Thursday, August 27, 2009 WASHINGTON: The United States has deplored the terrorist attack in Kandahar and expressed confidence that such acts would not deter Afghanistan's progress. "We deplore these acts of violence. We know that there was a great loss of life in the bombings, and our sympathies go out to the victims' families," the State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters yesterday."We do not think that Afghanistan will be deterred from the path that it's on towards developing into a democratic society and a prosperous economy," Kelly said.Responding to a question, the spokesman said Afghanistan is a high priority for the Obama administration. Its aim is to help people of Afghanistan build its democratic process, and help it become an economically viable and prosperous society."We want to try and enable the Afghan Government to take responsibility not only for its reconstruction, but also for its own security," he said, adding "so we have a number of programs in place to help train them, to help them be able to take on a lot of these responsibilities."About the ongoing electoral process in Afghanistan, Kelly said the US wants to "remain impartial" with regard to the candidates, including the incumbent President Hamid Karzai, who are contesting in the general elections.
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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