About 60 – 70 homes have been assessed so far.

A man has died and three others are seriously injured after a car overturned in Victoria's north-east.

Police say the car had rolled at the intersection of Greta Road and Clarkes Lane, before coming to rest in a paddock, about 7.15pm in Wangaratta.

A 26-year-old passenger, from Beaconsfield, died at the scene.

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A 24-year-old Beaconsfield man suffered life-threatening injuries and was airlifted to hospital.

A 16-year-old Wangaratta boy was also airlifted to hospital with serious injuries.

The driver of the car, a 23-year-old Wangaratta man, was taken to a local hospital, where he remains with non-life-threatening injuries, and under police guard.

Major Collision Investigation Unit detectives are investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash.

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The collapse of Australia's largest soft plastics recycler is getting worse the more investigators learn, following the discovery of 14 plastic stockpiling sites previously kept secret.

New stashes of plastic waste, which REDcycle was being paid many millions to recycle, have been exposed for the first time in Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania.

Those sites take the total number of REDcycle stockpile locations to 44, up from the 32 which were known in February.

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Additional discoveries have been made in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, states which were already recorded as hosting some REDcycle sites.

Liquidators, environmental agents and supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths have been trying to unravel the true nature of REDcycle's failed nationwide operation since the company was found late last year to have been stockpiling plastics in warehouses instead of recycling them.

The numbers involved are huge.

In December, about 3000 tonnes of soft plastics, or the equivalent of half-a-billion plastic bags, were tallied up across 18 sites.

But over the last three months, authorities have been able to confirm REDcycle had been hiding more than double that number, with 44 stockpiles now known.

Officials have not revealed an updated plastic tonnage figure.

A spokesperson confirmed the new locations to 9news.com.au today in a statement, after the story was first reported in The Age.

"To date, we have identified a total of 44 sites where REDcycle had been stockpiling soft plastics without our knowledge," the spokesperson said.

"We have contacted the operators of every site to develop an action plan to ensure this material is stored safely.

"With new information continuing to come in, we're navigating a complex range of sites and challenges, and we know this process will take time."

REDcycle, which is run by the company RG Programs and Services, had been secretly amassing the plastics since June, when a fire destroyed a Melbourne factory which was pivotal to its recycling operations.

In the months that followed, the company kept quiet as its hoardings of plastic grew into mountains.

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REDcycle was supposed to collect and recycle plastics from Woolworths and Coles customers, who were left astonished when the truth emerged.

The Environment Protection Authority Victoria has charged RG Programs and Services and it now faces a possible fine in excess of $165,000.

Woolworths and Coles have been left scrambling to find an alternative to landfilling the gigantic collection of plastic.

"We're assessing logistics and warehousing arrangements for each stockpile on a case-by-case basis, as we continue to discuss recycling options with several reputable processors overseas," the spokesperson told 9news.com.au.

"Simultaneously, we are working through the Soft Plastics Taskforce to develop a new in-store recycling program to fill the gap left by REDcycle's collapse, and we look forward to seeing contributions by other brands and retailers which produce soft plastics."

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When REDcycle was initially suspended, the company refused to provide information on specific stockpile locations and volumes to Woolworths and Coles.

After its operations were exposed, REDcycle CEO Liz Kasell said the company had been struggling to keep up with demand, with a 350 per cent surge in people recycling plastic products.

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Parrtjima, A Festival in Light has returned to the desert near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.

Two sisters had a close encounter with a highly venomous spider not often seen by humans in the Blue Mountains over the weekend.

Video filmed by Meg Jefferson in the rugged Eucalypt bushland west of Sydney – and shared by local exploration group Blue Mountains Explore – shows the large black and red spider clambering over the ground.

The arachnid is a red-headed mouse spider and believed to be a female, which is said to be as potentially dangerous as the Sydney funnel-web.

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"Yuck, that is making me sick," a voice can be heard off-screen. 

Jefferson told 9news.com.au she was hiking with her sister near Bilpin on Saturday when they encountered the striking spider.

"It was unreal to see," she said.

"It was so unfazed by our presence and all I could focus on was its red head and big fangs.

"You can actually listen to the video and hear how my sister felt about it."

