Wine prices may rise due to frost

Wine drinkers could pay more for their favourite tipple after frost damaged the 2014 harvest. Source: AAP

WINE drinkers could pay more for their favourite tipple after frost damaged the 2014 harvest.

Winemaker Australian Vintage, whose brands include McGuigan, Passion Pop and Tempus Two, says the amount of grapes it crushed for the 2014 vintage fell by nearly a fifth as a result of frost late last year.

And it expects the 2014 crush for the whole industry will be down on 2013 because of the damaging frost.

"Whilst this will help the industry's supply and demand position it is likely to lead to higher priced wine due to lower utilisation of the industry's processing assets," Australian Vintage chief executive Neil McGuigan said on Thursday.

"It is quite clear that the industry still has an issue with an overcapacity of processing capability."

Australian Vintage crushed 124,214 tonnes of grapes from the 2014 harvest, compared to 153,000 tonnes last year.

The drop came after frost significantly affected the company's vineyards at Balranald in NSW and near Swan Hill in Victoria.

The two vineyards produced 16,000 fewer tonnes than last year.

The company's Adelaide Hills vineyards were also down by more than a third.

However Australian Vintage believes the quality of the wine from its dry land vineyards looked outstanding and better than the 2013 vintage.

It described the quality of wine from irrigated regions was equal to the outstanding 2013 vintage.

The company still expects its net profit for the 2014 financial year to be significantly better than that of 2013 and in line with previous market guidance, despite overall sales being down on last year by about three per cent.

The decreases in overall sales were mainly due to reduced bulk wine sales in North America and the United Kingdom.

Exchange rates movements had been favourable during the financial year, resulting in an improved margin but some of that had been offset by customers in the United Kingdom demanding lower prices

Shares in Australian Vintage closed one cent lower at 33 cents.

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Drug-smuggling syndicate smashed

A drug-smuggling syndicate has been smashed after police intercepted a package of methamphetamines. Source: AAP

A DRUG-TRAFFICKING syndicate has been broken up after the recipient of a 12.5 kilogram package of methamphetamines was arrested in Perth.

The parcel was sent from Sydney in late April and intercepted by police, who switched the contents with an inert substance.

A 41-year-old Gold Coast man was arrested as he picked up the parcel in Perth on Sunday.

His home in Broadbeach, Queensland was searched and police seized mobile phones, precursor chemicals, manufacturing equipment and an estimated $1 million in cash.

A 35-year-old man was arrested a short time later and police raided his home in Londonderry, in Sydney's west.

It took police two days to sift through the large quantity of drugs discovered at the property.

Drugs manufacturing equipment, a sawn-off shotgun, ammunition, mobile phones and an estimated $1.5 million in cash were also seized at the home.

Additional search warrants were executed at six properties in Sydney and Perth, and altogether police seized nearly 100kg of methamphetamine, ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and precursor chemicals.

The two arrested men were charged with attempting to traffic commercial quantities of controlled drugs and they appeared in Sydney and Perth courts on Monday.

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Blast on Indian train kills one

Twin blasts on a passenger train at a southern Indian railway station have killed a woman. Source: AAP

TWIN bombs planted on a train killed one person and wounded at least nine others in the southern Indian port of Chennai.

In the latest attack during ongoing national elections, the low-intensity blasts occurred in carriages of an overnight train from Bangalore as it pulled into Chennai central station after 7am (0130 GMT).

A 22-year-old woman working at IT outsourcing firm TCS was killed when one of the devices that had been placed underneath her seat exploded, said Rakesh Misra, general manager of the southern region for Indian Railways.

"At least two people have suffered grievous injuries and seven have minor injuries," Misra told reporters at the scene.

"Civil police ... are investigating what kind of bomb it was and why anyone would have placed the bomb."

Security forces cordoned off the blood-splattered platform where a large crowd of onlookers and delayed passengers gathered, while searches by bomb detection teams were stepped up in other stations.

Chennai police chief JK Tripathi said they were yet to detain any suspects, despite media reports of one or two people being questioned over the crude explosives.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the attack, saying "such barbaric acts targeting innocent men, women and children only highlight the desperation and cowardice of those responsible".

