14 killed after Egypt soccer verdict

FOURTEEN people have been killed in riots outside the main prison in Port Said following a controversial verdict related to one of the world's deadliest incidents of soccer violence.

Two police were shot dead outside the prison when angry relatives tried to storm the facility to free the defendants on trial, 21 of whom were earlier sentenced to death.

The death toll has risen to 14 after the clash, in which police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the crowd outside the prison.

At least 75 people were injured.

Egyptian security officials say the military is being deployed to the city.

Port Said residents also cut off the main road leading to the city.

Officials spoke anonymously in line with regulations.

Earlier in the courtroom, families of the deceased wailed and raised their hands in the air shouting "Allahu Akbar", Arabic for "God is great".

The judge said in his statement read live on state TV that he would announce the verdict for the remaining 52 defendants on March 9.

Among those on trial are nine security officials.

The soccer melee on February 1, 2012 between Port Said's Al-Masry fans and Cairo's Al-Ahly fans was the world's deadliest soccer violence in 15 years, killing 74 people.

As is customary in Egypt, the death sentences will be sent to a top religious authority, the Grand Mufti, for approval.

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Cassar-Daley dominates Golden Guitars

Country music fans have marked Australia Day at the annual Tamworth Country Music Festival. Source: AAP

THOUSANDS of country music fans have kicked off their Australia Day celebrations at the annual Tamworth Country Music Festival cavalcade.

Donning Australian T-shirts and waving flags, fans lined Tamworth's iconic Peel Street to catch a glimpse of their favourite stars on the back of utes and semi-trailers.

Lee Kernaghan, Beccy Cole and Troy Cassar-Daley were among the celebrities who travelled on the more than 80 floats and cars meandering down the main drag.

A caravan of camels dressed in Australian flags and carrying guitar-playing locals also joined in the procession.

The cavalcade marks the start of a big day of Australia Day celebrations in Tamworth, including an Australia Day concert in Bicentennial Park.

On Saturday night, some of country music's biggest names will walk the red carpet at this year's Country Music Awards of Australia (CMAA).

Catherine Britt and Troy Cassar-Daley are among 13 acts who will take to the stage at country music's night of nights.

Both artists are also nominated for seven awards each.

The CMAAs mark the conclusion of the 10-day Tamworth Country Music Festival.

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Troy Cassar-Daley humbled by awards haul

TROY Cassar-Daley has a big place in his heart for the Golden Guitars.

When he inspected the flood-ravaged basement of his Queensland farmhouse the first item he salvaged was one of the statuettes.

He also dragged out a banjo, given by his wife Laurel, upon which he would later write award-winning songs, but even that didn't match the relief of accounting for his collection.

"The award was for a song called Born To Survive so it couldn't have been a more fitting one to find," recalled Cassar-Daley.

"I didn't even have the heart to wipe off all the mud properly just so that I'd be reminded about that moment forever.

"I was more worried about finding that award than our car."

While "cooler" musicians play down the significance of awards in the context of their art, Cassar-Daley has been gratefully receiving Australia's greatest country music accolade since 1996.

The prolific singer-songwriter has 25 Golden Guitars after winning four more at the CMAA Awards, the finale to this year's Tamworth Music Festival.

The latest haul, including best male, song, and album of the year, moves him level with John Williamson as the third most celebrated artist in CMAA history.

"Winning awards is nothing to be scoffed at but I always get embarrassed when there's that many to tell you the truth," Cassar-Daley said before Saturday's ceremony.

"You find yourself running out of people to thank but I'm always grateful for each one."

Fortunately for Australian country music fans, Cassar-Daley has not been running out of things to say on record.

Over 10 albums, the 43-year-old singer has been moving closer to the heights he sets in emulating the songwriting prowess of his idols Slim Dusty and Merle Haggard.

His musicianship was never in question but his lyrics have sharpened.

"I've always prided myself as a musician more than a singer or lyricist so there's always been room to grow.

"When you're learning you've got to be living so I'm continually trying to express myself in different ways."

Cassar-Daley's latest album Home, recorded last year, was a direct response to the 2010-2011 floods that claimed lives, livestock, livelihoods and homes.

Songs such as The River Runs and Country Is were directly inspired by the disaster, and Cassar-Daley was determined his sympathies would not only be conveyed through song.

He went on tour to entertain flood victims, on occasions requiring a boat to reach flood-affected areas, and held a number of benefit concerts including one for a family who could not afford to bury their baby son.

Despite having to rescue his own property, Cassar-Daley's attentions were concerned at the people around him.

