NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was to be sworn in for a second term Friday, following the resounding election victory of his Congress-led alliance.The 76-year-old, soft-spoken economist and his 60-strong cabinet were scheduled to take their oath of office from Indian president Pratibha Patil at the presidential palace in New Delhi on Friday evening. Singh is the first prime minister since the country's post-independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru to be returned to office after completing a full term. His coalition won 262 seats in the 543-member national parliament, just 10 short of the 272 needed for a working majority. The alliance quickly garnered pledges of support from independents and others to take its voting strength to 322.
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
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