Comedy actress Tina Fey has won an Emmy Award for her satirical portrayal of Republican vice-presidential contender Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live.

Fey was honoured at the Creative Arts Primetime Emmys, which recognise technical and other achievements.

Pop star Justin Timberlake, who did not attend, won for playing various characters on Saturday Night Live.

There were also wins for Ellen Burstyn for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Michael J Fox for Rescue Me.

“I always wanted one of these,” Burstyn said, winning her first Emmy after being nominated five times.

‘Living my dream’

In winning her award, Fey beat two contenders from her own comedy, 30 Rock, which had led the way with 22 nominations.

However, the show was only named winner of two categories - including best comedy, which it scooped last year too.

As Fey collected her trophy, she made reference to Palin, who resigned in July as governor of Alaska less than a year after she was chosen as vice-presidential contender.

“Mrs Palin is an inspiration to working mothers everywhere because she bailed on her job right before Fourth of July weekend. You are living my dream. Thank you, Mrs Palin.”

It marked Fey’s sixth career win, and she is in contention for two awards at the main ceremony next Sunday, including best comedy actress for 30 Rock

BBC period drama Little Dorrit scooped four prizes and animation show South Park was named best animated program for the third time, beating The Simpsons.

Dan Castellaneta, who voices Homer Simpson, won his fourth Emmy in the voice-over category.

TV movie Grey Gardens was one of seven shows to pick up three awards, after being nominated for 17 prizes.

The opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and American Idol also received three creative arts trophies.

Journalists have led a march in Hong Kong protesting against alleged police beatings of three reporters covering recent unrest in western China.

Demonstrators held placards reading “respect press freedom” and “reporting the news is not crime”.

The three TV journalists say that they were punched, kicked and tied up before being detained for three hours.

The alleged assaults took place during a protest in Urumqi in western China’s Xinjiang province on 4 September.

At the time, thousands of Han Chinese were protesting over a spate of stabbings with syringes blamed on attackers from the region’s Uighur Muslims.

Riot police used tear gas to quell the protests, which came amid heightened tensions between Han Chinese and Uighurs.

Footage of the rough treatment endured by the journalists shocked officials and the general public in Hong Kong, reports the BBC’s Vaudine England.

In a subsequent news conference, a senior Xinjiang official Hou Hanmin expressed regret for the journalists’ treatment - but blamed them for stirring unrest.

She also accused the reporters - TVB senior reporter Lam Tsz-ho, his cameraman Lau Wing-chuen and Now TV cameraman Lam Chun-wai - of working without permits.

‘Over the line’

Sunday’s protest was called by the Hong Kong Journalists’ Association (HKJA) and was backed by several news outlets in the city - which enjoys relative press freedom compared to the Chinese mainland.

Simmering ethnic tensions have erupted into violence in Urumqi

Scores of protesters, many wearing black, marched on the local offices of Chinese central government.

“This time the authorities are over the line,” HKJA chairwoman Mak Yin-ting told the gathering, according to AP news agency.

“They did not only beat reporters, but blamed them for inciting the public disorder.”

Democrat politician Lee Cheuk-yan said he believed Chinese security services wanted to intimidate the usually feisty Hong Kong press pack.

“I think they are starting to squeeze the Hong Kong press and to harass Hong Kong reporters so in the future they will be more worried about reporting inside China,” he said.

The Chinese government has been struggling to restore calm in Xinjiang since riots in July, the worst ethnic unrest in the country for decades.

On Saturday, a court sentenced three people to up to 15 years in jail in the first trials over the syringe attacks.

The court did not give the defendants’ ethnicity but their names suggested they were from the Muslim Uighur minority.

Mourners gathered Saturday to remember two California firefighters who died last month battling the largest fire in the history of Los Angeles County.

“We were all blessed by these two men, and we will continue to be blessed by their example and their spirit. Their deeds and their names live on,” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told the crowd at Dodger Stadium.

“Ted Hall and Arnie Quinones, you are giants in my eyes and in the eyes of all Californians.”

Hall, a captain, and Quinones, a firefighter specialist, were killed on August 30 when their vehicle slid down a steep embankment in Angeles National Forest.

Schwarzenegger said the two men were searching for an escape route for their crew, which included 55 inmates. The governor said Hall and Quinones had sheltered the crew in a cinder block dining hall.

