WASHINGTON: Federal judge Sonia Sotomayor has become the first Hispanic confirmed as a U.S. Supreme Court justice.The Senate approved her nomination Thursday in a vote of 68 to 31. Several Republicans joined majority Democrats in supporting Sotomayor. Shortly after the nomination was approved, President Barack Obama said he was "deeply gratified" by the outcome of the vote. He said the three principles of justice, equality, and opportunity are ones that made possible Sotomayor's journey to the Supreme Court.During debate on Sotomayor's nomination this week, many Republicans charged that the 55-year-old Sotomayor would rule according to her personal biases. But Democrats described her as an experienced, mainstream moderate judge.Sotomayor will be the third woman to sit on the nation's highest court. President Barack Obama nominated Sotomayor, the daughter of Puerto Rican parents, to replace retired Justice David Souter.The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 13-to-6 last week, largely along party lines, to send Sotomayor's nomination to the full Senate.
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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