Good morning and welcome to the Morning Buzz for Friday, November 24. Get ready for a mostly sunny day with a chance of a late shower. Expect tops of 27 degrees in the city and rising to 32 in the west. Enjoy your day!
Life in the big smoke linked to smaller waistlines
Almost two in three Australians are now overweight or obese, with Australians living outside major cities the most likely to have a body mass index (BMI) beyond the healthy range
Australia is the fifth most overweight and obese among all OECD countries, with 11.2 million adults (63 per cent) and 1.2 million children (26 per cent) with a BMI 25 or higher.
Sydneysiders were among those least likely to be overweight or obese, according to the latest report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). Read more
NSW medicinal cannabis hotline to cut through red tape
A new hotline is expected to fast track access to medicinal cannabis for palliative care patients in NSW.
Doctors will soon have access to the NSW Medicinal Cannabis Advisory Service to help them cut through the regulatory red tape of legally prescribing onshore medicinal cannabis for their patients.
From January, prescribers across the state will be able to call a hotline that connects them to experts tapped into the latest international evidence-based research in the constantly-evolving field, Health Minister Brad Hazzard announced on Thursday. Read more.
'Gigantic failure': Pilot returns fire after controversial plane crash
To some he remains Australia's equivalent of Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, the captain who landed a passenger plane on New York's Hudson River.
While Dominic James was initially hailed a hero for successfully ditching a Pel-Air jet in rough seas and pitch darkness off Norfolk Island without the loss of life, he quickly came under fire for his role in the incident.
Almost eight years to the day after the accident, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau has released a 531-page final report, the second it has issued on the crash that left two people badly injured. Read more via SMH
Woman saved from oncoming train with just three seconds to spare
A woman narrowly avoided being hit and killed by an oncoming train after three Protective Services Officers dragged her onto the platform at the last second.
Dramatic footage released by Victoria Police recently shows a drunk woman crossing the tracks at a suburban station and struggling to climb onto the platform as a train approaches. Read more
Green slip reforms could 'undermine injured motorists' rights'
An overhaul of green slip insurance expected to cut premiums by $120 a year has struck fresh opposition, with the NSW Bar Association warning key aspects "undermine the legal rights of people injured in motor accidents".
The reform, embarked upon two years ago, was initially opposed by legal groups who warned up to a third of people injured in crashes will lose the right to benefits after six months from the date of their accident.
The government undertook further consultation and a bill passed in April with the in-principle support of the legal profession. Read more.
States prepare to highlight the negatives in Turnbull's energy plan
The Turnbull government's national energy guarantee is set for a rocky reception when energy ministers meet in Hobart, with one state declaring new modelling confirmed its "worst fears", and another saying it was "deeply disappointing".
Federal Environment and Energy minister Josh Frydenberg is expected to release a paper during Friday's talks that has yet to be shared with state and territory counterparts. Read more.
Woolworths workers win big wage rises
Thousands of Woolworths warehouse workers have won substantial wage increases, defying the recent trend of sickly wages growth, by using the old-fashioned method of threatening a pre-Christmas strike.
More than 2000 workers in Victoria and NSW have won wage increases of about 4 per cent a year – twice the national average – and vastly improved redundancy pay. Read more.
Senator to host disgraced alt-right figure Milo Yiannopoulos
Disgraced alt-right figure Milo Yiannopoulos will speak at Australia's Parliament House next month at the invitation of libertarian senator David Leyonhjelm.
Yiannopoulos, whose fraternisation with American white nationalists was exposed last month by Buzzfeed, has been disowned by large swathes of the US right following multiple scandals.
Earlier this year the 33-year-old lost his job with right-wing publisher Breitbart, and his book contract was ripped up, after he appeared to condone paedophilia in some circumstances by arguing boys as young as 13 could consent. Read more
Why Brad Fittler must be named NSW coach on Friday
And then there were two, although there really is only one choice for the NSWRL board to make about who should coach the Blues next year.
On Friday morning, at the league's headquarters at Sydney Olympic Park, Brad Fittler and Michael Maguire will be interviewed for the thorniest position in Australian sport.
God willing, an appointment will be made later today, almost three months after Laurie Daley was abruptly sacked in the wake of NSW's heart-wrenching loss to Queensland in the deciding match. Read more.
Socceroos players don’t know why Ange Postecoglou chose to step away
Even after a lengthy face-to-face meeting on Tuesday, Football Federation Australia chief executive David Gallop was still "puzzled" why Ange Postecoglou was stepping down as Socceroos coach.
When Postecoglou sat down and gave only a handful of short reasons why he would be leaving his post just seven months before the 2018 World Cup, Gallop was "disappointed". Read more.
