ROME: Fire broke out Friday on an Italian ferry carrying more than 500 people to Sicily and all the passengers were taken by lifeboat to another ferry and a coast guard vessel, officials said.Five passengers, including a pregnant woman, were taken to a hospital as a precaution.The fire continued to rage in the car hold as the vessel was towed toward Palermo, the Sicilian capital, Sicily's fire department said.The vessel Vincenzo Florio, traveling from the mainland port city of Naples to Palermo, was 25 miles (40 kilometers) from its destination when the fire broke out in the car hold."They knocked on the door of the cabin and told us to get on deck," passenger Stefano Friscia told Sky TG 24 television. "It was hard to breathe, the whole ship filled with smoke and they ordered the lifeboats lowered."The 526 passengers were taken onto the coast guard ship that came to the rescue and the other ferry, said Palermo port official Cosimo Seminara.Most of the 35 crew members initially stayed on board to help put out the flames, Seminara 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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