Hypnotist dies in Sydney balcony fall

The body of a man, believed to be a touring hypnotist, has been found outside a Sydney unit block. Source: AAP

THE body of a well known touring hypnotist has been found outside a central Sydney unit block.

It's believed Las Vegas showman Dr Scott Lewis fell from an eleventh-floor balcony to the fourth floor of the Pyrmont complex where he was staying with other performers.

His body was found by police on Saturday morning.

Dr Lewis was discovered missing when he failed to meet a bus which was to take him and six other members of the Illusionists 2.0 show to the Sydney Opera House where they were to perform.

"I came out of my room, I could hear someone screaming for help," witness John Breen told the Nine Network.

A crime scene has been established, which has been examined by forensic specialists.

Police aren't treating the death as suspicious.

However, a report is being prepared for the coroner.

Meanwhile, the Sydney Opera House released a statement on Saturday evening, saying it had been informed of Dr Lewis' death.

"We wish to express our deepest sympathies to Dr Lewis' family and friends, as well as to the cast and crew of The Illusionists 2.0," it read.

"Dr Lewis was a wonderful performer and he will be greatly missed.

The show's co-producer Tim Lawson said his colleagues were deeply saddened by the sudden loss.

"The entire company has decided to continue the show in his honour, and send our heartfelt condolences to his family and friends," he said.

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Melbourne man charged with murder

A YOUNG man has been charged with murder after a woman he allegedly fought with died in hospital.

The woman was taken to hospital after her and the 22-year-old man had an "altercation" at a Hampton Park home in the early hours of Saturday morning, police said.

However, she died after arriving.

Police subsequently charged Steve Ray Cook, from Hampton Park, with her murder.

He's due before Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday.

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Man dead after rolling car in QLD

A MAN has died after rolling his car on a North Queensland road.

The man died at the scene of the crash at Calcium, south of Townsville, shortly after noon on Saturday police say.

Forensic specialists are investigating.

No further information is available.

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Cannabis found at suspicious house fire

CANNABIS worth more than $72,000 and a hydroponic grow kit has been found in a southern Sydney home where a suspicious fire was lit.

No one was inside the Rockdale house when emergency services arrived on Friday night, police said.

But after an inspection the stash of drugs and the cannabis growing set-up was found.

A crime scene has been established and police are asking anyone with information to come forward.

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Police release image of Boxing Day robber

Police are looking for this man in relation to a robbery in Brisbane's CBD on Boxing Day last year. r. Picture: Queensland Police Source: Supplied

Police are looking for this man in relation to a robbery in Brisbane's CBD on Boxing Day last year. r. Picture: Queensland Police Source: Supplied

POLICE have released the image of a man wanted in relation to a robbery in Brisbane City last year.

The man walked into a Queen St supermarket about 12.25pm on December 26 and approached the counter.
After making demands for money from the attendant, he fled the store with a sum of cash.

He was last seen on Queen Street heading towards Fortitude Valley.

The attendant wasn't physically injured during the robbery.

The man is described as being Asian in appearance, around 35-years-of-age, with black hair and a proportionate build.

He was last seen wearing a white t-shirt, grey shorts and grey running shoes.

Police are appealing to anyone that may be able to assist with their investigations to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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Turkmen leader fires central bank chief

THE autocratic leader of Turkmenistan has fired the country's chief banker and several other officials.

State television reported on Saturday that President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov dismissed Central Bank head Tuvakmammet Japarov and chiefs of two other state-run banks for unspecified "flaws in their work".

The firings came after Berdymukhamedov issued a reprimand to Japarov and several other bankers for receiving regular bonuses and ordered them to pay them back.

Berdymukhamedov also fired Kakageldy Abdullayev, the head of Turkmengaz state natural gas company over a low output and the failure to properly oversee the use of gas resources.

Turkmenistan boasts rich natural gas reserves estimated to be the fourth largest in the world.

Berdymukhamedov has run the Central Asian country with an iron fist since 2006.

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Golden Globes showcase best of Hollywood

Critics have tipped American Hustle and 12 Years a Slave to do well at this year's Golden Globes Source: AAP

THE Oscars may still be almost two months away, but Hollywood is already in the grip of awards fever.

