Cuba humidor auction tops $1.1M in Havana
HAVANA – Cigar enthusiasts have paid more than 798,000 euros ($1.1 million) for six handmade Cuban humidors at the gala closing of Havana’s 16th annual Cigar Festival.
The hot item was a one-of-a-kind handcrafted humidor packed with Montecristo cigars that fetched 170,000 euros ($235,000).
Officials said this week the sales of Cuban cigars rose 8 percent last year.
Proceeds from the auction were to go to Cuba’s state-run health-care system.
New Egypt Cabinet sworn in ahead of vote
CAIRO – Egypt’s new interim government was sworn in Saturday, a lightly reshuffled Cabinet with familiar faces keeping powerful ministers in charge of the country’s security and military services in place ahead of an anticipated presidential election.
The new Cabinet, Egypt’s sixth government since its 2011 revolt against autocrat Hosni Mubarak, retains Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi as defense minister. Many believe the wildly popular el-Sissi, who led the July 3 overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, will run for president.
The change of government before the presidential vote appeared orchestrated to curb rising criticism of the outgoing military-backed Cabinet, which was accused of failing to stem widening labor strikes and continued protests. The new lineup by new interim Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehlib largely removed Cabinet members belonging to political parties formed after the 2011 revolt, replacing them with technocrats or businessmen.
Pakistani Taliban announces cease-fire
PESHAWAR, Pakistan – The Pakistani Taliban announced Saturday the group will observe a one-month cease-fire as part of efforts to negotiate a peace deal with the government, throwing new life into a foundering peace process.
Spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said in a statement emailed to reporters that the top leadership of the militant group has instructed all of its units to comply with the cease-fire.
The leader of the government’s negotiating team, Irfan Sadiqui, praised the cease-fire announcement while speaking on Pakistan’s Geo Television, saying the government will review any written document from the Taliban about it.
In recent weeks, Pakistani jets and helicopters have been striking militant hideouts in the northwest, after previous efforts at negotiations broke down when a militant faction announced it had killed 23 Pakistani troops.
The Pakistani Taliban has been trying to overthrow the government and establish its own hard-line form of Islam across Pakistan for years. Tens of thousands of people have died in militant attacks.
UN says 703 killed in Feb. attacks in Iraq
BAGHDAD – The United Nations said Saturday violence across Iraq in February killed 703 people, a death toll higher than the year before as the country faces a rising wave of militant attacks rivaling the sectarian bloodshed after bthe U.S.-led invasion.
The figures issued by the U.N.’s mission to Iraq is close to January’s death toll of 733, showing a surge of violence beginning 10 months ago with a government crackdown on a Sunni protest camp is not receding.
Meanwhile, attacks Saturday killed at least five people and wounded 14, authorities said.
U.N. mission chief Nickolay Mladenov appealed to Iraqis to stop the violence.
Associated Press
