Sell-out crowd for flood relief tennis show

Roger Federer (right) and Rafael Nadal congratulate each other during a charity exhibition match in aid of Queensland flood victims, a day before the start of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, on January 16. Top seeds delighted a sell-out crowd with former Grand Slam champion Jim Courier of the US in the umpires's chair during the flood-aid exhibition match.

AFP - Tennis's biggest names thrilled a sell-out crowd of 15,000 in an entertaining "Rally for Relief" to raise money for Australia's devastating floods.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal led a parade of leading men's and women's players for the comedy hit-out, in which they mocked other's grunts and played shots between their legs.

Lleyton Hewitt's two-year-old son, Cruz, made a brief and tearful appearance and Novak Djokovic played volleys while sitting down during the crowd-pleasing performance, which precedes the Australian Open here.

Federer was moved to organise the event after learning that Rockhampton, home of his idol Rod Laver, was under water in a disaster which has claimed 17 lives in the past week alone and left vast tracts of Australia under water.

"When I saw it hit the city of Rockhampton, I right away thought of Rod Laver," he said. "I tried to reach out to him and see if he wanted to do anything, if he needed my help.

"I didn't really know then how big the devastation was going to be."

As the disaster shifted to Victoria state, where the Open will start in Melbourne on Monday, Australia's fifth seed Sam Stosur said it was important for professional players to keep a sense of perspective.

"We're lucky to do what we do. We love what we do. But there's far greater things going on in the world," she said. "So if we can all come together and support something like these floods, I think it's great.

"For all of us, for a couple of hours the day before a Grand Slam to go out there and have some fun, try and raise as much money as we can, I think it shows the spirit of the tennis world."

The sports world has rallied round victims of the floods disaster with Australian cricket great Shane Warne trying to organise a charity Twenty20 game.

England's visiting cricketers have also donated a slice of their match fees and star batsman Kevin Pietersen is auctioning bats and shirts he used in the recent Ashes series.

Meanwhile, seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, in Australia for next week's Tour Down Under, has pledged US$50,000 to the relief efforts.

Aussie sprint legend tips Armstrong to bow out in style

Aussie sprint legend Robbie McEwen (pictured) believes new teammate Lance Armstrong is unlikely to waste any winning opportunities on what will be his cycling swansong this week. Armstrong, who won a record seven Tour de France crowns after beating cancer in 1998, will bring the curtain down on his stunning, and at times controversial career, at the Tour Down Under from January 16-23.

Lance Armstrong, who won a record seven Tour de France crowns after beating cancer in 1998, will bring the curtain down on his stunning, and at times controversial career, at the Tour Down Under from January 16-23.

AFP - Aussie sprint legend Robbie McEwen believes new teammate Lance Armstrong is unlikely to waste any winning opportunities on what will be his cycling swansong this week.

Armstrong, who won a record seven Tour de France crowns after beating cancer in 1998, will bring the curtain down on his stunning, and at times controversial career, at the Tour Down Under from January 16-23.

And while the profusion of sprint specialists among the field has opened the way for teams keeping a tight rein on the race, McEwen believes all-rounder Armstrong will want to play a starring role.

"I think Lance being Lance he'll want to go out on a good note. He's not going to travel all the way out here to embarrass himself or sit in the bunch and do nothing," McEwen said here Sunday.

"He's a really competitive guy. Last year he was in the very first breakaway in the first criterium.

"He's looking pretty good, I know he's had a little bit of knee trouble in the lead-up but I think he's still very fit and, with his competitive nature, he'll want to put in a good performance."

Armstrong's impending retirement, two years after making his second comeback to the sport in 2009, coincides with his desire to spend more time in the United States with his family.

However, the 39-year-old American who is credited with one of sport's greatest ever comebacks -- a year after beating cancer he won the first of seven yellow jerseys, in 1999 -- is facing an uncertain future.