“Everyone reached safety, except Ted and Arnie,” he said. “We are humbled by their courage.”

Firefighters are still fighting the blaze, which is 84 percent contained.

Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Frank Garrido said officials expected 15,000 uniformed firefighters and, including members of the public, as many as 40,000 people, CNN affiliate KTLA reported. No official attendance figures were immediately available

“Ted, trusty veteran, widely respected, hardcore firefighter; he was immersed in the fire service,” said Dave Gillotte, of Los Angeles County Fire Fighters, Local 1014.

“Arnie, he knew no strangers,” Gillotte said. “What a smile, what a family.”

Vice President Joe Biden also spoke at the memorial, saying there was “very little that we can do today that is going to bring genuine solace to the empty void that the families are feeling.”

Hall is survived by his wife, Katherine, and two sons, Randall, 21, and Steven, 20, as well as his parents. Quinones is survived by his wife, Loressa — who is expecting the couple’s first child within the next several weeks — his mother, his brother and numerous nieces and nephews, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Biden said the men’s wives “knew every time their husbands walked out the door to report for duty, they knew every time that it was a risk. … but they supported their husbands’ doing that job they loved.”

He added, “It’s above and beyond the call of duty when two fathers seeking to save a building full of people leave their own families behind, that’s real courage.

“The only thing we can do for certain, is to promise and keep the promise, we will give the Teds and the Arnies all the support they need, the equipment they need, the capacity they need, for we owe you.”

Public spending cuts would create a “double-quick, double-dip” recession and push unemployment over four million, the TUC’s leader has warned.

Brendan Barber called it “astonishing” that demands for reducing the budget deficit were being seen as a priority, rather than funding economic revival.

Speaking ahead of the TUC Congress in Liverpool, Mr Barber said the outlook was “very precarious”.

But Gordon Brown says the economy is “on the road to recovery”.

The TUC’s congress, which starts in Liverpool on Monday, will be the last one before the next general election and it comes at a time of strained relations between the unions and the government.

‘Tough choices’

Mr Brown will deliver an upbeat message to delegates when he speaks on Tuesday, declaring “we are on the road to recovery”, though he will say this will not be automatic and the recovery will need to be nurtured.

The prime minister will say that he will protect frontline jobs and urge TUC members not to disrupt the government’s efforts with industrial action.

Mr Brown will also say: “People’s livelihoods and homes and savings are still hanging in the balance, and so today I say to you: don’t put the recovery at risk.

At least 640 people were arrested and 14 killed in fighting in Uganda’s capital between government forces and loyalists of a traditional kingdom, police said Sunday.

A man tries to put out a fire on Friday in Kasubi, Uganda, a suburb of Kampala.

The number of people arrested for suspected roles in the three-day riots could go up because investigations are still under way, said Kale Kayihura, the nation’s police chief.

Trials for the suspects will start Monday on charges including taking part in violent acts and unlawful assemblies, Kayihura said.

At least 82 were injured, according to the police chief.

Tensions between President Yoweri Museveni and the Buganda kingdom — headed by King Ronald Mutebi II, the ruler of the Baganda tribe — have intensified in recent years.

The violence flared Thursday when the government said it would not allow the king to travel to an area inhabited by a renegade rival group.

After the travel ban, young Bagandans took to the streets, stealing ammunition from a police station and confronting officers, accusing them of harassment.

“The government is wrong to undermine cultural institutions which are the backbone of Uganda’s heritage,” said Mzamiru Balidha, a resident of Kampala. “Cultural leaders must be left alone since they are not interfering in politics.”

Rioters burned tires and cars, set buildings on fire and looted stores. Streets in the capital were strewn with debris over the weekend, including torched cars and burned tires.

Police and the army patrolled deserted but calm streets Sunday as residents tried to return to normalcy after the protests.

“I’m happy to see that there is peace now,” said Harry Sagara of Kampala. “Now people can return to work.”

Government officials and the Buganda kingdom have been at odds for years, sparring over land, sovereignty and political power.

A government official said Sunday that the two leaders have pledged to meet and address their differences.

“Both the central government and the king are still working out details of the meeting,” said Daudi Migereko, the minister of parliamentary affairs.

Bagandans are the dominant ethnic group and one of four ancient kingdoms in the nation. Kings in the east African nation are limited to a ceremonial role overseeing traditional and cultural affairs.