Plane crashes in Bali but all 108 survive

A Lion Air plane carrying 108 people has overshot the runway at Bali's international airport. Source: AAP

A LION Air plane carrying 108 people has crashed into the sea after overshooting the runway as it came into land at Bali's Denpasar International Airport.

Officials said that all passengers and crew were safe, although at least seven people had been taken to Denpasar's Sanglah Hospital with head wounds and broken bones.

Many passengers arrived with wet clothes and bruises.

The Boeing 737-800 had been attempting to land at Ngurah Rai International Airport at about 3.50pm local time (5.50pm AEST) on Saturday when it overshot the runway.

Photographs shown on Indonesian television showed the plane's fuselage had split into two parts just behind its wings, and the plane half submerged in shallow water.

Andis, a passenger who was on the flight, said there was a loud bang as the plane hit the water, prompting panic.

"I looked down. It was suddenly sea," Andis said.

"I realised that the plane was flying too low, but we still stayed calm until we heard a bang. There was panic."

A spokeswoman with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra said efforts were being made to find out whether any Australians were on the flight.

"The Australian Consulate-General in Bali is making urgent inquiries to determine whether any Australian citizens may have been involved in air crash is Bali on Saturday afternoon," the spokeswoman said.

"At this time we are not aware that there are any Australian victims."

The Lion Air fight 904 was due to arrive at Denpasar at 3.40pm local time (5.40pm AEST) after leaving from Bandung about two hours earlier.

Initial reports suggested there were about 130 people on the flight.

But Eko Diantoro, an official from Bandung Airport, later said the flight manifest showed that the plane was carrying 101 passengers, including five children and one baby, as well as seven crew.

Lion Air commercial director Edward Sirait confirmed that some passengers had been taken to a hospital in Denpasar.

"All passengers and crew are safe, 101 passengers and seven crew. They've been taken to the nearest hospital," he said.

Mr Sirait said that the plane was new, and began operating last year.

"The plane is Boeing 737-800 NG, Next Generation. It's a new one, a 2012 product," he said.

Lion Air started operating in 2000 and services more than 36 destinations, mostly in Indonesia.

The airline last month agreed to buy 234 Airbus planes and announced that it planned to target new routes in Asia, as well as a venture in Australia.

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Man dies in Qld quad bike accident

A man has died in a quad bike collision in north Queensland, police say. Source: AAP

A MAN has died in a quad bike collision in north Queensland.

The 35-year-old was riding at Blackrock, south of Ingham, when he ran into the rear of another quad bike and rolled, police said.

He was taken to hospital but died a short time later.

The driver of the other quad bike was uninjured.

Police said the forensic crash unit was investigating the incident.

A second motorist, a 37-year-old man, died when his ute flipped outside Mitchell, west of Brisbane, on Friday.

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NSW man attacks police with samurai sword

Police have been attacked with a samurai sword by a man they were trying to arrest in NSW. Source: AAP

POLICE have been attacked with a samurai sword by a man they were trying to arrest on the NSW mid-north coast.

About 2.30 pm (AEST) Friday four officers went to a home in Eungai Creek to arrest a man after a warrant was issued by Macksville Local Court.

"As police approached the front door, a man exited the premises allegedly armed with a Samurai sword," police said in a statement.

A fight broke out between the officers and the 51-year-old.

A male detective was cut on the left hand as police attempted to disarm the man.

Another male detective senior constable "sustained soreness to his right hand and left arm," police said.

The assailant was taken to Macksville Hospital and was treated for a number of wounds.

He was charged by virtue of the warrant and also for using a weapon to to avoid apprehension and resisting arrest.

Bail was refused and he's due before Kempsey Local Court on Monday.

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Sydney drug house fitted with booby traps

Police say they have found a live electrical booby trap during a raid on a drug house in Sydney. Source: AAP

POLICE have uncovered more than half a million dollars worth of cannabis in a suburban home, but there was another shock in store at the southwest Sydney property.

The Cabramatta house was also fitted out with two electrical booby traps that police believe were designed to zap unwary trespassers.

The raid on Friday afternoon turned up 222 cannabis plants with a street value of nearly $600,000.

As part of the search warrant, technicians conducted a routine search for an electrical bypass.

They discovered not only a bypass but two booby traps linked to it.

Police will allege one live trap was attached to the handle of a door to a room full of cannabis plants and a second, inactive trap was connected to the handle of the back door.

It's believed the traps could be activated upon leaving the house to give an electrical shock to would-be trespassers.

Investigations are continuing to identify those responsible.

