The inferno that swept across Victoria killing 173 people on February 7 generated
enough energy to fuel 1,500 atomic bombs, the bushfires royal commission has been
told.

The NSW north coast is copping a battering from a storm which lashed southern
Queensland - with properties isolated, widespread blackouts and emergency services

The two older brothers of a Melbourne boy already confirmed with swine flu have
themselves tested positive to the virus.

Reni Maitua's rugby league career appears in tatters after the Cronulla forward was
suspended by the NRL for testing positive to a banned substance.

An emergency situation in Surfers Paradise, imposed by police after heavy objects
were flung off high-rise buildings on Wednesday afternoon, has been revoked,

Australian woman Annice Smoel has been released from detention in Thailand and is
free to travel home, according to reports in Phuket.

Residents of the Victorian town of Boolarra were told they still had time to prepare
their homes for an approaching bushfire, 45 minutes before the town was engulfed.

Growth funds in superannuation schemes had the best monthly performance in over a
decade in April as the local equity market recovered from a six-year low.

Sick of Jason Akermanis' sniping, the Brisbane Lions have issued a "please explain"
to AFL rivals the Western Bulldogs over the Brownlow medallist's latest outburst -

Cries for help from the children Josef Fritzl imprisoned in a dungeon under his
Austrian home would have been heard by people living above, a new book claims.