1. Phillip Hughes

The nation is collectively holding its breath waiting for news on injured cricketer Phillip Hughes, who is in hospital fighting for his life after being struck in the head by a ball during a Sheffield Shield match at the Sydney Cricket Ground yesterday.

25-year-old Hughes was struck by a bouncer from paceman Sean Abbott while his mother and sister watched from the stands.

Fairfax Media reports that after the ball struck him he  “put his hands on his knees, looked towards his feet, and collapsed face-first onto the SCG pitch.”

He underwent emergency surgery last night and was placed in an induced coma.

Last night Australian team doctor Dr Peter Brukner issued this statement

“Unless there is a change in condition there will be no further updates on his condition tonight,”

“Phillip is in the best possible medical hands. The Cricket Australia community and his team mates have thoughts of thinking of his family and his friends at this moment.”

Sean Abbott is receiving counseling.
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2. Ferguson burns

The worst night of rioting Ferguson has seen since the death of teenager Michael Brown has taken place in the St Louis suburb after a grand jury made the decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown.

The New York Daily Mail reports that a man has died with an unidentified black male found shot and burned inside a car in the St. Louis suburb.

County police chief Jon Belmar said at least a dozen buildings were torched and that he counted about 150 gunshots during a night of looting, vandalism, arson and clashes between demonstrators and police that resulted in 61 arrests.

13 people were injured.

As President Obama called for calm, networks showed a split screen image of the suburb erupting into violence.

“We are a nation built on the rule of the law,” Obama said. “We need to accept this was a decision that was the grand jury’s to make.”

Across the country protestors took to the streets with signs saying “Black Lives Matter.”

Protests around the US appeared to be largely peaceful, compared with the scenes unfolding in Ferguson, reports CNN.

3. Family violence arises from gambling

Four new discussion papers released today by the federal government’s Australian Gambling Research Centre show that gambling can lead to family violence.

The studies examine the impact of gambling problems on families, the rise of gambling online, the growth in sports betting and advertising and the impact of gambling on indigenous Australians reports The Age.

Associate Professor Nicki Dowling from Deakin University told The Age that 1/3 of people with gambling problems report being the victim of violence from someone close, or report being the perpetrator of violence to someone close to them.

 4. Halle Berry takes ex-boyfriend to court

Halle Berry has taken her ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry to court for trying to change the appearance of their daughter and make her look ‘white.’

Berry claims her former partner straightened six-year-old Nahla’s hair and highlighted it to make her look less African-American.

In a court hearing yesterday, a judge ruled that neither parent – who have joint legal custody – can change Nahla’s natural hair texture or colour.

“I want both Gabriel and I to make decisions together that affect our daughter, her growth, her development and her general welfare,” Halle said in the court documents.

“I continue to hope that Gabriel and I can find a way to work together to be successful co-parents reports TMZ

5.High school Prostitution ring

A high school student has been charged with organising a prostitution ring of fellow students.

The 17-year-old from Venice, Florida in the US was arrested and charged with human trafficking of a person younger than 18.

Police say that at least one act of prostitution took place, police said, leading to the arrest of a 21-year old man who paid $40 and a bottle of liquor to have sex with a 15-year-old girl.

The 17-year-old had allegedly written on Facebook

“Why pimp out old hoes when I have fresh young hoes I can give up for money? As long as I’m getting paid I’m trafficking all these (expletive deleted).” Reports the New York Daily News.

 6. Same-sex marriage bill

The Federal Parliament is facing another debate on marriage equality, with a private members bill to legalise same-sex marriage being introduced to the Senate today.

Liberal Democrat senator David Leyonhjelm is hoping parliamentarians from both the Coalition and Labor will back the proposed legislation.

He said the bill would allow ministers and celebrants to refuse to preside over ceremonies if they objected to same-sex marriages.

Previous attempts to pass legislation for marriage equality failed, but Mr Leyonhjelm said he hoped his legislation would win widespread support.

“All my bill does is prevent the Government from stopping two people from getting married on the grounds that they are not a man and a woman,” he said.

“It does nothing more, and it requires nothing more than tolerance.”

Mr Leyonhjelm said he did not believe the state had a role in relationships and that he and his wife had never formally married.

A version of this story was originally published on ABC and has been republished with full permission

 7. We are better than this

A campaign by prominent Australians to remove children from immigration detention is hitting television screens today.

Celebrities such as Ita Buttrose, Bryan Brown, Deborah Mailman, Rachel Ward, Claudia Karvan, Rebecca Gibney and many many more have joined forces to say, “We are better than this Australia.”

For more and to see the campaign read this post here.

 8. Australian woman faces court in Canada

An Australian mother has faced court in Canada charged with abducting her seven-year-old son.

The woman met her husband in Australia and they had a son and moved to Canada in 2008.

In 2011, after the marriage fell apart, she is alleged to have picked her son up from school and driven across the border to North Dakota where she flew to Los Angeles for a connecting flight to Australia.

She said she was going home for Christmas, reports The Brandon Sun

The father contacted authorities and Canadian and US police tracked the woman and her son to the LA airport, where they arrested her.

She was held in jail in LA for more than three months. She was finally released on bail in Canada after extradition and now shares custody.

She told the court:

“He loves his mom, he loves his dad. He’s glad he sees us both.”

The trial continues.

 9. Biggest regret for over 50s

The biggest regrets for the over-50s according to a study is marrying the wrong person.

The Independent reports that a study has shown that while 23% of over 50s said they hadn’t seen enough of the world 25% said that marrying the wrong person was their biggest regret.

One in 10 over 50s said that falling in love again was on their ”bucket list” of things to do before they die.

10. Vegetarians healthy but unhappy

A study has shown that vegetarians are the healthiest in society but also suffer the greatest emotionally.

The Alere Wellness Index shows vegetarians drink and smoke less and are more physically active than meat eater.

But they are more likely to have depression and anxiety disorders.

The study, was based on 50,000 surveys a year conducted by Roy Morgan Research.

11. Teen sleeps outside Kristy Kreme for free doughnuts

Security guards and traffic management are already in place for the opening of the first Krispy Kreme in Western Australia.

Nine News reports that one teenager, 19-year-old Favian Lin has slept outside the store in Whitford City, Perth since Sunday in order to be first in line and win a 12-month supply of doughnuts.

12. Kiwis leaving town

The Kiwis are going home it seems.

New Zealand PM John Key announced last night that in October more people arrived from Australia than went there from New Zealand.

“It’s the first month of positive migration from Australia since December 1993,” he said.

NZ gained a net 47,684 migrants in the year ended October 31, according to Statistics New Zealand.

Come back Kiwis we are going to miss you….

13. This is America: Child accidentally shoots his 26 y/o mother in the head.

An American woman has been shot dead by her three-year-old son after the toddler found a semi-automatic handgun “under the couch”.

Christa Engles, 26, is believed to have been killed by a single shot to the head while she was changing the nappy of her infant daughter in her home in Tulsa, Oklamhoma, the Daily Mail Australia reports.

Neighbours of the family told a local TV station that Ms Engles was in the army, and her child found the gun under the family’s couch – according to police it is one of several guns kept in the home.

The woman’s husband was interstate for work at the time of the shooting, but returned home when he was informed of the tragic event.

He took to social media to grieve his lost wife:

“Don’t forget to tell your loved ones they are loved. You really never know when the last ‘I love you’ really is the last.”