Saturday, October 17, 2009 LONDON: Around 20 Muslim protesters protested much-criticised far-right Dutch MP as arrived for a meeting in British parliament on Friday.Geert Wilders, who faces prosecution in his homeland for anti-Islam remarks, came to London after winning an appeal earlier in the week against a ban on him entering Britain. Scores of police formed a barrier between a group calling itself "Islam in the UK" and Wilders' car as the protesters waved banners reading 9and shouted "Wilders go to Hell" and "Muslims rise up". Wilders was barred in February because British ministers said his presence would threaten community harmony and public safety. He had planned to speak to the media on a green outside the Palace of Westminster but was forced to hold it inside a nearby parliamentary office on advice of police. He is in London at the invitation of UK Independence Party peer Lord Malcolm Pearson to discuss showing his film "Fitna" in parliament, which insults the Koran, comparing with Nazis. Wilder faces prosecution in Amsterdam for inciting hatred and discrimination. "It is ridiculous that the UK government thought that my presence would in any way lead to violence," he said. "This man is an enemy of Islam and of Muslims and the British government is well aware of this and this just gives rise to so-called extremism," one protester," Abu Muaz, told Reuters. On Tuesday, Britain's Asylum and Immigration Tribunal overturned the ban on him entering the country following a challenge by Wilders. A Home Office spokesman on Friday said, "We are disappointed by the court's decision. The government opposes extremism in all its forms." He said that authorities will monitor Wilders during his stay in the UK, which could affect future decisions on whether to allow him entry.
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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