FIREFIGHTERS believe they will have the last of several bushfires burning in Victoria under control by lunch time today.

A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD boy who was playing under a platform at a Melbourne suburban train station has been struck and killed by a train.

QUEENSLAND police say two officers were assaulted with pieces of timber and steel piping after they stopped a truck carrying alcohol in the alcohol-restricted area at Lockhart River on Cape York Peninsula.

BRISBANE coach Wayne Bennett will front the Broncos board this week over payments that link him to one of the biggest political corruption scandals in Australia in two decades.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AFP) - The Caribbean Community, including the Dominican Republic, has agreed to open up its markets to certain European goods, on the condition that entertainment workers from the region are allowed free access to Europe.

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AFP) - Australia's new government will redouble efforts to secure a deal in the Doha round of international trade talks, the new trade minister said Saturday, but warned of tough times ahead.

BERLIN (AFP) - The PIN Group, a private postal services company which will announce layoffs of more than 1,000 of its 9,000 employees, could go bankrupt. Axel Springer, Europe's biggest newspaper publisher and 65 percent owner of the group, envisages

BEIJING (AFP) - China's central bank announced Saturday it will raise the bank reserve ratio requirement by a full percentage point to 14.5 percent on December 25.

The Tasmanian Opposition has criticised the State Government for the time it has taking to redevelop the Hobart waterfront.

UNSUSPECTING consumers are dousing themselves in toxic toilet water, thinking it's Chanel No.5.

AUSTRALIAN troops will remain in Afghanistan until at least 2010, doubling the original two-year commitment.

A TEENAGER who died after a mini motorcycle he was riding hit a parked car in Melbourne's west may have been trying to avoid police.

AUSTRALIAN children, teenagers in particular, are going through a sleep-deprivation epidemic.

A RADICAL Christian group with the ear of prominent politicians has blamed "sinful" Australians for the nation's record drought.

FORMER Queensland premier Peter Beattie says he has turned down jobs offering more than double his previous salary and will make a decision next month on his post-political career.

THE Federal Government may regulate petrol prices to stop motorists being exploited, and is considering a cap on increases of more than 3c in 24 hours.

Oh. My. God. High School Musical: Sing-a-long for the Wii is SO. MUCH. FUN. Especially when you've never played it before and you start singing and your guests don't know the words and they all sneak out while you're warbling

A FIREWORKS factory is on fire in central-western NSW after a series of explosions.

TEHRAN (AFP) - Major crude producer Iran has completely stopped carrying out its oil transactions in dollars, Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said on Saturday, labelling the greenback an & quot;unreliable & quot; currency.