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Australia is not keeping pace with global best practice cannabis policy, a report from the public health research organisation the Penington Institute has found, with decriminalisation predicted to save taxpayers around $850m each year. Full story

Ukrainian pilot snaps a selfie of his blood-covered face after ejecting having shot down wave of Russia’s Iranian-made suicide drones - before being given hero status by Zelensky Voroshylov earned a reputation as a drone killer, shooting down five in one week But the final drone exploded and left him with a head wound before he ejected He took a selfie and uploaded it to Instagram, before he received the award Full story

Celine Dion, 54, is diagnosed with incurable neurological disease: Tearful singer reveals she has rare 1 in a million 'Stiff Person Syndrome' that turns sufferers into 'human statues' Celine, 54, revealed she had been diagnosed with the 'one in a million' condition Stiff Person Syndrome causes her body to go into uncontrollable spasms There is no cure for the condition but she is working on slowing the progression Full Story

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William and Kate 'WON'T be watching Meghan and Harry's Netflix show' when it airs later - but Prince of Wales and his father King Charles 'are poised to respond robustly if it contains any unjust claims' Senior royals bracing for worst and prepared to address unfounded accusations Harry and Meghan's Netflix documentary is set to drop at 8am on Thursday Sussexes have already made number of claims in trailers released in recent days But royal aides believe that the series will actually by slim on new revelations Instead, they believe there is 'a lot of noise' but there 'isn't much more to say' King Charles and Prince William are poised to issue a 'swift and robust' response to any unjust claims in Harry and Meghan's upcoming Netflix series - but William and his wife kate are not likely to watch it themselves, sources said. Senior royals are said to be bracing for the worst and will be prepared to address any unfounded accusations as the new series drops on the streaming service at 8am. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have already made a number of claims in two trailers released by Netflix in recent days, saying they had no protection from the Palace and accused aides of actively leaking and 'planting' stories against them as part of a 'dirty game'.

By Tiffanie Turnbull BBC News, Sydney After the deadly bombings on two Bali nightclubs in 2002, some survivors say they got a "life sentence". "My life changed forever," Australian man Andrew Csabi told the BBC. On Wednesday, the man who crafted the bombs that killed Mr Csabi's friends and left him a double amputee was freed from an Indonesian prison. Indonesia says Umar Patek has been deradicalised, but his parole has sparked anger - particularly in Australia, where 88 victims were from. Some 202 people from 21 nations were killed in the blasts on 12 October that year. It remains Indonesia's deadliest terror attack. Patek was accused of being a bombmaker for Jemaah Islamiah (JI) - a group inspired by al-Qaeda - and spent almost a decade on the run. Full article

Military says 'it's just not right' as soldiers may give up Christmas to cover strikes Senior military personnel have told ministers that soldiers should not be made to give up Christmas to cover workers who will be striking this December. The Government has said army staff, civil servants and volunteers are being trained to cover jobs as workers prepare to go on strikes this festive season. Military figures have wanted that the hundreds of soldiers covering various roles may risk weakening the “operational capability” of the military’s response to threats.

Strike action by workers across the country in disputes over pay, pensions, jobs and conditions is set to escalate this winter, with almost one walkout every day in the run-up to Christmas. Some of the strikes will hit during Christmas week, potentially causing misery to shoppers, retailers, restaurants, pubs and businesses. But there is more action planned across industries in the weeks ahead. When do nurses, paramedics, and NHS workers strike? December 12: Strike ballot among members of the Royal College of Midwives closes. December 15: Up to 100,000 nurses will walk out in their first national strike. December 20: Royal College of Nursing members will walk out again in a second national strike. December 21: Thousands of ambulance workers and other NHS staff from the GMB, Unison and Unite unions will walk out in a dispute over pay and conditions. December 28: Further strike action by paramedics, Emergency Care Assistants, call handlers and other staff will be taken for 24 hours. January 9, 2023: Junior doctors start voting on strikes. When are the rail strikes? December 13/14: 48-hour strike by Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) and Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) union members on Network Rail and 14 train operators. December 16/17: Another 48-hour RMT and TSSA strike that will impact Eurostar services. December 18: Another RMT strike among Eurostar security staff, "severely affecting" services. December 22/23: Another RMT strike on Eurostar. Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and December 27: RMT members on Network rail to strike. January 3/4: Another 48-hour RMT strike. January 6/7: Another 48-hour RMT strike. When do border force and civil service workers strike? Mid-December: Civil servants in the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union start a month of industrial action. December 23-31: Border Force staff at several airports in the UK including Heathrow, Manchester and Gatwick go on strike, likely severely impacting flights. They are working on December 27 as normal. Dec 19-31: More than 200 members of the PCS, working in three DWP offices in Liverpool and one in Doncaster, to strike. When are the Royal Mail workers' strikes? December 9, 11, 14, 15, 23 and 24: More strikes by Royal Mail workers. Full Story

