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LAUNCESTON WEATHER FORECAST: Rain is again expected to hit Launceston, with showers predicted this afternoon and early evening. The temperature is forecast to hit 23 degrees, with winds becoming west to northwesterly at 15 to 20 km/h, easing in the evening. There is a low to moderate fire danger. A very high UV alert is present from 8.50am to 5.10pm.
THE EXAMINER'S TOP STORIES TODAY
Top pro team signs Baker Launceston’s world champion cyclist Georgia Baker has signed with the Wiggle Honda team.
Ellis case presents 'diabolical' challenge Tasmania's peak legal body says it would be "diabolical" to find three judges to hear a possible further appeal by Director of Public Prosecutions Tim Ellis.
Fares drop, ships to get overhaul The Spirit of Tasmania ferries will undergo dramatic modernisation and fares will be cut by an average of 14.8 per cent under TT-Line's aggressive business plans.
Help needed in tracking down trams Launceston Tramway Museum as committee member Garry Dodds is on the hunt for the lost two trams that once trundled the streets of Launceston.
AROUND THE WORLD TODAY: Get excited Bond fans, the series' 24th installment now has a name and some very early details.
James Bond will take on a sinister organisation with links to his past in the next installment of the blockbuster spy series, which star director Sam Mendes said on Thursday would be called Spectre.
Mendes unveiled a new cast and souped-up car - an Aston Martin DB 10 - but few other details about the 24th film in the series, that will see Daniel Craig return for his fourth outing as the dapper, martini-drinking agent.
Austrian actor Christoph Waltz would play a leading role, Mendes added, without going into more details. Most commentators assumed the sadistic villain of Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds would play the baddie.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA: BETWEEN Monday, December 1 and 3.30pm yesterday, there have been 39 warrants executed across all Regional and Metropolitan police districts.
Forty five people have been charged with 119 offences.
The offences include possession of methyl amphetamine with intent, but the majority were for simple possession (legal term) of drugs. More here.
QUEENSLAND: AN adult shop has been given the green light to continue operating from its Bloomfield Street address, despite Redland City Council claiming in October the store breached state laws. More here.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA: Big-name musical acts were lapped up by locals and visitors at two separate music festivals held on the Fleurieu at the weekend.
Artists Xavier Rudd, The Waifs and The Beautiful Girls were among acts hosted as part of the Gorgeous Festival, while Jessica Mauboy, Sheppard and Thirsty Merc headlined the Handpicked Festival at Langhorne Creek.
ILLAWARRA: A handful of Illawarra taxi drivers are overcharging, falsely claiming government travel subsidies, verbally insulting women and assaulting passengers and other drivers, according to a whistleblower.
The whistleblower, who is a driver with Wollongong Radio Cabs but wished to remain anonymous, claimed this behaviour keeps happening because the co-operative doesn't hand out substantial punishments. MORE HERE.
WAGGA: SERIAL rapist and killer Ken Cannon could serve as little as two years more in jail for the knife point sexual assault of a teenager in Wagga 28 years ago.
That's because Cannon must be sentenced according to the laws at the time, which prescribed a maximum 10 years' jail for his offence. More here.
BUNBURY: BUNBURY police have continued their crackdown on drugs after seizing 39 hydroponic cannabis plants in a raid on a Carey Park property.
Police have charged two people following the seizure after locating the plants in a shed at the back of the house. MORE HERE.
TAMWORTH: A VICTORIAN truck driver has been found guilty of dangerous driving causing death after his truck slammed into a bus, killing the Inverell-based driver.
The emotional verdict, handed down by the 12-member jury in Armidale District Court late on Wednesday afternoon, saw tears flow from all sides of the courtroom as Michael Simpson was convicted of the 2012 crash. MORE HERE.
LAUNCESTON: THE state government is considering selling off more than half of the gas-fired Tamar Valley Power Station. State-owned energy generator Hydro Tasmania was forced to buy the seldom-used site from Aurora Energy last year, under directions from the former government.
Energy Minister Matthew Groom told a scrutiny hearing yesterday that Hydro was made to pay $360 million for the station, which he said was only worth $200 million. MORE HERE.
BALLARAT: A touching story out of Ballarat today about a man and his tree. The tree was cut down at the elderly man's former home, but he found som nuts, one had a seed - and he planted a new tree at his new house. MORE HERE.
- Meet Paul Taylor, the man behind #putoutyourbats. MORE HERE.
- Julie Bishop has denied she "went bananas" at Tony Abbott after the Prime Minister ordered the Foreign Minister be chaperoned by Trade Minister Andrew Robb to a climate summit next week. MORE HERE.
- After a year of finely judged inactivity, the Reserve Bank is stirring. The bank's board met for the last time this year on Tuesday and concluded as usual that "the most prudent course is likely to be a period of stability in interest rates". But after the national accounts it's no longer so sure. It isn't just that economic growth is weak; it's that it's been weak for two quarters in a row. MORE HERE
- New Indonesian President Joko Widodo appears to have dashed the hopes of human rights activists by endorsing the execution by firing squad of five prisoners on death row. All five are said to be drug convicts, but statements by Mr Joko's ministers this week suggest the two condemned Australians, Bali Nine drug convicts Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, are not among them. MORE HERE
- Three women have joined a growing chorus of accusers who claim the iconic American comedian Bill Cosby raped them. The three women held a press conference with their lawyer, high-profile US attorney Gloria Allred, in Los Angeles to air their claims, which relate to a series of alleged encounters in the 1970s and 1980s. MORE HERE.
- The Thai military's toppling of an elected government in May risks provoking violent conflict in the country that remains deeply polarised after a nine-year cycle of unrest, the International Crisis Group warns. MORE HERE.
Emma Thompson is one of the Newcastle Herald's 'Hunter Heroes' this month.
SUNDAY marked the beginning of Postnatal Depression Week, an initiative aiming to create greater community awareness of antenatal and postnatal depression and anxiety.
More than one in seven new mothers and one in 20 new fathers are diagnosed with postnatal depression (PND) every year in Australia, with more than 100,000 total cases recorded in 2013.
Health and fitness coach Emma Thompson became aware of the risk of developing PND after she experienced the debilitating effect of depression and anxiety in her 20s.
