Sudan army men jailed over coup plot

A GROUP of Sudanese military officers have been sentenced to between two and five years in prison for their role in an alleged coup against the Sudanese government last year, a lawyer says.

"Today the military court issued its decision about the members of SAF who have been accused of a coup. It gave various jail sentences from five years to two years against nine of the soldiers," one of their lawyers, Hashiem Al-Jali, said on Sunday.

All were expelled from the military but a 10th accused was freed for lack of evidence, Jali said.

He added the heaviest sentence, five years, went to Brigadier Mohammed Ibrahim who played a role in the 1989 coup that brought the current regime of President Omar al-Bashir to power.

Most of the detainees are close to a vocal group of former volunteer mujahideen fighters and an elite group within them called Al-Saihun or "tourists for the sake of God".

They are veterans of the country's 1983-2005 civil war.

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Liberals close in on SA: Newspoll

THE Liberals are closing in on South Australia - Labor's last-held mainland state - according to the latest Newspoll.

With federal Labor heading towards a September 14 election, primary support for the party's South Australian branch has slumped to 33 per cent, the survey shows.

Conducted over the past month and published in The Australian on Monday, the poll shows primary vote support for Labor dipped from 37 per cent in a quarterly October-December 2012 survey to 33 per cent in March, while Liberal support rose from 40 to 43 per cent.

On a two-party preferred basis, the Liberal Party meanwhile leads Labor 54 to 46 per cent.

The results come eight weeks after the state Liberal leadership changed from Isobel Redmond to Steven Marshall.

Support for Labor, which has held power in South Australia since 2002, now stands 4.5 percentage points lower than when it narrowly retained office at the 2010 election.

The Australian said if the result was replicated at the next state election, due next March, Labor would lose five MPs in marginal electorates and its majority in the 47-seat House of Assembly.

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Unis spend $280m a year on red tape

UNIVERSITIES estimate they spend $280 million a year on meeting red tape requirements like telling the government every time any academic travels overseas.

The Universities Australia submission to the coalition's deregulation taskforce calls for a comprehensive Productivity Commission review of the regulatory burden on tertiary institutions.

The sector also wants a single national university data centre to look after all information collection, as recommended in a government-commissioned report released last week.

"While we support the need for effective accountability, the existing regulatory and reporting regime is characterised by unchecked creep, duplication, fragmentation, inefficiency, and waste," Universities Australia chief executive Belinda Robinson said in a statement.

Most universities have between 15 and 20 staff whose sole job is to meet the regulatory requirements of 100 separate state and federal laws.

They have to report some 50 different sets of data to the federal tertiary education department multiple times each year, and another 50 types of data to different government agencies.

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Hayes and Mailman score silver Logies

ACTORS who brought the stories of real-life Australians to the screen have been recognised with Logies for the most outstanding actor and actress.

A teary-eyed Deborah Mailman was given a standing ovation in Melbourne on Sunday when she received the most outstanding actress award for her portrayal of Bonita Mabo in the made-for-TV movie Mabo.

"I got the chance to play the most extraordinary woman," Mailman said as she accepted the award with Bonita Mabo joining her on stage.

"It was a gift for me to meet this woman," Mailman said.

Mabo told the story of Eddie "Koiki" Mabo and his historic high court challenge to the myth of Terra Nullius.

"It was a story that was close to my heart, the fact that I got to play Bonita Mabo and for that to be recognised tonight was incredibly special," Mailman said, still teary, speaking to media after receiving her award.

Most outstanding actor Anthony Hayes dedicated his silver Logie for the portrayal of Bernie Banton in Devil's Dust to all the people who lost their lives to asbestos-related disease.

"I know it's not much but it's recognition for you and I just hope we stop mining asbestos and it never happens again," Hayes said when accepting the award.

Hayes has just finished shooting The Rover with fellow nominee Guy Pearce and said he thought it would have been the Nine Network's Kerry Packer juggernaut Howzat, and not Hollywood star Pearce, that would see him come undone in his bid for Logie glory.

"I told him I'd stick it to him and I did. There it is Guy," Hayes said.

"I've been acting since I was nine years old and this is my first lead."

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Direct trade for Aust, China currency

AUSTRALIAN and Chinese currency will be traded in China for the first time under a deal to be announced by Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

And a major tourism and investment campaign will be run in Shanghai in late 2014 to take advantage of China's booming middle class and fast-growing economy.

Under the currency agreement, the Australian dollar will be directly convertible into Chinese yuan, easing costs for mining companies and other global industries.

China only has deals of a similar kind with the United States and Japan.

"This reflects the rapid growth of our bilateral trade and the value of two-way investment - and it also creates opportunities for new financial integration," Ms Gillard will tell the China Executive Leadership Academy in Shanghai on Monday.

"This is good news for the Chinese economy and good news for the Australian economy."

Ms Gillard said she hoped the deal would advance China's policy of greater internationalisation of its currency.

The prime minister is in Shanghai leading Australia's largest political delegation, which includes Foreign Minister Bob Carr and Trade Minister Craig Emerson.

She said Australia Week, hosted by Shanghai in the second half of 2014, would further boost Australia's reputation as a world-leading destination and a valuable tourism, trade and investment partner.

Events will include contemporary performing and visual arts, a gala dinner in Shanghai and meetings with potential Chinese investors.

It will coincide with Tourism Australia's Greater China Travel Mission, which attracts more than 120 Australian tourism operators.

A record 625,000 Chinese visited Australia during 2012, up 16 per cent on the previous year.

