10 Islamists sentenced to death in Egypt

An Egyptian court has sentenced 10 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood movement to death. Source: AAP

AN Egyptian court has sentenced ten supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood movement to death in absentia on charges of inciting violence and blocking a road last July.

Judge Hassan Fareed on Saturday referred the sentence to the Grand Mufti, the highest Islamic authority in Egypt, a legal requirement usually considered a formality.

The remaining 38 accused in the case, including the Brotherhood's supreme guide and other senior members, will be sentenced at the next hearing on July 5.

The case is one of several ongoing mass trials of supporters of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. Under Egyptian law, those sentenced in absentia will have a new trial if they are arrested or surrender to authorities.

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PM wants Monash to be household name

THE efforts of Australian General John Monash on the Western Front in World War I should be as widely recognised as the story of Simpson and his donkey at Gallipoli, Prime Minister Tony Abbott says.

Mr Abbott revealed on Saturday a new memorial centre to be built in France would be named in honour of the Australian military leader, who is regarded as one of the great tacticians of World War I.

After joining world leaders at D-Day commemorations in Normandy on Friday, Mr Abbott turned his attention to the First World War as he visited the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux for the first time.

While not as famous as the Gallipoli campaign, the efforts of Australian diggers to stop German forces on the Western Front were critical to the outcome of the war.

Of the 295,000 Australians who fought there between 1916 and 1918, 46,000 never made it home and the prime minister is leading a push he believes will help improve a sense of national identity.

"No place on earth has been more densely sown with Australian sacrifice than these fields in France," Mr Abbott said.

"Australians should be as familiar with the story of the Western Front as we are with Gallipoli.

"Australians should be at least as familiar with the achievements of Monash as we are with the heroism of John Simpson Kirkpatrick (in Gallipoli)."

Sir John Monash was involved in the failed Gallipoli campaign but used his experiences to lead several significant battlefield victories, including the decisive Battle of Amiens.

Mr Abbott said he brought organisation and technology to the battlefield to "break the stalemate of trench warfare".

Attendances at the annual Anzac Day dawn service at Villers-Bretonneux have grown steadily in recent years, with the crowd this year surpassing that at Gallipoli.

Some predict it will become the nation's clear focal point of Anzac Day commemorations beyond next year's centenary in Gallipoli.

"Australians should congregate here, every April 25th, no less than at Anzac Cove," Mr Abbott said.

"And on Anzac Day four years hence, the centenary of the Battle of Villers-Bretonneux, I'm sure they will."

Mr Abbott said it was expected the new "interpretive centre", to be built behind the Australian memorial, would open in 2018 to coincide with 100th anniversary commemorations.

The "Sir John Monash" centre will help to better explain Australia's role in the final victories of World War I and the government will put up $6.9 million for the initial planning.

Mr Abbott later followed in the footsteps of former prime ministers by visiting the Victoria School, built in Villers-Bretonneux in 1927 with money donated by school children from the Australian state.

He chatted with schoolchildren and locals in the school's courtyard, where a prominent green and gold sign hangs permanently reading: "Never Forget Australia."

Mr Abbott then visited the memorial site at nearby Pozieres, the sight of a bloody 1916 battle where 23,000 Australians were killed in the space of just six weeks.

The prime minister was expected to meet with French President Francois Hollande on Saturday night before departing Paris on Sunday for Canada and the US.

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New report spells out phone tap powers

Government tapping of people's phones is widespread around the world, a new UK report shows. Source: AAP

GOVERNMENT tapping of people's phones is widespread around the world with Australia among a long list of countries permitting access to phone networks.

But Australia rates better than some, a report compiled by one of the world's largest phone companies says.

The detailed report by UK mobile carrier Vodafone examines legislative frameworks for telecommunications interception in 29 countries where it operates.

It says this is its contribution to the global debate on telecommunications interception.

The report says Australian carriers have legislative obligations to assist law enforcement and national security agencies, including an obligation to disclose information where authorised.

Interception is authorised by warrants issued to law enforcement and security agencies - though it may occur without a warrant in specified urgent circumstances.