Multiple low-intensity explosions are typically the hallmark of the Indian Mujahideen, a home-grown militant network thought to have been weakened by the recent arrests of senior figures.

Sixteen people were killed in February 2013 when bombs strapped to bicycles exploded in the southern city of Hyderabad in an attack blamed on the network.

India's election, which ends on May 16, has seen repeated attacks by Maoist rebels based in the forests of central India who have killed at least 25 so far, according to an AFP tally.

One panic-stricken passenger told the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency that he saw three to four people "writhing in pain" after the blast on the train, which was set to terminate in the remote northeastern city of Guwahati.

The injured have been taken to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai.

The dead woman was identified as an employee of Bangalore-based TCS. The company said it was "deeply shocked and saddened at this unfortunate loss of life of our colleague in this tragic incident".

Her grandmother, named as Rajalakshmi, told PTI she was travelling home and was set to marry in another two months.

"She was to come home today. But now only her body is coming", she was quoted as saying.

Security has been tightened across India as the country holds its six-week general election.

Voting has already taken place in most major cities, including Chennai, which went to the polls last week.

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New list ranks Grange as top wine

A new classification of Australian wines has listed Penfolds Grange as the nation's top drop. Source: AAP

WHILE the thought of a bottle of Penfolds Grange may now leave a bitter taste in the mouth of former NSW premier Barry O'Farrell, a new list ranking Australia's best drops has given the wine top billing.

Online wine marketer Langton's has released its sixth classification of local wines which includes 139 of the country's best performing and most prized labels.

The list includes 21 wines ranked exceptional including Grange, Henschke's Hill of Grace Shiraz, Jim Barry's The Armagh Shiraz and the John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon from Wynns Coonawarra Estate.

Other wines included in the classification are listed as outstanding or excellent.

Penfolds Grange has long been renowned as a great drop, and made headlines last month when Mr O'Farrell was forced to resign as NSW premier after misleading a corruption inquiry about whether he received a 1959 bottle of the fine wine.

Langton's head of auctions Tamara Grischy said it was no surprise that the iconic Grange had again topped the rankings.

But she said the latest list had also unearthed some new and different styles that were making their mark on the fine wine world.

"Our winemakers have driven the transformation of Australian chardonnay, from bold and oaky to refined and elegant," she said.

"The demand for this style is clear to see, with a number of Chardonnay wines being recognised."

Ms Grischy said winemakers were also taking inspiration from the past with sparkling shiraz labels returning to the classification.

The first Langton's classification was released in 1990 and featured just 34 wines.

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Gold dazzles at refurbished Perth Mint

Perth Mint has opened a new exhibition with the most valuable coin in the world as its centrepiece. Source: AAP

THE biggest, heaviest and most valuable coin in the world is the centrepiece of a new permanent exhibition at the refurbished Perth Mint.

The colossal coin is one tonne of 99.99 per cent pure gold, worth more than $50 million.

Measuring 80 centimetres in diameter and more than 12cm deep, it depicts a red kangaroo surrounded by rays of sunlight.

And it sits atop its very own vault, which swallows it up each night when the mint closes.

West Australian Premier Colin Barnett said the coin would be a big drawcard for the Mint, which has undergone a $5.5 million redevelopment in two stages, the biggest revamp it has had since it was founded 115 years ago.

Mr Barnett said he expected visitor numbers, which already nudge 80,000 a year, would rise dramatically.

The coin was recently exhibited around the world and has increased already strong sales of bullion coins from the Mint.

"It achieved its objective - we are selling more gold bullion coins," chief executive Ed Harbuz said.

Also on display at the mint are massive gold nuggets, including the world's second biggest, Newmont's Normandy nugget.

Perth Mint was established as a branch of Britain's Royal Mint in 1899.

Its primary functions of refining gold from WA's eastern goldfields and striking gold coinage continues today but at its refinery near Perth Airport, with precious metal coins struck onsite at the Mint.

The Mint also issues Australia's official bullion and commemorative coins.

In 2012/13, it refined more than 300 tonnes of precious metals, reported close to $3 billion worth of holdings in its depository, and sold 4.3 million gold, silver and platinum coins.

