Friday, June 05, 2009 TOKYO: A strong 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck Friday off Japan's main northern island of Hokkaido, the meteorological agency said, but there were no immediate reports of any damage or casualties.The quake was registered at 12:30 pm (0330 GMT) at a depth of 20 kilometres (12 miles) in Pacific waters around 70 kilometres off Hokkaido's Tokachi area, the Japanese Meteorological Agency said.The epicentre was 800 kilometres north of Tokyo, it said. The agency warned of small fluctuations in sea levels but no tsunami risk. Around 20 percent of the world's most powerful earthquakes strike Japan.
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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