Of substantial concern is the revelation in Vodafone's report that in six countries, authorities can bypass all legal requirements such as warrants to directly access an operator's network.

"In those countries, Vodafone will not receive any form of demand for lawful interception access as the relevant agencies and authorities already have permanent access to customer communications via their own direct link," the report said.

Vodafone doesn't specifically say which countries.

But in a detailed appendix compiled by an international law firm, it says Albania, Egypt, Hungary, Ireland, Qatar and Turkey all have provisions allowing authorities to request unfettered access.

In two other countries, India and the UK, legal provisions are unclear.

The report doesn't spell out the extent of telecommunications interception in Australia.

But the 2012-13 annual report, required under the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979, says a total of 3330 interception warrants were issued, more than half to NSW police and the NSW Crime Commission.

Around two-thirds were for drug trafficking and organised crime.

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No visa info over Tamil's death: group

IMMIGRATION Minister Scott Morrison says Australian officials have contacted the family of a Tamil asylum seeker explaining visa processes so they can travel to Australia to attend his funeral.

But a spokesman for the Tamil Refugee Council said on Saturday that no one from the Australian Immigration department has been in touch with the family in India.

Asylum seeker Leorsin Seemanpillai, 29, died last Sunday after dousing himself in petrol and setting himself alight in Geelong.

Refugee advocates say the Tamil feared being returned to Sri Lanka because he thought he faced persecution from authorities.

The government has offered to return his body to Sri Lanka or India.

But immediate family who live in a refugee camp in Tamil Nadu in southern India say they fear for their safety if the funeral is held in either country. They are seeking visas to attend the funeral in Australia.

Mr Morrison acknowledged that they face very real difficulties.

He said the department had explained to them the process of application for a short-term visitor visa to travel to Australia, including the need for travel documents.

That process was very clear and it would be up to the immigration department to assess their application.

"It's not available to the minister to instruct the department in issuing a visitor visa in circumstances like these and they will have to apply the law as it stands," he told ABC radio.

Tamil Refugee Council spokesman Aran Mylvaganam said he had spoken to Mr Seemanpillai's father on Saturday, specifically asking if anyone from the Australian Immigration department had contacted him to explain how to obtain a visa.

The only Australian officials they had heard from were the Victorian refugee assistance group AMES, which offered to pay funeral costs, and the coroner's office in Melbourne.

"Either Morrison is getting the wrong advice from his department or he is simply trying to misinform the Australian people," he said in a statement.

"Whatever is the case, it is an absolute disgrace that he won't intervene to help this family in a moment of dire need."

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One dead, one hurt in SA speed boat crash

ONE person is dead and another has been rushed to hospital after a speedboat crashed on the Murray River in South Australia.

SA Police say Saturday afternoon's accident occurred during a competitive event.

"There were two victims, one is sadly deceased," an SA police spokesman said.

"The other has got some serious burns and has been flown to the Royal Adelaide Hospital."

The Adelaide Advertiser reported the victims were both male, but SA Police were unable to provide further details.

"It was a sad tragic way of ending the day's competition there," the police spokesman said.

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Alleged Sydney card skimmer charged

A man has been caught allegedly skimming money out of ATMs in Sydney's west using stolen card data. Source: AAP

A MAN has been caught allegedly skimming money out of ATMs in Sydney's west using stolen card data.

Police were contacted after the 27-year-old was seen acting suspiciously in Parramatta on Friday morning, walking from one ATM to another, allegedly making transactions with several cards.

Officers later detained and searched the man, finding 15 store cards, which are believed to have been encoded with stolen card data. He also had more than $4000 in cash on him.

The Fairfield man was charged with dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception and two other related charges.

He was granted conditional bail and is due to appear at Parramatta Local Court on July 16.

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Man dies after car hits pole in Victoria

A MAN has died after his car left the road and struck a power pole in the Victorian town of Warragul.

Police believe the 19-year-old Warragul man was driving west along Queen Street just before 7pm on Saturday when he lost control on a bend and collided with the pole.

He died before he could be airlifted to a city hospital.

Police are investigating reports the driver was involved in an earlier collision in Drouin and will prepare a report for the coroner.

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