The Golden Globe Awards will be handed out, four days before the Oscar nominations are announced, in a week in which the focus of so much Hollywood effort will either be richly rewarded or shunned.

The ceremony will air in Australia on pay TV's Fox8 at noon (AEDT) on Monday.

Serious film types often dismiss the Globes as largely irrelevant to the inner workings of Hollywood, since the awards are chosen by a small and self-selected group of foreign film journalists, few of whom are credentialled to major media organisations.

But that hasn't stopped the awards show from becoming one of the best-known Hollywood events of the year, which succeeds in attracting all the major stars, and which is capable of giving winning movies a powerful boost with audiences.

Since 1956 the Globes have been honouring the best of television as well as film, unlike the Oscars, which focus only on movies.

In the past, the Golden Globes have had a haphazard record at predicting Oscar success. That is unlikely to change this year.

But with critics acclaiming this year's crop of movies one of the most award-worthy in recent memory, there's bound to be a significant overlap.

That augurs well for 12 Years a Slave and American Hustle, the two movies which came out on top of the nominations, earning seven nods apiece.

Unlike the Oscars, the Golden Globes split their choice in two - choosing separate pictures for best drama and best comedy or musical.

That means that Steve McQueen's haunting tale of a free black man kidnapped into slavery in pre-civil war America is the clear favourite to win the award for best drama, while David O. Russell's finely crafted caper about an FBI corruption sting operation is just as sure to win for best comedy or musical.

The odds are best reflected in a closely-watched poll of experts conducted by entertainment awards site GoldDerby.com. Of the 19 experts it asked, 18 predicted victory for American Hustle, with just a single dissenter going for the poignant tale Nebraska.

The other nominees are Her about a man who falls in love with his computer, Inside Llewyn Davis, a rom-com set in the folk music scene of 1960s New York, and The Wolf of Wall Street, Martin Scorsese's keenly observed critique of the excesses of the finance industry.

Similarly, 14 of GoldDerby's experts chose 12 Years a Slave as the best drama, with the other five going for Alfonso Cuaron's brilliantly-made space thriller Gravity. The other nominees are maritime thriller Captain Phillips, Formula 1 epic Rush, and Philomena, about a woman's quest to track down the baby she gave away for adoption.

If such equations take much of the suspense out of the show, there's still plenty of other reasons to tune in to the broadcast. Last year, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler earned some of the strongest raves for hosts of an awards show with their charming, down-to-earth and often hilarious stint as the co-hosts.

In contrast to other recent Oscar and Golden Globe hosts, they seemed to be enjoying themselves as much as many in the audience, and had no need to descend into vulgarities or character assassinations in an effort to induce laughter. Fey and Poehler are returning on Sunday night.

Film fans also will not want to miss the cavalcade of glamorous stars who will be strutting the red carpet, and enjoying the endless supply of fancy champagne and a gourmet dinner made with local California ingredients.

This year' faces will include Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, Judi Dench, Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet, who are up for best actress in a comedy or musical, as well as Amy Adams, Julie Delpy, Greta Gerwig, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Meryl Streep, who are competing for the best dramatic actress prize.

Among the men, Christian Bale, Bruce Dern, Leonardo DiCaprio, Oscar Isaac and Joaquin Phoenix are the nominees for the best actor in a comedy or musical, while Chiwetel Ejiofor, Idris Elba, Tom Hanks, Matthew McConaughey and Robert Redford are vying for the dramatic acting award. Redford has never been nominated for an acting Golden Globe, so now, at the age of 77, it may finally be his time to shine.

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ECB leaves rates unchanged

THE European Central Bank has left its key interest rate unchanged at a record low of 0.25 per cent despite concerns over a weak economy and low inflation.

The bank's rate council made the decision at its monthly policy meeting on Thursday.

Lower rates can help growth, but the ECB has little room left to cut.

Analysts think it may try other steps such as offering cheap loans to banks on the condition they loan that money to companies.

The eurozone economy grew only 0.1 per cent in the third quarter.

Inflation, at only 0.8 per cent, remains below the ECB's goal of just under 2 per cent and makes it harder for troubled countries such as Greece to reduce their debt levels.

