Report: China tobacco merger to create No. 4 maker

Two Chinese tobacco companies are merging to form the world's fourth-largest cigarette producer by volume, a financial newspaper reported Tuesday.

Hongyun Group and Honghe Group signed a letter of intent Monday, the newspaper 21st Century Business Herald said, citing Li Weidong, an executive of their parent company, China Tobacco Yunnan Industrial Corp. It said the deal requires approval from China's State Tobacco Monopoly Administration.

A woman who answered the phone at Hongyun's press office and refused to give her name declined to say whether a merger was planned. Phone calls to Honghe's press office and the headquarters of the parent company were not …

HOROSCOPE

FORECAST FOR WEDNESDAY

eARIES (March 21-April 19). Everyone raves about your talent. Youcan cajole people into buying anything. Keeping secrets will giveyou the upper hand in a relationship. rTAURUS (April 20-May 20).Others toot your horn, since you refuse to do it yourself. If yourattention strays from the one you love the most, there is somethingyou need to learn.

tGEMINI (May 21-June 21). Let your mind free associate. Giveyourself a chance to enjoy friends, fantasy and fun. Better trainingwill make your job much more enjoyable.

yCANCER (June 22-July 22). You deserve recreation and laughs, butdon't flirt with the wrong people. Certain friendships won't …

Minutemen Supporters Rally in New York

NEW YORK - Several immigration control activists protested outside of Columbia University on Thursday, calling on the school to punish students who interrupted an October speech by the founder of the anti-illegal immigration Minutemen Project.

Jim Gilchrist had to cut short a speech at the school Oct. 4 after students from a campus club, the Chicano Caucus, climbed on stage with banners denouncing the California-based group.

"We want these students expelled," said Joanna Marzullo, president of New Yorkers for Immigration Control and Enforcement, a lobby group. "The violence cannot be ignored."

A videotape of the fracas shows students shouting and tussling with …

Emirates airline still believes in superjumbo

Emirates, the biggest customer for Airbus' A380 "superjumbo," said Sunday it still has confidence in the jetliner despite some concerns about its reliability.

The Middle East's largest carrier also said it is in talks with the European plane maker about the timing of deliveries for future A380s, but insists it has financing in place for all aircraft purchases until next summer.

Dubai-based Emirates, one of just three airlines currently operating the A380, said it recently met with Airbus executives "to give them feedback on the A380's reliability performance, including various technical issues which we had identified during our …

Trial proved only one thing: Cry or die

Opening shot

Raised on movies, we don't care how justice is done. The bad guycan get blown away, or fall on his own knife, or get hit by a bus.Doesn't much matter, though we prefer the villain to fall off a roofthrough his own treachery. That way the hero doesn't bloody hishands.

The least satisfying, in fact, is how Scott Peterson got hiscomeuppance -- in a court of law. Where's the drama in that? Still, amob of morons gathered to whoop and cheer outside the Redwood City,Calif., courtroom where a jury on Monday recommended a death sentencefor Peterson.

I didn't share their grinning satisfaction. Oh sure, he's guiltyas sin -- but they didn't prove it. This …

Mental health issues addressed at forum

A decade ago, the idea of a black men's summit on mental health taking place in Roxbury would have been unheard of. Today, one can find a flurry of conferences, panel discussions, support groups and networks.

And with former state Senator Bill Owens and others at the helm, the movement to inform black men and their allies about mental health continues to gain steam.

Owens delivered the keynote address at Get Your Mind Right!, a mental health awareness event for black men held last Saturday at the Roxbury Center for the Arts at Hibernian Hall.

In his poignant speech, Senator Owens recalled a childhood incident in which he was severely wounded and rushed to a …

Islamic gathering expected to draw 3 million devotees in Bangladesh

A three-day Islamic gathering that is expected to draw more than 3 million devotees to the banks of a river near the nation's capital began Friday amid tight security.

Authorities deployed some 10,000 security officials to guard the World Congregation of Muslims at a 77-hectare (190-acre) site on the banks of River Turag in Tongi, just north of Dhaka, as hundreds of thousands of Muslims began arriving for the event, local government official Azmat Ullah Khan said.

Khan said people were streaming into the ground on buses, trucks, ferries and trains.

The gathering _ which has been held on the banks of the river every year since 1966 _ avoids …