It is one of only four mints in the world that produces bullion coins.

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Gonski steps up as ANZ chairman

Respected businessman David Gonski (pic) is set to replace John Morschel as ANZ chairman on May 1. Source: AAP

RESPECTED businessman David Gonski takes control in ANZ's boardroom on Thursday, replacing the bank's chairman of four years John Morschel.

Mr Gonski was appointed to the ANZ board in December with the view to taking over from Mr Morschel when he retired on April 30.

"It has been an honour to have served as an ANZ director since 2004 and to have been chairman of ANZ over the past four years," Mr Morschel said.

Mr Gonski, a former chairman of the federal government's Future Fund, previously served as a director for ANZ between 2002 and 2007.

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Tenants sign on for Barangaroo tower

Two firms have signed up as tenants for the tallest building at Sydney's Barangaroo development. Source: AAP

PLANNING for the tallest office tower at Sydney's Barangaroo development will commence after the developer secured two tenants for the 49-storey building.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Australia will take 12 floors of the tower and HSBC Bank Australia three and a half floors, under new leases signed with developer Lend Lease.

Lend Lease will now commence development and funding of the building, and intends to introduce co-investors into the tower "at an appropriate time in the future", it said in a statement on Wednesday.

Construction is expected to begin in the second half of 2014, and is expected to be completed in the 2016/17 financial year.

Barangaroo South is planned to be a major financial district of Sydney's CBD, and will include an exclusive casino and hotel to be operated by Crown Resorts.

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Tunisia uses Star Wars to rescue tourism

IMPERIAL stormtroopers are set to march through Tunisia's capital as part of a new effort to attract tourists and burnish the image of the North African country.

Tunisia's national tourism office is collaborating with the local Star Wars fan club to hold a convention starting on Wednesday in the country, which boasts sets from the popular science fiction film franchise deep in the desert.

The campaign also features a Star Wars-themed online video set to the tune of Pharrell Williams' popular hit Happy, involving characters from the films.

Tunisia's beach resorts were a popular destination for European tourists but many stayed away after the 2011 overthrow of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Tourists have been slowly returning and the new campaign seeks to promote lesser-known Tunisian attractions.

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Two MPs allege Palmer approach

A Queensland MP has told police an envoy for Clive Palmer offered him an inducement to jump ship. Source: AAP

TWO Queensland government MPs have accused Clive Palmer's team of trying to lure them away from the Liberal National Party.

Mr Palmer says the claims made by MPs Michael Hart and Jason Costigan were made up by premier Campbell Newman, while police have looked at one of the accusations and will take no action.

Mr Newman, however, has stepped up his war with the mining magnate turned federal MP, arguing he needs to reveal the full truth.

Mr Hart on Tuesday alleged a Palmer United Party envoy tried to entice the Burleigh MP with financial sweeteners - an assertion refuted by the party's state leader Alex Douglas.

Also on Tuesday, Whitsunday MP Mr Costigan said a PUP member approached him a week later on April 16, but without a financial incentive.

"They said they could ... help me with my campaign if I was their candidate and rambled on how they needed one more MP to form the official opposition," he told AAP.

Mr Hart took his claims to police who said they had "concluded that, based on current available information, no further action will be taken".

Mr Hart said he cut short a conversation with a PUP official after being made an offer to become one of the party's leading candidates at next year's Queensland election.

"The words that were used I took as a form of inducement or that there was about to be an inducement. I didn't want that to happen," he told AAP.

Mr Hart's allegation has escalated the bitter feud between Mr Palmer and the LNP, with the mining magnate accusing Mr Newman of inventing the story.

"This is just concocted by the premier because he's going to be sued by me," Mr Palmer told AAP.

"He's just trying to mislead the press."

But a spokesman for Mr Newman says Mr Palmer is the one who needs to come clean after Dr Douglas confirmed the party approached Mr Hart.

"Mr Palmer denies inducements were offered to Mr Hart, but Alex Douglas has confirmed that Mr Hart was told that 'we would look after him if he joined us'," the spokesman said.

Dr Douglas says while contact was made, claims about any inducement are entirely false.

"It was basically to say: 'Michael we know you're not going to be preselected or endorsed by the party and if you want to have a career you are welcome to come and discuss that with us'," he said.

