26/01/2013 BBC Weekend News

Violence in Egypt, after 21 people are sentenced to death over the

killing of football supporters at a match last year. At least 30 people

are killed in clashes with the security forces.

An investigation is launched, after a gun man dies while trying to rob

a betting shop in Plymouth. Snow brings more disruption on the

roads. But, as it thaws, forecasters warn of possible

flooding. And, Luton become the first non-

League team to beat top-flight opposition in the FA Cup for almost

Good evening. 30 people are reported to have been

killed in rioting in Egypt, after 21 defendants were sentenced to

death for the country's worst ever football violence. Their

convictions came after fighting at a match last year between a Port

Said club, and a team from Cairo in which more than 70 people were

killed. Our correspondent Aleem Maqbool has sent this report from

the Egyptian capital. Whichever way this verdict went, it

was going to reignite emotion. As the judge issued death sentences to

each of the 21 people found guilty of murdering fans at the Al Ahly

Football Club, there was joy and relief in the court house. But

almost immediately, in Port Said, there was anger and violence. The

families and supporters of the defendants who were from the city,

attacked the police, and fought back. Hundreds are known to have

been injured in the clashes, and a shocking number have been killed,

including police officers. It was horrific violence in this city a

year ago which started all this. At the end of a football match, home

supporters attacked visiting Al Ahly fans who said they were

blocked from getting out of the ground. Over 70 were stabbed,

clubbed and kicked to death. In Cairo, outside the Al Ahly club now,

people felt they had got justice. TRANSLATION: We witnessed death

with our own eyes. Imagine if your friends go to watch a match and

come back in a coffin. Thank God, now we are pleased.

TRANSLATION: I am satisfied, but I think more people need to be

sentenced to death, including the police officers who were involved.

In the end, thousands gathered in their jubilation. There are huge

celebrations here outside the Al Ahly club, now that fans have got

the judgment they wanted. But a lot of these people have themselves

threatened violence across the country, if things did not go their

way. These scenes of joy in the capital are in marked contrast to

the bloodshed there has been in Port Said today. As one of world

football's darkest incidences continues to claim lives.

Detectives in Plymouth are trying to establish how a man died while

trying to rob a betting shop. Alan Levers had been pinned down by

customers after he entered a branch of Ladbrokes, wearing a gas mask

and holding a gun. Robert Hall's report contains some flash

photography. Alongside a busy main road in the

Plymouth suburbs, police have been piecing together the sequence of

events which left a man dead and which brought emergency services to

this betting shop yesterday evening. One question is whether CCTV inside

the shop may have captured an incident which began when the man,

armed with what appeared to be a handgun, burst into the bookies.

His face, according to police, hidden by a gas mask. Investigators

-- police have named the man allows a Alan Levers. And he was disarmed

and pinned to the floor by quick- thinking customers. By the time the

first response teams arrived, the man, in his fifties, was already

unconscious. After calling an ambulance, police officers tried to

revive him, but their efforts and those of the paramedics were to no

avail. This appears to be an imitation pistol but it needs to be

verified. I would like to add, however, there would have been no

way of knowing this at the time of the incident. The actions taken by

members of the public were brave, and showed a total disregard for

their own safety. No one has been arrested or charged over the death,

and legal experts say the customers who intervened probably will not be

it -- prosecuted. It is extremely unlikely those people will face

prosecution. They must have been in great fear. He was wearing a gas

blast, they could not judge if he would have difficulty breathing.

Tonight, as inquiries continue, police are appealing to anyone who

can shed fresh light on this incident to come forward. In the

meantime, senior police officers are stressing, as a matter of

routine, evidence gathered will be passed to the Independent. --

Police Complaints Commission. There's been more bad weather

across large parts of the country, with heavy rain and melting snow

making many roads treacherous. Last night, hundreds of people were

stranded in their cars because of heavy snow across parts of Scotland,

northern England and the Midlands. Stuart Flinders has more details.

