ALGER: Algerians go to the polls to vote in a presidential election which opposition groups have described as a charade. The incumbent, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, is standing for a third term in office against five little-known opponents. Observers say his victory is a foregone conclusion. Voters may stay away from the polls, analysts say, boosting rivals who say the election is a charade. Opposition candidates include two nationalists, two moderate Islamists and a woman veteran left-winger.
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
Comments