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Minimum wage prevents working poor: Labor

Bill Shorten says deferring minimum wage increase could lead to the creation of working poor. Source: AAP

FEDERAL Labor leader Bill Shorten says he won't support the creation of a US-style working poor in Australia, after business groups called for any minimum wage increase to be deferred this year.

The Fair Work Commission sets minimum wage increases in Australia, with workers granted a rise of $15.80 a week last June.

Industry bodies such as the Australian Chamber of Commerce and the Australian Industry Group (AiGroup) say any 2014 increase should be minimised or deferred, because business has already been hit with higher penalty rates, apprentice wages and superannuation levies.

"With employment growth very slow for most of last year and not looking all that healthy as we head into 2014, we need to avoid adding to costs," AiGroup chief executive Innes Willox told Fairfax Media.

But Mr Shorten said 1.5 million Australians relied on the minimum wage, which was part of the strong safety net to prevent an underclass of working poor.

There was a process to set the minimum wage and all parties were welcome to put their position.

"Labor does not support a working poor as we see in the United States," he told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday.

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Mystery Bali deaths haunt friends, family

Hundreds of mourners have attended a service for a Queensland mother and daughter who died in Bali. Source: AAP

SUNSHINE Coast mother and daughter Noelene and Yvana Bischoff played together and travelled together, but the mystery of how they died together in Bali lingers.

The pair died after becoming violently ill last weekend, less than 24 hours after checking in to a beachfront resort on the holiday island.

There has been speculation they ate toxic fish and although Indonesian authorities have agreed for autopsies to be done in Queensland, they also wanted to continue their investigations after 29 types of medication were found in the Bischoffs' hotel room.

Karangasem police chief detective Adnan Pandibu said on Thursday forensic examinations have been completed and their bodies would be returned to Queensland on Friday.

"Tomorrow is the plan," Det Pandibu told AAP when asked when they would be returned.

He said while the laboratory tests had been issued to police, they would not be released immediately.

The day before they died, the mother and daughter, aged 54 and 14, were seen seemingly fit and well at an elephant farm.

More than 400 mourners remembered them at a memorial service in Caloundra on Thursday, hearing that the two were inseparable from the start, when Noelene, a nurse, drove herself to hospital for Yvana's birth.

Yvana's words were heard at the service when a brief written assignment on her life was read by Noelene's cousin and principal of her Caloundra Christian College, Mark Hodges.

She talks about her love of animals and her passion to become a horse vet, but her relationship with her mother is what truly shaped her.

"My mum is my greatest hero, she made me who I am today," she wrote.

"She is amazing, simply amazing.

"She has been my biggest influence, she has taught me everything, how to talk - literally - and how to be a friend."

Their bond was demonstrated early on when, as a baby, Yvana would scream at everyone but her mother.

"She was a bit of a handful for the first couple of years and only accepted Noelene," brother-in-law Kevin Bowe said.

"She finally settled down and from there on they were the best of friends and it was a pleasure to be in their company."

Noelene was a nurse at Caloundra hospital, but avoided promotions to dedicate time to her daughter and her mother, Jean.

Colleague Linda King said that most of the staff knew Yvana, who'd call to say good morning or good night when her mother worked shifts.

Ms King said of Noelene: "She brought grace, composure and competence to the most hairy situations.

"She didn't live presuming she had time left over, she didn't, they didn't."

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Novartis faces legal trouble in Japan

SWISS pharmaceutical group Novartis is facing criminal proceedings in Japan and a public lawsuit in the US for allegedly using unsound marketing tactics for two of its medications.

Japan's Health Ministry on Thursday filed a criminal complaint with prosecutors against the drug giant's Japanese arm over alleged exaggerated advertising for a popular blood pressure drug.

Novartis in Tokyo used two Japanese universities' clinical studies of the drug, Diovan, that contained false data.

The ministry said it suspects Novartis continued to use ads citing the studies even after they became aware that clinical data in them had been manipulated.

Novartis apologised online "for causing trouble and concern" with the advertising.

The company said it "took the situation extremely seriously and will continue to cooperate fully with authorities".

Novartis has conceded employee involvement in the flawed research, but has claimed it was not aware of the false data in the studies. It also said clinical trials in other countries showed similar results.