On the hills above Bradford, an early start for Darren Collet. He

and his tractor were in big demand. How bad was it overnight, the snow,

how quick did it come down? Within an hour and a half, 9.30pm, it was

still snowing when I went to bed at 10.30pm. You were up at 5.30am

clearing the snow? I got up at 4:30am, then set off to work. I

went home in a tractor to make sure I could get to work. When the snow

came, it was thick and fast, one foot in less than two hours in

parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire. The M6 couldn't cope, the motorway

closed in both directions near Wigan. Some drivers were stranded

for hours. It is approximately 2am. The middle of the M6 motorway. As

you can see, at the back of me, we have ground to a standstill. It is

quite cold. We're in for the night. It is horrible, by the time I got

to junction 25, it was at a standstill. There was no movement.

As the snow and ice began to melt, a new danger, with river levels

rising, the Environment Agency is warning serious floods are possible

in many parts of England and Wales. The Environment Agency will be

monitoring forever levels, a combination of the thought and

heavy rain could cause serious floods. There is wet weather all

over the country, flooded fields, localised flooding, high ground

water, spring tides this week. A complete cocktail of issues and

concerns to keep an eye on. There have been floods in parts of

Carmarthenshire. The emergency services have dealt with 300 calls.

The full impact may not be felt for another 24 hours.

The Defence Ministry in Paris says French-led forces in Mali have made

more advances against Islamists, who've been controlling large parts

of the North of the country. Today, they took over the town of Gao, a

major rebel stronghold. Our correspondent, Mark Doyle has been

to Kona, the first town that was recaptured from the Islamists.

Discarded Malian army uniforms litter the ground. When the

Islamists invaded this first town in their push towards the capital,

government soldiers put up a token fight, then ran. The counter-

offensive was led by France. French jets screamed in. Their bombs lit

up military vehicles. A heavy tank turret was tossed into the air like

a toy. The pattern was there was a fight between the Malian government

army, which had to flee because the Islamists had superior power. And

then the French army intervened, from the air, attacking this place.

A lot of these vehicles would have been destroyed by bombs from the

helicopters or jet fighters. The Malian army have returned, and are

proudly showing they have retaken this town, but only because of the

French. This Malian lieutenant agrees. It was thanks to the French

we retook his place, he says, and thanks to them, will take others.

Amid the carnage, a small miracle. This taxi driver was saved by his

fridge. He was caught in the short fire fight between Islamists and

the Malian army. The bullets lost power, as they came through the

freezer section. TRANSLATION: I was shot through the nose, if the

fridge wasn't here, I would almost certainly have been killed.

Time to go. The Malian army present once more, but tensions are still

high. We weren't welcome for long. Thousands of people have taken part

in a demonstration against plans to close a major Accident and

Emergency unit at a hospital in south east London. Under the

proposals, Lewisham Hospital would see its A&E and maternity units

downgraded. It's part of a re- organisation aimed at rescuing a

neighbouring health trust which has been put into administration.

The Transport Secretary has come under criticism from within his own

party, after he told a newspaper that the economic benefits of

building a high-speed rail link from London to the north of England

was "worth the upset it would cause". Patrick McLoughlin is

expected to unveil plans to extend the line on Monday.

The government says it will spend another �21 million on humanitarian

aid for victims of the conflict in Syria. The announcement was made by

the International Development Secretary Justine Greening on a

visit to Jordan today. The UN says more than 670,000 Syrians have now

fled the country. 6,000 have arrived at the Za'atari refugee

camp in the last two days alone. From there, Rami Ruhay-em sent this

A welcome break from the monotony at this refugee camp. Justine

Greening takes a tour, makes a new pledge of British aid and urges

others to joint. Winnie the international community to step up

to the plate, warm words will not help these people, they need

humanitarian money to help give them food, shelter and medical

assistance. The new aid package will be split between those

displaced within Syria, and refugees in neighbouring countries,

with Jordan perceiving �10 million. Thankful for what they're getting,

refugees are painfully aware of what they still need. TRANSLATION:

We are very grateful to everyone who has helped Syrian refugees, but

we haven't seen any of it. It is just talking the media. This camp

has expanded into a large city. Every day, thousands of Syrian

refugees arrived in Jordan. Every penny of aid is needed to provide

for them. The United Nations says it needs half a billion dollars. It

is not getting any easier. As long as the fighting drugs on in Syria,

many more will escape death only to find destitution on the other side.

And they will need all the help they can get.