In an unrelated raid on Friday, Strike Force Zambesi investigators seized 73 hydroponically-grown cannabis plants at a Canley Vale house.

A 50-year-old man was charged with cultivating a prohibited plant and being found on drug premises.

He was granted conditional bail to appear in Liverpool Local Court on June 5.

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SA man on child exploitation charges

A South Australian man has been charged with producing child exploitation material. Source: AAP

A SOUTH Australian man has been charged with producing child exploitation material after a tip-off from interstate authorities.

Detectives arrested the 70-year-old man from Adelaide's northern suburbs after receiving information from Queensland police.

The man has been charged with one count each of accessing, producing and possessing child exploitation material of an aggravated nature and one count of basic possession of child exploitation material.

Police will allege that the access and production offences occurred over the internet on December 17 last year and that the possession offences occurred on Saturday at the man's home address.

The aggravated aspect of the offences is due to the age of the children depicted in the material, police say.

The man was granted police bail and will appear in the Elizabeth Magistrates Court on May 15.

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Asylum-seeker boat may have sunk

ONE asylum seeker boat is feared to have sunk on its way to Australia while another has been detained by the Indonesian navy after running aground near Sulawesi.

Indonesian search and rescue authorities are trying to locate where a boat carrying about 70 asylum seekers reportedly sank in the Sunda Strait at about midnight (3am AEST).

The Indonesian national search and rescue agency, BASARNAS, confirmed on Friday there were reports some people had been rescued by a fishing boat.

"We received information from Australia from AMSA that around 12am a ship carrying immigrants has sunk in south of Sunda Strait. It's said that it carried around 73 people," a BASARNAS spokesman told AAP.

He said BASARNAS was trying to find the exact location after being informed of the possible sinking on Friday morning by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).

"We don't have the co-ordinates for the area where we could search," a Jakarta search and rescue officer told AAP.

"We only received information from BASARNAS that it's in south of Sunda Strait and they've been rescued by local fishermen. But where is it? We're now contacting local ports and others if they have such information."

But an Indonesian navy patrol was able to pick up and detain 82 asylum seekers including scores of Muslim Rohingya from Myanmar when their boat ran aground as they headed to Australia from southwest Sulawesi, an immigration official said on Friday.

The 51 Rohingya, 24 Iranians and seven Somalis had been heading from Sulawesi island, in the east of the country, to East Nusa Tenggara, one of the closest Indonesian provinces to Australia, he said.

"They were heading to Australia, as usual," immigration official Muhammad Bakri told Agence France Presse.

The migrants, including several children, were taken to the nearby city of Makassar where they were being registered and questioned by immigration officials.

Meanwhile, the Australian Federal Police on Friday said it played a key role in the Pakistani police bust of a people-smuggling syndicate responsible for an asylum-seeker boat which sank leaving 94 people dead.

The Pakistani Federal Investigations Agency (PFIA) arrested four key syndicate members involved in the first boat sinking last year, an AFP spokesman said on Friday.

The AFP helped the PFIA and the Indonesian National Police identify the organisers and facilitators responsible for that vessel.

The first boat, carrying 152 ethnic Hazara asylum seekers, left Indonesia for Australia in June 2012 and sank south of Java, killing 94 people.

The syndicate apparently sent asylum seekers on valid visas to Malaysia, from where they travelled to Indonesia to board boats for Australia.

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Milne eyes Greens leadership long term

Christine Milne says she intends to lead the Greens well beyond the September election. Source: AAP

CHRISTINE Milne intends to lead the Greens well beyond the September election after notching up her first year in the job.

Saturday marks 12 months since the Tasmanian senator took over from party icon Bob Brown amid suggestions she would only be warming the seat before a generational change.

But Senator Milne, whose seat will not be contested at the September 14 federal election, says she plans to stay in the job long term regardless of how the party performs at its first poll without Dr Brown at the helm.

"We're a democratic party and all of our positions are thrown open after an election," she told reporters in Hobart.

"I would like to stay in the leadership of the Greens into the future because we've got big things to deliver."

Senator Milne nominated solar energy plants, high-speed rail and the positioning of Hobart as China's gateway to Antarctica as items still on her agenda.

"There are so many big-ticket items, and the only way they're going to be secured for this country is with the Greens," she said.

"We will actually stand firm.

"We've got the courage to stand up and I've got a lot of things to deliver."

Flanked by her 41-year-old deputy Adam Bandt, Senator Milne said the leadership handover from Dr Brown, who she described as the party's first "wise elder", had been seamless.

