Lady Doctor Killed Husband To Hide Their Affair With Teen

A Sri Lankan doctor based in Australia allegedly bludgeoned her husband to death with a hammer, fearing he would reveal they were having sex with a teenager, Daily Mail reported.

Chamari Liyanage is accused of murdering Dinendra Athukorala, also a doctor, because she worried his unusual sexual proclivities could jeopardize her career, the Supreme Court of Western Australia heard.

She was fed up of being coerced her into threesomes with other women, including a 17-year-old girl with whom the Sri Lankan couple were having an affair, said prosecutor Nick Cogan, according to Daily Mail.

“It got to a stage that she was no longer prepared to put up with his behavior,” he added, the West Australian reported.

Dr. Liyanage told police her husband was physically violent, forced her to engage in sexual acts and controlled her movements and finances.

The jury heard a tearful 10-minute call she made to triple-0 at 6.11am in June 2014, in which she said she could not remember what had happened.

Officers arrived at the unit in Geraldton, WA, at 6.18am and spoke to her as she sat in the foetal position by the bed.

Dr Athukorala’s body was lying on the mattress covered in blood, which had splattered over the wall and blinds above him, police said. A pillow was on top of the corpse, they told the court.

“I asked if she knew what had happened,” said Matthew Curley, one of the first officers on the scene. “She said she did not know.”

He said he also saw a mallet or hammer lying on the bed. When asked, a sobbing Dr Liyanage said it belonged to her husband.

Defence lawyer George Giudice said his client was a “sleep-deprived, anxious, trapped and battered woman”. He said she was made to model for her husband in front of a camera, sometimes for hours on end.

Dr Liyanage pleaded not guilty to murdering her husband. The trial, set down for three weeks, continues.

Zika outbreak : WHO declares global emergency

The World Health Organization (WHO) says that disease linked to the Zika virus in Latin America which poses a global public health emergency requires a united response.

Experts are worried that the virus is spreading far and fast, with devastating consequences.

However the WHO alert puts Zika in the same category of concern as Ebola.

The U.N. agency took the rare step despite a lack of definitive evidence proving the mosquito-borne virus is causing a surge in babies born with brain defects and abnormally small heads in Brazil and following a 2013-14 outbreak in French Polynesia.

There have been around 4,000 reported cases of microcephaly in Brazil alone since October.

Meanwhile Brazil says that there is no chance that the Rio Olympics will be cancelled because of a Zika virus outbreak.

The authorities said there was no risk to athletes and spectators – except pregnant women – at the August event.

Google Loon project to begin soon in Sri Lanka

The trials of the Google Loon project would start soon in Ratmalana as the necessary equipment for such trials have arrived in the country, Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure Minister Harin Fernando said  yesterday. 

He said a team from Google to carry out the trials was expected this month.

Sri Lanka entered into a partnership agreement with Google Inc. for the first mass deployment of Google’s high-altitude balloon-based Internet services in July last year.

Though brief trials have been conducted in New Zealand and Brazil, this would be the first country Google’s Loon project would be launched officially.  The agreement is valid for a period of one year.

Information Communication and Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) MD/CEO Muhunthan Canagey said if the trails were satisfactory, Sri Lanka would enter a fully-fledged agreement with Google Inc. for the deployment of the balloons subject to necessary approvals from the Defence, Finance and other ministerial level approvals. Minister Fernando stressed that the investment put in by the Sri Lankan government in the project would be the spectrum.

“For our investment, the Sri Lankan government will be a shareholder of the project. And also, the local telecom service providers will each be offered a 10 percent stake in the company.”

Google Loon Fernando said 90 percent of the telecom services providers in the country are in favour of the project.

“This project will bring down their (service providers) capital expenditure on telecom towers significantly. If someone is against it, I don’t understand their logic.”

The minister is expected to hold discussions with the country’s telecom services providers regarding the Google Loon project this week.

The telecom services providers were said to have made representations to the President Maithripala Sirisena, expressing their concerns about the Google Loon project.

Sri Lanka’s Internet penetration is estimated at 26 percent.

Fernando pointed out that with the Goole Loon project, the government expects to make the Internet accessible to the entire population at affordable rates.

“If 10 percent the population have Internet, the GDP grows more than 1.2 percent. This is the impact Internet could have on a country’s economy,” the minister said, referring to findings of a recent research.

