Melbourne, Feb. 11: The death toll from the bushfires raging across southern Australia, and particularly in the state of Victoria, has risen to 181.

According to reports filed by both The Herald Sun and The Daily Telegraph, at least 80 people are still missing. There are reports that the death toll could reach as high as 300.

Those missing were "people who the coroner believes are already deceased, but are not yet identified," Victorian Premier John Brumby said.

Sydney  - Australian firefighter John Munday told of his heartache at saving the lives of his crew but leaving others to their deaths in fire-ravaged Marysville.

"We had people banging on the sides of our tanker begging us to go back to houses where they knew people were trapped," Munday told The Australian newspaper Wednesday. "But we couldn't because if we had, we'd all be dead too."

Sydney  - An Australia Navy diver was in serious condition Wednesday after being bitten by a shark within sight of the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The 31-year-old sustained injuries to his right leg and hand in the dawn attack at Garden Island naval base in Woolloomooloo.

"The attack occurred on the surface," Rear Admiral Nigel Coates told local radio. "He fought off the shark. He hit the shark a few times, as I understand it, and then swam a couple of metres to the safety boat, which was obviously nearby."

Sydney  - Police searched for arsonists in Australia's south-east Wednesday as officials defended their handling of forest fires expected to have claimed over 200 lives.

"If you thought back to last Friday, we all gave warnings, I gave warnings," Victoria state Premier John Brumby said. "And, the fact is, you can't cater for an evacuation of half a million people."

Adelaide, Feb. 10 : The Hussey brothers -- Mike and David -- on Tuesday ensured that the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy would be decided by Friday''s final match in Brisbane after they helped Australia to a six-wicket win that levelled the series 2-2.

For the first time in the series, New Zealand batted first and they posted a moderate 244, which on a good pitch was not enough against an Australian batting order starting to find form.

Melbourne, February 10 : Orlando Bloom flew in from Los Angeles to Australia to give his model-girlfriend Miranda Kerr an early Valentine''s Day surprise.

The `Kingdom of Heaven' actor was spotted in his trackies, while sporting a mullet cut that he has adopted for his role in `Sympathy for Delicious'.

While the 32-year-old apparently refused to let out a word on his marriage plans with his 25-year-old love interest, he was glad to be back to spend a weeklong break in the country.