"We have been almost textbook perfect in terms of a leadership transition," she said.

Her 12 months in the job had delivered the federal government's clean energy legislation, the banning of a controversial super-trawler, an increasingly successful fight against coal seam gas and a social justice focus, she said.

Woodside Petroleum's announcement on Friday that it was reconsidering a proposed gas plant in the environmentally sensitive Kimberley coastal region of Western Australia was icing on the one-year birthday cake.

"Of course, it has been a challenge to drive the biggest social, environmental and economic reform in decades in terms of addressing global warming," Senator Milne said.

"There's nothing (we) could be more proud of in terms of setting the country up for where we need to be in a global economy which is recognising innovation, new technology, low carbon is the future."

Polling slipped for the Greens after Dr Brown's departure but has since stabilised.

Senator Milne blamed the federal opposition for the challenge facing progressive parties across Australia.

"A lot can be attributed to the hugely negative campaign Tony Abbott has run, and it's way over the top," she said.

"He's been exposed as having told a pack of lies (on the carbon tax)."

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Airlines cut ticket prices in April

Discount economy ticket prices among Australia's airlines fell by as much as 20 per cent in April. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIA'S domestic airlines cut the price of their cheapest economy tickets in April.

Discount ticket prices for domestic travel fell by as much as 20 per cent compared with March, according to the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics.

Business class ticket prices were little changed in April although remain about 25 per cent cheaper than in 2011 when Virgin Australia gradually introduced business class into its fleet in a bid to lure more corporate travellers from Qantas.

In December, the price of a business class ticket fell to the lowest level since the bureau began collecting records in 1992.

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Thousands chase 'Best Jobs in the World'

More than 300,000 people have submitted applications for the 'Best Jobs in the World' promotion. Source: AAP

MORE than 330,000 people have applied to work Down Under as part of Tourism Australia's six 'Best Jobs in the World' promotion.

The competition has attracted entrants from 196 countries, all keen to win one of the dream jobs.

The most sought-after is NSW's Chief Funster, closely followed by South Australia's Wildlife Caretaker and then Queensland's Park Ranger, Western Australia's Taste Master, Northern Territory's Outback Adventurer and Victoria's Lifestyle Photographer.

The largest number of applications came from the US, followed by the UK, Italy, France, South Korea and Australia.

Tourism Australia managing director Andrew McEvoy says the competition has raised the profile of the Working Holiday Maker program.

"It's already doing a fantastic job of planting those seeds," he said in a statement.

The program's Facebook page has gained nearly 300,000 new fans since the competition was launched.

More than 430,000 people are now actively seeking information about a working holiday in Australia.

Applicants now face a nervous wait to see if they've made it through to the next stage of the application process.

The 25 best applications for each of the six jobs will be announced on April 24 and a final shortlist of three candidates for each job will be flown to Australia for selection in June.

The six winners will be officially announced on June 21.

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Browse decision sparks extreme reactions

WOODSIDE axing its James Price Point gas hub has left the federal and West Australian governments insisting investment in the nation's resources isn't over, and that the Browse fields will eventually be developed.

Those assurances were dismissed by environmentalists, who claimed victory in a long-fought war and poured salt into the energy giant's wounds by celebrating outside its Broome office.

Newly installed federal resources minister Gary Gray said the government remained "absolutely confident" that the Browse Basin - which also contains oil - would be commercialised, generating jobs and wealth.

Woodside's decision didn't mean the investment boom in Australia's resources had peaked, Mr Gray said.

WA Premier Colin Barnett also talked up the inevitability of the Browse Basin being exploited, saying it had enough gas resources to be as big as the Carnarvon Basin off the Pilbara coast, which contains the massive North West Shelf gas plant.

The Browse Basin also contained oil, and there was additionally the shale gas potential of the Kimberley's onshore Canning Basin - all of which needed an export facility, Mr Barnett said.

While Mr Barnett latched on to Woodside's suggestion it could proceed with a smaller onshore plant, Greens leader Christine Milne said the party would not back any alternative development proposals such as an offshore "floating" plant until it heard firm details.

Hinting that some green groups might have claimed victory too soon, Ms Milne said the battle was not won until WA legislation allowing the development was repealed.

Still on the left but with a very different view, Australian Workers' Union national secretary Paul Howes said the decision was a disaster for jobs.

"They have sacrificed tens of thousands of Australian jobs at the altar of higher profits for Woodside and (partner) Shell executives," he said.

He called on the federal government not to renew Woodside's retention leases in the Browse Basin, which expire in December next year.