In New York, prosecutors charged on Wednesday that Novartis had defrauded public health care services by offering the BioScrip pharmacy company kickbacks, which in return aggressively marketed Exjade, a Novartis blood transfusion medication.

BioScrip had contacted patients and recommended they continue taking the drug, "while understating Exjade's serious, potentially life-threatening side effects", the US attorney's office for the southern district of New York said.

Novartis said it stands behind its programs to get patients to stick to drugs like Exjade, which are difficult to administer but important for chronic patients.

The European Union announced last month that it would fine Novartis and Johnson and Johnson a total of 16 million euros ($A25 million) for delaying the launch of a generic painkiller in the Netherlands.

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UK's first koala gets Aussie name

DESPITE being thought to be the first koala born in the UK, Edinburgh Zoo's recent arrival has been a decidedly Down Under name.

The joey was born at the zoo last May but keepers waited until he had fully emerged from mother Alinga's pouch before they started to handle him.

After being found to be male, the joey was named Yooranah - the Aboriginal word meaning "loving".

Senior keeper Donald Gow said it was exciting to see the joey grow.

"This is the first time that a koala joey has been born in the UK so it is amazing to see him develop from being pink and hairless into a fully-formed, if tiny, koala," he said.

"At the moment he seems to be all ears! He is also starting to develop his own personality - he can be quite feisty like his mother Alinga and father Goonaroo."

Yooranah is an indigenous Australian word meaning "loving".

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Staff seize bosses at French Goodyear site

WORKERS at a restive Goodyear plant in northern France have detained two managers in a conference room at the tyre factory.

The factory's union says the director and human resources chief were blocked from leaving after an especially difficult meeting on Monday with staff.

A Goodyear representative, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the tense situation, says the two managers were being held against their will.

"Boss-napping" became rampant in France in 2009 at the height of the economic meltdown, although the practice has since tapered off.

But the Amiens plant has an especially contentious past. Goodyear has been trying to restructure or close the factory for more than five years.

Sometimes violent workers' protests, government concerns and France's prolonged layoff procedures have stalled the process.

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Millions hit by deadly chill in US

AN icy vortex of Arctic air pushed deadly wind chills and heavy snow into much of the US Midwest with meteorologists saying at least 32 states were in its path over the coming days as it moves south and east.

Even the northern tier of winter-hardy states and cities like Minnesota, Chicago and Milwaukee called off school for Monday as the country braced for wind chill temperatures down to minus 51 degrees Celsius and colder.

It was the first time in 17 years that Minnesota schools have been closed due to snow and dangerously low temperatures, reports said.

Governor Mark Dayton ordered the closings.

"Temperatures are deadly," warned Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard in broadcast remarks. Snow fell in his state of Indiana on Sunday at the rate of 5 centimetres an hour, media reports said.

In Green Bay, Wisconsin, tens of thousands of fans braved minus-26-degree wind chill temperatures to watch a key football playoff game between the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers. Despite the Green Bay team having an apparent weather advantage, the 49ers won 23-20.

With the mercury expected to drop down to minus 44C through the night, food stands at Lambeau Field in Green Bay were offering free coffee and hot chocolate to keep fans warm. There were worries that beer would freeze in the open air stadium, CNN reported.

"Life-threatening wind chill," the National Weather Service warned.

"The coldest temperatures in almost two decades will spread into the northern and central US ... behind an Arctic cold front," the government forecaster said.

Before the "polar vortex" - as it's being called by meteorologists - hits the east and south, rain was expected to fall in those regions and be turned into thick ice when temperatures plunge into the minus-20C range on Tuesday.

The normally mild-temperature city of Nashville, Tennessee, has delayed by a day the post-holiday school start until Wednesday.

"Dangerously low temperatures forecast for Tuesday morning a concern for student safety," the school system said.

Flash freezes after the rain and blizzard conditions were expected from Tennessee to Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Pennsylvania, the private forecaster AccuWeather said.

At least 13 people have died due to blizzard-like conditions and record cold over past days, most of them from traffic accidents in Michigan, Illinois, Kentucky and Indiana.

Broadcasters warned that frost bite could set in within just five minutes in the harsh conditions.

The weather caused cancellation of 3,467 flights and delays in another 11,191, according to the flight tracker FlightAware.com.

