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.
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.
Police have discovered a man's body on a dirt road in central Queensland. Source: AAP
THE death of a young Rockhampton man whose body was found on a road in central Queensland is being treated as suspicious.
A driver saw the body while travelling down the Jambin-Dakenba Road near Biloela, south of Rockhampton, on Friday morning, police said.
Investigations into the death of the 18-year-old man continue.
A TOP regional official has announced that the president and prime minister of Central African Republic are stepping down from power.
The announcement was made on Friday by Ahmat Allami, the secretary-general of the regional bloc of Central African states.
Rebel leader Michel Djotodia seized power in a March 2013 coup when thousands of his fighters stormed the capital. He was later installed as president while longtime opposition leader Nicolas Tiangaye became prime minister.
However, the country has tilted toward anarchy in the months that have followed and the violence has turned Muslim and Christian communities against each other.
A Christian militia attempted a coup in early December, unleashing days of bloodshed on the streets of the capital that left more than 1,000 people dead.
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."
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.
A FAMILY has told of distress at ongoing solitary confinement of three of the 'Yandina Five' as they await judge's verdict on last-ditch bid for bail.
BUCKET hats, backpacks, overalls and Dr Martens are back. Yep, it's true - fashion from the '90s has officially made a resurgence and it's hurting our eyes.
A BRISBANE man goes to the toilet and encounters a snake in the bowl. What he did next has he and his wife too scared to use their convenience.
A New Delhi judge has labelled pre-marital sex "immoral" and against every religion. Source: AAP
A NEW Delhi judge says pre-marital sex is "immoral" and against the "tenets of every religion".
Judge Virender Bhat made the remarks while acquitting a man accused of rape, ruling that sex between two adults on the promise of marriage did not amount to rape, the Hindustan Times reported on Monday.
The complaint was filed by a woman who alleged wrongdoing by a 29-year-old man working at a multinational firm with whom she had sex after he promised to marry her.
The judge said a "grown-up, educated and office-going woman" who has sex on the assurance of marriage "does so at her own peril".
"She must understand the consequences of her act and must know that there is no guarantee that the boy would fulfil his promise," the ruling said.
"She must understand that she is engaging in an act which not only is immoral but also against the tenets of every religion. No religion in the world allows pre-marital sex."
Pre-marital sex has been traditionally disapproved of in the largely conservative and religious Indian society.
Last year, a court in New Delhi said live-in relationships were immoral and an "infamous Western cultural product".
In 2010, the Supreme Court dismissed 22 criminal cases against Tamil actress Khushboo who spoke in support of the right of women to have pre-marital sex.
The court also backed the right of unmarried couples to live together.
FIREFIGHTERS battling a blaze on North Stradbroke Island hope that a cool change will help their efforts, but thunderstorms may force them to retreat.
The change is expected to arrive late on Monday and bring rain and possibly thunderstorms.
Firefighters are working to strengthen containment lines in case the blaze flares up.
Fire planning officer Phil Wilson says thunderstorms may make it difficult for fire crews to do their job.
"It will depend on the severity of the storm but we may have to withdraw crews from the fire line as the storm conditions can cause ... difficult situations," he told AAP.
However, fire crews are praying for rain.
"Rain will always help, even if it's just a light sprinkling of rain, very light showers will slow down the fire," he said.
Mr Wilson says firefighters are strengthening containment lines before the expected change to prevent the fire from jumping to the north side of East Coast Road, a main thoroughfare.
"It would then be able to move towards Amity Point and into Flinders Beach," he said.
The fire has been burning for eight days, and prompted the evacuation of about 900 campers on New Year's Day.
Difficult conditions over the weekend spread the fire, which came close to homes in Myora on Saturday night.
A community meeting was held on Monday morning to give residents up-to-date information on the blaze.
Back-burning has created a large smoke hazard affecting North Stradbroke and adjacent Moreton Bay islands as well as the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast and Brisbane.
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."
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.