The latest claims follow Sunday's allegations by Mr Newman that Mr Palmer had tried to "buy" his government, and had offered inducements to successfully entice three renegade Northern Territory MPs to join his party.

Comment has been sought from Dr Douglas about Mr Costigan's claim.

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Plane catches fire at Perth Airport

A plane has made an emergency landing in Perth after flames were spotted coming from its engine. Source: AAP

A PLANE has made an emergency landing at Perth Airport after a suspected engine fire erupted shortly after take-off.

The Cobham Aviation flight landed safely after the mid-air incident on Tuesday, a Perth Airport spokeswoman confirmed.

Witnesses have reported seeing the flames coming from the right engine.

The Perth Airport website shows that a Cobham Aviation flight was scheduled to depart at 10.45am for Barrow Island.

Pictures have emerged on social media of a plane with an engine appearing to be on fire, but it has not been confirmed as the plane involved in the emergency.

The aircraft is currently being assessed at the airport.

Cobham operates aircraft on behalf of Qantas regional subsidiary QantasLink.

A spokesman for the regional carrier said a statement would be issued later on Tuesday.

Cobham Aviation Services said the engine fire occurred soon after take-off and that the four-engine BAE 146 jet was bound for Barrow Island.

A spokesman said the pilot and crew safely returned the jet to Perth Airport at 10.53am (WST).

"The aircraft was climbing after take-off when the fire occurred in engine No.2, which is on the inner port side of the aircraft," he said.

"When the fire was detected, the engine was shut down and the fire extinguished.

"There were no injuries among the 92 passengers or two pilots and three cabin crew."

The incident is being investigated and regulatory authorities have been informed, the spokesman says.

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Whitehaven pushes ahead with new mine

WHITEHAVEN Coal sold less coal in the March quarter while battling low prices, but its flagship Maules Creek project is more than one-third complete.

The controversial NSW mine is the target of a long running campaign that has included legal action and human barricades to delay construction, in protest against the alleged destruction of the Leard State Forest.

More than 90 protesters faced court in Narrabri on Tuesday and a mother and son were arrested on Monday after chaining themselves to a gate at a Whitehaven site.

Whitehaven said construction progress at Maules Creek was 36 per cent complete and on schedule and budget.

First coal should be railed in March 2015 and the company was confident it would get Commonwealth approval for its biodiversity offsets package, which involves a package to balance the effects on flora and fauna.

The highly regarded $767 million project would more than double Whitehaven's production to 25 million tonnes a year.

Whitehaven produced 1.81 million tonnes in the three months to the end of March, down 29 per cent on a year ago.

It recently flagged a cut in full year production by up to eight per cent, to between 9.8 million and 10 million tonnes of saleable coal, due to operational problems.

Whitehaven sold 2.29 million tonnes for the March quarter, down five per cent.

It achieved a weaker average price for export thermal coal sales of $US75.19 a tonne, compared to the benchmark Newcastle index, which was down seven per cent to $US78.05 for the quarter.

The reasons included a well-supplied market with little disruption from weather related events, a lack of buying by China based coal customers from the seaborne market, and the end of the high demand northern hemisphere winter.

However, thermal coal demand was growing in South Korea, which is increasing coal in its energy mix, and analysts including Bell Potter have a positive long term view on the company, and coal generally.

Whitehaven shares had dropped 2.5 cents to $1.48.

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Partial eclipse ruined by cloud

IT was billed as the "super fat banana".

But Tuesday's rare partial solar eclipse was more like a rotten tomato.

Thick cloud blanketed most of the continent for much of the day, ruining any sustained view of the eclipse for astronomers and enthusiasts from Perth to Port Arthur.

At 4.14pm the moon nudged in front of the sun - causing a partial eclipse that experts predicted would darken the sky a little and make the sun look like a fat yellow banana.

The sky did turn dark on the eastern seaboard - but only because thick cloud and rain ruined the moment with less than heavenly timing.

"We got clouded-out on the east coast from the absolute moment the moon just touched the sun - it was incredible timing," Melbourne-based astronomer Dr Alan Duffy told AAP.