Overall, around 149 million people - about half the US population - were expected to be in the grip of the Arctic chill by Monday and Tuesday, meteorologists said.

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UK Treasury chief to order more cuts

BRITAIN'S Treasury chief says the country still has a long way to go to eliminate the deficit and that substantial savings must be gleaned from welfare cuts.

George Osborne says 2014 is to be the "year of hard truths" and that there are still big underlying problems in the economy.

Osborne told autoworkers in Birmingham on Monday billions of pounds in welfare cuts will be needed to reduce the deficit, which has been swollen by the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Pensioners are likely not to be affected, as the coalition government has suggested they will remain protected.

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UK faces more flooding in wave of storms

BRITAIN'S coastal residents are bracing for more flooding with lashing winds, rain and high tides expected.

At least three people have died in a wave of stormy weather that has battered Britain since last week, including a man killed when his mobility scooter fell into a river in Oxford, southern England.

Weather forecasting body the Met Office warned on Monday of wind gusts of up to 113 km/h accompanied by exceptionally large waves, along the coasts of Wales, southwest England and Northern Ireland.

The Environment Agency issued a severe flood warning - meaning a threat to life and property - for the county of Dorset in southwestern England, as well as more than 300 less serious flood warnings and alerts.

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Kabul to free prisoners, ignoring US calls

THE Afghan government says it will release 88 prisoners seen as posing a security threat by the US, ignoring warnings from Washington ahead of a planned pullout of international forces from the country later this year.

"We found no evidence to show these people having hands in terrorist activities," said Abdul Shakoor Dadras, who heads a government-appointed panel reviewing the prisoners' cases.

"They have passed long terms in detention without being assessed. So, we decided to free them," he added.

The government made the announcement last week when it released some 650 prisoners.

The decision angered US officials, who said the 88 prisoners are Taliban fighters involved in attacks that killed at least 60 American soldiers and more than 50 civilians.

President Hamid Karzai's refusal to sign a security pact with the US allowing some foreign troops to remain in Afghanistan after the planned withdrawal of the NATO-led military alliance has strained relations with the US.

US senator Graham Lindsey has warned the release would have a negative impact on relation with Kabul.

The Taliban has called the prisoners innocent civilians.

"They are not the mujahideen detained by the US, because mujahideen are held in a military jail in Kabul," Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the insurgents told DPA.

The 88 prisoners are held at Bagram prison, which is located near to the biggest US military airbase of the same name some 60km north of the capital Kabul.

The US handed over the prison to the Afghan government in March.

More than 3000 people, mostly Taliban fighters, are being held at Bagram.

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Business expectations at a one-year high

THE majority of Australian businesses are more upbeat about growth in 2014 than they were last year, with business expectations rising to a one-year high.

First quarter expectations for sales, profits, selling prices, investment and employment reached their highest levels in 12 months, the latest Dun & Bradstreet Business Expectations Survey shows.

The survey showed that 68 per cent of businesses were more optimistic about growth this year compared to last year, with 18 per cent of them planning to access new finance in the next three months to grow their operations.

Employment expectations rose to a three-year high with 15 per cent of businesses saying they intended to hire more staff.

"The new year is starting with business expectations at very optimistic levels," Dun & Bradstreet economic adviser Stephen Koukoulas said.

"The employment outlook has also improved markedly, suggesting that the unemployment rate may soon start to fall as job creation picks up."

But the expected lift in business conditions means rising prices for consumers, with 24 per cent of businesses planning to raise the prices of their products and services during the first quarter, the survey showed.

This means interest rates could begin to rise this year, Mr Koukoulas said.

"If there is one cloud on the horizon, it is the expected lift in selling prices," he said.

"A stronger economy is no doubt allowing firms to move their prices higher, but we are also seeing the impact on inflation from the recent weakness of the Australian dollar.

"This is likely to cause the Reserve Bank some concern and is a fundamental factor why we are likely to see a series of interest rate rises during 2014."

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Syrian rebels battle al-Qaeda fighters

SYRIAN rebels have seized a compound held by al-Qaeda-linked militants as their one-time allies used car bombs against them, in some of the most serious infighting between fighters challenging the rule of President Bashar Assad.

