Motorcyclist killed in Melbourne's north

A MOTORCYCLIST has died in a collision with a car in Melbourne's north.

Victoria Police say the man, who is believed to be aged in his late 30s, died at the scene of the accident in Greenvale at about 11.30pm on Sunday.

They say the exact cause of the crash has yet to be determined but they think the car struck the man's motorbike at the junction of Somerton Road and Fleetwood Drive.

The female driver was alone in the car and uninjured. She is assisting police with their inquiries.

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Council demands action after record summer

THE Climate Council says Australia experienced "another angry summer" this year, with more than 150 temperature records broken.

The environmental group's report Angry Summer will be released by Professor Tim Flannery on Monday, who said Australia witnessed substantial heat records, heatwaves and extreme weather events over the season.

According to the report, Sydney had its driest summer in 27 years, and Melbourne experienced its hottest ever 24 hour period with an average temperature of 35.5 degrees celsius.

Perth had its second hottest summer and its hottest ever night, and Adelaide suffered through a record 11 days of 42 degrees or more.

Meanwhile, towns from Tamworth to Mount Gambia to Roma all broke records for the daily maximum temperature.

Professor Flannery said the scorching summer was part of an overall trend of more extreme weather events in Australia, and called for action on cutting carbon emissions.

"The latest summer was an another example of climate change tearing through the record books," he said in a statement.

"If we want to stop them getting worse this is the critical decade for action."

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NSW inquiry into Ellis case opens

A PUBLIC hearing into the Catholic Church's handling of a child sexual abuse claim that ended up in the NSW courts opens in Sydney on Monday.

John Ellis, a lawyer who was abused as a child by a priest in the Sydney parish of Bass Hill, sued the Archdiocese of Sydney as well as the trustees of the church in 2005.

The case ended up in the High Court, which decided a trust could not be held liable for abuse.

The same court upheld a lower court decision that Archbishop George Pell could not be sued over abuse that occurred decades before he became archbishop of Sydney.

The case has become known as the Ellis defence and it is alleged the church uses it to persuade abuse victims to settle complaints through the internal process called Towards Healing.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse hearing will focus on Mr Ellis's experiences in the Towards Healing process and in civil litigation.

The hearing will be the second commission case study examining the application of Towards Healing.

Royal Commission CEO Janette Dines said the hearing will be an opportunity for the commission to examine the response of the Catholic Church to Mr Ellis's claim, including "the circumstances in which the Catholic Church raised what is commonly referred to as the Ellis defence".

Cardinal Pell, who has just been appointed to a senior position as head of Vatican finances in Rome, will give evidence during the hearing, which may run for two weeks.

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Qld plane family 'braced for worst'

RELATIVES of a Queensland couple feared dead after the Malaysia Airlines plane they were travelling on disappeared over the South China Sea have thanked Australians for their support but say they are braced for bad news.

"All the family members are trying to remain positive for any hope of survivors (but) we are bracing ourselves for the worst possible outcome," the family of Cathy and Bob Lawton said in a statement released by Queensland police.

The Lawtons, who are parents to three children and grandparents to two, were among six Australians on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 when it vanished from radar early Saturday somewhere at sea between Malaysia and Vietnam.

The flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing had 239 people on board, including a second Queensland couple, Rodney and Mary Burrows, and Paul Weeks, a New Zealander living in Western Australia.

Authorities are still searching for the plane while investigating suspect passengers who boarded with stolen passports.

"We wish to thank the Australian public for their well wishes and prayers," the statement said.

"Our family is at present trying to come to terms with this terrible tragedy.

"Our family's hearts go out to all of the 239 passengers, crew and their families on board this flight."

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Syrian rebels battle al-Qaeda fighters

SYRIAN rebels have seized a compound held by al-Qaeda-linked militants as their one-time allies used car bombs against them, in some of the most serious infighting between fighters challenging the rule of President Bashar Assad.

The rebel-on-rebel fighting against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is the strongest pushback yet from Syrian rebels who have seen their uprising to topple Assad hijacked by al-Qaeda forces seeking to impose Islamic rule in opposition-held portions of the country.

The clashes began on Friday after residents accused the al-Qaeda-linked fighters of killing a doctor in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo. Fighting quickly spread to rebel-held areas of the northeast province of Idlib and the central province of Hama.

The clashes widened on Sunday, with at least one outside of Aleppo pitting the ISIL against the Nusra Front, which is also an al-Qaeda-aligned group, said Rami Abdurrahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Another clash struck the town of Tabqa in the eastern province of Raqqa, where ISIL forces are most dominant, Abdurrahman said.

The Observatory obtains its information from a network of activists on the ground.

Rebels seized the ISIL compound in the town of Manbij in the northern province of Aleppo, activists said.

The Observatory said ISIL fighters also used car bombs for the first time to defend its territory. Other activists reported ISIL was pushed out of the town of Atmeh.

There always has been resentment against ISIL in Syria, whose fighters, a mix of foreigners and locals, fanned into the country last year, taking advantage of the upheaval to assert power in areas seized by rebels.