"The next eclipse in Melbourne of this quality will be 2028.

"So this was very disappointing."

Astronomical Society of Victoria media spokesman Perry Vlahos was equally miffed.

He didn't even go outside to check out the partial eclipse.

"I have given up all hope, the best optical telescope cannot see through rain and clouds," he added.

Tasmania should have given the best view of the eclipse - the further south you were the more of the sun would have been covered.

Members of the Astronomical Society of Tasmania gathered at the rainy Rosny Lookout in Hobart's east.

"We've actually got three telescopes here but at the moment they're sitting in the boots of cars," the society's Bob Coghlan told AAP.

"The committee are telling jokes and saying who brought the cloud-busting laser just to keep their spirits up."

Sydney Observatory had about 150 guests to watch the celestial activity.

Astronomer Andrew Jacobs said the partial eclipse was of little research value - scientists learn far more from full eclipses.

"We saw the very beginning of it, just a couple of minutes before it went into the clouds," he said.

West Australian residents had a slightly better view but only towards the end of the eclipse when some of the cloud cleared.

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Australia stuck below 3 pct growth: IMF

The International Monetary Fund have urged Treasurer Joe Hockey not to go too hard in his budget. Source: AAP

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has sent Treasurer Joe Hockey a timely reminder not to go too hard in his first budget.

In its latest regional report, the IMF continues to expect the Australian economy will struggle to grow at a pace to relieve pressure on the unemployment rate, which stands close to a decade high of just under six per cent.

Since October last year, the Washington-based institution has downgraded its Australian growth forecast to 2.6 per cent in 2014 and 2.7 per cent in 2015.

It had previously expected growth of 2.8 and 2.9 per cent, respectively.

"Australia's economy is likely to grow below trend as the investment phase of the mining boom passes its peak and begins to decline," the IMF said in its Regional Economic Outlook for Asia and the Pacific released in Hong Kong on Monday.

The economy needs to grow above three per cent a year to keep unemployment in check.

Mr Hockey previously has promised his May 13 budget won't hinder tentative signs of economic recovery, suggesting spending cuts will occur in the outer years of what he has described as a 10-year plan.

In contrast, the IMF has upgraded its New Zealand growth forecasts in the past six months as its post-earthquake reconstruction gathers steam, along with strengthening domestic demand and exports.

It expects the NZ economy to grow at 3.3 per cent in 2014 and three per cent in 2015, up from respective forecasts of three per cent and 2.4 per cent previously.

More broadly, the IMF says Asia should experience robust growth throughout 2014 and 2015, and be among the global growth leaders.

The region should benefit from improved prospects among the world's advanced economies, while facing both new and old risks.

These include geopolitical uncertainty over Ukraine, the exit from unconventional monetary policy in the US - otherwise known as tapering - and the impact of a low inflation environment in the euro area.

"Growth in China and Japan could also fall below expectations, with negative spillovers from the rest of the region," it said.

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WA senate result expected Tuesday

THE results of the West Australian Senate re-run election are about to be announced.

WA Australian electoral officer Kathy Mitchell says she has advised candidates that distribution of preferences to decide the six WA Senate places would start on Tuesday and they could appoint scrutineers to observe the process.

Following the preference distribution, the Australian Electoral Commission will release a national media statement announcing the outcome. That is expected any time after 4.30pm (AEST).

It will also outline arrangements for formal declaration of the WA Senate poll.

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Hospital attack kills 22 in C Africa

BANGUI, Central African Republic, April 28 AFP - At least 22 people including three staff members of medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres have been killed during an attack by gunmen on a Central African hospital, in the latest atrocity to hit the violence-plagued country.

The brutal attack in the northwest was blamed on the mostly Muslim rebels known as the Seleka, whose coup in March last year unleashed a vicious cycle of sectarian violence.

"Armed men from the ex-Seleka and of Fula ethnicity on Saturday afternoon attacked a hospital supported by MSF in the region of Nanga Boguila, killing at least 22 people, including three Central African employees of MSF and leaving a dozen wounded," an officer from the African-led MISCA peacekeeping force told AFP on Monday.

MSF confirmed the death of its three employees, without giving further details.

