, including his father, was believed to be hiding, state media said. Special police and paramilitary troops have cornered suspect Liu Aibing, 34, on the hilltop in Hunan province and are closing in on him, the Hunan government news website reported.Liu is suspected of shooting 12 people to death with a hunting rifle and seriously wounding two others on Saturday in Yinshanpai village, the report said. Six wooden homes were also torched in the rampage, it said. Earlier, the news agency said 11 people were killed and five homes were destroyed by fire. The killings occurred early Saturday evening, news agency said. Liu, a migrant worker, had recently returned from southern China's Guangdong province where he had sought employment, the website report said. He has a history of mental illness, it added. Among the dead were Liu's father and several close relatives, it said. The Hunan killings are the latest family-related murders in China in recent weeks.Earlier this month, police in southwest China captured a man suspected of murdering his parents and four other relatives after he escaped from a mental hospital in Yunnan province.In late November, police in the southern Hainan province captured a man suspected of hacking to death his parents, wife, sons and sister in Beijing.
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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