Thursday's news in just two minutes.

1. The police officer who was the first responders to Amanda Berry’s call for help has written about the experience on a Cleveland Police blog.

Patrol Officer Espada arrived at Ariel Castro‘s Cleveland house last Monday and helped to recuse Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michele Knight – the three women Pedro had allegedly held captive for more than 10 years. Officer Espada wrote:

“I’m looking that way just waiting to see what’s going to happen and it was Michelle. She kinda popped out into to the doorway and paused there for a second.

“I mean, within moments she came charging at me. She jumped onto me…. She’s like, ‘You saved us! You saved us!’ And I’m holding onto her so tight. And then within a few seconds I see another girl come out of the bedroom. I just look at her. I … you can immediately tell who it is….and I asked her, ‘What’s your name?’ She said, ‘My name is Georgina DeJesus.’ Very overwhelming. I mean it took everything to hold myself together.”

You can read the full post here.

In other news from Cleveland, Ariel Castro will plead not guilty to the charges of rape and abduction.

2. A NSW Parliamentary committee has found cannabis has value as a medical treatment. It’s also recommended it be used in medical capacity for people suffering from terminal illnesses and AIDs.

The Chair of the Committee, Sarah Mitchell MLC said, “We recognise the risks and negative effects of crude cannabis use particularly via smoking and by no means do we endorse the recreational use of cannabis.

However, the Committee considers that on the basis of the available evidence, providing for a very small and specific group of patients to use crude cannabis products for medical purposes legally is both appropriate and compassionate.”

3. Craig Thompson has announced that he will resign from the Labor Party and will contest his NSW seat as an Independent at the September election. Thompson is currently facing 154 charges relating to alleged misuse of funds during his time as the chief of the Health Services Union.

4. Since revealing that she under went a double mastectomy, Angelia Jolie has reportedly been targeted by internet trolls.

After Jolie made the announcement that she’d had surgery to reduce her chances of getting breast cancer, negative commenters were quick to suggest Jolie was just justifying getting a boob job.

On commenter wrote on Jezebel: “How many guys stopped reading as soon as they realized Angelina Jolie has no breasts—she’s dead to me!”

It’s also been revealed that Angelina is planning on having her ovaries removed. People magazine reported: “Because of her “faulty” BRCA1 gene, she still faces a high risk of developing ovarian cancer, which her doctors estimate at 50 percent.”

5. The Seekers lead singer Judith Durhum is reportedly recovering in hospital after suffering from a cerebral haemorrhage while on tour in Melbourne.

Speaking to the media yesterday, Durham’s band mates described the 69-year-old as a “tough little cookie” and said they were hopeful “she will get through this quite quickly.”

6. In a world first, scientists in the US have been able to clone human embryos to create a source of stem cells. According to the BBC, the cloned embryos “can make new heart muscle, bone, brain tissue or any other type of cell in the body.”

7. The Federal Opposition caused a kerfuffle this morning after originally refusing to grant a Labor MP a pair, so she could travel home to Sydney to care for her sick baby. Michelle Rowland, the Labor Member for Greenway went public with the Coalition’s refusal and has since been granted permission to leave parliament for the day to be with her 14-month-old daughter. She will have to return for Tony Abbott’s Budget Reply speech this evening.