As extreme reactions continued, Kimberley Land Council (KLC) chief executive Nolan Hunter was more circumspect, stopping short of saying he was disappointed.

The project going ahead was obviously a key requirement for native title claimants to receive $1.5 billion worth of benefits that would flow to the local indigenous community over 30 years, but there was still the chance of "minimal benefits", he said.

Mr Hunter said the deal, which had been struck with the state government and Woodside, remained commercial-in-confidence, but it was about more than just jobs.

The deal had been structured to include environmental protection measures, ensuring "it wasn't development at any cost", he told AAP.

Mr Barnett said he was deeply upset the local indigenous people would now be denied the benefits package.

The same observation was made on the other side of state politics, with Ben Wyatt, WA Labor's treasury spokesman, saying the Aboriginal people of the Kimberley should be allowed to keep the benefits package irrespective of how the gas was developed.

"The Aboriginal people of the Kimberley must be able to keep this crucial package once the Browse gas deposits are developed," said Mr Wyatt, the nephew of the first indigenous lower house MP Ken Wyatt.

But with high costs being blamed for Woodside's decision, that may take many years.

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Qld men bashed women 'without challenge'

Three Queensland men linked to an unsolved double murder of two Sydney nurses are to face court. Source: AAP

A GANG of men linked to the murders of two nurses 40 years ago used to bash and abduct women in Toowoomba's main street without being challenged, a court has heard.

The second inquest into the murders of Lorraine Wilson, 20, and Wendy Evans, 18, has been told key suspects Ungie Laurie, his nephew Allan John "Shorty" Laurie, and Wayne "Boogie" Hilton and their associates were never challenged by police over their behaviour.

Former friend Darryl Sutton told Toowoomba Magistrates Court that Hilton and his friends used to grab women in the street at night by their hair, "throw them around" and punch them.

"They would try to run but no one, including police, ever intervened," he said.

"Who was going to stand up to those boys in those days?"

Ms Wilson and Ms Evans disappeared while hitchhiking in Queensland in October 1974.

The inquest also heard that another person of interest, Donald "Donnie" Laurie, had let slip incriminating details about the victims' last moments.

Donald Laurie's former housemate, Betty Staib, said via a phone link he had told her the women had been tied to a tree for two or three days and he had tried to give them water.

Ms Staib said he had quickly denied he was involved in any wrongdoing.

While Donald Laurie, Shorty Laurie and Hilton have all since died, Ungie Laurie, 63, and another person of interest, Terrence O'Neill, faced an open court in relation to the murders for the first time.

Both denied involvement in the killings and played down their former association with each other and other suspects, although other witnesses have described a close-knit group.

O'Neill's apology to the Sydney nurses' families on Wednesday was dismissed as an insult and a "pack of lies" by Ms Wilson's brother.

Eric Wilson believes his sister Ms Evans was killed by a "gang of mongrels" who terrorised the Toowoomba community in the 1970s.

"We heard people put their hands on the Bible and swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and all we got is a pack of lies as far as I'm concerned," he told reporters outside the court.

"I can only imagine the fear those poor girls must have gone through after I heard the evidence from all those people."

Earlier, O'Neill, 62, addressed the public gallery where Mr Wilson and other relatives of the slain women were sitting.

"I never had nothing to do with the death of your sisters or friends or whatever they were," he said from the witness stand.

"If my mates were involved in that, then I hope to Christ that it brings you closure and that the court system ... disgraces them.

"I'm very, very sorry for your loss."

Mr Wilson said the apology was "highly insulting".

The skeletal remains of the two women were found in 1976 in bushland, at Murphys Creek, at the foot of the Toowoomba Range.

An inquest in 1985 did not result in any arrests.

The current inquest continues.

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'Federal anti-corruption body needed'

A FEDERAL watchdog must be established to investigate alleged links between former NSW MP Richard Torbay and almost $48 million of Centrelink tenancy leases, an anti-corruption advocacy group says.

Transparency International Australia (TIA) said a federal anti-corruption investigator, similar to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in NSW, should be established so allegations of corruption are not investigated internally.

"These bodies exist in most state and territory jurisdictions, but there is not yet a general federal oversight body that is independent of the government and the bureaucracy," TIA chief Michael Ahrens said in a statement.

"The same temptations exist for public servants in the Commonwealth sphere as those at the state level."

The call comes after a Fairfax investigation revealed links between Mr Torbay and his associates and several Centrelink leases worth almost $48 million.