"We only spend half of our time at the farm but for the people around us it was their absolute home," he said.

"To me the album was a chance to re-evaluate the meaning of home and talk about the importance of family. I took it for granted until I saw how disaster can affect entire communities."

Born to Maltese-Australian father and an Aboriginal mother, Cassar-Daley grew up in Grafton with a guitar in hand.

He started busking on the streets of Tamworth at 11 under the wing of his uncle Jimmy, a "one-man PR machine" who badgered the big artists of the day like Jimmy Little to give him a break.

He honed his songwriting skills on a seven-month tour with Brian Young before returning home and replacing James Blundell as frontman of The Blue Heeler Band.

After going solo, his debut album Dream Out Loud scooped the 1995 ARIA for best country record and a year later he won a first Golden Guitar.

Cassar-Daley hopes to win more.

"I never stop writing and I'm always looking forward but I have to be inspired before I write an album. There's got to be a reason behind it."

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Fire rips through Hobart's Queens Domain

A LARGE fire is spreading from hilly bushland just northeast of Hobart's CBD.

The fire was moving uphill from the northeast side of the Queens Domain, fanned by strong winds, Tasmania Police said at 10.30pm (AEDT) on Thursday.

Motorists are being urged to avoid the area and be mindful of police directions and firefighting operations.

Authorities say no buildings are currently threatened.

The blaze has so far consumed around five hectares of long, dry grass at a city council reserve next to the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, with at least 14 crews battling to bring it under control, a Tasmania Fire Service (TFS) spokesman said.

"It's quite visual with everybody around Hobart, (but) it's not threatening any properties," he told AAP.

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Spainish newspaper sorry for Chavez bungle

A TOP Spanish newspaper has apologised after publishing a front-page photograph supposedly of ailing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in his hospital bed, and then discovering the patient was someone else.

El Pais, Spain's best selling newspaper and one of the most influential in the Spanish-speaking world, said Thursday's issue of the newspaper was recalled and the photograph remained on its online site for about half an hour. Some copies of paper were sold before distribution was halted.

The dramatic photograph, which claimed to show Chavez lying in a Cuban hospital after his cancer operation with tubes emerging from his mouth, sparked a furious reaction from Venezuela.

"It is as grotesque as it is false," Venezuelan Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said in a comment on his official Twitter account. The photograph was actually taken from a video of an operation posted on YouTube, he said.

"El Pais apologises to its readers for the harm caused. The newspaper has opened an investigation to determine the circumstances of what happened and the errors that may have been committed in verifying the photograph."

El Pais said it received the photo from the Gtres Online news agency, which claimed the image was of the Venezuelan leader.

It stressed that the caption on the photograph had emphasised that El Pais was unable to independently verify the circumstances, the place and date of the photograph.

El Pais said print editions of the newspaper could be unavailable to readers because of the interruption to distribution.

Chavez, who has been convalescing in Cuba since his fourth round of cancer surgery, has not been seen in public since December 10 and official information about his health has been sketchy.

The Venezuelan leader was too ill to attend his scheduled inauguration on January 10, but in recent days officials have said he has been making encouraging progress.

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Amgen 4Q profit falls on higher spending

DRUGMAKER Amgen Inc has posted a 16 per cent drop in fourth-quarter profit, as higher costs for production, marketing, research and other items offset higher sales for many of its biologic medicines.

The results fell a bit short of Wall Street expectations.

The world's biggest biotech company said net income was $US788 million ($A750 million), or $US1.01 per share, for the three months ended December 31. That was down from $US934 million, or $US1.08 a share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, net income would have been $US1.40 per share. That's four cents less than analysts expected, on average, according to research provider FactSet.

In after-hours trading, Amgen shares fell 24 cents to $US82.83. They had fallen 22 cents in the regular session before the results were released.

The maker of anemia treatments Aranesp and Epogen said revenue rose 11 per cent to $US4.42 billion. Analysts predicted sales of $US4.37 billion.

"Overall, I would say it was a fine quarter," Edward Jones analyst Judson Clark said. "It was not remarkable."

Clark said the higher expenses generally seemed "legitimate", such as a nine per cent jump in spending on research and development as a half-dozen experimental drugs are in, or about to start, expensive late-stage patient testing.

Company executives told analysts on a conference call on Wednesday that they have increased ads targeting consumers for some existing medicines, or plan to do so.

Amgen also has increased the sales force for immune disorder treatment Enbrel, one of its top money makers.

