A teenager in eastern Australia needed eleven stitches after a small shark bit his leg. It happened in the area where some beaches were closed over the weekend because of a feeding frenzy involving more than 100 sharks. The teen was standing in about a foot of water when he was bitten. The attack follows the weekend closure of Gold Coast beaches after scores of sharks were seen swimming close to the shore.

Australia's economy is suffering a bed-bug epidemic with the tourism industry having $100 million sucked from its pockets each year because of the blood-sucking insects. According to a new entomology study some pest controllers have reported a shocking 1,000 percent rise in bed-bug outbreaks.

A major Australian shopping mall's ill treatment of two brothers in wheelchairs has led to a $38,000 payout. A security guard at a Westfield shopping center prevented the brothers from taking the wheelchairs, which are owned by the mall.

An Australian state plans to ban students from wearing denim because it is associated with having a good time. Ljiljanna Ravlich, spokesman for Western Australia state Education Minister, says, "It is associated with weekend wear, with recreational time. It's just unacceptable at schools and we are trying to lift the standards. "

An Australian woman has collected nearly $75,000 after cashing in a lottery ticket more than a decade after it was bought. The woman, who asked not to be identified, collected her winnings this week after discovering the ticket lodged in a greeting card she found in her home, a spokesman for New South Wales state Gaming Minister Grant McBride said on condition of anonymity he said was departmental policy. The lottery ticket - known in Australia as a scratchy because gamblers have to scratch the ticket to see if they have won a prize - was bought in 1992. The winner was doubly lucky as lottery officials are in the process of reining in the length of time people have to claim their winnings.