More than $11 million has been spent by Centrelink leasing spaces in three buildings in which Mr Torbay has invested.

Mr Torbay, previously the independent member for the Northern Tablelands, resigned from parliament last month after information was referred to ICAC.

On Tuesday in his first public statement since leaving politics, Mr Torbay said he intends to "cooperate fully" with investigators.

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British bosses 'enjoy bonus boom'

BRITISH bosses saw their pay packets surge over the past year on the back of a "bonus boom" despite the fragile economy, a survey shows.

The basic salary of chief executives rose by just 1.8 percent over the last 12 months, but "leapt" by 15.8 percent when bonuses were included, the Chartered Institute of Management (CIM) said in its national management salary study.

The survey was based on data taken from more than 43,000 executives across 180 organisations in Britain.

The average company chief executive salary stood at more than STG215,000 ($A316,269.49), compared with about STG43,000 ($A63,253.90) for a middle manager, according to the CIM.

"It's hard to believe that company directors and CEOs have seen such a big leap in bonus payments when the UK's economic performance remains so sluggish," said CIM boss Ann Francke.

"If organisations aren't performing, leaders shouldn't get these bumper rewards, especially when pay increases for all other management levels have been so much smaller."

The CIM added that the average chief executive in Britain was paid almost 20 times as much as in 1973, which was when the survey was launched.

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US couple held after taking kidnapped sons

Cuba says it will return to the US a couple who kidnapped their two sons and fled to Havana. Source: AAP

A US couple who had fled to Cuba after snatching their two young sons from the care of their grandmother are behind bars in Tampa, Florida, authorities say.

A US aeroplane carrying Joshua Hakken, his wife Sharyn Patricia and their sons, aged two and four, landed in Tampa from Cuba early on Wednesday, local media reported.

Hakken was attempting to flee US authorities when he took his wife and boys to Cuba aboard his sailboat on Monday.

Joshua Hakken was booked in the Hillsborough County, Florida jail and faces charges that include child neglect, kidnapping, burglary, and grand theft auto, while Sharyn Hakken will face charges of kidnapping, interference with child custody and child neglect, according the website of the sheriff's office.

TV footage showed the couple arriving in the United States in handcuffs.

Aboard the plane were local, state and federal agents who flew to Cuba to bring the family home, the Tampa Tribune newspaper reported.

The Tampa area sheriff, David Gee, said the couple also faces federal charges of fleeing to avoid prosecution.

The children and the family dog, which went along to Cuba, will return to the home of the maternal grandmother, the sheriff told local media.

Cuba's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday it had informed the US Interests Section in Havana - which functions as an embassy in the absence of full diplomatic ties - that it would deliver the Hakkens to US authorities.

Officials in Florida had been searching for Joshua Hakken since April 3 when he allegedly broke into his mother-in-law's house near Tampa, tied her up and fled with his young boys.

The Hillsborough County sheriff's office said that Hakken lost custody of the children after being arrested in Louisiana on drug charges in June 2012, following what police described as "an anti-government rally."

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Eight new trains to ease Vic commuter pain

Eight new trains have been ordered to ease congestion on Melbourne's public transport network. Source: AAP

EIGHT new trains have been ordered to ease congestion on Melbourne's crowded metropolitan transport network.

The $176 million order will see the X'Trapolis trains imported from Europe and fitted out in the regional Victorian city of Ballarat.

They will be running on the network by 2015, Premier Denis Napthine announced on Wednesday.

The money will be allocated in next month's budget, along with $2 million to plan for procuring high capacity trains which will carry 1100 passengers, the state government said.

The order is in addition to seven trains ordered last year, four of which are already in service, Dr Napthine said.

The government made a commitment at the 2010 election to purchase 40 new trains.

Opposition transport spokeswoman Fiona Richardson said Wednesday's announcement means Melbourne commuters will be facing a shortage of 46 trains by 2017.

The Metro Strategic Operations plan stated an additional 54 trains are needed by 2017 and the order falls "ridiculously short" of what is required, she said.

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Serbia gunman kills 13, including son

A MAN has shot dead 13 relatives and neighbours, including a two-year-old child, in a tiny Serbian village, in the country's worst killing spree in two decades.

The man shot most of his victims in the head as they were sleeping before he shot and wounded himself, police said.

The motive for the pre-dawn Tuesday attack, which shocked the village outside the capital Belgrade, was not immediately clear.

"Twelve people were killed on the spot while the thirteenth died in a hospital emergency room," head of Serbian police Milorad Veljovic told journalists.

"Doctors are trying to save the lives of three injured, including the perpetrator of this monstrous murder," he said.

