Sydney  - Australians were warned of higher taxes to pay for the cash hand-outs they began receiving Thursday from Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's
42-billion-Australian-dollar (26-billion-US-dollar) stimulus package.

"They've got to understand that the cheques that are going out now are borrowed money," former treasurer Peter Costello said. "No one's going to turn back a cheque are they? But remember this: it's borrowed money."

Durban, Mar. 11 : Australian fast bowler Peter Siddle is suffering from an injury to his left foot, and is in doubt for next week''s third Test in Cape Town.

The Victorian pacer appeared to hurt his left foot after taking two early wickets on day four and team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris rushed to speak to him on the boundary line during the spell.

It is the same foot that troubled Siddle in the first Test in Johannesburg, but he yesterday played down any injury fears.

Melbourne, Mar 11 : A 20-year-old Brisbane student will visit as many countries as she can in next twelve days, in a stunt she hopes will win her the best job in the world.

Hailey Turner, the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) business student, made a short-list of 50 people out of 34,684 applications worldwide for the dream job.

Turner will go to as places as she can to boost her application for a six-month job on the Great Barrier Reef''s Hamilton Island.

Melbourne, Mar 11 : The key to exam success in kids lies in a glass of water, says

Melbourne, Mar 11 : A personal trainer, who decided to put on weight so that he can better understand his gym clients, has now gained 30kg in three months.

Paul “PJ” James, a former underwear model was 80kg before he went on a junk food binge, eating up to 30 slices of pizza in one sitting, and spending more than he usually did.

“It''s just very expensive to be unhealthy,” News. com. au quoted him as telling the Herald Sun.

“I used to spend about 80 dollars on food a week. I could easily spend 300 dollars now,” he said.

To escalate his weight gain, James has also stopped exercising in a bid to max-out at 120kg.

Sydney  - A container vessel lost half its load of industrial chemicals Wednesday in rough seas off Australia's east coast.

The Hong Kong-owned 180-metre Pacific Adventurer was brought to anchor in Moreton Bay near Brisbane.

Authorities in Queensland said more serious than 31 containers of ammonium nitrate falling overboard was a fuel oil spill when one of the tumbling boxes punctured a fuel tank and caused marine diesel to flood into the bay.

Aerial searches had failed to locate any of the containers.