Motorcyclist killed in Vic crash

A MOTORCYCLIST has become the third person to die on Victorian roads in a single day after a three-vehicle collision in outer Melbourne.

Police say two motorcycles and another vehicle were involved in the crash, which occurred in Lilydale at about 6pm (AEST) on Friday.

One of the motorcyclists, a 32-year-old Airport West man, died at the scene.

A second motorcyclist, a 43-year-old Avondale Heights man, was taken by air ambulance to hospital with life threatening injuries.

The driver of the vehicle, a 53-year-old Lilydale man is assisting police with their enquiries.

Earlier on Friday, two women died in a three-car smash in Melbourne's outer northwest.

An elderly woman had been driving at Bulla when her car collided with two oncoming vehicles about 10.30am (AEST) on Friday, police said.

Both she and a woman driving one of the other cars died at the scene, while those travelling in a third car escaped injury.

Police are investigating whether one of the cars was travelling on the wrong side of the road.

In a third serious collision on Friday, an 85-year-old man suffered life threatening injuries after being struck by a car in Malvern East.

Victoria's road toll stands at 73, compared to 83 at the same time a year ago.

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Militants kill 13 Afghan troops

SCORES of heavily armed Taliban militants killed 13 Afghan soldiers in fierce clashes after storming an army post in the east of the country near the Pakistan border.

More than 100 militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and guns launched the attack in Nari district of Kunar province, attacking the post from three directions before dawn.

"The attackers were heavily armed," a senior police officer in Nari district, who declined to be named, told AFP.

"We have recovered the bodies of 13 of our soldiers, the outpost has been nearly destroyed."

The attack was finally pushed back after several hours when Afghan military and police reinforcements arrived. One soldier was severely injured, police said.

Defence ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zaher Azimi confirmed the attack but said that exact casualty figures were not available.

"We are still in the process of gathering information," he said.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the assault in an email to AFP and said that the militants had seized all weapons and ammunition from the army post.

The border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan is a key battleground in the fight against the militants, many of whom use safe havens inside Pakistan to launch attacks against Afghan soldiers and the US-led military coalition.

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Sydney man charged over child porn

A MAN allegedly caught filming up the skirt of a young girl at Sydney train station has been charged after police found child pornography on his mobile phone.

The 35-year-old man was arrested at Sutherland train station about 10am (AEST) Friday when officers found "a number of child abuse and up-skirting images" on his mobile, police said.

His Sutherland home was raided shortly after with police seizing CDs, DVDs, recording devices, computers, an iPad, two mobile phones and a small amount of steroids.

He was charged with producing, disseminating or possessing child abuse material, filming a person's private parts without consent and possessing a prescribed restricted substance.

Conditional bail was granted and he's due before Sutherland Local Court on May 2.

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Australia's unemployment rate hits 5.6%

Australia's unemployment rate has jumped to its highest level in more than three years. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIA'S unemployment rate has jumped to its highest level in more than three years and is expected to rise further, boosting the chances of further interest rate cuts.

The unemployment rate rose to 5.6 per cent in March, from 5.4 per cent in February.

The total number of people with jobs fell by more than 36,000 as the unemployment rate hit its highest level since September 2009, the Australian Bureau of Statistics found.

The figures partially reversed a surprise surge in February, which saw total employment rise by 71,500, one of the largest monthly rises in the history of the survey.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch Australia chief economist Saul Eslake said while the February figure probably reflected changes to the population sample used by the ABS, the March data was a better reflection of the state of the jobs market.

He expects the unemployment rate to move higher in the next few months before peaking around six per cent.

In fact, he says, the unemployment rate would already have been that high if it hadn't been for a fall in workplace participation during the past two years.

The economy is still creating jobs but not quickly enough to keep up with population growth.

And if the unemployment rate continues to rise, Mr Eslake believes further rate cuts will be back on the agenda as early as June.

"If this trend continues, and I expect it will, it will materially add to the case for further rate cuts," he said.

Business groups warned the latest unemployment figures were a sign of worse things to come in the jobs market.

"Amongst many sectors we are seeing hiring restraint or shedding including in construction, retail and manufacturing and there is no signal this is improving," Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry chief economist Greg Evans said.

"We are concerned the mainstream economy may not be growing sufficiently to keep a lid on an unemployment rate which is trending higher."

But CommSec economist Savanth Sebastian said the volatility of the employment figures made it difficult to assess the current strength of the jobs market.

"If anyone had been wondering what was the true state of the labour market, they would certainly still be confused after the latest jobs result," he said.