The rebel-on-rebel fighting against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is the strongest pushback yet from Syrian rebels who have seen their uprising to topple Assad hijacked by al-Qaeda forces seeking to impose Islamic rule in opposition-held portions of the country.

The clashes began on Friday after residents accused the al-Qaeda-linked fighters of killing a doctor in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo. Fighting quickly spread to rebel-held areas of the northeast province of Idlib and the central province of Hama.

The clashes widened on Sunday, with at least one outside of Aleppo pitting the ISIL against the Nusra Front, which is also an al-Qaeda-aligned group, said Rami Abdurrahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Another clash struck the town of Tabqa in the eastern province of Raqqa, where ISIL forces are most dominant, Abdurrahman said.

The Observatory obtains its information from a network of activists on the ground.

Rebels seized the ISIL compound in the town of Manbij in the northern province of Aleppo, activists said.

The Observatory said ISIL fighters also used car bombs for the first time to defend its territory. Other activists reported ISIL was pushed out of the town of Atmeh.

There always has been resentment against ISIL in Syria, whose fighters, a mix of foreigners and locals, fanned into the country last year, taking advantage of the upheaval to assert power in areas seized by rebels.

It is seen as particularly brutal in Syria's civil war for its abductions and killings of anti-Assad activists, journalists and civilians seen as critical to their rule.

But other residents welcome the group for chasing out thugs who terrorised residents in opposition-held areas, and for distributing food and aid to the poor.

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Girl, 5, mauled by family pet in NSW

A DARWIN kindergartener has been mauled by a pet dog while holidaying in Sydney.

The five-year-old girl's left cheek was severely wounded when she was bitten by a large mixed-breed dog on Sunday morning.

Police were told the girl had been visiting relatives in Rydalmere, in Sydney's west, for the past two weeks and was playing in the backyard with family when she was attacked.

She was treated by paramedics before being taken to the Children's Hospital at Westmead.

The dog owners voluntarily surrendered the animal to Parramatta City Council rangers and investigations into whether it is a banned breed continue.

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Cameron aims to win Scots' hearts

THE campaign against Scottish independence must move beyond economics to arguments of the "head and heart", Prime Minister David Cameron says.

The UK offers security in a "diverse, dangerous world", according to Mr Cameron, who said he will "work very hard to play my part" in the referendum.

However, Number 10 has confirmed that the Prime Minister will not take part in a public debate with Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, following a new SNP poll indicating a substantial proportion of the British people would like to see them go head-to-head on television.

Speaking in the Sunday Times Scotland newspaper, Mr Cameron said: "We've just got to keep pushing both the arguments of the head and those of the heart.

"I think the arguments of the head we've been winning very strongly. We now need to win some of the arguments of the heart.

"The UK is not something to want to belong to simply for economic reasons, but actually for emotional and historic reasons."

Mr Cameron has come under renewed pressure for a televised debate with Mr Salmond following his New Year message urging England, Wales and Northern Ireland to send a message to Scotland that "we want you to stay".

But in a new letter to Number 10, Mr Salmond told the prime minister that his New Year plea to Scotland undermined this argument.

Mr Salmond said: "I note that you used the centrepiece of your New Year address to attack Scottish independence.

"It seems that you want to dictate the terms of the debate about Scotland's future without taking the democratic responsibility to defend your views in open debate. That is simply unacceptable."

A Number 10 spokeswoman said: "The prime minister is prime minister of the whole United Kingdom and of course has a role in the referendum campaign, however, he believes that the debate should be led by Scots in Scotland."

A Panelbase poll, commissioned by the SNP, found more than three-fifths of people in Scotland and more than half in the rest of the UK want a TV debate between Mr Salmond and Mr Cameron, compared with about a quarter on both sides of the border who do not.

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "While David Cameron is happy to pull the strings of the No campaign from 10 Downing Street, he is scared to debate with Alex Salmond face-to-face.

"As the principal signatories of the Edinburgh Agreement, the natural progression in these circumstances is a televised, head-to-head debate between Mr Cameron and Alex Salmond - a democratic position supported by a substantial majority of people north and south of the border."

