Pistorius to go on trial in March: lawyer

Double-amputee Olympian Oscar Pistorius will be indicted for premeditated murder next week. Source: AAP

STAR South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius will go on trial in March next year on murder charges for shooting his girlfriend, his lawyer says.

"The trial will be in March next year. It will be from the first week of March until end of March," attorney Kenny Oldwage said.

On Monday, the 26-year-old double-amputee sprinter is to appear in the Pretoria Magistrates Court, where he is expected to be served with an indictment for murdering girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine's Day.

He claims he shot Steenkamp through a locked bathroom door of his upscale home because he mistook her for an intruder.

The state is arguing that the murder was premeditated, a charge which carries a sentence of life imprisonment.

Oldwage refused to comment on local media reports that Pistorius may face two new charges related to firing a gun in public when he appears in court next week.

According to eNCA television news, one of the charges is linked to an event in January when Pistorius accidentally fired a gun in an upmarket Johannesburg restaurant.

In another case, Pistorius allegedly discharged his gun out of the sunroof of a friend's car on their way back from a holiday.

Paralympic champion Pistorius, who was born without calf bones and had both legs amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old, runs on fibre-glass prosthetic legs.

At last year's London Olympics he was the first double-amputee to compete against able-bodied athletes.

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40 pythons found in Canadian hotel

Forty pythons have been found in plastic storage bins in a hotel room in Canada. Source: AAP

LITTLE more than a week after a giant python crushed two young Canadian boys to death, police have recovered 40 of the snakes from a hotel room.

The reptiles were found in several plastic storage bins on Thursday night in a room in Brantford, Ontario, where a couple who had been evicted from their home were staying, police said in a statement.

Officers have opened a probe into the incident but they did not say where the couple were at the time or whether the pair would be charged with breaking local laws that prohibit owning pythons.

The snakes, which ranged in length from 30 centimetres to 1.4 metres, were in poor health and have been taken in by the Canadian Society for the Protection of Animals, where a veterinarian is monitoring them.

The find comes 11 days after Connor and Noah Barthe, aged six and four respectively, died in the eastern town of Campbellton, New Brunswick when an African python escaped from its terrarium and killed them.

Animal experts expressed astonishment at the tragedy, many of them noting that, while an African rock python is a dangerous animal capable killing large prey, it would not normally attack humans.

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Hundreds besieged in Egypt's Fateh mosque

A BESIEGED mosque in central Cairo is the site of a tense standoff between Egyptian security forces surrounding it and hundreds of backers of toppled president Mohamed Morsi trapped inside.

Television footage showed riot police standing outside the al-Fateh mosque in Ramses Square.

Those inside the mosque were afraid of being detained if they left, a man inside the mosque told Qatari broadcaster al-Jazeera.

"The hope is that the Egyptian people will take to the streets in order to force an end to this siege," he said.

"The besieged people include women and children, some of them need medical assistance."

The state Middle East News Agency reported that the people inside the mosque had opened fire extinguishers at the police, who did not respond.

Irish citizen Omaima Halawa, 21, who is the daughter of the imam of Ireland's biggest mosque in Dublin and was in Cairo with her two sisters and brother, described the scene as very frightening.

"We are surrounded in the mosque both inside and outside," she told Irish broadcaster RTE.

"The security forces broke in and threw tear gas at us."

She said they had been warned they could be shot if they tried to leave.

At one entrance to the mosque, security forces stood between the besieged protesters and angry residents, who tried several times to force their way into the mosque.

Ahmed Sami came to al-Fateh to look for friends inside.

"I'm afraid for their safety. I fear they will be brought out dead," he said.

Mahmoud, a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood who took part in a march against Morsi's ouster by the military, said protesters had come under fire and sought refuge inside the mosque.

In the large square outside al-Fateh, residents confronted bearded men, and women in Islamic headscarves.

In several parts of Cairo, residents detained people they deemed suspect and handed them over to security forces, in a sign that vigilante justice was beginning to take hold.

Television footage showed troops inside the mosque apparently trying to persuade the protesters to give themselves up.

