BANGKOK: Thai protesters on Wednesday tightened their hold on Bangkok airport, where two people were wounded in a blast and thousands of travellers left stranded by demonstrators vowing to topple the government.Two grenade attacks elsewhere in the capital deepened the sense of lawlessness after demonstrators stormed the airport Tuesday night, dramatically stepping up their campaign against Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat.Suvarnabhumi Airport, a three-billion-dollar showpiece hub for travel throughout Southeast Asia, was closed down as guards from the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protest movement sealed off roads to the facility.The PAD said it completely controlled the airport, a pet project of ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra that opened with great fanfare in 2006 and told airlines to apply directly to the group for landing rights."I have been informed by Thai Airways that 3,000 passengers are stranded at the terminal now," airport director Saereerat Prasutanont told a foreign news agency, adding that 78 outbound and incoming flights were affected."Protesters refused to negotiate with anyone except the prime minister." Police said at least 8,000 demonstrators, wearing yellow clothes in a traditional symbol of loyalty to the revered monarchy, cheered on PAD leaders who gave speeches from a stage set up in the taxi drop-off area
Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in
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