A partnership, under which Amgen sells the drug in the US and Pfizer Inc. sells it in other countries, is going to wind down, with Amgen likely handling all the marketing eventually.

Clark said Pfizer was switching its focus to its own competing drug, Xeljanz, which was approved for treating rheumatoid arthritis in November.

In addition, Amgen last month agreed to pay $US762 million to resolve federal criminal and civil liability over its marketing of some drugs for unapproved uses.

Amgen's sales were led by Enbrel, up 23 per cent from the 2011 quarter to $US1.16 billion, and Neulasta and Neupogen for fighting infection in cancer patients. They had a combined $US1.31 billion in sales, down one per cent.

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Pope prays for victims of Jakarta floods

POPE Benedict XVI has offered his prayers to the victims of floods in Indonesia's capital Jakarta and said "no one should go without the necessary aid".

The 85-year-old pope said during his weekly general audience on Wednesday: "I have been following with preoccupation the news from Indonesia where a large flood has devastated Jakarta, leaving in its wake victims, thousands without shelter and significant damage,"

"I wish to express my closeness to the populations hit by this natural calamity, assuring them my prayers and encouraging solidarity so that no-one should go without the necessary aid," he said in front of some 2,000 faithful gathered at the Vatican.

At least 15 people were killed last week by the floods, which forced 18,000 people from their homes and were the worst to hit the capital since 2007.

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Indian panel gets tough on women's safety

AN Indian government panel has recommended the strict enforcement of sexual assault laws, a commitment to speedy rape trials and an overhaul of the country's antiquated penal code.

The three-member panel received more than 80,000 idea submissions in the month since it was set up by the government to help quell street protests and demands for reform sparked by the fatal gang-rape of a student.

The panel on Wednesday recommended that police and other officials who fail to act against crimes against women be punished.

It called for a crack down on dowry payments to enhance women's status, since families are often forced into massive debt to get their daughters married.

It also suggested the government appoint more judges to lessen the backlog of cases and ensure swift justice. It called for updating the law to outlaw acts such as voyeurism, stalking and other crimes against women.

"We hope the parliament will take the legislative suggestions given by the committee," and translate these into law, said retired Chief Justice JS Verma, who headed the panel.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's office had no immediate comment about what it would do with the recommendations.

Verma advocated for strict punishment to prevent sexual harassment and assaults against women and sought reforms in how police treat rape victims.

He called for speedy justice and the setting of a time frame to deal with cases of crimes against women.

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Alan Parker to get BAFTA's highest honour

ALAN Parker, the lauded British director whose work includes Midnight Express, Fame and Mississippi Burning, is to receive the British Academy Film Awards' highest honour.

The academy announced on Wednesday that the 68-year-old will collect the BAFTA Fellowship at a London ceremony next month.

While known for being outspoken, Parker says he'll be "gracious and thankful" on the big night, rather than political.

He tells The Associated Press, "you always worry, does that mean the end of my career, when you get this kind of thing - but it's very nice."

The BAFTA winner and Oscar nominee's other films include Bugsy Malone, The Commitments and Evita.

Previous fellowship recipients include Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock and Elizabeth Taylor.

The BAFTA Film Awards take place on February 10 at London's Royal Opera House.

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Bolshoi chief undergoes plastic surgery

THE Bolshoi ballet's artistic director has undergone successful plastic surgery following an acid attack that left the former dancer barely able to see the fingers on his hand.

Doctors said Sergei Filin was receiving family visits on Tuesday after undergoing a high-tech procedure to remove lesions from the third-degree burns to the face.

He was attacked outside his home on Thursday night.

"The operation was a success," the Moscow city health department said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.

The violent incident shook the global artistic community and cast a spotlight on rivalries raging between superstars of the 237-year-old institution - one of Russia's most prominent brands.

Police have since spoken to several Bolshoi staff members as they sift through allegations that the attack was triggered by either personal rivalries or criminals with links to the globetrotting troupe.

Filin - a principal dancer before moving into the artistic management side - said in his first detailed post-attack interview that he had felt threatened for several weeks.

"I associate what happened with my work," Filin told the mass-circulation Komsomolskaya Pravda daily.

"The only thing I blame myself for is carelessness," he added. "I should have told the media about the threats right away, before New Year."

Friends said that Filin had told them about his car tyres being slashed and his social media account being hacked - and its explicit content republished - within the past few weeks.

Filin named no suspects in the interview while hinting darkly that he knew where the trouble was coming from.

Doctors said the hooded assailant threw the sulphuric acid cocktail on the right side of Filin's face.

