OTTAWA: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was Thursday to call for the two-week old parliament to be suspended to block an opposition bid to topple his government and take over without fresh elections.Harper was meeting with Governor General Michaelle Jean, the country's acting head of state as the representative of Queen Elizabeth II, to ask her to end the current session to buy him time to resolve the political turmoil. The unprecedented move comes after a week of political turmoil, which has rocked the country and sharply divided public opinion.The Liberal opposition led by Stephane Dion has spearheaded moves to oust the minority Conservative government, accusing Harper of failing to address the plunging economy in the Group of Eight nation.As a parliamentary vote of no-confidence looms on Monday, Harper is fighting for his survival just seven weeks after being re-elected at the head of a minority government in snap elections.Dion has called on Jean to dissolve the current government and install in its place a three-party opposition alliance, including Quebec separatists, without fresh elections. Opposition politicians notably accuse the government of failing to boost the country's economy as it confronts the global financial crisis.Under the Canadian constitution, the governor general has the power to accept or reject the prime minister's request to suspend parliament. Constitutional experts say no governor general has ever refused a prime minister's request to suspend parliament. But then no premier has ever requested such a move so soon after an election.Opposition leader Dion has rejected any move to halt the work of the assembly.
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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