Sydney - It seems simple enough: the warning comes in of an approaching forest fire and householders decide whether to stay or go.

Some are confident of their abilities and level of planning and opt to put up a fight to save their homes. Others just jump in the car and flee.

"Warning! What warning?" asks Wade Horton, who had a plan but still lost his house in Saturday's blazes north of Melbourne. "The smoke was coming over all day, but from what we could tell it was miles away, and then I walked up the front and I saw it hit the top of the mountain and within a minute it was down to the bottom of the valley and that whole valley across the other side was a wall of fire."

Brisbane, Feb. 9: Former Australia fast bowler Andy Bichel has announced his retirement from cricket at age 38.

Queenslander Bichel, who played 19 Tests from 1997-2003, decided on Monday to hang up his boots after a long battle with a shoulder injury.

A bustling fast bowler and hard-hitting lower-order batsman, Bichel took 58 wickets at 32.24 as he played the bulk of his Tests as the first-change bowler to Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie.

Brisbane (Australia), Feb. 9 : Indian-trained surgeon Dr. Jayant Patel carried out a series of badly considered and poorly performed surgeries that cost the lives of three patients, a magistrate's court here was told on Monday.

The 58-year-old Patel is facing 14 charges, including three counts of manslaughter, two of grievous bodily harm, an alternative charge of a negligent act causing harm, and eight counts of fraud from his time as director of surgery at Bundaberg Base Hospital in Queensland between 2003 and 2005, reports news. com. au

Melbourne, Feb. 9 : The death toll in Australia''s worst ever bushfires has risen to 107 and, authorities expect it to go up to at least 230.

Fires were still burning out of control and putting towns at risk in the Beechworth and Yackandandah regions in the state''s northeast, even as Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has accused arsonists in Victoria of committing mass murder.

Wellington  - The New Zealand government launched a nationwide aid appeal for victims of Australia's bushfires on Monday with a donation of 500,000 New Zealand dollars (265,000 US dollars).

"Australians are our closest friends and neighbours, and we want to help them as much as we can in their time of need," Foreign Minister Murray McCully said, inviting fellow New Zealanders to donate to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund.

Sydney  - Kinglake was a picture-perfect high-country town 100 kilometres north-east of Melbourne that was home to 600 people.

On Saturday a forest fire barrelled through and now it's little more than a name on a map.

Survivor Christopher Harvey is convinced that "there was no chance of fighting or taking care of this fire." One minute the crimson ball of flame was on the ridge above the town, the next it was in their midst.