One of the protesters said by telephone that they were demanding they not be arrested, or attacked by hostile civilians outside.

An estimated 700 Morsi supporters took refuge in the mosque following clashes with security forces in the area.

More than 50 people were killed on Friday in violence across Egypt, according to security sources.

The Muslim Brotherhood said at least 200 people were killed in the unrest, the latest since Morsi's ouster on July 3.

Police said they had arrested 1004 Muslim Brotherhood followers suspected of involvement in Friday's violence.

The Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamist allies vowed to hold a "week of departure" protests through next week against the military-backed government, raising fears of further bloodshed.

Some 630 people were killed in a security crackdown on two major pro-Morsi vigils in Cairo and the ensuing violence in the country on Wednesday.

Under emergency rules declared by the government earlier in the week, police are allowed to use firearms in self-defence and against demonstrators who attack state buildings.

The army's overthrow of Morsi, after protests by millions demanding he step down, has deeply divided Egypt, which is the Arab world's most-populous country.

The clampdown on pro-Morsi protesters has drawn international condemnation, mainly from Europe and the United States.

However, the Gulf countries have expressed support for Egypt's interim rulers.

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Space telescope repair hopes dashed

A BROKEN planet-finding telescope is to remain crippled in space after scientists gave up attempts to restore it to full working order.

The news was announced by the American space agency NASA, which is looking to see what can be salvaged from the Kepler space telescope.

Kepler, which cost STG395 million ($A680.62 million), was launched in March 2009 with the chief aim of searching for Earth-sized planets that might support life.

It has proved one of Nasa's most successful missions, delivering a mass of data on planets orbiting distant stars which is still being studied.

From the observations analysed so far scientists have confirmed the existence of 135 new exoplanets and identified more than 3500 candidates.

Several of these worlds are "super-Earths" with up to 10 times the Earth's mass situated in "habitable zone" orbits where conditions may be suitable for life.

In November last year, Kepler completed its primary mission and began a four-year extended mission.

The telescope detects planets by measuring the tiny dip in light output when an orbiting object passes in front of a star.

But now two of the four spinning gyroscope-like wheels used to position the telescope with the incredible level of precision required have failed.

Efforts to get at least one of the "reaction wheels" working again have failed. Kepler needs at least three functioning wheels to keep it completely still while it searches for small Earth-sized exoplanets.

The NASA team is now investigating whether Kepler can conduct a more limited science program using its remaining reaction wheels and thrusters.

Meanwhile scientists are continuing to sift through the wealth of information already collected, which they hope will yield hundreds or even thousands of discoveries.

"At the beginning of our mission, no-one knew if Earth-size planets were abundant in the galaxy. If they were rare, we might be alone," said Dr William Borucki.

"Now at the completion of Kepler observations, the data holds the answer to the question that inspired the mission. Are Earths in the habitable zones of stars like our Sun common or rare?"

The Kepler scientists have not yet spotted a truly Earth-sized planet in the habitable zone of a Sun-like star. They hope evidence of such an Earth twin is waiting to be discovered in the huge amount of data from the space telescope.

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'Vodka pipeline' to Kyrgyzstan plugged

KYRGYZ customs officials have shut down a pipeline that had been used to apparently pump thousands of litres of vodka from Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan under a river, Kyrgyz police say, according to the Akipress news agency.

The 20-centimetre-thick, half-kilometre-long pipe had been laid beneath the border river Chu, said the police official from the northern Kyrgyz city of Tokmok.

It was equipped with multiple valves and lay on a track along the river's bottom.

"We assume that thousands of litres of alcohol were smuggled with it, primarily vodka," said the police officer.

It is believed the alcohol was smuggled this way for months.

The pipe was discovered during a routine inspection.

No arrests have yet been made.

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Turkey, Egypt recall envoys over crackdown

TURKEY has recalled its ambassador to Cairo as tensions with Egypt worsen dramatically following a bloody crackdown on supporters of the country's ousted Islamist president.

Egypt retaliated by recalling its envoy to Turkey, whose Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has condemned what he called the "massacre" of peaceful protesters.