The gunmen had stormed into the building as local representatives and MSF employees held a meeting, the MISCA officer said.

"The assailants first opened fire at a group of people, gunning down four of them. Then they went to the hospital where they killed 15 other people and three members of MSF.

"They took computers and several other assets, breaking down doors probably in search for cash," added the officer.

The Seleka rebels were ordered to disarm by their leader Michel Djotodia several months after they installed him in power in a coup. But some ignored orders and went on a killing, raping and pillaging rampage.

Mostly Christian communities then formed "anti-balaka" vigilante forces to wreak revenge against Muslims, usually targeting innocent people.

Djotodia resigned in January after failing to quell the violence that has claimed thousands of lives and displaced a quarter of the country's 4.6 million population. And today, extremists of the Seleka alliance actively encourage de facto partition.

African and French peacekeepers, backed up recently by an EU force, have been struggling to curb the fighting ripping the country apart.

"It is a region that is not completely secured because our forces (are not large enough) to be deployed in other sites than the main cities like Bossangoa," said the MISCA officer, referring to a city about 100 kilometres from the scene of the MSF attack.

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Tornadoes kill at least 17 in US

Officials say a tornado has killed at least two people and destroyed buildings in Oklahoma. Source: AAP

POWERFUL tornadoes have killed at least 17 people as they flipped cars, ripped up homes and uprooted trees across the south-central United States, emergency officials have reported.

"It's chaos right now," the mayor of the Arkansas town of Vilonia, James Firestone, told CNN late on Sunday emergency crews used searchlights to comb through the debris in some of the hardest-hit areas.

The central part of the town of 4000 "seems like it's completely levelled. There's a few buildings partially standing, gas lines spewing. Fire lines down. We've had some casualties."

The twisters tore through the region on Sunday and continued overnight into Monday. They are forecast to threaten much of the region throughout Tuesday.

Firestone said that police and firefighters from nearby cities as well as National Guard troops were heading to Vilonia.

Twisters also devastated large sections of the town of Mayflower, population 2300, just northwest of the Arkansas state capital Little Rock.

Pictures of tornado damage posted by Arkansas TV station THV 11 showed smashed cars, homes ripped in half and whole residential blocks reduced to rubble.

Officials said that parts of Interstate 40, a major east-west highway across the United States, was closed due to debris and overturned vehicles in the Mayflower area.

Two regional utility companies, Entergy and First Electric Cooperative, said that more than 15,000 customers were in the dark.

"It's been a truly awful night for many families, neighbourhoods and communities but Arkansans always step up to help each other recover," Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe wrote on Twitter.

The full impact of the storm and its toll will likely not be known until after sunrise.

In Oklahoma, a powerful twister struck the town of Quapaw.

"There have been numerous homes and buildings damaged and some destroyed," Keli Cain of the Oklahoma Emergency Management Agency told AFP.

She cited local emergency officials as saying that a fire station was destroyed and there was damage to the northern part of the town.

Dozens of homes were also reported destroyed in nearby Kansas, though state officials have reported no fatalities.

The National Weather Service warned of a severe weather threat across the central and southern United States over the next days.

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Palmer trying to buy govt in NT: Giles

Federal MP Clive Palmer has induced three rebel Northern Territory MPs to join his political party. Source: AAP

CLIVE Palmer has been accused of buying his way into Northern Territory politics after three indigenous MPs joined his party a month after walking out on the Giles government.

The Palmer United Party (PUP) founder declared that Alison Anderson would be chief minister after the next territory election, after announcing that she, Larissa Lee and Francis Xavier Kurrupuwu were now part of the Palmer party.

The three MPs quit the ruling Country Liberal Party (CLP) in early April after a rift between Ms Anderson and Chief Minister Adam Giles, saying they wanted to create their own regional political party.

On Sunday they revealed they had joined the Palmer United fold, with Ms Anderson to be the party's leader in the territory.

"We approached Clive Palmer because we believed that we could achieve better things for all Territorians with the Palmer United Party," Ms Anderson said in a statement.

"I met with Mr Palmer (on Saturday night) and in consultation we decided to join the Palmer United Party.

"We were not offered any inducements to join, we did so because we strongly believe it is the best way forward to give the people of the Northern Territory the future they deserve."

