Sydney  - To some, it's just fun. To others, it's psychopathic behaviour they can't control. To Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, deliberately starting fires on scorching days in the wooded fringes of towns is nothing short of mass murder.

"There are no other words to describe it other than mass murder," Rudd said, after the death toll in the nation's worst-ever forest fires topped 100.

Sydney  - The enormity of south-east Australia's forest fires was revealed Sunday, with as many as 40 people believed dead, hundreds of houses destroyed and swathes of countryside turned to ash.

The official death toll from Saturday's inferno stands at 35, but police expect a rise above 40 as they pick through the wreckage of homes, sheds and of the vehicles that failed to outrun the fires.

Melbourne's Alfred Hospital is struggling to cope with burns victims.

Melbourne, Feb. 8: The Australian cricket team is probably going through its toughest phase in 14 years, losing both home and away Test series, and a one day series at home in the last four months, but former captain Kim Hughes says that sticking together will be the key factor to facilitate a return to the position of world champions.

Sydney, Feb. 8 : The New Zealand cricket team that is in Australia to compete for the Chappell-Hadlee trophy, is optimistic, but not ready to be cocky about handing out a possible 5-0 score line to the Kangaroos.

According to middle-order bat Ross Taylor, the Kiwis are well aware of Australia's capability to bounce back when their backs are pinned to the wall.

Sydney  - Sue Aldred knows the adrenalin rush when the sky is crimson, fireballs leap from tree to tree and it's either your house turned to ash or the narrowest of escapes.

"I did fear for my life at one point," said Aldred, who saved her house when fire rushed through her township of Kinglake on Saturday night. "All of a sudden, we were in a raging inferno, there was coloured smoke and the noise was indescribable."