Sydney - Kylie Minogue, Coldplay, Kings of Leon and Olivia Newton-John are performing in simultaneous charity concerts in Sydney and Melbourne for those who five weeks ago lost loved ones and homes in forest fires.

Saturday's Sound Relief concerts were expected to draw a combined crowd of 150,000 and raise millions of dollars for those whose lives were wrecked in the February 7 fires.

Melbourne, Mar 14: Australian trade unions want Prime Minster Kevin Rudd to stop banking jobs going offshore, after his government rejected calls to have the deposit guarantee withdrawn from banks that move jobs out of Australia.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has sought an urgent meeting with Rudd after ANZ Bank announced it was shifting 500 jobs to India.

Sydney, Mar 14 : The Indian women's cricket team beat Australia by 16 runs in a Super Six game with the help of a fine knock of 76 by Anjum Chopra, seriously denting the Australian defence of the World Cup at North Sydney Oval.

Australia is left with two points with a couple of Super Six matches to go, and they must win both and hope that two of England (6) New Zealand (4) and India (4) falter. There are no semi-finals and Australia will be out of the competition if eight points are needed to reach next Sunday''s decider.

Melbourne, Mar 14 : Former Australian captain Greg Chappell and other cricket experts have dismissed the criticism about new opening sensation Phillip Hughes homemade batting technique.

"I've felt for a long time in cricket there has been too much of a focus on technique and a misunderstanding of what technique really is," Chappell said.

Melbourne, Mar 14: Australians have come out in support of the Russian "dream job" candidate caught in porn scandal.

Tourism Queensland announced that it is investigating claims that Julia Yalovitsyna, a front-runner in their "best job in the world" campaign, worked as a model for an illegal porn studio and coached women for sexually explicit films.

However, Aussies have backed Yalovitsyna, with most saying she should be allowed in the competition.

Many people believe she would be a good face for Tourism Queensland and that her looks would lure more people to the state.

Sydney  - Oil from a damaged ship that soiled 60 kilometres of beaches on Australia's east coast will take weeks to remove, officials said Saturday.

There were also fears that 400 tons of ammonium nitrate lost overboard from the Hong Kong-registered Pacific Adventurer could create massive algal blooms in the ocean as the 31 lost containers leak over time.

Planes have been searching in vain for the lost containers from the air. Ammonium nitrate is used to manufacture fertilizer.