TOKYO: Japan closed more than 4,000 schools and kindergartens, double the previous day's number, to slow the spread of swine flu, which has infected 163 people in the country, officials said.A total of 4,043 schools and kindergartens were closed in and around both cities at the request of government authorities, up from some 2,000, an education ministry official said.Japan's number of confirmed cases has risen to 163 -- the fourth largest national figure on the world infection table -- in the central Honshu island region since the first confirmed domestic infection was reported Saturday. No fatalities have been reported in Japan.
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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