Briefly World

Sarath Fonseka,the Sri Lankan Army General who presided over the annihilation of the LTTE,has emerged as the Presidential candidate of an alliance of Opposition parties,a report said on Sunday....

Oppn may field Fonseka against Rajapaksa: Report

COLOMBO: Sarath Fonseka,the Sri Lankan Army General who presided over the annihilation of the LTTE,has emerged as the Presidential candidate of an alliance of Opposition parties,a report said on Sunday. Constituent parties of the newly-formed United National Front UNF,whose thrust is the abolition of Presidents executive powers,agreed on Fonseka this week as their candidate in case of an early Presidential poll,the Sunday Times reported. The UNF is led by former PM Ranil Wickremasinghes United National Party,in alliance with minority Tamil and Muslim parties.

A Q Khan backs Irans n-weapon quest

ISLAMABAD: Disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist A Q Khan has backed Irans right to develop nuclear energy and said a campaign had been launched against that countrys atomic programme. The West is biased against the nuclear programmes of all Islamic countries,Khan said to the Iranian state-run Irna news agency. If Iran fires a missile then it is wrong,but if Israel does it then it is right, said Khan,who was placed under house arrested after he confessed in early 2004 that he had provided nuclear secrets to countries,including Iran.

Karzai: No corrupt officials in new govt

KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai insisted on Sunday theres no place for corrupt officials within his government. President Barack Obama and other international leaders have urged Karzai to crack down on corruption after he won Afghanistans fraud-marred election by default.

Warship with WTC steel commissioned

NEW YORK: USS New York,an amphibious assault ship,built with the steel from the rubble of the collapsed World Trade Centre twin towers was commissioned here amid searing memories of September 11 terror attacks. Named in the honour of the victims of September 11 terror attacks,the newly built 208-metre vessels motto is strength forged through sacrifice. Never forget.

Serena Williams eyes role in action movie

LONDON: Tennis ace Serena Williams wants to turn into a movie actress once her sports career ends. The current World No 1 ranker had made a brief appearance in medical drama ER in 2005 but her character died in the show and now shes looking for a more action-packed role,reported Contactmusic. I really enjoy acting. I like being in front of the camera. I think I should be an action star. I always wanted to die in acting and then I died in ER and I was miserable! said William. The 28-year-old player is confident that she can carry off the various action moves required to essay an action role.

A new world record:

Divorce at 98

LONDON: A British man and his wife reportedly created a new world record by becoming the oldest couple on Earth to divorce at the age of 98. Bertie and Jessie Wood got a decree to end their 36-year marriage when they were both just two years off turning 100,leading British tabloid the News of the World reported on Sunday. But months later Bertie died shortly before turning 99. Both of them had been married before when they wed in Elstree,Herts,in 1972 and moved to Falmouth,Cornwall,four years later. But by 2008,it was all over and Jessie set the wheels in motion for their split.

Berlusconi plots trips to avoid trials

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LONDON: Dogged by months of sex scandals,Italys embattled Prime Minister has been accused of planning foreign trips in a bid to scuttle corruption trials after he was stripped of immunity from prosecution. 73-year-old Berlusconi,who faces two cases in a Milan court later this month,has been accused of planning more than a dozen foreign trips so that his two trials into alleged bribery and fraud move so slowly that the judges will have to abandon them. The Italian Corriere della Sera newspaper described the crowded agenda as a first taste of how Berlusconi will use his commitments as a delaying tactic.

Drama to reveal Queens spat with Thatcher

LONDON: For more than a decade,a frosty relationship had existed between the Queen and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Now,the mutual mistrust and dislike among them will be explored in a new television drama,The Sunday Times reported. The five-part TV series,The Queen,to be aired by Channel 4,dramatises a tense relationship between the two figures,and intersperses interviews with real courtiers and politicians with dramatised scenes from the Monarchs career. Among other things the show depicts how the Queen disliked hardly being able to get a word with her haughty Premier.