YALA: Two border policemen were killed in a roadside bomb and gun attack in Thailand's troubled Muslim-majority south, officials said on Thursday.The policemen were on patrol in Yala province on Wednesday when their pick-up truck was hit by a bomb hidden inside a fire extinguisher and then suspected militants opened fire, they said. One died on the way to hospital on Wednesday and the other died on Thursday morning. Separately, trains to the restive south resumed full services on Thursday after a 13-day suspension imposed after a railway worker was killed by insurgents on April 10, officials 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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