Sydney - Police on Monday lowered the death toll from last month's forest fires north of Melbourne from 210 to 173.

The February 7 blazes were Australia's biggest natural disaster, destroying over 1,800 houses, leaving 7,500 people homeless and blackening 450,000 hectares of forest.

Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe said the tally had always been provisional and that the downward revision was a "good news story" because fewer people were now believed to have died.

Melbourne, Mar 29 : Britain's Jenson Button led home a sensational one-two finish for Brawn GP in its debut Formula One team start at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Button rocketed away from the pole to lead throughout the 58 laps of the season-opener and kept clear of the mayhem behind him to cruise home in a safety car finish for his second victory in 154 GPs.

The 29-year-old was never headed in the 58-lap race, beating teammate Rubens Barrichello and Toyota's Jarno Trulli.

Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton finished third in his McLaren.

Melbourne - Jarno Trulli recieved a 25-second penalty for overtaking during a safety car phase at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday which elevated world champion Lewis Hamilton to third place.

The Toyota driver Trulli dropped from third to 12th place in the classification due to the penalty. Hamilton moved on to the podium behind the Brawn GP duo of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, up from 18th on the starting grid.

Melbourne, March 29 : Reese Witherspoon had to toil real hard on her voice for her role in the movie “Monsters Vs Aliens”, especially when movie bosses wanted her to sound like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The Oscar-winning actress stressed on the need to depict voice transition for her role as a Modesto native who later becomes 49 ft 11 in tall after being struck by a glowing meteor.

"One of the hardest parts of doing the movie for me was the voice I had to use when I was really big,'''' the Daily Telegraph quoted her as saying.

Sydney, Mar 29 : After Austria and Italy, another man has been arrested for allegedly fathering eight children with his daughter.

Arcedio Alvarez, a Colombian man, is said to have abused his daughter, now in her thirties, since she was less than 10 years old.

The man was arrested on Friday in the town of Mariquita, after a complaint was filed by his daughter.

Her first pregnancy happened when she was only nine years old.

The woman had a total of 14 pregnancies from the relationship, although six ended in miscarriages. The offspring are now aged age one to 19.

Canberra, Mar. 29 : Australian troops engaged in the war against Taliban may have to spend almost a decade in Afghanistan, an expert has claimed.

Clive Williams, Australian National University’s Visiting Professor on Defense Studies, said the fight with the Taliban would continue while US-aligned troops train the Afghan Army.