Doping allegations levelled by former teammate Floyd Landis late last year helped spark a federal investigation into the misuse of funds by their then team, US Postal.

Landis, who in 2006 was stripped of his own yellow jersey triumph following a positive test on the race, admitted doping and claimed he witnessed Armstrong using and in possession of banned substances.

A grand jury probing doping in professional cycling has heard from several teammates and associates of Armstrong over several months, although no charges have been forthcoming.

Armstrong has never tested positive for banned substances. And he has the full backing of Tour Down Under organiser Mike Turtur, who believes the American has helped boost the profile of Australia's premier cycling event.

"With Armstrong's final appearance, it's a great honour for us to (bid) farewell one of the greatest champions in the sport's history," said Turtur.

"He's done a massive amount for the race, on and off the bike."

Experienced campaigner McEwen, meanwhile, will have the pleasure of racing alongside Armstrong as the American legend prepares to ride off into the sunset.

The Australian sprint specialist joined Armstrong's RadioShack team in a hurry after a move to the Pegasus team collapsed at the last minute.

Although also in the twilight of his 16-year career, McEwen -- who has 12 stage victories from the Tour de France and a record 12 from the Tour Down Under -- beats Armstrong on one score.

"At least now I'm no longer the oldest guy in the team," added McEwen. "Lance is nine months older than me."

Egypt court hands death sentence to Copt killer

Riot police stand guard during clashes outside a morgue in the southern Egyptian town of Qena, southern Egypt, on January 7, 2010, where the bodies of the six Coptic Christians killed the previous day outside a church after a Christmas mass were being kept kept. A court on Sunday condemned a man to death for the January 2010 killings.

AFP - A court in southern Egypt on Sunday condemned a man to death for the January 2010 killing of six Coptic Christians outside a church after a Christmas mass.

A Muslim policeman was also killed when three gunmen in a car raked worshippers emerging from mass with bullets in the village of Nagaa Hammadi, near Qena, targeting the Copts who mark Christmas on January 7.

The court said it would announce verdicts against two other suspects on Thursday. All three pleaded innocent to charges of carrying out the January 6, 2010 attack during their trial.

Threatening to exacerbate tensions between Muslims and Egypt's minority Christians, a suicide bomber killed 21 people outside a church in the northern city of Alexandria after a New Year's Eve mass at the start of 2011.

Iran finds $50 bn gas field: minister

A banner bearing portraits of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (left) and his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini is seen on a building at South Pars gas field development in the southern Iranian port town of Asaluyeh. Iran, OPEC's second largest oil exporter, has discovered a new onshore gas field with reserves valued at 50 billion dollars, Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi said.

AFP - Iran, OPEC's second largest oil exporter, has discovered a new onshore gas field with reserves valued at 50 billion dollars, Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi said on Sunday.

The Khayam field east of Assaluyeh on the Gulf has "260 billion cubic metres (9.18 trillion cubic feet) of gas, of which 210 (billion) can be exploited, which is about 24 million cubic metres per day," the minister told reporters.

Iran has the world's second-largest reserves of natural gas after Russia. Its South Pars field in the Gulf that it shares with Qatar holds around 14 trillion cubic metres of gas, or eight percent of world reserves.

Pianist from Nebraska crowned Miss America

(L-R) Miss America 2010 Caressa Cameron crowns Teresa Scanlan, a 17-year-old pianist from a tiny town in Nebraska as the new Miss America, as Miss America 1971 Phyllis George gives Scanlan a hug during the 2011 Miss America Pageant at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Teresa Scanlan, Miss Nebraska, competes in the swimsuit competition during the 2011 Miss America Pageant at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 17-year-old pianist from a tiny town in Nebraska was crowned the 90th Miss America, inheriting the coveted title in an iconic but beleaguered pageant that is striving to regain its prominence.

Teresa Scanlan, Miss Nebraska, plays piano in the talent competition during the 2011 Miss America Pageant at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 17-year-old pianist from a tiny town in Nebraska was crowned the 90th Miss America, inheriting the coveted title in an iconic but beleaguered pageant that is striving to regain its prominence.

