Vic bushfire contained

FIREFIGHTERS have contained a bushfire that threatened lives and property near a popular holiday spot in central Victoria.

The Country Fire Authority (CFA) said they battled two fires in Lyal that were heading in a north-easterly direction towards Lake Eppalock on Monday afternoon.

At one stage, the CFA warned holiday makers that it was too late to leave and they needed to take shelter.

Fire fighters battled the blazes with 40 fire trucks and three aircraft. They contained it by about 6pm when the fire warning was downgraded and residents were told they were no longer under threat.

CFA state duty officer Brett Boatman said that despite mild weather conditions in the area, a strong wind was driving the fire.

"That's been the issue, a wind-driven fire in grasslands - they can still move along pretty quickly even on benign days," Mr Boatman said. He said the cause of the fires was unknown and under investigation.

About 150 firefighters will continue working on the fire overnight.

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Syria rebels lay siege to Raqa

REBEL fighters have laid siege to al-Qaeda-linked jihadists in their northern stronghold of Raqa, managing to free 50 people they had detained.

Raqa has emerged as a new front in fighting among rebels battling to oust President Bashar al-Assad, with various groups joining forces against al-Qaeda affiliate the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

"The rebels have been laying siege to ISIL's headquarters in the city of Raqa since last night. They released 50 Syrian prisoners held by ISIL in another building," said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Monday.

Raqa is the only provincial capital to have fallen out of regime hands since the conflict erupted when regime opponents took up arms following a bloody crackdown by Assad's forces on democracy protests in March 2011.

But soon afterwards it fell into the grip of ISIL, which is said to be holding hundreds of prisoners in their now besieged headquarters in the heart of Raqa.

Among ISIL's abductees are scores of rival rebels, activists and journalists, including Westerners.

Monday's offensive in Raqa came three days after three powerful rebel alliances, including moderates and Islamists, launched what they called a second "revolution" against ISIS in the northern province of Aleppo and Idlib to its west.

On Sunday, the rebel infighting spread to the central province of Hama, as well as Raqa, and the Observatory says scores of insurgents have been killed on both sides.

A key complaint against ISIL among rebels - including the massive Islamic Front, the Syrian Revolutionaries Front and nascent Mujahedeen Army - is that its jihadists refuse to operate within the broader opposition dynamic.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said "the main group laying siege to ISIL's headquarters in Raqa is Al-Nusra Front," which like ISIL is affiliated to Al-Qaeda but is seen as more moderate.

ISIL and Al-Nusra have fought each other in recent months, after ISIL announced it was al-Qaeda's representative in Syria. Al-Nusra had been operating in Syria for longer, and refused to work under ISIL's command.

Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri then ordered ISIL's Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to work with Al-Nusra - and he refused. The two groups have since had, at best, tense relations, and at worst they have engaged in open fighting.

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Salvos see decrease in unwanted dumping

AFTER years of disposing of dirty syringes, dead animals and, in one case, finding children living at a donation site, the Salvation Army has welcomed a decrease in unwanted "donations" in NSW.

It's estimated that in NSW alone more than 7000 tonnes of unusable donations were cleaned up by the charity in 2013.

That's a 10 per cent decrease compared with 2012.

Neville Barrett, general manager of The Salvos' Eastern Territories Stores, told AAP a number of measures contributed to the "very significant decrease" in unusable donations.

"We have been running campaigns actively, our signage has improved at all of our sites and we're very vigilant and diligent that those sites that are problem areas have CCTV footage," he said.

Mr Barrett also said the decision almost a decade ago to remove more than a hundred charity donation bins in NSW, leaving just 16, had helped.

"We found all sorts of household refuge ... soiled linen and bags of prawn shells," he said.

"At one site we found two children staying in our bins," he said.

Nationally, The Salvation Army spends $6 million removing unwanted donations, 75 per cent of which is dumping fees.

The NSW Environmental Protection Authority waived $1.38 million of the charity's waste fees last year and a small number of local councils allow the army to dump free of charge.

Mr Barrett asked the public to continue their restraint when donating in 2014 and thanked the thousands of donors who donated quality goods over the Christmas period.

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Pre-marital sex immoral, says Indian judge

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.

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Storms pose problems for Stradbroke firies

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.

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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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Family of latest alleged hit victim speaks

THE brother of a teenager allegedly punched outside a Sydney McDonald's says that in the moments after his brother went down, he thought he'd been killed for talking to a girl.

Alexander McEwen, 19, and his brother Lance McEwen-Henderson, 21, were standing on a one-metre-tall retaining wall at the fast food restaurant car park in Penrith when they were allegedly approached by a man about 1.30am (AEDT) on Saturday.

Police allege the man punched both brothers, knocking the younger McEwen over the wall where he struck his head and lost consciousness.

The teen was rushed to Nepean Hospital, where he is being treated for a fractured skull and damage to his spine.

His brother Lance suffered facial injuries, including a cut lip, and has told the Seven Network the attack came after a young woman in the car park posed for a photograph with Alexander.

He said it was his brother's first big night out since arriving from Auckland, New Zealand.

"I was just freaking out because you never like to see your younger brother on the ground," Lance told Seven.

"I thought he was dead, to be honest.

"Some guy was holding his head up and I was just screaming, 'Call the ambulance, call the ambulance'."

The alleged attacker, Corey Beard, 21, appeared at Parramatta court on Sunday where he was granted conditional bail.

Beard was charged with offences including recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm to the teenager as well as assaulting his brother.

He was also charged with possessing steroids after police allegedly found 13 vials of the drug during a search of his home on Saturday.

During the bail application, Sergeant Belinda Laughton told the court the alleged assault had been captured on CCTV and there was a strong prosecution case.

But the Legal Aid lawyer representing Beard said he had told police he had acted in self-defence.

The court heard that an argument appeared to have broken out between the men after Beard and an unknown man approached women who were with the brothers.

Magistrate Anthony Marsden said it was not evident from the facts tendered to the court as to whether alcohol was involved.

He said it appeared Beard was walking from the nearby Peach Tree Hotel when he came across the brothers at the fast food restaurant.

It was another "regrettable" incident "involving violence between young men", he said.

Beard was granted conditional jail to appear at a later date.

The McEwens' father Rodney said the family in New Zealand had heard about Sydney's recent spate of high-profile one-punch attacks.

"We'd seen the publicity about king-hits in Australia, in the Cross," he told Seven.

"The drinking culture is out of control."

On New Year's Eve, 18-year-old Daniel Christie was taken to St Vincent's Hospital after being punched in the face at Kings Cross.

Mr Christie was attacked close to the spot where teenager Thomas Kelly was fatally punched last year on a night out with friends.

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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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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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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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