It was the killing spree with the most victims in Serbia in two decades, a police source told AFP.

The national RTS television identified the attacker as sexagenarian Ljubisa Bogdanovic, who it said killed six men, six women and a baby.

Police said the 13th victim was a two-year-old child.

The victims were killed in five different houses in the village of Velika Ivanca, about 50 kilometres south of Belgrade, inhabited mostly by the gunman's relatives, Veljovic said.

"There are a total of five houses, belonging to his family and his neighbours. We still don't know the motive," he said.

All the victims were sleeping when they were attacked and most were shot in the head, he added.

The killer is believed to have first killed his 42-year-old son, then his mother, and wounded his wife before continuing his killing spree.

Police later found him in the yard of one of the houses where he tried to commit suicide. The gunman was hospitalised with head injuries and doctors were fighting to save his life, Veljovic said.

Residents of the village milled around the scene of the crime, many in shock and disbelief and some crying.

Police have sealed off access to the five houses, located on a hill in a remote area of the village of about 1700 inhabitants.

"I talked to him yesterday. I asked him how he was, and he said fine. He asked me about my health," Stanica Kostadinovic, a visibly shocked neighbour in her 60s, told AFP.

"He was the best neighbour. Nothing indicated that such a thing could happen. Only he knows the motive for the killing."

"He was a good host, he and his son, nice, hard-working, always ready to help," the woman said, adding that as far as she knew the killer was not consuming alcohol.

According to police, the man had a firearms licence.

Investigators were checking the gunman's past as so far nothing from his current life hinted why he committed such a crime, a police source told AFP.

The state-run Tanjug news agency reported, quoting police, that the gunman fought alongside rebel Serbs during the 1990s war in Croatia.

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Thatcher funeral on April 17: British PM

The funeral of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher will take place on April 17. Source: AAP

THE funeral of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher will take place on April 17, current leader David Cameron's Downing Street office says.

"It was agreed this morning at the government coordination meeting with the Thatcher family and Buckingham Palace that the funeral service of Lady Thatcher will take place on Wednesday 17 April at St Paul's Cathedral," Downing Street said in a statement.

A spokesman added that the details had been agreed at a "co-ordination meeting" with the Thatcher family and Buckingham Palace on Tuesday morning.

The Queen and Prince Philip will be among the dignitaries from around the world to attend the funeral.

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No permit for ad on collapsing Vic wall

A Melbourne council didn't approve an ad by Grocon on a wall that collapsed, killing three. Source: AAP

AN advertising board fixed to a wall that collapsed and killed three people on a busy Melbourne footpath had not been approved by council.

But with various state and local laws sharing authority, it's unclear who was ultimately responsible for governing the plywood board's placement by site owner Grocon, the City of Melbourne says.

"There are intricacies in the way in which these (laws) interconnect and overlap," the council said in a statement on Tuesday.

A 15-metre-long section of the brick wall fell onto Swanston Street in the inner-city on March 28, claiming the lives of pedestrians Dr Marie-Faith Fiawoo, 33, of France, and local teenage siblings Alexander and Bridget Jones.

The council said it's working with the Coroner, WorkSafe and the Building Commission, who are all investigating the collapse.

"While assisting those inquiries remains our priority, we can confirm that the City of Melbourne has not issued a permit for the structure attached to the wall," it said.

The main construction union has speculated that the billboard may have contributed to the collapse since it was higher than the wall, acting like a sail in strong winds.

Wind gusts topped 100km/h at the time of the tragedy.

Victorian Premier Denis Napthine has said other freestanding and ageing walls around the state will be inspected to ensure their safety.

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Faster broadband for all from both parties

BOTH major parties promise faster broadband to Australians, but it's the choice of infrastructure that will determine future speeds and reliability in the decades ahead.

The coalition released its long-awaited policy on the national broadband network (NBN) on Tuesday after two years of haranguing the federal government over the delivery and cost of its scheme.

The policy follows opposition communication spokesman Malcolm Turnbull's script in offering a plan for a cheaper network that he says will be built sooner than the government's NBN.

The coalition's NBN is projected to cost $29.5 billion and be completed by 2019.

Labor's NBN is expected to cost $44.1 billion and be finished two years later.

The main point of difference is how it is built.

Under the coalition plan, fibre broadband cables would be rolled out to the node (FTTN), a cabinet on a street corner, with Telstra's copper network connecting to the home.

This would be cheaper and quicker to roll out but would offer lower speeds.

Downloads would be slower the further a house or business was from a node.