As a result, the former dancer has begun recovering his vision first in his left eye, while his right could barely distinguish between shadows of dark and light.

"My eyes worry me the most," Filin said in the interview.

Doctors said Monday they hoped to restore Filin's vision in at least his left eye while ruling out the possibility of his travelling abroad for treatment because of his weakened state.

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Catastrophic fire warning in southeast WA

A CATASTROPHIC fire danger warning has been issued for people living in the southeast of Western Australia.

The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast the worst possible conditions for bush or grass fire on Wednesday for the Eucla, which includes the Kalgoorlie-Boulder area, as well as the shire of Dundas.

Residents have been warned that any fire that takes hold will be "extremely difficult to control and will take significant firefighting resources".

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) said spot fires would start well ahead of the main fire, causing rapid spread of the fire with embers coming from many directions.

DFES said people living in or near bush with high fuel loads would be at risk and needed to act.

"If you are not prepared to the highest level, leaving bushfire risk areas early in the day is your safest option," DFES said in a statement.

Residents should also read through their bushfire survival plans.

Meanwhile, severe fire danger advice has been issued for inland parts of the Pilbara and coastal parts of the Great Southern for Wednesday, while extreme fire danger will be experienced in central and southern parts of the Interior.

A total fire ban has been declared for the Shire of Esperance.

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Man dies in crash west of Ipswich

A MAN has been killed in a crash west of Ipswich involving a car and a truck.

The man, 33, was DRIVING on the Haigslea Malabar Road at Haigslea when his car and a truck collided about 1.20pm.

Emergency crews tried to save the man with CPR but he died on scene.

The Police Forensic Crash Unit is investigating. The truck driver, 52, was not injured.

Queensland' road toll now stands at 23.

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Man caught filming up girls' skirts

A MAN has been charged with using his mobile phone to film up the skirts of teenage girls at a shopping centre in Sydney's inner west.

Police say they were on foot patrol in a Burwood shopping complex on Monday afternoon when they witnessed a man, 53, approach two young women, before placing a mobile phone up their skirts.

After following the man for a short period, officers allegedly saw him use a phone to video under the skirts of two 14-year-old girls.

He was arrested, with an examination of his phone revealing further offences, police allege.

The Croydon man was charged with 13 counts of filming a person's private parts, one of attempting the same and two counts of possessing cannabis.

He was allowed bail and will appear in Burwood Local Court on February 14.

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Patriot missiles arrive in Turkey

FOUR batteries of Patriot missiles have arrived in Turkey as part of a NATO mission to protect the Turkish border from any spillover of the conflict in neighbouring Syria, a NATO source has told AFP.

A ship carrying two German Patriot missile batteries anchored at the southwestern port of Iskenderun on Monday and its cargo was being unloaded, the source said.

The source said a second ship carrying two Dutch Patriot missile batteries also arrived at Iskenderun after a two-week journey, waiting behind the German ship to unload its cargo, as well as 300 support troops.

The United States has also begun deployment of two Patriot surface-to-air missile batteries to contribute to the mission, which NATO says will be operational by early February.

Its first shipment arrived by air earlier this month at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey's southeast. Additional equipment will be sent by sea later in January.

The six batteries of the US-made missiles, effective against aircraft and short-range missiles, will be deployed in the southern city of Adana and the southeastern cities of Kahramanmaras and Gaziantep, along with 350 troops from each contributing nation.

Turkey requested help from its NATO allies after shells landed on its border areas from Syria in October, killing several villagers.

NATO approved their deployment in December, saying the use of ballistic missiles by the Syrian regime posed a threat to Turkey and insisting that the move was purely defensive.

But Syria's allies Iran and Russia oppose the Patriot deployment, fearing that it could spark regional conflict also drawing in NATO.

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Fitch highlights economic threat of ageing

MANY advanced economies will be threatened by another, long-term fiscal shock unless they tackle the problem of ageing populations, the ratings agency Fitch has warned.

"Whilst a successful resolution of the current fiscal crisis remains the most important driver for many advanced-economy ratings, without further reform to address the impact of long-term ageing these economies face a second, longer-term fiscal shock," a Fitch statement said on Monday.

Few countries face immediate threats, and reforms implemented by indebted eurozone members such as Greece, Italy and Portugal "have effectively neutralised the long-term impact of ageing on public finances in those countries", it added.

But others, in particular Cyprus, Ireland and Japan, could well see the cost of ageing populations jump over the next decade, the agency said, warning this would affect the sovereign debt ratings of such countries at some point.