Mr Palmer said his party was in discussions with other territory parliamentarians, and expected them to join the PUP in the next few weeks.

"I think she'll (Ms Anderson) be the chief minister after the next election," Mr Palmer told ABC TV.

"That government is falling apart, it's not really got a good future."

But Mr Giles said the multi-billionaire miner was trying to "buy government" in the NT, and he was not concerned that other members of the CLP could join Mr Palmer's party.

"Clive can try and throw his money around as much as he wants but I can tell you the members of the CLP, the Country Liberals, are not for sale, the Northern Territory's not for sale," he told Sky News.

"And we won't stand ... for any of these bullyboy tactics by some rich bloke from the Gold Coast."

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman joined in the criticism of Mr Palmer, saying questions needed to be asked about what cash, jobs and financial support he had offered the three MPs.

Ms Anderson defended her defection, describing the PUP as "the new force in Australian politics".

Asked what was in Mr Palmer's deal for the three NT MPs, she said: "I think it gives us comfort, it gives us stability, it gives us a home".

"He's welcomed us, and said that 'you can come on board' with his party, and we're happy to do that," she told ABC TV.

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MERS claims two more lives in Saudi Arabia

SAUDI Arabia's Health Ministry says two more patients who contracted a potentially fatal Middle East virus related to SARS have died as the kingdom detected nine new cases of the disease.

The ministry said in a statement on its website late on Saturday that one Saudi man died in Riyadh and the other in Jiddah, bringing to 94 the number of people who have died of the disease since September 2012. The nine new cases were detected in Riyadh, Jiddah and Mecca, raising the number of cases to 323.

MERS belongs to the coronavirus family that includes the common cold and SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, which caused some 800 deaths globally in 2003.

There is no vaccine or treatment for MERS. It is still unclear how it is transmitted.

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Search zone for MH370 broadened

The search zone for MH370 has been expanded after an underwater drone found nothing of interest. Source: AAP

THE search area for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight has been expanded after the Bluefin-21 underwater drone found no trace of the passenger jet.

The automated underwater vehicle (AUV) has completed sidescan sonar work in a narrowed-down circular zone 10km in radius, 1584km north west of Perth, which centred on an acoustic ping detected on April 8.

Other man-made acoustic signals were picked up in the vicinity on April 5.

Now on its 15th mission, the Bluefin-21 is combing adjacent areas, the Joint Agency Co-ordination Centre said in a statement on Sunday.

Due to deteriorating weather conditions, the air and surface search for floating debris has been suspended for the day.

On Friday, the AUV was forced to resurface after a software issue that required re-setting.

Last week, Malaysia's Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said more sophisticated and expensive technology would be needed if the Bluefin-21 came up with nothing.

The next phase of the search would require probably submersibles that would be very, very expensive and probably more Bluefin-21s, he said. MH370 vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8 with 239 people on board.

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Chloe and Kelly through to MKR grand final

TRASH talking travellers Chloe and Kelly are through to the My Kitchen Rules grand final after rolling the show's good guys Paul Bullpitt and Blair Tonkin.

Bullpitt and Tonkin made up one of the more polite and level-headed teams on the Seven Network series but the pair fell short in Sunday night's semi-final.

Chloe and Kelly, who have boasted about travelling to 40 different countries, won the semi-final with 47 points to 46.

They'll now meet the winner of Monday night's second semi, between SA mum Jessica and Bree and Melbourne twins Helena and Vikki, in Tuesday's grand final.

The winner of the series receives $250,000.

Tonkin and Bullpitt are Gold Coast school teachers and made a pact not to get embroiled in any controversy or sledge their opponents.

Tonkin said it's not their style to bait people or be nasty and says he was surprised the way some teams approached the competition.

Bullpitt said their My Kitchen Rules appearance has been a vehicle to drive positive conversations about food among the students.

Some school children have asked to have recipes from the show printed out while others have brought food to school that was inspired by the cooking series.

"It's basically given me an opportunity to talk to kids about something different like food and it was only two weeks ago I had 10 kids asking me to print recipes out," Bullpitt said.

"It's a really good avenue to open up conversations about healthier types of food."

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