Tuesday, August 04, 2009 MELBOURNE: Australian police launched a major anti-terrorism operation on Monday, detaining several people they said were suspected of plotting an attack in the country.About 400 officers from state and national security services took part in at least 19 pre-dawn raids on properties in the southern city of Melbourne, Victoria state police said in a statement. Police said members of a Melbourne-based group had “been undertaking planning to carry out a terrorist attack in Australia.'' The group was allegedly linked to hostilities in Somalia, the police statement said without giving further details. The Australian newspaper reported the detainees were Islamist extremists who had planned to launch a suicide attack on an Australian Army base. The men were allegedly planning to use automatic weapons to kill as many soldiers as possible before killing themselves, the newspaper reported. Police refused to confirm the report or release any further details, but said they would hold a press conference later Monday.
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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