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The Australian Museum said female red-headed mouse spiders can produce "copious amounts of a highly toxic venom, which is potentially as dangerous as that of the Sydney funnel-web spider".

With that said, bites are very rare as females tend to remain in, or near, their burrows.

READ MORE: What to do if you encounter a deadly snake, spider or jellyfish

"Funnel-web spider antivenom has proved effective in the one confirmed case," Australian Museum added.

The Australian Reptile Park confirmed the two spiders are distinct species.

"Funnel-webs and mouse spiders do have some similar physical characteristics but they're technically not in the same 'family' – funnel-webs are in the Atracidae family and mouse spiders are Actinopidae," a spokesperson said.

Any bite from a big, black spider should be treated the same way as a snake bite. 

A pressure-immobilisation bandage should be applied around the affected limb and wound, and urgent medical attention sought.

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In an Easter message highlighting hope, Pope Francis invoked prayers for both the Ukrainian and Russian people, praised nations which welcome refugees and called on Israelis and Palestinians wracked by the latest surge in deadly violence to forge a “climate of trust.”

Francis, along with dozens of prelates and tens of thousands of faithful, celebrated Easter Mass in a flower-adorned St Peter’s Square, affirming the Christian belief that Jesus rose from the dead days after his crucifixion.

The 86-year-old pontiff topped the celebration with a traditional speech about troubled places in the world. Encouraging “trust among individuals, peoples and nations," Francis said Easter's joy “illumines the darkness and gloom in which, all too often, our world finds itself enveloped.”

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The pope's Easter message is known by its Latin name, ”Urbi et Orbi," which means “to the city and the world.”

Since Russia invaded neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022, Francis has repeatedly called for the fighting to end and sought prayers for the “martyred” Ukrainian people.

Ukrainian diplomats have complained that he hasn't come down hard enough in his statements on Russia and particularly Russian President Vladimir Putin as the Vatican tries to avoid alienating Moscow.

“Help the beloved Ukrainian people on their journey towards peace, and shed the light of Easter upon the people of Russia,'' Francis implored God in his Easter speech, which he delivered while sitting in a chair on the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica facing the square.

”Comfort the wounded and all those who have lost loved ones because of the war, and grant that prisoners may return safe and sound to their families."

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He urged the international community to work to end the war in Ukraine and “all conflict and bloodshed in the world, beginning with Syria, which still awaits peace.”

Francis also prayed for those who lost loved ones in an earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey two months ago, claiming tens of thousands of lives.

With a renewal in deadly violence affecting both Israelis and Palestinians in recent days, Francis called for a "resumption of dialogue, in a climate of trust and reciprocal respect, between Israelis and Palestinians, so that peace may reign in the Holy City and in the entire region,'' a reference to Jerusalem.

But Francis also noted progress on some fronts.

“Let us rejoice at the concrete signs of hope that reach us from so many countries, beginning with those that offers assistance and welcome to all fleeing war and poverty," he said, without naming any particular nations.

How to care for asylum-seekers, migrants and refugees, and whether to allow them entrance, is a raging political and social debate in much of Europe, as well in the United States and elsewhere.

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Francis also prayed that national leaders “ensure that no man or woman may encounter discrimination” and that there would be “full respect for human rights and democracy.”

With migrants risking their lives in smugglers’ unseaworthy boats in hopes of reaching Europe, the pope lamented that Tunisia's people, particularly the young, struggle with social and economic hardship.

In the last two weeks, dozens have died or were left missing after attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Tunisia.

The pope included Lebanon and two African countries he visited this year – South Sudan and Congo – among the nations in need of ending divisions and building reconciliation.

Speaking about Haiti, he appealed to “political actors and the international community to seek a definitive solution to the many problems that afflict that sorely tried people.”

The bloody conflicts cited by Francis contrasted with a riot of bright colours lent by orange-red tulips, yellow sprays of forsythia and daffodils, hyacinths and other colourful seasonal flowers that decorated St Peter's Square. The blooms were trucked in trucks from the Netherlands.

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By the end of the pope's appearance, some 100,00 people had flocked to the square in time for the pontiff's speech, according to the Vatican's crowd count.