Fernando, Canagey and Defence State Minister Ruwan Wijewardene recently undertook a trip to Silicon Valley, San Francisco, USA and met with the top executives of tech giants such as Google, Facebook and PayPal. 

Fernando said the response from the US-based IT giants towards helping Sri Lanka to transform into an “innovation centre” was extremely forthcoming.

Fernando said 90 percent of the telecom services providers in the country are in favour of the project.

“This project will bring down their (service providers) capital expenditure on telecom towers significantly. If someone is against it, I don’t understand their logic.”

The minister is expected to hold discussions with the country’s telecom services providers regarding the Google Loon project this week. The telecom services providers were said to have made representations to the President Maithripala Sirisena, expressing their concerns about the Google Loon project.

Sri Lanka’s Internet penetration is estimated at 26 percent.

Fernando pointed out that with the Goole Loon project, the government expects to make the Internet accessible to the entire population at affordable rates.

“If 10 percent of the population have Internet, the GDP would grow more than 1.2 percent. This is the impact Internet could have on a country’s economy,” the minister said, referring to findings of a recent research.

Fernando, Canagey and Defence State Minister Ruwan Wijewardene recently undertook a trip to Silicon Valley, San Francisco, USA and met with the top executives of tech giants such as Google, Facebook and PayPal.   Fernando said the response from the US-based IT giants towards helping Sri Lanka to transform into an “innovation centre” was extremely forthcoming.

Yoshitha Rajapaksa will be indicted in High Court

Lieutenant Yoshitha Kanishka Rajapaksa, second son of former President Mahinda... ... Rajapaksa will be indicted in High Court, said the Police Media Spokesperson ASP Ruwan Gunasekara.

The 27-year-old suspect, who was arrested by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) along with four others in connection with alleged financial irregularities at the Carlton Sports Network (CSN) during the previous regime, was produced before the Kaduwela Magistrate's Court on Saturday (30) and remanded till 11 February.

"Investigations had revealed that the initial capital of Rs 234 million was not accounted for with information on its source. There was also USD 2.3 million sent to the company from a foreign country. The source of this was also questionable," said the Police Spokesperson adding, "It is not possible to continue with the investigations without arresting them."

In addition to Yoshitha Rajapaksa who was said to be the unofficial chairperson of the CSN, its Executive Director Nishantha Ranatunge and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa's Spokesperson and CSN Chairperson Rohan Weliwita were also taken into custody by the FCID.

Furthermore, two other directors, Ashan Rabinath Fernando and Sachitha Kaushan Dissanayake were also arrested on Saturday (30) in connection with the alleged financial irregularities, forged documents and money laundering.

Some of the related documents proved to be forged. This had led to the directors being tried for money laundering, ASP Gunasekara said, adding that one more director, who is female – Shaadiya Karunajeeva – was arrested later. According to the Spokesperson, all of the suspects were directors and stakeholders of CSN.

Accordingly, the FCID questioned Lieutenant Yoshitha Rajapaksa at the Navy Headquarters for over five hours from nine in the morning on Saturday (30) before his arrest.

Case filed against using Abhayaramaya for political work

A lawsuit was yesterday filed against the Chief Incumbent of the Abhayarama Viharaya Ven. Muruththettuwe Ananda Thera seeking an order preventing him from utilising the temple property for political and trade union activities.

When the case came up before Colombo District Judge K.D. Gunasekara, notices and injunction notices were issued on the defendant to establish the facts regarding the plaint on February 15. The lawsuit had been filed by Ven. Pathberiye Wimala Gnana Thera and he cited Ven. Muruththettuwe Ananda Thera as the defendant.

The plaintiff stated that he has hereditary right to claim for the post of Viharadhipathi at the Abhayaramaya temple. The plaintiff said he has already filed a case in the Colombo District Court against Ven. Muruththettuwe Ananda Thera claiming his hereditary rights for the Viharadhipathi post in the temple.

The petitioner alleged that the properties of the Abhayarama Temple including the buildings and premises are being used by political parties and trade unions to gain political advantage in a manner that brought disrepute to the temple.

He said all these activities have taken place with the consent of Ven. Muruththettuwe Ananda Thera and thereby he sought an injunction order preventing Ven. Ananda Thera from utilising the temple property for political and trade union activities.

16 Sri Lankans players in 2016 IPL auction

As many as 351 cricketers are set to go under the hammer when the 2016 Indian Premier league (IPL) Players' Auction takes place in Bengaluru on February 6. However, only a maximum of 116 players can be bought at the auction.

