Monday, September 21, 2009 SRINAGAR: Residents of restive held Kashmir jammed the markets on Sunday in defiance of a rise in violence to stock up for Eid al-Fitr, the biggest Muslim festival marking the end of Ramadan.The festival to celebrate the close of the holy month will be held Monday or Tuesday, depending when the new crescent moon is sighted over the region where Islamic militants have been fighting against New Delhi's rule for 20 years.Shopkeepers set up extra kiosks to cater for the mad shopping rush.Hundreds awaited their turn outside the city's well-known confectionery shops and customers filed past with pastries and walnut cookies.Meanwhile, mosques and shrines have been spruced up for tens of thousands of worshippers.
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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