KARACHI: A teenaged Pakistani girl committed suicide after her parents were arrested and held in an Indian jail for nearly six months, police officials in Karachi said. Mohammad Hussain, his wife Yasmeen and eight-year-old son Abdul Karim went to see a family in the city of Jodphur in March but were arrested two months later on visa forgery charges. “One of Hussain's six daughters he left at home, 17-year-old college student Saba, became so distressed at her parents' continued detention that she took her own life,” police official Sajjad Hassan said. "On Saturday, she was found unconscious in her house in the evening and was brought to a hospital where doctors found a heavy quantity of poison in her stomach," he added. The Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission said in a statement that the girl committed suicide out of desperation and also because the family had little resources to support themselves. "The girl committed suicide to protest against the increasingly desperate situation due to her parents' and brother's detention in India," the AHRC statement said. The group appealed to the Pakistani and Indian prime ministers to help secure the release of Saba's parents and many other Pakistanis whom the Indian authorities had arrested on "dubious charges". Currently at least 61 Pakistanis, including some children, are detained in Indian jails, according to an AHRC count. Hashim said four of Hussain's daughters were schoolgirls who were also distressed at what had happened to their parents and had quit school. "They are mentally disturbed and cry for their parents," Hassan 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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