MANAMA: Bahrain said on Wednesday it has halted negotiations with Iran over a major gas import deal in a deepening row over comments that touch on the sovereignty of the tiny Gulf kingdom.The protest action came as regional Arab heavyweights weighed into the dispute with an outpouring of support for the US-allied island nation over the alleged remarks by an Iranian official last week."The kingdom of Bahrain has stopped negotiations with Iran concerning importing natural gas," a senior official told a foreign news agency on condition of anonymity."The decision was taken after the regretful remarks that touch on Bahrain's sovereignty and do not support the relations between the two countries."An Iranian official allegedly said last week that Bahrain used to be Iran's 14th governorate and once had a representative in its parliament.
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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