Mr Turnbull said most Australians would have access to download speeds of 50 Mbps, while a minority would have a minimum 25 Mbps.

Labor is rolling out fibre to the premises (FTTP), which will give the same download speeds to all premises along the cable.

It's current NBN plan is offering up to 100 Mbps.

There is an even bigger gap in upload speeds between the two technologies, with FTTP much faster.

However, the coalition would offer companies and households the chance to get faster speeds, if they pay for fibre to be rolled to their premises at an estimated cost of about $5000.

Some people already have the faster speeds without the extra expense, with the NBN fibre-cable rollout that began in 2010 in Tasmania.

The rollout has been plagued by setbacks but it's due to pass 341,000 premises - but not necessarily connect them all - about the time of the September 14 federal election.

Another problem for FTTN is the deterioration of copper over time and the cost of maintaining it.

Rod Tucker, director of the Institute for a Broadband-Enabled Society at the University of Melbourne, says the coalition's broadband plan will give people what they pay for.

"It is a less expensive solution that will last a little bit into the future, but not future-proof like the more expensive solution (Labor's NBN)," Prof Tucker told AAP.

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Moly Mines & Hanlong talk board numbers

MOLY Mines says its directors are in discussions with majority shareholder Hanlong Mining regarding the future composition and structure of the board of the gold, copper and molybdenum miner.

In a short statement issued after the close of share market trading, Moly Mines said Hanlong also confirmed that China EXIM Bank had not repossessed its shareholding in the miner, contrary to a media report on Tuesday.

The statement also referred to a report in Tuesday's West Australian newspaper that said Hanlong, with a 54 per cent shareholding, was seeking to remove Moly Mines' independent directors from the board.

The three independent directors - chairman Michael Braham, David Craig, and David Nixon - are understood to be the targets of a spill, which is likely to coincide with the company's annual meeting next month.

The statement comes a day after Africa-focused iron ore hopeful Sundance Resources terminated its $1.3 billion takeover proposal with Hanlong.

In December 2012 Moly Mines conducted a review of its merger and acquisition strategy in consultation with Hanlong.

Hanlong advised the Perth-based miner at the time that it maintained its support for Moly Mine's acquisition strategy and would be in a position to financially support an acquisition or project development from the second half of 2013.

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New radioactive water leak at Fukushima

The owners of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant have reported a fresh radioactive leak. Source: AAP

SOME radioactive water may have leaked into the ground from a storage tank at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, its operator says, the latest in a series of troubles at the facility.

The fresh leak comes a day after Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said up to 120 tonnes of contaminated water may have escaped from another of the seven underground reservoir tanks at the tsunami-damaged plant.

But it said the contaminated water was unlikely to flow into the sea.

The tanks store water used to cool down the reactors after radioactive caesium is removed but other radioactive substances remain.

TEPCO said radioactivity was detected in water outside a tank in the latest leak.

"We have determined that a minimal amount of water was feared to have leaked from the tank although there was no decline in the level of water inside the tank," it said in a statement

The series of leakages came after one of the systems keeping spent atomic fuel cool at the plant temporarily failed on Friday, the second outage in a matter of weeks, underlining the precarious fix at the plant.

Nuclear fuel, even after use, has to be kept cool to prevent it from overheating and beginning a self-sustaining atomic reaction that could lead to meltdown.

The plant was hit by the giant tsunami of March 2011 as reactors went into meltdown and spewed radiation over a wide area, forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes and polluting farmland.

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Canberra man stabbed in the back

A MAN has been stabbed several times in the back while waiting at a bus interchange in Canberra, ACT Police say.

Detectives believe the 38-year-old man from Kaleen was waiting on a platform about 5pm (AEST) on Sunday when he was attacked by another man.

Police arrested a 54-year-old McKellar man after several witnesses came forward with descriptions, but are calling for more information from the public.

The stabbed man is in Canberra Hospital, where he is being treated for serious injuries.

Anyone with information can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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Montenegro votes for president

MONTENEGRO has begun voting in a presidential election tipped to give the incumbent, Filip Vujanovic, a third mandate that would cement the ruling coalition's grip on power in the economically struggling Balkan state aiming to join the European Union.

Vujanovic, a close ally of veteran Montenegrin leader Milo Djukanovic, faces a sole challenger: former foreign minister Miodrag Lekic, who has managed to get the main opposition groups to overcome their bickering and back his candidacy.

The vote for president, a largely ceremonial role in Montenegro, is the country's second since proclaiming independence from Serbia, its decades-long partner, in 2006.