Ms Gillard on Sunday held her first official meeting with Xi Jinping, who became China's president in March.

She also spoke at the opening of the Boao Forum on Asia.

The Australian delegation will head to Beijing on Monday night.

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Joy for Ten as Keddie wins Gold

OFFSPRING star Asher Keddie has given Network Ten something to celebrate after winning the Gold Logie.

Keddie had been twice nominated for a Gold Logie before claiming the highest individual honour at the annual television awards night in Melbourne.

Her win also eases the pain of Ten's disastrous 2012, when it sacked executives and dumped shows as ratings plummeted.

However, Offspring and Keddie have been a shining light in dark days for Ten.

The actress said she is very proud to be a part of the network and just being nominated was a win for the series and the station.

"Channel Ten is extremely proud of Offspring and could not be more supportive of us," Keddie told AAP.

"They don't interfere, they trust us and I wish nothing but the best for the network."

Keddie was a raging favourite to win the award after a betting plunge during the last week.

Her price was slashed from $11 into $1.25 when betting closed with bookmaker Sportsbet.com.au.

The bookmaker was not crying foul but said there had been a steady stream of money for the Offspring star.

The initial favourite was Andy Lee who drifted from $2.30 to $6, and last year's winner Hamish Blake was a $6.50 chance.

"Over half the money bet was on Keddie," Sportsbet.com.au spokesman Shaun Anderson told AAP.

"It was very steady over the last week and a half."

Keddie said she thought the award might not just be for her work on Offspring.

"It's a wonderful opportunity to say thank you to the audience who have watched me play a number of characters over a number of years," she said.

"I think this is for a body of work."

The Gold Logie was again tainted by controversy after News Ltd repeated its 2012 performance, releasing news of Keddie's win prematurely on The Australian and Adelaidenow websites.

Keddie also took out the Logie for Most Popular Actress and Home And Away star Stephen Peacocke was named Most Popular Actor.

Indigenous actor Deborah Mailman was extremely emotional when she collected the peer-voted Logie for Most Outstanding Actress for her role in Mabo.

Anthony Hayes, who starred in the ABC's Devil's Dust, dedicated his Most Outstanding Actor honour to those who have died and suffered from asbestos-related illnesses.

Foxtel finally cracked it for a Logie when it took out Most Outstanding Sports Coverage for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The Nine Network claimed nine awards, the ABC claimed seven, Ten finished with four and Seven won three.

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Syria's Homs besieged for 300 days: oppn

A SIEGE of Syria's central city of Homs has entered its 300th day, as troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad wage a campaign to oust rebel groups holed up there, the opposition says.

"Three hundred days have gone by since the start of the siege of the heroic city of Homs, capital and beating heart of the Syrian revolution," the Syrian National Council, a key component of the main opposition National Coalition, said on Sunday.

Homs, the country's third largest city, was one of the first to join the anti-Assad revolt that began two years ago with peaceful protests but morphed into a bloody insurgency after a fierce regime crackdown on dissent.

Today, some 80 per cent of the city is under tight army control, and troops use tanks, helicopters and other warplanes to bombard besieged rebel enclaves.

The army and security forces began the siege in June 2012, setting up checkpoints all around the rebel-held districts.

Daily battles rage on the edges of the insurgent neighbourhoods, and on Sunday, the army pounded the districts of Khaldiyeh, Qarabis, Qussour and Juret al-Shiyah.

"Three hundred days have gone by while the world has looked on ... with all kinds of war crimes and crimes against humanity being committed in this city," the SNC said in a statement.

"Schools and hospitals have been destroyed, water and electricity have been cut off, as have communications and food supply ... Civilians are deprived of medicine and treatment," the opposition group added.

Activist Abu Bilal spoke to AFP via the internet about life in a city under siege.

"This morning I attended the burial of a friend of mine, who had two children. When I was on my way back from the burial, I was told of the death of another friend. That's our daily reality. Every day there's death around us," he said.

"A friend of mine, a rebel fighter, was abandoned by his fiancee because she could no longer wait for the siege to end. She married someone else. He says his heartbreak is worse than the siege itself."

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Lagarde says euro has long-standing future

INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde has told an audience in China the euro has a solid future and she hopes no more countries in Europe will need bailouts.

"I think the collective political will ... to maintain, defend, protect and enhance the monetary zone and currency zone has been largely underestimated," Lagarde said on Sunday.

"The euro has a future and has a long-standing one."

The former French finance minister spoke during a question-and-answer session that followed an address she gave at the Boao Forum for Asia, an annual conference of political and economic leaders held on the Chinese island of Hainan.

Her appearance prompted questions from audience participants about the situation in Cyprus, where the Mediterranean country struck a 10 billion euro ($A12.5 billion) bailout deal with the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund - the so-called troika.

Asked specifically about the prospect for further crises, Lagarde said: "I don't have a crystal ball.

"My dearest hope is that there is not yet another country down the line that needs to be repaired and that could require support from both the European partners and the IMF."

She added, however, that Cyprus represented a unique case and reminded her audience the country's economy amounted to a mere 0.2 per cent of Europe's economy.

"I don't mean to be derogatory about this country," she said, noting its status as a member of Europe and of the IMF.

"But it was a very specific case in many respects," she added, citing factors such as the the size of the banking sector relative to the Cyprus economy.

Lagarde also said she hoped European authorities would learn from experiences over the past couple of years and "decide to accelerate the consolidation of their currency zone".

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