Erdogan, a supporter of former president Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood movement, has infuriated the interim government in Cairo by terming his ouster a military "coup".

Nearly 600 people were killed in the violence that erupted on Wednesday when security forces moved in to break up pro-Morsi protest camps, the worst unrest in the country since the 2011 uprising that unseated Hosni Mubarak - causing international criticism to poured in.

Erdogan, who heads Turkey's ruling Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP), had forged a close alliance with Morsi since he was elected in the country's first free election in June 2012.

The Islamist leader was invited to the AKP's annual congress last September where Erdogan positioned Turkey as a regional standard-bearer.

"We have shown everyone that an advanced democracy can exist in a predominantly Muslim country," Erdogan told the congress.

"We have become a role model for Muslim countries."

Turkish leaders hinted they would not break ties with the new leadership emerging in Egypt after the military uprising, despite their criticism of the army's actions.

Analysts, however, said the bloody crackdown on demonstrators was a breaking point for Turkey, which would make it very hard for Erdogan's government to reconcile with the military regime in Egypt.

Turkey invested both politically and financially in Egypt after Morsi's election, aiming to bolster Ankara's influence and show that Turkey was not the only country where Islam and democracy could coexist.

Erdogan said his country served as a "very important reference" to Egypt on why military uprisings must not be tolerated.

This week's unrest in Egypt is expected to hit around 260 Turkish businesses operating in the Arab world's most populous country.

Turkish investment in Egypt amounts to nearly $US2 billion ($A2.2 billion), mostly in the textile and clothing industries.

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Panama may fine N. Korean arms ship $1m

THE Panama Canal authority says it will impose as much as a $1 million fine on the North Korean freighter caught with an undeclared shipment of Cuban weapons.

"It is a flagrant violation of safe passage through the Panama Canal and we have little tolerance for this kind of activity," canal administrator Jorge Quijano said on Thursday.

"It is going to be sanctioned," he said, adding that authorities were still mulling the size of the fine.

"It's obvious that there were containers that had not been declared, not to mention what was inside them."

The ship, the Chong Chon Gang, was boarded and searched July 10 on suspicion it was smuggling drugs.

Authorities instead uncovered 25 containers of military hardware, including two Soviet era MiG-21s, air defence systems, missiles and command and control vehicles, buried under tons of sugar.

Havana said they were obsolete Cuban arms being shipped to North Korea for refurbishment under a legitimate contract.

A team of UN experts had travelled to Panama to inspect the weapons and determine whether the shipment violated a UN ban against arms transfers to North Korea.

According to the Panamanian government, the experts wrapped up their visit on Thursday.

However, officials did not provide any details on possible findings.

Quijano said fines imposed by the canal authority range from $10,000 to $100,000 for serious violations and up to $1 million for "very serious" violations.

"The case of the North Korean freighter is very serious," he told AFP.

Warships and ships carrying military or nuclear material routinely go through the canal, allowed passage even at times of war.

The only requirement is that canal authorities be given prior notice so that local authorities can take appropriate security precautions.

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Pistorius due back in the dock

Double-amputee Olympian Oscar Pistorius is set to return to court next week. Source: AAP

SOUTH African double-amputee Olympian Oscar Pistorius will return to court next week, when he is expected to be indicted for murdering lover Reeva Steenkamp and receive a date for trial.

The 26-year-old sprinter will appear in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on Monday six months after shooting dead girlfriend Steenkamp in the toilet of his upscale home.

The platinum blonde cover girl and law graduate died on Valentine's Day after being shot in the head, elbow and hip.

She would have turned 30 on Monday, when prosecutors are expected to unveil a five-page indictment against Pistorius for premeditated murder, according to sources close to the investigation.

The hearing is expected to be brief, and according to Pistorius family spokeswoman Anneliese Burgess the "chances are very high that a trial date will be set."

Pistorius, who is out on bail and faces a life sentence if found guilty, has denied murder, saying he shot Steenkamp through a locked bathroom door because he believed she was an intruder.

The trial is not expected to start until 2014, given the backlog in South Africa's regional high courts.

A single senior judge will hear the case. South Africa does not have a jury system.