The full list of players short-listed for the auctions has been released. It includes 130 capped players, 219 uncapped players and two from Associate Nations.

Out of these, 230 are Indians and 121 foreigners. The list was trimmed down from the original list of 714 cricketers who had given their names for the IPL auctions.

29 Australian capped cricketers have been short-listed for the auction. They are followed by players from India (26), West Indies (20), South Africa (18), Sri Lanka (16), New Zealand, (9), England (7) and Bangladesh (5).

Yuvraj Singh, Kevin Pietersen, Ashish Nehra, Shane Watson, Ishant Sharma, Sanju Samson, Dinesh Karthik, Stuart Binny and Dhawal Kulkarni are among the cricketers who have been listed with a base price of Rs 2 Crore (the highest base price bracket).

Yuvraj, who was left out of Delhi Daredevils, had fetched the highest price in the last two IPL auctions. Having returned to the national fold ahead of the ICC World T20, he is likely to attract a high bid in the upcoming auction.

Delhi Daredevils, who have released some of their biggest buys from the previous season - Yuvraj Singh and Angelo Mathews have the heaviest purse going into the auction - Rs 37.15 crore. They are followed by Sunrisers Hyderabad, who have Rs 30.15 crore going into the auction. The two new franchises - Rising Pune Super Giants and Rajkot are joint-third on the list with Rs 27 crore each in their kitty.

Kings XI Punjab (Rs 23 crore), Royal Challengers Bangalore (Rs 21.625 crore) and Kolkata Knight Riders (Rs 17.95 crore) follow them on the list. Defending champions Mumbai Indians, seem settled with the unit that played last year. They released 10 players from the contract list and have Rs 14.405 crore going into the auction.

T20 captain Lasith Malinga is the only Sri Lankan retained by a franchise (Mumbai Indians) in the IPL.

Sri Lanka players -

Mahela Jayawardene, Lahiru Thirimanne, Nuwan Kulasekera, Ajantha Mendis, Sachitra Senanayake, Dushmantha Chameera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Thisara Perera, Jeevan Mendis, Dilruwan Perera, Shehan Jayasuriya, Dasun Shanaka, Milinda Siriwardana, Isuru Udana, Dilshan Munaweera, Seekkuge Prasanna.

Gammanpila and Wimal visit Yoshitha

National Freedom Front leader MP Wimal Weerawansa and leader of the “Piwithuru Hela Urumaya” Udaya Gammanpila visited Yoshitha Rajapaksa at the Welikada Prison this morning (01).

The five suspects including former President’s son Yoshitha Rajapaksa were remanded till 11 February, after being presented before the Kaduwela Magistrate by the police on January 30.

However, Prison Spokesman Thushara Upuldeniya stated that the Department had taken measures to reduce unnecessary visitors to the premises.

“A prisoner is allowed one visit each day and a maximum of three visitors. If there are more visitors they need to consult the Prison Superintendent,” the Spokesperson added.

Mahinda Visits to Welikada Prison

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa visited his son Yoshitha Rajapaksa, who was remanded on Saturday, after obtaining a special permission from the government.

According to law, no one is allowed to visit a person in remand custody on Sundays. Rajapaksa had requested permission from the Minister of Prison Reforms, D.M. Swaminathan to visit his son and the Minister had given permission, after informing Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Prisons Spokesperson T. N. Upuldeniya told.

After obtaining approval, former President Rajapaksa and his son MP Namal Rajapaksa arrived yesterday to visit Yoshitha. Meanwhile Minister Arjuna Ranatunga has also visited the prison to see his brother Nishantha Ranatunga who was also arrested with Rajapaksa.

Upuldeniya added that prisons officers have taken measures to strengthen the security around the Welikada Prisons Complex, housing Yoshitha Rajapaksa, son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Speaking further he said more barriers and gates along with more prison guards were deployed to strengthen the security around the Welikade Prisons Complex.

Yoshitha Rajapaksa, Nishantha Ranatunga and three others were remanded on Saturday (30) by Kaduwela Magistrate's Court over the alleged financial irregularities in Carlton Sports Network (CSN).

Meanwhile, Upuldeniya has also said that more than 800 vacancies in Sri Lanka Prisons Department need to be filled by this year. Therefore examinations were carried out for the applicants for the relevant vacancies of 800 prison guards along with 100 prisons executive grade jailors, and they are soon to be interviewed, he added.