WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama returned to Washington in the early hours of Wednesday after an eight-day European tour and a surprise visit to Iraq.He stepped off Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, outside the US capital, shortly after it touched down at around 1:29 am (0629 GMT). Wearing a long coat, he crossed the tarmac to a waiting helicopter.Obama's first major trip abroad as president -- he earlier made a day trip to Ottawa -- saw him attend a Group of 20 summit on the global economic crisis in London and the 60th anniversary NATO summit in France and Germany. He also went to the Czech Republic for an EU-US summit and major speech on nuclear disarmament, before proceeding to Turkey -- where he said his father's Islamic faith and a childhood in Indonesia made him a different kind of president -- and then unexpectedly to Iraq.
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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