It is seen as particularly brutal in Syria's civil war for its abductions and killings of anti-Assad activists, journalists and civilians seen as critical to their rule.

But other residents welcome the group for chasing out thugs who terrorised residents in opposition-held areas, and for distributing food and aid to the poor.

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Bombings kill 20 in Baghdad

A NEW wave of bombings has hit Iraq's capital, Baghdad, killing at least 20 people.

The deadliest attack took place in Baghdad's Shi'ite northern Shaab neighbourhood, when two parked car bombs exploded simultaneously near a restaurant and a tea house. Officials say those blasts killed 10 people and wounded 26.

Authorities say a parked car bomb ripped through in capital's Shi'ite eastern district of Sadr City, killing five and wounding 10. Another bombing killed three civilians and wounded six in a commercial area in the central Bab al-Muadham neighbourhood, officials said. Two other bombings killed two civilians and wounded 13, police said.

Medical officials confirmed the causality figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to release information.

The attacks come as Iraqi security forces are besieging two key cities country's western Anbar province after they were taken over by militants from al-Qaeda's local branch, known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant.

Clashes have been taking place since Monday in Anbar's provincial capital, Ramadi, and nearby Fallujah between al-Qaeda militants and pro-government Sunni tribesmen. The Baghdad bombings could be seen as an attempt by militants to distract security forces.

Earlier on Sunday, a senior Iraqi military commander said that it will take a few days to fully dislodge al-Qaeda-linked fighters from two key western cities.

Lieutenant General Rasheed Fleih, who leads the Anbar Military Command, told the state television Sunday that "two to three days" are needed to push the militants out of Fallujah and parts of Ramadi.

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Rescuers search for Goa collapse survivors

THE death toll in a building collapse in India's southern state of Goa has risen to 15, as rescuers raced against the clock to save up to 20 people feared trapped beneath the debris.

A five-storey building under construction caved in on Saturday at the seaside town of Canacona, trapping workers on the site.

Police, who had earlier confirmed 11 deaths, say more bodies have since been recovered.

"The death toll stands at 15, with 14 bodies recovered from the debris and one person dying at the hospital," police inspector Prashel Desai said by telephone from the scene on Sunday.

Twenty five injured workers were being treated at hospitals.

"We cannot confirm how many people are still trapped, but according to witnesses there should be 20 more people inside," he added.

Media reports say the number of those trapped could be higher.

The rescue operations continued into Sunday night, with the chances of finding survivors fading by the minute and piles of concrete still needing to be removed.

Marshy land around the site was also making rescue operations more difficult.

Rescue workers were using cranes and bulldozers, shovels and bare hands to free the trapped workers. About 150 army soldiers had joined police, firemen and disaster management personnel in the effort.

"They are using gas cutters and other machines, but reaching those trapped inside is not easy," Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said.

"It looks like the foundation was not laid properly so the entire building has toppled," he said.

A criminal case has been filed against the builder, contractor and municipal engineer of the residential complex, who have yet to be arrested.

Building collapses are common in India. More than 60 people died in an apartment building that crumbled in the city of Mumbai in September.

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Cyclist critical after Helensburgh crash

A CYCLIST is in intensive care after being struck by a vehicle south of Sydney.

The 58-year-old man was riding south on the Old Princes Highway at Helensburgh about 6.15am (AEDT) on Sunday when he was hit by a vehicle, police say.

He was found injured next to the road by a group of cyclists a short time later.

The man was treated at the scene for suspected fractures before being taken to St George hospital.

Police have appealed for anyone who may have witnessed the incident to come forward.

They are particularly interested in speaking to the driver of an older model white Ford Laser with Victorian registration and green P plates.

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Polish composer Wojciech Kilar dies

WOJCIECH Kilar, a Polish pianist and composer of classical music and scores for many films, including Roman Polanski's Oscar-winning The Pianist and Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula, has died. He was 81.

The composer died Sunday in his hometown of Katowice, southern Poland, following a long illness, according to Jerzy Kornowicz, head of the Association of Polish Composers.

Kornowicz said, "The power and the message of his music, as well as the noble character of Wojciech Kilar as a person, will stay in my memory forever."

Kilar's main love was composing symphonies and concertos, and he always put that above movies, even though he wrote the scores of dozens of films. He drew inspiration from Polish folk music and religious prayers and hymns.

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Drive-by shooting and bomb in Iraq kill 6

A DRIVE-BY shooting and a bomb in Iraq have killed at least six people.

Police say gunmen in a speeding car opened fire on Sunday at a check point run by anti-al-Qaeda, pro-government Sunni militiamen in Baghdad's western suburb of Abu Ghraib, killing four and wounding three.

The Sunni militia, known as the Awakening Council, was formed by the US forces during the height of the insurgency. They are seen as traitors by al-Qaeda local branch and other militant groups.

The officer added that two civilians were killed and eight wounded when a bomb exploded in an outdoor market in the capital's western Jihad neighbourhood.

Medical officials have confirmed the figures.

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