But it is seen as the test for long-serving Djukanovic's ruling coalition that has been in power since the break-up of the former Yugoslavia in 1990s.

Vujanovic, a 58-year old lawyer, has promised voters to focus on strengthening Montenegro as a "democratic developed country" in order to boost its efforts to join the European Union and NATO.

"My new mandate will be focused on Montenegro's European integration," said Vujanovic during the campaign.

Brussels opened EU accession talks with Montenegro last June, but the European Commission noted Podgorica should do more to uphold the rule of law and crack down on organised crime and corruption.

Lekic, 65, has made the fight against corruption and organised crime his priority, two issues seen as the main obstacles for Montenegro to speed up its European integration.

"We live in a mire of hypocrisy and corruption, in a system that humiliates people. Montenegro must clean up its yard thoroughly," Lekic said during the campaign.

A veteran politician and an architect of Montenegro's independence, Djukanovic has himself been accused of corruption, but has blasted the claims as "lies".

Experts say corruption is deeply rooted in the country of 632,000 people which struggles with an unemployment rate of 20 per cent, and where the average monthly salary is about 480 euros ($A600).

Montenegro's relatively undiversified economy relies heavily on foreign investment which drove an economic boom between 2006 and 2008. Since then, the economy has slid, and public debt has now reached 51 per cent of gross domestic product,

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Musharraf approved to run in Pakistan poll

PAKISTANI poll officials have approved former military dictator Pervez Musharraf to contest the upcoming general election, despite a litany of legal challenges against him.

Musharraf, who ruled Pakistan for nine years after seizing power in a bloodless coup in 1999, returned to Pakistan from four years in self-imposed exile on March 24, vowing to run for the May 11 poll in four constituencies.

In the far northern town of Chitral, close to the Afghan border, officials approved Musharraf's candidature on Sunday.

"His papers are in order. He is not convicted so far, so we cannot disqualify him," returning officer Jamal Khan said.

But in the retired general's home city of Karachi, officials turned down his nomination on charges of violating the constitution and sacking top judges.

Returning officer Ikramur Rehman upheld objections raised by his rivals that Musharraf had violated the constitution and sacked top judges by imposing emergency rule in 2007.

"This is a biased decision," his party official Afzal Agha said, adding an appeal would be filed against rejection of Musharraf's nomination.

Musharraf's nomination papers were rejected in the Punjab town of Kasur on Friday and a decision on his bid to contest a seat in Islamabad is expected late on Sunday.

His powerbase has shrivelled since he stepped down after nine years of military rule in 2008 and faces a barrage of legal challenges.

He has been granted bail over the 2007 killing of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and a Baluch rebel leader in 2006, and for sacking and arresting judges in November 2007.

On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear a petition asking for Musharraf to be put on trial for treason for imposing emergency rule in 2007, a move that ultimately paved the way for his downfall.

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Emigration from crisis-hit Italy rises

EMIGRATION from Italy has risen by nearly a third last year to 79,000, with a growing number of young people choosing to leave the crisis-hit country, Italian media reports, citing official data.

The number of Italian citizens registering as foreign residents rose from 61,000 in 2011. Most of the emigrants came from wealthier regions of northern Italy and their favoured destinations were Germany, Switzerland and Britain.

"Young people want to be valued and the Italian context does not allow this. That is why they try going abroad," Alessandro Rosina, demographics lecturer at Milan's Cattolica university was quoted by La Repubblica daily as saying.

"It would be wrong to stop the brain drain but there should be measures to allow circulation. Young people leave from every country but, unlike in the rest of Europe, Italy does not guarantee conditions for their return," he said.

The data showed a sharp rise in emigrants from northern Italy compared to southern Italy - the source of waves of emigration during the 20th century - which accounted for just 27 per cent of the total from 61 per cent in 2011.

The highest number of emigrants last year - 13,156 people - came from the Lombardy region, which includes Italy's business hub, Milan.

The figures showed that emigrants were becoming younger too, with those aged 20 to 40 making up 44.8 per cent of the total, from 28.3 per cent in 2011.

The data on Italian residents abroad are collated by the interior ministry.

Youth unemployment is at around 37 per cent as Italy endures its longest post-war recession, while the overall jobless rate was at 11.6 per cent in February - just lower than the record high of 11.7 per cent reached in January.

"The paradox is that people used to leave a poor country of farmers but today they are leaving... a technological and advanced country," commentator Paolo Di Stefano wrote in the Italy's best-selling Corriere della Sera daily.

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