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Now, Fonseka’s son-in-law in trouble
25 dead in Belgian train crash
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Indian-origin lawyer is US envoy to OIC
Obama statue shifted amid outcry
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Now, Fonseka’s son-in-law in trouble
Colombo, February 15 The Colombo Fort Magistrate issued an arrest warrant for Dhanuna Tillekaratna over the multi-million dollar Hicorp deal, a defence contract which was awarded when Fonseka was the army chief. The CID, meanwhile, uncovered Sri Lankan Rs 15 million and $5.5 lakh from a safe vault of a private bank in Colombo that belonged to Tillekaratne's mother. The government has claimed the son-in-law of the common opposition presidential candidate has earned profits from arms procurements of the Army during the war with the LTTE. According to reports, the then Army Commander Fonseka could approve procurement of equipment below the value of Sri Lankan Rs 25 million. The deal is per se "corrupt" when Fonseka awarded such tenders to Hicorp International INC of which his son-in-law was President, the state owned Daily News quoted an leading Attorney-at-Law to say recently. The company was carrying on its business under a different trade name British Borneo Defence ( of which also Dhanuna was the President), he said. The Attorney-at-Law said the government had laid down clear guidelines for the purchase of equipment and it was not "ethical" to sit in a tender board for a person if somebody known to him or one of his relatives is bidding, the Daily News reported. Fonseka 'to face military court soon'
Sri Lanka's former army chief Sarath Fonseka, who is facing sedition charges, will face a military court "very soon", a media report said today. The Sri Lankan military police arrested General Fonseka last Monday on sedition charges. The government had accused the Opposition presidential candidate of "plotting against the president while in the military ... with the idea of overthrowing the government." The Daily Mirror Online, quoting government sources, said Fonseka, whose arrest has pushed the country into political turmoil, would face the Military Court "very soon". While the Supreme Court has decided to take up the fundamental rights petition filed by Anoma Fonseka, the wife of the General, against his alleged arbitrary arrest, the military will continue its investigations against Fonseka and produce him before the Military Court soon, a source was quoted as saying by the Sri Lankan news website. Without elaborating, Director-General of the Media Centre for National Security, Lakshman Hulugalla said Fonseka can be tried under the military law till May 2010.
— PTI
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25 dead in Belgian train crash
Brussels, February 15 Belgian National Railways told the VRT radio network that 25 persons had died. The suburb’s mayor said the death toll was 20. Lodewijk De Witte, governor of the province of Flemish Brabant, told VRT that 10 persons were killed. The trains collided in light snow just outside of the station at Buizingen. The force of the collision smashed one train deep into the front of the other, peeling back the metal sides. The trains tipped high into the air and broke overhead power lines. “It was a nightmare,” Christian Wampach, 47, who was in the third car of a Brussels-bound train, said after his head was bandaged at a sports complex. “We were thrown about for about 15 seconds. There were a number of people injured in my car but I think all the dead were in the first car,” he said. — AP
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Indian-origin lawyer is US envoy to OIC
Washington, February 15 A White House lawyer Rashad Hussain was nominated as he had played a key role in developing partnerships with the Muslim world, Obama said. Hussain is entrusted with deepening and expanding the partnerships with Muslims across the world ever since Obama's speech in Cairo last June, the White House announced. In his message through a a video conference to the US-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar, Obama called Hussain "an accomplished lawyer and a close and trusted member of my White House staff," who would strengthen his policy of outreach to the world's Muslims. "We've held thousands of events and town halls... in the US and around the world... And I look forward to continue the dialogue during my visit to Indonesia next month," he added. "I’m proud to announce that I am appointing my special envoy to the OIC -- Rashad Hussain," Obama said about the 31-year-old, whose parents are naturalised citizens from India and live in Plano, Texas. "As a hafiz (someone who has memorised the holy Islamic text) of the Quran, he is a respected member of the American-Muslim community, and I thank him for carrying forward this important work," Obama said about Hussain, presently the Deputy Associate Counsel to him. Hussain's work at the US administration focuses on national security, new media, science and technology issues. He has also worked with the National Security Staff in restarting US relations with Muslims worldwide as Obama sought to rebuild ties after eight rocky years under his predecessor George W Bush, when the President delivered a major address in June 2009 in Cairo.
— PTI
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Obama statue shifted amid outcry
Jakarta, February 15 The bronze statue, inspired by a childhood photograph of a 10-year-old Obama in shorts with a butterfly perched on an outstretched thumb, had been targeted by critics since it was erected in the Jakarta park last December. Detractors argued that an Indonesian hero should have been honoured instead, noting that Obama still could pursue policies that hurt Indonesia's interests. Obama, whose American mother married an Indonesian after divorcing his Kenyan father, went to school in the capital from 1967 to 1971 and is regarded fondly by most Indonesians. Edi Kusyanto, a teacher at the affluent government school Obama attended, said the 43-inch statue would be standing in the school grounds by the time the president visited Jakarta from March 20-22. "There is no controversy about the statue being here. Everyone at the school welcomes it," Kusyanto said. The statue was erected with private funds raised by the Jakarta-based nonprofit group Friends of Obama Foundation, but Jakarta Gov Fauzi Bowo is paying for its relocation.
— AP
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Dick Francis dead
He passed away at his Caribbean home in Grand Cayman from "old age". Francis was specialised in novels based on the horse racing industry, drawing on his own experiences of winning more than 350 races and being honoured as Champion Jockey for the 1953-54 season.
— AFP Mr Gay World pageant The competition is aimed at "finding a leader who can take on the responsibility of being a spokesman for the community and who can also speak out on equality and human rights on the world stage," a statement said.
— AFP
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