AFP - A 17-year-old pianist from a tiny town in Nebraska was crowned the 90th Miss America on Saturday, inheriting the coveted title in an iconic but beleaguered pageant that is striving to regain its prominence.

Teresa Scanlan, the youngest ever, said her age will help the pageant regain some of its relevance in the popular culture as she travels to advocate against eating disorders.

"This just shows that no matter where you come from, you can accomplish anything you want," she said at a post-event press conference. "I'm really excited it doesn't matter how old you are and to get some new girls into the program."

Scanlan's age was clearly an issue for judges as they deliberated, and several of them referred to it.

"I have to say I was skeptical about having a 17-year-old girl as Miss America, but this is a 17-year-old woman who is very knowledgeable about current events, about pop culture, very knowledgeable about her platform," said Marc Cherry, creator of the TV show Desperate Housewives. "I was sold."

Scanlan received a diamond tiara and a $50,000 scholarship she plans to use to help pay for a law degree.

She said she hopes to be a criminal attorney and potentially an elected representative. She hails from a town of 8,000 people where she is one of seven children born to the daughter of Yugoslavian immigrants who fled the Communist takeover.

During the talent portion of the show, she played Whitewater Chopsticks on the piano, the only instrumentalist among the final 10 who performed.

In the question-and-answer portion of the competition that immediately preceded her coronation, the beauty queen was asked her opinion of how the United States should address the release of classified documents by WikiLeaks.

She was vague about what should be done but she referred to WikiLeaks' actions "espionage."

During the press conference, she said the release of thousands of cables was "a huge issue of national security. There are areas where free speech becomes a matter of national security. We have to be very careful with that."

The gleeful teen is now standard-bearer for a legendary competition that has fallen on hard times in recent years as the public became more interested in the rival Miss USA pageant.

Declining ratings had led the ABC network to dump the pageant in 2005, so it aired to much smaller ratings on pay-television networks. This year, ABC gave it another shot at a mass audience.

The Miss America Organization stresses that it hands out millions in scholarships to young American women and veers away from the sort of sordid tabloid-style controversy for which Miss USA is known.

"America loves a comeback story," said Stan Haskell, chairman of the Miss America Organization. "When you figure out how education and scholarship and talent and service are all put in the forefront, there was nothing to do but comeback."

In honor of the 90th anniversary of the pageant, 47 former Miss Americas gathered on stage before Scanlan's coronation.

The most controversial ones - 1945 winner Bess Myerson, who later was convicted of tax fraud, and 1984 winner Vanessa Williams, who was dethroned when nude photos of her emerged following her crowning - were not in attendance.

Oil price over $100 'not unrealistic': Iran

Iranian Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi, says oil prices crossing the $100 a barrel mark is possible but would not merit an emergency meeting of OPEC.

AFP - Oil prices crossing the 100 dollars a barrel mark is possible but would not merit an emergency meeting of OPEC, Iran's Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi who currently heads the cartel said on Sunday.

"The price of 100 dollars is not unrealistic in this situation," Mirkazemi told reporters.

"Even if the oil price crosses 100 dollars a barrel there is no need for an emergency OPEC meeting. Some OPEC members believe there is no need for an emergency meeting even if oil reaches 110 or 120 dollars a barrel."

At the New York Mercantile Exchange, a barrel of light sweet crude for delivery in February closed at 91.54 dollars on Friday.

The rise in global oil prices has been attributed to a harsh winter hitting Europe and parts of North America, as well as growth in China and other developing nations.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries has said speculation was also fuelling the price rise.

At its last meeting at Quito, the 12-nation cartel decided to leave production quotas unchanged, stressing the looming risks to the fragile global economic recovery.

Some OPEC members -- Iran, Venezuela and Libya -- were urging higher prices at Quito to above 100 dollars a barrel to offset what they said were rising production costs.