The BBC has been given photos of Twitter office space that has been converted into bedrooms, which San Francisco authorities are probing as a possible building code violation. One image shows a room with a double bed, including a wardrobe and slippers. An ex-worker said new Twitter boss Elon Musk has been staying at the headquarters since he bought the firm. He last month emailed all Twitter staff saying they "will need to be extremely hardcore" to succeed. San Francisco's Department of Building Inspection has confirmed it is investigating potential violations following a complaint. Mr Musk said the city was attacking companies for providing beds to "tired employees". In a now-deleted tweet, Mr Musk posted that he would work and sleep in the office "until the org is fixed". The BBC has also been given pictures of sofas at Twitter being used as beds. Another conference room has an alarm clock, and a picture placed over a made-up bed.

A "remarkable" astronomical explosion is thought to have been triggered by the collision of stars with a black hole, scientists have said. The event, a gamma-ray burst, was detected by a space telescope and a NASA observatory. A team of scientists including University of Leicester physicists described the minute-long blast as a rare cosmic event. They said they hoped their research would help the study of future events. Gamma ray bursts are the most powerful explosions known in the Universe. This particular explosion, from a nearby galaxy, was detected in December 2021. 'Factories of gold' Scientists said the blast, named GRB 211211A, was relatively lengthy with more infrared light than they would normally expect to see. Their research suggests the light came from a kilonova, an astral event, thought to be generated as neutron stars and a black hole collide. The research team was led by Jillian Rastinejad at Northwestern University in the US. It included experts from the universities of Birmingham and Leicester as well as Radboud University in The Netherlands. The researchers said they believed the explosion had produced elements such as gold and platinum. Dr Matt Nicholl, an associate professor at the University of Birmingham, said the research supported the idea that such kilonovae "are the main factories of gold in the Universe". Dr Gavin Lamb, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Leicester, said the burst had seen an excess of infrared light from about a day after the burst. Dr Benjamin Gompertz, an assistant professor at the University of Birmingham, added the research had exciting implications for future research. He said: "This was a remarkable [gamma-ray burst.] "We don't expect mergers to last more than about two seconds. Somehow, this one powered a jet for almost a full minute."

Bruce Willis's family are 'cherishing every moment' with him and 'praying' for a Christmas miracle as legendary hardman actor battles aphasia brain disorder Bruce Willis's family is 'cherishing every moment' with him and are 'praying for a Christmas miracle' as he continues to battle aphasia The blended family is spending the holidays together in Idaho When ex-wife Demi Moore can not be with Willis she calls him up so he can hear her voice, a source close to the family said The unnamed source added that Willis, 67, can no longer say much and it does not seem that he is grasping a lot of what others tell him

The United States is likely to increase its army presence in Australia as China extends its influence in the Pacific, a news report has stated. According to the report, more long-range nuclear bombers will be deployed in Australia and the US will increase the number of rotations of jet fighters, troops and visits by navy ships.

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Christmas travel chaos looms as Border Force strike could see fifth of flights axed Airport chief warns that drafting in military personnel to plug gaps will not be sufficient and cancellations will have to be made