ACCUSED pedophile Dennis Ferguson has been awarded more than $2000 in compensation from a pensioner who ran him out of town, but the acting premier has warned he may not see any of it.

BRONCOS coach Wayne Bennett has joked about allegations Darren Lockyer tackled a bar manager - saying the Brisbane captain might simply have been working on his tackling technique.

STEPAHNIE Rice says Brisbane has produced the best Olympic parade yet, despite it being the first welcome home she has attended.

ACCUSED pedophile Dennis Ferguson has been awarded $2250 in criminal compensation for being run out of Ipswich - and taxpayers may foot the bill.

A WEAKER dollar could delay an interest rate cut due to worries about the effect of higher petrol prices on inflation, economists say.

THE United States said yesterday it was putting together a rescue plan to clear away the mountains of bad debt that have weighed down banks and caused the worst financial crisis in decades.

TROUBLED diversified industrial group Nylex is in a poor state as a result of a debt fulled spending binge that occurred 10 years ago, executive chairman Peter George said today.

TECH companies have put on the strongest showing, and financial companies the weakest, in the latest study on the hottest brands in the world.

MACQUARIE shares have rebounded today, surging 38pc, after being hit hard yesterday on fears of its ability to refinance debt.

THE corporate watchdog has reiterated there are restrictions on short selling, and further regulations are being considered by the government, after the market turmoil of the past year.

GOLD prices have surged this week as the precious metal profits from its status as a safe haven in times of economic turmoil.

Shares in Suncorp Metway rose 9 per cent after the banking and insurance company arrested its recent share price fall by completing the underwriting on its dividend reinvestment plan (DRP) early.

IRON ore miner Fortescue Metals Group has reported an annual bottom line net loss and said it will not provide a forecast for the current year because this may prejudice "the interests of the company".

A FRAUDSTER who claimed to be related to Victorian Liberal leader Ted Baillieu to get more than $270,000 in betting credits has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison.

SERIAL killer Peter Norris Dupas has won the right to continue an appeal against his conviction for the 1997 murder of a woman as she tended her grandmother's grave.

THE lawyer for multiple murder Martin Bryant has been jailed for more than two years for stealing half a million dollars from his clients and law firm.

POLICE in Perth have charged a 24-year-old sports coach with a number of sex offences against a 12-year-old girl.

ONE person has died in a house fire in a remote area south of Hobart.

A TEACHER who had sex with a student in a school darkroom during three years of abuse which began when she was 14 had shown no remorse, a court heard today.

A SHOCKED bank teller was taken to hospital after a man armed with a knife threw a brick at him during an armed robbery in Melbourne today.