"Such volatile swings in employment across two months certainly make it difficult to pick a trend. Clearly the answer lies somewhere in the middle."

Tasmania recorded the biggest rise in unemployment, lifting 0.7 per cent to 7.3 per cent, followed by NSW and Victoria which recorded increases of 0.2 per cent to 5.5 per cent and 5.6 per cent respectively.

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'Bear' joins Vic police force with a growl

A new high-tech armoured rescue vehicle has been added to Victoria's crime-fighting artillery. Source: AAP

A NEW high-tech armoured rescue vehicle has been added to Victoria's crime-fighting artillery, helping police tackle terrorism and get a grip on dangerous scenarios.

The $400,000 "BearCat" vehicle, imported from the United States, will be used for sieges, armed stand-offs and in dealing with dangerous criminals.

"It is bullet resistant, blast resistant and it means Victorian police have up-to-date modern vehicles to use in a dangerous and hostile situation," Police Minister Kim Wells said on Thursday as he grabbed the keys for the armoured beast.

Federal Emergency Management Minister Mark Dreyfus said the vehicle could also be used for counter-terrorism and rescue operations.

Police are thrilled with the new tool in their arsenal.

Deputy Police Commissioner Tim Cartwright said the BearCat is carefully designed to protect police against armed offenders.

"(When) our guys are in this, they are protected from armed offenders and they get a greater opportunity to rescue people who are in need," he said.

The first BearCat vehicles were supplied to the ACT, the Northern Territory and South Australia mid-2011, as part of a national counter-terrorism committee project and will be provided to every state and territory.

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Serbian gunman dies after killing 13

A SERBIAN gunman who shot dead 13 people earlier this week before shooting himself in the head has died from his injuries, a hospital source says.

"Ljubisa Bogdanovic passed away at 2pm (2200 AEST)," the source at Belgrade's emergency centre told AFP on Thursday.

The 60-year-old Bogdanovic on Tuesday went on a shooting rampage in the tiny village of Velika Ivanca, 50 kilometres south of Belgrade, killing six men, six women and a two-year old boy.

The motive for the murders remains unclear, although his wife Javorka, who was herself shot and injured, and another relative reportedly told police the gunman had a history of domestic violence.

The victims are expected to be buried on Friday as Serbia remains in shock after its worst such bloodbath in 20 years.

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Hollande to eradicate global tax havens

MIRED in a scandal over an ex-minister's secret Swiss bank account, French President Francois Hollande has vowed to "eradicate" tax havens, increase checks on officials' finances and crack down on tax cheats.

Laying out a series of measures just over a week after his former budget minister Jerome Cahuzac was charged with tax fraud, Hollande promised "a relentless battle against the excesses of money, greed and secret finance."

The new "moralisation" drive will include measures to limit the use of tax havens by forcing banks to expose their foreign activities, Hollande told a post-cabinet press conference on Wednesday.

"Tax havens must be eradicated in Europe and the world," Hollande said.

"French banks will be required to every year make public the list of all their subsidiaries everywhere in the world, country by country," and will be required to "declare the nature of their activities," he said.

Hollande said he wanted the requirement extended to banks across the European Union and eventually to major corporations.

Hollande also announced initiatives to restore confidence in public officials and boost the fight against tax evasion, with a new law to be presented by April 24.

A new "completely independent" government authority will be created to monitor the assets and potential conflicts of interests of ministers, parliamentarians and other senior elected officials, he said.

The government has already ordered ministers to declare their assets publicly by Monday and other officials will face the same requirement once the law is adopted.

A special prosecutors' office will also be created to lead the fight against corruption and tax evasion, and punishments for fiscal crimes will be increased, Hollande said.

His Socialist government is scrambling to contain the scandal surrounding Cahuzac, who last week was charged with tax fraud after admitting to having an undeclared foreign bank account containing about 600,000 euros ($A754,053).

Critics have called for a cabinet reshuffle over the scandal and said the new measures did not go far enough to restore confidence in the government.

"We're still as much in the dark," said the head of the main opposition right-wing UMP party, Jean-Francois Cope.

"None of the measures proposed would have prevented the Cahuzac scandal."

"The attempts at distraction continue. The president has still not taken the full measure of the scandal, of what's happening with Cahuzac," said Christian Jacob, the head of the UMP faction in the lower house National Assembly.

Hollande said he felt "wounded" and "bruised" by the scandal, insisting that Cahuzac's behaviour "goes against all of my personal views".

Cahuzac - who resigned on March 19 after prosecutors opened a probe into the account - had repeatedly denied its existence to the president, on the floor of parliament and in media interviews.