"Luxembourg, Belgium, Malta and Slovenia face the most severe impact over the very long term," Fitch noted.

Based on the agency's calculations, barring any reforms, debt to GDP (gross domestic product) ratios for the European Union's 27 member countries would rise by 6.9 per cent by 2020, and by 119.4 per cent by 2050.

"Without reforms to boost labour productivity and/or participation rates in many other advanced economies, population ageing will cause potential GDP growth to decline over the long-term, exacerbating the fiscal challenge," Fitch added.

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Five family members die in Syria air raid

Syrian Kurds have urged the opposition to halt a siege against them by Islamist rebels. Source: AAP

FIVE members of one family have been killed in air raids on a town in Damascus province, with Syrian warplanes bombarding a battleground town southwest of the capital.

A couple and their three children were among seven civilians killed in air strikes on the village of Baraka, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday, adding that the toll may rise as a number of people were buried under debris.

The Britain-based watchdog also reported artillery shelling and air raids on Daraya as army reinforcements arrived in the town, strategic for its location next to Al-Mazzeh military airport east of Damascus.

Pro-regime daily Al-Watan said on Sunday that "the terrorists on the outskirts of Daraya and Moadamiyet al-Sham have appealed for help after being hit very hard by the Syrian army, which destroyed several of the hideouts where they barricaded themselves."

Syrian authorities use the term "terrorists" to describe rebels against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad.

"The army continued its assault yesterday and completely destroyed these hideouts and plans to conduct a qualitative ground operation to root out the remaining terrorists," the newspaper said on Sunday.

In Damascus on Sunday, a man was shot dead in the southern district of Qadam as troops and rebels clashed, and another man was killed in shelling on the northeast suburb of Douma, the Observatory reported.

The army also bombarded several districts in the central city of Homs which have been under siege for months, as well as locations in the northern province of Aleppo, the northwest province of Idlib and Latakia on the coast.

In the southern province of Daraa, two rebels died in clashes near Busra al-Harir, while one civilian was killed and another critically wounded by regime gunfire in the town, the watchdog said.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of activists and medics for information, said that 138 people were killed nationwide on Saturday: 62 civilians - including 13 children - 35 soldiers, 39 rebels and two Kurdish fighters.

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4 die in Egypt clashes

EGYPT'S Health Ministry says overnight clashes between police and residents of a densely populated district just north of Cairo have left four people dead and 12 wounded.

Security officials say the clashes began when a bystander was hit by a stray bullet fired by police chasing an alleged drug dealer.

They began on Saturday night and continued until Sunday.

The ministry said in a statement the wounded included two officers and a police conscript.

Clashes between police and civilians have been common since the ouster of autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak in an uprising nearly two years ago.

Police brutality was one of the major causes of the 2011 uprising.

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French yachtsman rescued in Southern Ocean

A cruise ship will reach a stranded French yachtsman on a life raft near Tasmania at 8pm on Sunday. Source: AAP

AFTER three days adrift on a life raft in the remote Southern Ocean, round-the-world yachtsman Alain Delord has been rescued by a cruise ship returning from Antarctica.

The Orion rescued the stranded Frenchman about 500 nautical miles southwest of Hobart on Sunday night.

A spokeswoman for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) confirmed the 63-year-old was picked up by the ship, which was diverted about 1800km to perform the rescue, in an alert issued just after 9.30pm (AEDT).

"I'm very pleased to confirm the solo sailor, who had been in a life raft in the Southern Ocean for the past three days, has been recovered by the cruise ship Orion, and AMSA believes he is being taken to Hobart," she said.

There were "scant" early details of the rescue but AMSA said Delord had been recovered "safely and without injury".

"He is currently receiving medical attention and early indications are that he is healthy," the spokeswoman said.

"Weather conditions were better than expected and there was plenty of light in the area."

Delord, who set off at the beginning of October, abandoned his yacht Tchouk Tchouk Nougaton after it lost its mast and its hull was damaged in rough weather.

The location was too distant for a helicopter rescue with MSA using three aircraft to maintain contact with the sailor until a vessel could reach him.

The Orion, with 100 passengers and 80 crew on board, was on its way from Antarctica to the world heritage-listed Macquarie Island when it responded to the call for help.

The ship had battled deteriorating weather conditions throughout Sunday to reach Delord, with fears he would have to spend a third night at sea.

The yachtsman had received an air drop of food, water, communications equipment and a survival suit while he waited for his rescue.

The captain of the Orion Mike Taylor reported that Delord was recovered safely and without injury.

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