Wednesday, December 02, 2009 TEHRAN: Iran hit out at its longtime nuclear partner Russia Tuesday over a yes vote for a censure motion at the UN atomic watchdog and insisted it was serious about plans for 10 more uranium enrichment plants. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that despite the support given in the International Atomic Energy Agency vote on Friday by Russia and China, Western governments would not succeed in their efforts to isolate Iran. In a rare tirade against the government that has been building Iran's first nuclear power plant in the Gulf port of Bushehr and had been expected to deliver advanced air-defence missiles for its facilities, Ahmadinejad said Russia had made a "mistake" in its vote at the IAEA. "Russia made a mistake. It does not have an accurate analysis of today's world situation," Ahmadinejad said in a televised interview.He vowed that despite the setback Western powers would not succeed in isolating Iran and dismissed any possibility of military action, a resort never ruled out by Israel or the United States. "Any finger which is about to pull the trigger will be cut off," Ahmadinejad said. "They need us more than we need them. It is psychological warfare and isolating Iran is impossible."He said that despite Friday's censure vote, which was backed by 25 out of 35 voting members of the IAEA to just three against -- Malaysia, Venezuela and Cuba -- Iran was deadly serious about its plans to build 10 additional uranium enrichment plants as a riposte.The vote called on Iran to stop construction of its second uranium enrichment plant under construction near the central Shiite shrine city of Qom.
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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