Friday, June 05, 2009 LONDON: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown faced a battle to salvage his authority Friday after a minister insisted his continued leadership would spell disaster for Britain as he quit the government.In a shock move, James Purnell stepped down as work and pensions secretary, urging Brown to resign as the governing Labour Party braced for dire European Parliament and English local election results.Purnell left as the polls closed Thursday, with all eyes on whether other ministers would follow suit and turn against Brown. Brown now faces a difficult Cabinet reshuffle, which could take place later Friday if he decides not to hold off until Monday when the European election results will be known. Finance minister Alistair Darling and Foreign Secretary David Miliband are keen to stay in their heavyweight posts -- and could cause trouble if he ousts them.
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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