Obama fetes US Olympians

Friday, February 19, 2010
DENVER: President Barack Obama marvelled at flamboyant US snowboarder Shaun White on Thursday, and the rest of the US Winter Olympics team, saying he stayed glued to his BlackBerry to track results.

"How do you start doing that?" Obama asked a crowd during a rally in Denver, Colorado, a center of the US winter sports industry.

"How do you get up the guts the first time to start practicing doing that," Obama said, referring to White's spectacular gold medal winning performance in the men's halfpipe on Wednesday.

Obama also praised champion downhill racer Lindsey Vonn who won gold and silver medal winning Nordic Combined skier Johnny Spillane.

"I know this state is a training ground for a few winter Olympians," Obama said.

"I just want all of our Olympians to know the USA is proud of you... I am checking my BlackBerry every half hour to see how things turn out."

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India's swine flu death rate is increasing

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Cuba's world-famous cigar festival closes in Havana

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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