Sport now. For a full round-up of all the day's action, it's over to

Olly Foster at the BBC Sport Centre. Good evening. We'll start with

football, because we've had a big upset in the FA Cup. Luton Town

have knocked out Premier League Norwich City, becoming the first

non-League team to beat top division opposition since Sutton

United beat Coventry back in 1989. Elsewhere, there were wins for

Manchester United and Manchester City. Rob Heath reports, starting

with the shock at Carrow Road. Luton Town have had few reasons to

celebrate. Relegation from the Football League in 2090 following

the natural irregularities was the low point. Now, a reminder of past

glories, this must have felt like a cup final when. Who knows just how

far they can go? For all their recent silverware, it is nine years

since Manchester United last won the FA Cup. Fulham arrived at Old

Trafford having won just twice in the 37 visits. Since then, they

have generally surrendered. This time, they did so literally, Aaron

Hughes here. United have been strangely off-target with penalties

this season. Ryan Giggs showed how it should be done. The home side

could have scored a hat-trick by half-time. They made up for after

the break, with Wayne Rooney. Fulham allowed United to play and

when that happens there is only one outcome. Another two more. United

eventually ran out 4-1 winners. Their Manchester rivals are also

through, leaving it late to beat Here are the other nine fourth

round ties today. Everton and Arsenal needed late goals to get

through. Huddersfield against Leicester is

the only match that will need to be replayed.

Non-League Macclesfield lost 1-0 to Wigan.

The Premier League's bottom side, Queens Park Rangers, were humbled

Hearts are into the Scottish League Cup final, after beating Inverness

on penalties. It was 1-1 after extra time, and Hearts won 5-4 on

spot kicks, They'll face either St Mirren or Celtic in the final.

In the SPL, Ross County earned a valuable point at Dundee United. A

stunning late equaliser by Richard Brittain at Tannadice saw them move

The world number one Victoria Azarenka has won back-to-back

Australian Open titles, after beating Li Na in three sets. And

attention now turns to the men's final tomorrow, with Andy Murray

facing Novak Djokovic. Andy Swiss reports from Melbourne.

Finals don't get much crazier or more compelling. Crowd favourite Li

Na powers to the first set. Before a dramatic twist, harp and Kohl

went and so, it seemed, did her chances. After a 10 minute stoppage

for Australia Day fireworks, another injury, to her head. She

was tested for concussion but to the crowd's delight, she battled on

and pushed her opponent all the way. It wasn't quite enough. Victoria

Azarenka ultimately winning the title. Tomorrow, it's the men's and

turn on centre stage which means Andy Murray, he has twice lost in

the final here. This time he is a very different player. As Roger

Federer discovered yesterday, Andy Murray has never looked stronger.

He could soon follow his first Grand Slam title by winning a

second, something no man has done for half a century. If I was to

manage to do it, I'm sure it would be a great achievement. It is a

hard thing to do. I know how nervous I was there for the first

match here, there is extra pressure. He still has to beat Novak Djokovic.

He did it famously in New York. If he can do it again, British tennis

could be in for another night to remember.

The mens' final will be on BBC One tomorrow morning from 8.15am.

What a week it's been for England's netballers, after completing a

series whitewash over Australia. They beat the world champions 58-51

in the third and final Test in Birmingham. Before this series,

they'd only beaten Australia twice. Russia won the International

Athletics Match at Glasgow's brand new Indoor Arena today. But Dwain

Chambers was one of the few British winners, finishing first in the 60

metres, in his first outing of the season. Former 100 metre world

champion Kim Collins was second. Just time to tell you that the

Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, is among the guests on the Andrew

Marr Show tomorrow at 9am. Because of the tennis, it's on BBC Two.

The milder air moved into day. We will find the thought continues

overnight as rain pushers East. We have a few thunderstorms in the

west which will push east end the next couple of hours as the

blustery winds push it along. In the east, temperatures will rise as

the rainbow's end. Temperatures will dip at the end of the night in

Scotland and Northern Ireland. Tomorrow morning, a good deal of

sunshine. Showers will come in from the west especially in the

afternoon, some heavy. Not that many showers in northern England.

We will see quite a few showers pushing east across Scotland, some

heavy with thunder, some sleet and snow over the hills. A similar

mixture of sunshine and showers across Northern Ireland. In Wales,

showers in the south of the country. They will get going in the