But OPEC heavyweight Saudi Arabia differed, saying between 70 and 80 dollars a barrel was a "fair price."

Iran took over the cartel's rotating presidency from January 1, the first time in 36 years that Tehran holds the leadership of the cartel which accounts for 40 percent of world output.

Mirkazemi also announced that Iran has discovered a new onshore gas field with reserves valued at 50 billion dollars east of Assaluyeh on the Gulf.

"It has 260 billion cubic metres (9.18 trillion cubic feet) of gas, of which 210 (billion) can be exploited, which is about 24 million cubic metres per day," the minister said.

Iran is OPEC's second largest crude exporter and holds the world's second largest gas reserves.

Count is underway after culminating Sudan's independence referendum

Voters in Southern Sudan began celebrating after the end of a weeklong independence referendum Saturday, a poll that is widely expected to lead to the creation of the world's newest country.

By News Wires (text)

AFP - The marathon task of counting the ballot in south Sudan's independence referendum was underway on Sunday after the week-long polling on partitioning Africa's largest nation closed.

"Secession. Secession. Secession," the returning officer intoned on Saturday night as he carefully unfolded each ballot paper cast at a polling station in a school in the southern capital of Juba before pronouncing the voter's choice.

There was the odd vote for unity with the mainly Arab, Muslim north but they were dwarfed by the huge pile in favour of turning the mainly Christian, African south into the world's newest nation and putting the seal on five decades of civil conflict.

The count was being conducted by torchlight, creating an almost religious atmosphere in the small classroom. The school has no mains electricity.

Each vote was passed for checking to two other polling station staff and shown to domestic and international observers. There were a dozen at the school in Juba's Hay Malakal neighbourhood.

Some polling stations were expected to continue the count through the night until all ballots had been recorded and checked.

Others, particularly in rural areas where many were out in the open, locked away the ballotboxes for the night and were due to start counting later on Sunday.

The deputy chairman of the referendum commission, Chan Reec, said the only extension to polling would be among emigre voters in flood-hit areas of Australia, who would have a further five days.

An Anglican bishop sporting a purple cassock blew the "last trumpet" on rule by the Muslim north after being among the final people to vote before polls closed at 6:00 pm (1500 GMT) on Saturday.

"I have blown the last trumpet at the very end of voting," said Yugusuk, after sounding his orange vuvuzela, draped in the black, red and green of the south Sudanese flag.

"This is the signal not only of the end of the voting but of an end to our slavery, oppression and the beginning of our freedom," said the Anglican bishop who chairs a Religious Referendum Leaders' Initiative.

The vote was the centrepiece of a 2005 peace deal that ended a devastating 22-year civil war between north and south that cost around two million lives.

The referendum commission's chairman, Mohammed Ibrahim Khalil, an elder statesman who served as Sudanese foreign minister in the 1960s, hailed the "most peaceful" election he had ever seen in Sudan.

So many people turned out on the first four days of the week-long polling period that the 60-percent threshold set for the referendum to be valid by the 2005 peace agreement was already passed on Wednesday evening.

That hurdle had been the only real question mark over the poll -- in a Sudanese general election last April the pro-independence former rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement took a full 93 percent of the vote.

Few analysts expected the margin of victory to be much different this time round. The final result is not expected before next month.

A senior official of the National Congress Party of President Omar al-Bashir said it would accept the outcome even if the south voted to become the 193rd UN member state in July.

"The referendum took place in an atmosphere of calm ... with a great degree of freedom and fairness," Rabie Abdul Ati told AFP. "It is very clear that the party will accept the result whether it be for unity or secession."

On the streets of Khartoum, there was a sense of rueful resignation that the nearly nine million people of the south were poised to break away -- and with them some 80 percent of Sudan's oil reserves, which provide China with a total of six percent of its oil supplies.

"I feel sad," said Mustafa Mohammed, a young tax officer. "I am not for secession."