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Cruise giant fined for Italy disaster

ITALY'S Costa Crociere, the biggest cruise operator in Europe, has accepted limited responsibility for the Costa Concordia disaster in which 32 people died.

A court ruled the company will have to pay a fine of one million euros ($A1.26 million) and will no longer be investigated for alleged responsibility in the disaster. Costa will instead aim to take part in the expected trial as an injured party.

"It is a balanced solution," the company's lawyer, Marco De Luca, told reporters in Grosseto in Tuscany where the court hearing was held and where preliminary hearings will begin on Monday to decide whether the accused should face trial.

Prosecutors have levied charges against six people including captain Francesco Schettino and the head of Costa Crociere's crisis unit Roberto Ferrarini for the January 2012 incident.

The charges have to be confirmed before any trial can go ahead.

The giant luxury liner crashed into the Italian island of Giglio with 4229 people on board just as many passengers were dining on the first night of their Mediterranean cruise, prompting a panicked and chaotic night-time evacuation.

Dozens of passengers are suing the company for damages, although most of those who were not injured or did not lose loved ones have accepted 11,000 euros in compensation from Costa, which belongs to US giant Carnival.

Wednesday's ruling bears only on the criminal investigation and not on civil proceedings.

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Iran boosts aid effort after deadly quake

At least 30 people have been killed and 800 injured in a 6.1 magnitude earthquake that hit Iran. Source: AAP

IRAN has stepped up relief efforts for survivors of a powerful earthquake that killed 37 people and damaged dozens of villages but left its sole nuclear power station unscathed.

More than 90 villages in the southern province of Bushehr were hit hard by Tuesday's quake, with two destroyed, the head of Iran's Red Crescent rescue corps, Mahmoud Mozafar, told state television.

More than 850 people were injured and about 800 houses were destroyed.

Mozafar said the priority was to get aid to stricken villages after the search for survivors ended on Wednesday morning.

Ali Alipour, who owns a cultural centre in the village of Khormoj, about 35 kilometres from the quake's epicentre, said he had run for cover when it hit and "the sound of death filled the fields".

"Water and food are being distributed among survivors. Portable toilets are also being set up," Alipour told AFP.

Authorities said the relief operation got underway a few hours after the 6.1-magnitude quake struck at 4.22 pm (2152 Tuesday AEST) on Tuesday.

About 2100 tents have been set up in the quake zone, emergency officials said.

The epicentre was just 90 kilometres southeast of the port city of Bushehr, home to Iran's only nuclear power plant.

Iran said it had informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that there had been no damage to the plant.

The UN watchdog said its incident and emergency centre was "not currently seeking additional information from Iran" following analysis of the "earthquake's magnitude and other seismic parameters, as well as its location."

Iran's atomic energy chief Fereydoon Abbasi Davani said the plant was not operational when the quake struck as it was "under maintenance," Iranian media reported.

The Russian-built plant was designed to withstand an earthquake of a magnitude greater than 8, Abbasi Davani added.

The plant's chief engineer, Mahmoud Jafari, said "no operational or security protocols were breached."

First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi and Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najar travelled to the quake zone to check on relief operations, state television reported.

A resident, who asked not to be identified, said power and water supplies were "gradually being restored".

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Aust-China free trade talks set for May

TALKS on a free trade agreement between China and Australia will continue in May, Prime Minister Julia Gillard says.

The two countries agreed to start negotiations on the FTA in April 2005 and to date 18 rounds of talks have been held.

Ms Gillard told reporters in Beijing on Tuesday that she had told Premier Li Keqiang in their first formal meeting since he came to power in March that it was a "gap" in the relationship that Australia wanted to rectify.

Trade Minister Craig Emerson said Australia was seeking "high ambition" from the agreement, including agricultural tariffs and quotas, manufactured goods, services, temporary entry of people and foreign investment.

"We could have a low ambition FTA, like a trophy to sit on the national mantelpiece...but we want it to do work," he said.

Dr Emerson said that during the meeting with Premier Li in the Great Hall of the People on Tuesday, the Chinese leader had looked around the room asking: "Who is the FTA guy?"

"I said I'm the FTA guy," Dr Emerson said.

"The premier was very keen and spent some considerable time talking about the challenge but also the great benefits an FTA would bring."

Australia has six FTAs with New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, US, Chile and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The countries covered by these FTAs account for 28 per cent of Australia's total trade.

Australia is engaged in nine FTA negotiations covering a further 45 per cent of Australia's trade.

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