, Monday, October 19, 2009 LONDON: Britain rejects "in the strongest terms" allegations that it aided rebels behind a bomb attack on Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, a Foreign Office spokeswoman said Monday."We reject in the strongest terms any assertion that this attack has anything to do with Britain," a spokeswoman told a foreign news agency, commenting on Sunday's suicide attack near Iran's border with Pakistan.Prime Minister Gordon Brown's spokesman added: "It is extremely important that we continue with the diplomatic track with Iran," pointing notably to talks in Vienna hosted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
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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