Concorde crash probe

PONTOISE: A French court on Tuesday began probing who is to blame for Air France’s 2000 Concorde crash, an accident that killed 113 people and foreshadowed the end of the elegant jet that travelled at supersonic speeds. The trial in Pontoise, north of Paris, could last four months as the court debates responsibility for the July 25, 2000 crash of the jet, which plunged into a hotel minutes after takeoff from Charles de Gaulle airport, trailing a tail of flames. Houston-headquartered Continental Airlines, Inc and two of its US employees are among those on trial for manslaughter.

Charged over bushfire

SYDNEY” Australian police on Tuesday charged two teenagers with arson over a fire that killed one man on “Black Saturday” — the day last year that 173 people lost their lives in wildfires. The pair, aged 14 and 15, were charged with arson causing death for allegedly lighting a bushfire in a dry creek bed at Maiden Gully, near the country town of Bendigo in Victoria state as temperatures soared last February 7. “As a result of the Maiden Gully fire, a 47-year-old man was killed and 354 hectares of land, 61 houses and 125 sheds and outbuildings were destroyed,” police said in statement.

Ugandans sue UK

KAMPALA: Ten Ugandans are suing the British government for crimes committed by colonial officers during a late 19th century war in the northwest of the country, the group’s lawyer told AFP on Tuesday. The suit largely centres on events that took place in the Bunyoro tribal kingdom between 1893-1899. “Before this war the population of Bunyoro was stated to be 2.5 million. But by the end of the war there were only 150,000 Bunyoro that could be accounted for,” Crispus Ayena Odongo said. “The people who were responsible for invading the place should tell us where the rest are,” he added.