Sunday, November 01, 2009 SANAA: A Yemeni court on Saturday sentenced to death eight men involved in a Shi'ite rebellion, who were arrested last year for fighting government troops north of the country's capital, Geo news reported.A Yemeni court on Saturday also handed out jail sentences and writing bans to two journalists for defaming the president.Seven rebels received prison sentences of 12 years, three three-year sentences, one an eight-year sentence and one a five-year sentence. Two were found not-guilty.The Houthi rebels were arrested last year for fighting troops for around a month at Bani Husheish, 30 km (19 miles) north of Sanaa. Houthi rebels first took up arms against President Ali Abdullah Saleh's rule in 2004, citing political, economic and religious marginalization by the Saudi- and Western-backed government.But the conflict intensified in August when the army unleashed Operation Scorched Earth. Aid groups, who have been given limited access to the northern provinces, say up to 150,000 people have fled their homes since 2004.On Tuesday the court, in a separate trial, sentenced to death four men, while 11 were jailed for up to 15 years and one was released after having served his sentence. On Monday, a court opened proceedings in absentia against Yahya al-Houthi, the brother of the rebels' leader, who is now based in Germany.Veteran ruler Saleh also faces a separatist movement in the south and top oil exporter Saudi Arabia fears the instability will help al Qaeda launch more attacks there.
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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