A spokesman for pro-independence campaign Yes Scotland said: "A televised debate with the First Minister and Prime Minister will help Scots choose between the two futures on offer and ensure that the UK Government fully explains why it is willing to implement unwanted policies north of the border."

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Bali deaths: family waits for answers

INDONESIAN officials say they are yet to perform an autopsy on a Queensland mother and her teenage daughter who fell fatally ill while holidaying in Bali.

But the family has been told toxic fish may have been the killer.

Noelene Bischoff, a senior nurse from the Sunshine Coast, and her 14-year-old daughter Yvana died in the early hours of Saturday, less than a day after they checked in to their beachfront resort on Bali's east coast.

Grieving relatives in Australia say the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has told them toxic food caused the deaths.

"We've been told it is fish they've eaten," Ms Bischoff's brother-in-law Kevin Bowe told the ABC.

Noelene's mother Jean told Network Ten: "It's a blessing to us that they've been taken together because one couldn't have coped without the other."

A school project prepared by Yvana last year depicts an animal-lover with big dreams.

"I have one horse and love to ride. My favourite food is mango or anything chocolate," she wrote.

"My hopes ... I want to be an equine vet."

Local sources told AAP on Sunday night they were yet to confirm a cause of death as they were still waiting for permission to proceed with the autopsy.

Under Indonesian law, an autopsy can proceed without permission from Tuesday.

However, the sources said a search of the hotel room where the mother and daughter were staying had not revealed any sign of violence.

They also said investigators had interviewed witnesses from the hotel, a clinic and a restaurant in Ubud where the pair ate dinner.

Padang Bai Beach Resort staff were alerted early on Saturday morning when Yvana asked for help, telling security guards she and her mother had fallen gravely ill.

The pair were taken by private ambulance to a nearby medical centre but about 1.45am local time the mother died, according to local sources.

The girl was rushed to BIMC Hospital, an international clinic in the Balinese capital of Denpasar, but could not be saved.

Medicine found in the Bischoffs' hotel room is being tested.

One senior local police source told AAP on Saturday the treating doctor at the first clinic suspected a food allergy.

"What kind of food, we don't know," he said then.

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Vic paddle boarders rescued

EIGHT paddle boarders swept out to sea in wild weather have been rescued from a bay southwest of Melbourne.

They were swept into Corio Bay from North Shore, Geelong, when a severe weather front hit the area just after 3.15pm (AEDT) on Sunday.

The paddle boarders, aged between 40 and 60, were found by helicopter in the water near Point Wilson, with one clinging to a channel marker.

The group was rescued by Coast Guard.

Two of the paddle boarders were treated at the scene for mild hypothermia.

Gusts of up to 50 knots and waves over two metres were recorded, police said.

Water Police Leading Senior Constable Felicity Bell said police were relieved the paddle boarders were found safe.

"This rescue should act as a warning to all about how quickly conditions can change out on the water," Leading Sen Const Bell said.

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Bombings kill 20 in Baghdad

A NEW wave of bombings has hit Iraq's capital, Baghdad, killing at least 20 people.

The deadliest attack took place in Baghdad's Shi'ite northern Shaab neighbourhood, when two parked car bombs exploded simultaneously near a restaurant and a tea house. Officials say those blasts killed 10 people and wounded 26.

Authorities say a parked car bomb ripped through in capital's Shi'ite eastern district of Sadr City, killing five and wounding 10. Another bombing killed three civilians and wounded six in a commercial area in the central Bab al-Muadham neighbourhood, officials said. Two other bombings killed two civilians and wounded 13, police said.

Medical officials confirmed the causality figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to release information.

The attacks come as Iraqi security forces are besieging two key cities country's western Anbar province after they were taken over by militants from al-Qaeda's local branch, known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant.

Clashes have been taking place since Monday in Anbar's provincial capital, Ramadi, and nearby Fallujah between al-Qaeda militants and pro-government Sunni tribesmen. The Baghdad bombings could be seen as an attempt by militants to distract security forces.

Earlier on Sunday, a senior Iraqi military commander said that it will take a few days to fully dislodge al-Qaeda-linked fighters from two key western cities.

Lieutenant General Rasheed Fleih, who leads the Anbar Military Command, told the state television Sunday that "two to three days" are needed to push the militants out of Fallujah and parts of Ramadi.

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