Wednesday, October 28, 2009 KABUL: Gunmen with automatic weapons and suicide vests stormed a guest house used by U.N. staff in the heart of the Afghan capital early Wednesday, killing 11 people including six U.N staff officials said. A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility, saying it was meant as an assault on the upcoming presidential election.Later, a rocket slammed into the grounds of the luxury Serena Hotel, which is favored by many foreigners. The device failed to explode but filled the lobby with smoke, forcing guests and employees to flee to the basement, according to an Afghan witness who asked that his name not be used for security reasons. U.N. spokesman Adrian Edwards said six U.N. staff were killed and nine other U.N. employees were injured in the assault, which began about dawn in the Shar-e-Naw area of the city. Guests scurried from the building during the assault, and flames were seen on the roof as smoke billowed out and over the city. Afghan police official Abdul Ghafar Sayedzada said 11 people in all were killed, including three attackers, and that police had taken control of the building. The bodies of three attackers were taken out of the house and sent for autopsy, said Gul Mohammad, an officer at the scene.
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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