A canopy on the edge of steps on the square sheltered the pontiff, who was back in the public eye for the Mass 12 hours after a 2.25-hour long Easter vigil ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica the night before.

Francis was hospitalised from March 29 to April 1 for treatment of bronchitis. Still recovering, he skipped the traditional Good Friday procession at Rome’s Colosseum due to unseasonably cold nighttime temperatures.

Near the end of the more than two-hour-long Easter Sunday appearance, Francis seemed to run out of steam. His voice grew hoarse and he interrupted his speech at one point to cough.

He nonetheless made several laps through the square in the popemobile after the Mass, waving and smiling at cheering well-wishers.

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These photos are completely fake – but they look eerily real.

Eight people remained missing after the building they lived in exploded and collapsed near the French port of Marseille on Sunday, leaving mounds of burning debris hampering rescue operations, officials said.

More than 100 firefighters worked against a ticking clock to extinguish flames deep within the rubble of the five-storey building, but more than 17 hours later "the situation is not yet stabilised," Marseille Prosecutor Dominique Laurens said at an evening news conference.

Earlier in the day, officials had thought that between four and 10 people may have been trapped. Laurens said police have yet to confirm the apparent disappearance of a ninth person who lived in a next-door building. Five people suffered minor injuries from the collapse, which occurred shortly before 1am.

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Marseille Mayor Benoit Payan said two buildings that share walls with the one that collapsed were partially brought down before one later caved in, another complication in the search and rescue operation. The buildings were among evacuated structures.

Drones and probes have been used to examine the scene for signs of life. The burning debris was too hot for dogs in the firefighters' canine team to work until Sunday afternoon, though smoke still bothered them, the prosecutor said.

We cannot intervene in a very classic way," Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said during a visit to the site. He said the fire was burning a few metres under the mounds of debris and that both water and foam represent a danger to victims' survival.

An investigation has been opened for involuntary injury, at least initially sidestepping possible criminal intentions. A gas explosion was among the tracks to check, said Laurens, the prosecutor. But the start of the probe also was limited by the heat of the blaze.

"The flames weren't pink. They were blue," Payan said.

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Firefighters, with the help of urban rescue experts, worked through the night and all day Sunday in a slow race against time.

The delicate operation aimed to keep firefighters safe, prevent further harm to people potentially trapped in the rubble and not compromise vulnerable buildings nearby, already partially collapsed. Some 30 buildings in the area were evacuated, Darmanin said.

The building that collapsed is located on a narrow street less than a kilometer from Marseille's iconic old port, adding to an array of difficulties for firefighters and rescue workers.

China says it is simulating precision attacks on key targets in Taiwan as the military drills it launched in response to the island president's meeting with the US House speaker enter a second day.

The mock drills on Sunday included "tactical manoeuvres" by the Chinese navy, state media reported.

Multiple services had carried out "simulated joint precision strikes on key targets on Taiwan Island" and in the surrounding waters, CCTV reported.

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It said the exercises, dubbed "United Sharp Sword", were being carried out under the supervision of the Eastern Theatre Command of the People's Liberation Army.

Taiwan's defence ministry reported that, as of noon local time, it had detected a total of 58 PLA warplanes over the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, of which 31 crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's ADIZ, or air defence identification zone. It said it had also detected a total of nine PLA navy vessels.

China launched the exercises on Saturday, a day after Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen returned from a 10-day visit to Central America and the United States where she met US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

It described them as "a serious warning against the Taiwan separatist forces' collusion with external forces, and a necessary move to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity".

Beijing had repeatedly warned against Tsai's meeting with McCarthy and had previously threatened to take "strong and resolute measures" if it went ahead.

China's ruling Communist Party claims the self-governing democracy of Taiwan as its territory despite never having ruled it, and has spent decades trying to isolate it diplomatically. It has not ruled out using force to take control of the island.

China reacted in a similar fashion when then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August, launching a series of military drills that surrounded the island and firing missiles over it.

Those drills were the first time China had fired missiles over the island, and many experts saw them as representing a major escalation of China's military intimidation against Taiwan.

China says Operation Joint Sword military drills will continue through Monday.

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Northland, Auckland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty all in firing line for thunder tonight.