AUSTRALIAN banks ignored the sub-prime crisis and took greater risks in the home mortgage market to see of a challenge from rivals.

THE Rudd Government will use its multi-billion-dollar surpluses to boost the economy as it warns the financial crisis is moving into a "new and dangerous phase".

ALL eyes are on the share market after PM Rudd tells Aussies to steel themselves as financial crisis hits.

AUSTRALIAN stocks are expected to open flat today as Wall street closed the week lower following its horror session on Thursday.

BILLIONAIRE businessman George Soros has slammed the US administration's "ill-conceived" handling of the global banking crisis.

BRITAIN'S biggest mortgage provider HBOS said the takeover of the bank by Lloyds TSB remained on, rejecting a report that the deal had collapsed.

TWO toddlers have died after being trapped inside a burning caravan in an Aboriginal community in Western Australia, police say.

A GRAPHIC advertisement with a distinctly "creepy theme" is the latest weapon in the fight to change driver behaviour and reduce deaths on Australian roads.

THE woman at the centre of last year's Melbourne CBD shooting says she is still tortured by guilt over the death of one of the Good Samaritans who tried to help her.

A MAN in his 40s collapsed while competing in the Melbourne Marathon today and was taken to hospital in a serious condition.

DALE Lapthorne won't rest until he knows the truth about what happened to his daughter.

VICTORIANS are growing uneasy about immigration amid a record migrant intake by the Rudd Government.

A GIRL has been taken to hospital after a 7m tree branch fell on her and another youngster as they ate at a Melbourne cafe.

AN Adelaide girl, 12, died after being denied cancer treatment on the advice of a "bogus practitioner", a parliamentary inquiry will hear today, prompting warnings for people to beware of quackery.

A NEW South Wales woman, who made lesbian pornography with teenagers, will ask the High Court to clear her name so she can work with disadvantaged children.

A MOTORCYCLIST killed in a crash in Melbourne's outer east late last night was the third person to die on Victorian roads yesterday.

CRASHES involving learner drivers have killed 50 people across Victoria since 2005.

A HIGH speed police chase ended last night with the arrest of an unlicensed driver in Victorian bushland.

A WEDDING ring is believed to have been found in the stomach of one of the crocodiles suspected of taking Vietnam veteran Arthur Booker.

FEDERAL Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull has delivered a searing attack on John Howard accusing him of losing Queensland votes with his hardline stance on climate change.