Price-fixing French yoghurt firms fined

FRANCE'S competition authority has fined the country's dominant yoghurt makers 192 million euros ($A266.98 million) for fixing prices over several years.

THE decision announced on Thursday targets 11 companies - including Yoplait and Lactalis - that represent 90 per cent of the French market in yoghurt and related products.

The cartel was uncovered thanks to a special procedure that allows companies to report their own price-fixing activity to regulators in exchange for reduced fines. Yoplait was the first company to report the activity, and was given no fines.The companies agreed on how and when to raise prices from 2006 to 2012, as yoghurt executives held secret meetings via dedicated phone numbers and in hotels, a famed Paris cafe and an apartment, according to the ruling.The companies can appeal the decision.

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High winds set to hamper bushfire efforts

Aircraft are dumping retardant in a bid to contain a bushfire that continues to burn in Tasmania. Source: AAP

WINDS forecast to reach speeds of up to 100km/h will hamper efforts to control a bushfire which continues to tear across northern Tasmania.

BURNING for more than 48 hours and through some 1000 hectares of bushland near George Town, the fire remains out of control and is heading east toward dense forest, the Tasmanian Fire Service says.

"The winds are of quite a bit of concern to us," incident controller Steve Lowe said on Thursday afternoon."We have done some really hard work on the northern front and if we can hold it, hopefully we can get on top of it, but it all depends on these wind gusts that are coming through."The fire isn't threatening homes or infrastructure, but residents of Lefroy are being urged to remain alert.The township of about 70 homes was evacuated on Wednesday and the blaze came within a kilometre of residences."At this point in time there is no threat ... but we need all people in the area to remain up-to-date as conditions change," Mr Lowe said.Two fixed-wing aircraft brought in from Victoria spent Thursday dumping thousands of litres of retardant, while crews continued the battle on the ground.The focus has been on the northern, most active, fire front which is being fuelled by southwesterly winds expected to peak in speed by midnight.There is still no cause for the fire, which started in a state forest late on Tuesday.It was deemed safe enough for investigators to enter the fire ground on Thursday and begin their work.In other parts of Tasmania temperatures dipped on Thursday, with snow recorded on some peaks.

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Applications for US unemployment aid dive

THE number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell sharply last week, a sign that a recent string of strong job gains may continue.

THE US Labor Department says weekly applications for unemployment aid dropped 21,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 283,000. The four-week average of applications, a less volatile number, fell 6500 to 289,750, its lowest level in 15 weeks.

Applications are a proxy for layoffs. They have been near or below 300,000 since September, a very low reading by historical standards that points to solid hiring. The average has dropped 16 per cent in the past year.That decline has coincided with much stronger job gains. Employers added more than 1 million jobs from November through January, the strongest three-month pace in 17 years.

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Man to be interviewed over Vic hit-run

A 33-year-old man has been arrested over a hit-run accident that killed a teenager in Melbourne. Source: AAP

POLICE will interview a man suspected to be involved in a fatal hit-and-run incident in Melbourne.

A 33-YEAR-OLD Hillside man was arrested on Thursday after a police officer spotted a light-coloured SUV that allegedly hit two teenagers while they were crossing a road in Delahey.

A 17-year-old boy died in the Royal Melbourne Hospital from his injuries, and a 17-year-old girl remains in a critical condition.The pair were crossing on a green pedestrian light when they were struck by the vehicle in Melbourne's northwest, about 11.30pm on Tuesday.The vehicle allegedly ran a red light and did not stop.A police spokeswoman said the man would be interviewed on Friday morning.A second man is assisting police with inquiries.

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Vic park killer spent night drinking

A man who pleaded guilty to murdering a woman in a Melbourne park spent the previous night drinking. Source: AAP

A WOMAN who was raped and killed by a homeless man spent her final evening practising hymns for a performance at a Melbourne aged-care centre.

AT the same time, her killer, Scott Allen Miller, 43, was drinking in city bars and harassing women.

He told one woman he had an ability to "mentally" ask strangers if he could slap their bottoms and would then do so, according to documents tendered in the Melbourne Magistrates Court.Miller was kicked out of the Carlton Club on Bourke Street just after 5am on June 28 last year.He walked along St Kilda Road, where he crossed paths with Renea Lau, 32, and brutally attacked her.Miller pleaded guilty to two charges of rape and one charge of murder on Thursday.Court documents also indicate he initially frightened Ms Lau, who was on her way to her job at a chocolate shop in South Yarra.She ran across four lanes of St Kilda Road, but was chased by Miller.The next morning, walkers found her bloodied body near the police memorial in the Kings Domain park.Miller, who had been sleeping rough in the botanic gardens since arriving in Victoria the previous month, fled the city.He was arrested near Eden, NSW, and extradited to Victoria where he was charged.Miller told police in an interview he was blind drunk and had been stoned for five days when he attacked Ms Lau.He said he had not intended to kill the Chinese national, but he deserved to go to jail."I just exploded into this violent, violent rage," Miller told police in a transcript of an interview."I'm happy because I'll be in jail and I'll have a place to stay and I'll have food and I'll be able to speak to people, and so I do accept that I'm going to go to jail for this," he said.Ms Lau's boyfriend, Chun Hang Wong, said in a statement to police she was very much loved and was loyal to her friends.He last saw her late on June 27, at their church choir leader's house, where they practised the hymns they planned to sing at an aged-care centre."I said goodbye to Renea knowing we would see each other the following day at church," Mr Wong said."Renea was in a good and happy mood having spent the evening singing hymns."Miller will next face the Victorian Supreme Court on January 20.A date for his sentencing is yet to be fixed.

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Thieves crash car into WA toy shop

Ram raiders have left a WA toy shop with a damage bill of more than 20-thousand dollars. Source: AAP

RAM raiders have cost a WA toy shop more than $20,000 in damages and $1200 in stolen toys.

WA Police say offenders used their vehicle to burst through the doors of a toy shop in Balcatta just after midnight on Christmas Day.

They stole more than $1200 worth of items before fleeing in the same vehicle.The estimated damage bill is estimated to be more than $20,000.

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Bentley expands HQ, boosts jobs

Bentley will expand its UK headquarters, spending STG 40 million and creating 300 jobs. Source: AAP

LUXURY car company Bentley is to spend STG40 million ($A73.01 million) expanding its headquarters in a project that will create 300 jobs.

BENTLEY is building a new research and development (R&D) centre at its site at Crewe in Cheshire, with the new facility housing 1300 of the company's engineers.

In addition, 300 new posts have been created, with the staff working within engineering, manufacturing, quality, sales and marketing and project management.It is the latest step in getting Bentley ready to bring an ultra-luxury SUV model on to the roads in 2016.Chancellor George Osborne hailed the new jobs, describing Bentley as "an iconic British brand that exports around the world"."These highly skilled jobs in this export industry are exactly the kind of opportunities we want to see created which is why in yesterday's autumn statement I provided further incentives for R&D in the UK," Osborne said."The investment will not only create jobs at Bentley, but support many more through suppliers across the UK. I want Britain to be a country where companies want to invest and create jobs, as Bentley is doing today."Bentley Motors chairman and chief executive Wolfgang Durheimer said: "With Bentley's new R&D centre, we will develop a new generation of Bentleys, which will continue our commitment of luxury, performance, quality and engineering excellence. "

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