The indictment could detail key aspects of the police investigation into Steenkamp's death that came under scrutiny during a lengthy bail hearing.

These may include ballistics information from the bathroom door suggesting Pistorius's height at the time of the shooting.

Prosecutors assert he donned his two prosthetic legs before firing four shots through the bathroom door, a delay they say proves the murder was premeditated.

The athlete, who was born without calf bones and had both legs amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old, claims he was on his stumps.

The indictment could also shed light on phone records from four cell phones found outside the room where Steenkamp had locked herself in.

Investigators had to contact mobile manufacturer Apple in the United States as well as Interpol to access one of the phones, Pistorius's iPhone 5.

The athlete apparently could not remember the four-digit pass code to unlock the phone, according to media reports.

Pistorius may also face two new charges related to firing a gun in public, local media reported.

According to eNCA television news on Friday, one of the charges is linked to an event in January where Pistorius - who is already accused of murdering his girlfriend - accidentally fired a gun in an upmarket Johannesburg restaurant.

In another case, Pistorius allegedly discharged his gun out of the sunroof of a friend's car on their way back from a holiday.

The National Prosecuting Authority declined to confirm the additional charges, saying "everything would be revealed in court" at the pre-trial hearing on Monday.

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Ecuador vows to resolve Assange situation

The Ecuadorian government has pledged to find a solution to the Julian Assange situation. Source: AAP

THE Ecuadorian government has stressed its commitment to finding a solution to the position of Julian Assange on the anniversary of the WikiLeaks founder being granted political asylum.

The Australian has been living inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London for more than a year as part of his campaign to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces allegations of sexual assault against two women - claims he denies.

Assange fears that if he travels to Sweden he will be forcibly taken to the United States to face questioning over documents published by WikiLeaks.

A statement from the Ecuadorian government said: "One year ago today Ecuador took the decision to award asylum to Julian Assange, a journalist who feared political persecution after publishing information sensitive to the US government that exposed war crimes, killings, torture and other human rights abuses that would otherwise never have come to light.

"After thoroughly examining the evidence, the government of Ecuador concluded that it shared Julian Assange's concerns that there is a real and present danger to his freedoms."

The statement said the recent guilty verdict against US soldier Bradley Manning and attempts to prosecute Edward Snowden for leaking information about US surveillance underlined why Ecuador granted asylum.

It added: "The decision taken was based on Ecuadorian and international law. As Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares 'Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution'.

"However, Ecuador accepts that resolving Julian's status and specifically his right to leave the embassy without threat of arrest and onward extradition to the US involves the jurisdictions of three sovereign nations - the UK, Sweden and Ecuador.

"The government of Ecuador remains committed to finding an equitable solution to this situation that respects domestic and international law while at the same time protecting Julian Assange from inhumane treatment and the threats of political persecution."

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Deadly typhoon moves to China

Typhoon Utor has battered China, killing three people and forcing thousands from their homes. Source: AAP

THREE people are confirmed dead, five are missing and tens of thousands have been evacuated as Typhoon Utor batters south China.

More than one million people in Guangdong province have been affected by heavy rain and floods, Xinhua news agency quoted the provincial flood control headquarters as saying on Thursday.

Some 161,500 people had to be relocated and nearly 1500 homes were destroyed, as several villages in the Zhanjiang and Wuchuan municipalities were flooded when embankments along the swollen Quehua River burst Wednesday.

The storm, which earlier left at least eight dead and a trail of damage in the Philippines, made landfall near Yangjiang in western Guangdong Wednesday afternoon with winds of over 150km/h, local weather authorities said.

It moved into the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Wednesday night and was expected to remain there for four days.

Tens of thousands were displaced and whole towns badly damaged when Utor raked across the north of the main Philippine island of Luzon on Monday, but the death toll was lower than in past typhoons, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.

Packing winds of up to 150km/h at its centre, the typhoon also brushed past Hong Kong, where it forced the closure of financial markets, schools and businesses and disrupted hundreds of flights.

It also caused a 190-metre-long cargo ship to sink off Hong Kong Wednesday but all 21 crew were rescued.

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