Thursday, August 13, 2009 NEW DELHI: Panic ridden citizens in India, particularly in Maharashtra state have started criticizing the government for not taking adequate measures to control swine flue as death till rose to 15 on Wednesday. Schools, colleges, cinema halls have been shut in Mumbai city, Pune and adjoining areas. Some educational schools in national capital were also closed. People have been asked to stay away from crowded places. The spreading flu has claimed a total of 15 lives—one each in Ahmedabad, Vadodra, Thane, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram, two in Mumbai and eight in Pune. More than one thousand persons are affected. The Indian Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is under focus of media criticism for not taking timely and adequate measure to control the new disease is holding emergency meetings with the centre and state officials and medical experts. Passengers on entry points at airports and border areas are being screened while warnings have been issued to the people to take preventive measures.
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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