Wednesday, September 09, 2009 SAN'A: Four Yemenis carrying explosives and guns were arrested near the U.S. embassy in San'a, the Interior Ministry said Tuesday.The Ministry's statement didn't say when they were arrested. But senior security officials told media last week they were on the look out for possible attacks against foreign interests in San'a.The ministry said the four, aged between 20 and 33, had grenades, automatic weapons and ammunition in two separate vehicles. The men were residents of the northern town of Damag, home to one of the country's largest radical Sunni Islam teaching institutions, frequented by Yemeni, Arab and foreign clerics.Al-Qaida's branch in Yemen has targeted the U.S. Embassy in the past. In September 2008, gunmen backed by suicide bombers assaulted the walled compound in an attack that left 19 dead, including six attackers. Months before that, militants fired mortars at the embassy but missed, hitting a nearby school and killing one Yemeni.Washington has been pressuring Yemen to counter a rising al-Qaida threat more aggressively and improve intelligence sharing. U.S. officials said the government here has been preoccupied with fighting a Shiite rebellion in the north, at times at the expense of countering al-Qaida threats.
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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