Free period products will be available in public places across Victoria if Labor is re-elected at this month's state election.

Premier Daniel Andrews promised to install 1500 product dispensing vending machines in public places like train stations, hospitals and libraries, as Victorians prepare to go to the polls on November 26.

Andrews said it was the "next step" after four million tampons and pads had been dispensed in vending machines through Victorian government schools.

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"It's about making sure women and girls not just at school but right across the community can have access to the period products they need completely free of charge," Andrews said.

The rollout will cost $23 million over four years.

"This is in some ways a simple thing but it will make a very big difference to women and girls right across our state."

Victorian Minister for Women Natalie Peta said it would allow young girls to participate in society in an equal and free way.

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"I think I speak on behalf of all Victorian women when I say period products are not just a luxury, they are a necessity," Peta said.

She said many women go home if they get their period and need products but this would help them to stay and continue on with their day.

Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy promised to subsidise out-of-pocket fertility costs earlier in the week, also in an effort to support women.

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A US judge is considering whether to split up the trials of a newlywed couple accused of conspiring to kill her two children and his late wife.

An attorney for Chad Daybell asked a judge that his client be tried separately from Lori Vallow Daybell, EastIdahoNews.com reported.

The attorney, John Prior, said the co-defendants will have “mutually antagonistic defences” — a legal term that generally means a jury would have to disbelieve one defendant in order to believe the other.

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Daybell and Lori Vallow Daybell were scheduled to stand trial in January in the case, in which prosecutors allege they promoted bizarre, apocalypse-focused spiritual beliefs in a plot to murder the family members and steal their money. Both Daybell and Vallow Daybell have pleaded not guilty, and Judge Steven Boyce has postponed the trial until officials can determine whether Vallow Daybell is mentally competent.

Chad Daybell's attorney John Prior told Boyce at Thursday's hearing that the cases need to be separated or they could become an “evidentiary nightmare.”

“Our version of the facts of this case will differ greatly from what Ms. Vallow and her legal counsel are going to be presenting,” Prior said.

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Fremont County prosecutor Lindsey Blake said that the two should face trial together and that Daybell's attorney didn't meet the high burden required to justify severing the case. She noted similarities between evidence and witnesses the state will present against both defendants, and the trial is already expected to last 10 weeks. Splitting the cases would mean 20 weeks of trial time, Blake said.

Idaho law enforcement officers started investigating the couple in November 2019 after extended family members reported her two youngest children, Joshua “J.J.” Vallow and Tylee Ryan, were missing. At the time, J.J. Vallow was 7 years old, and Tylee Ryan was nearing her 17th birthday.

Daybell and Vallow Daybell had married just two weeks after his previous wife, Tammy Daybell, died unexpectedly. The children’s bodies were later found buried on his property in rural eastern Idaho.

The couple were eventually charged with murder, conspiracy and grand theft in connection with the deaths of the children and Daybell’s late wife. They could face the death penalty if convicted.

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Prosecutors say the couple promoted unusual religious beliefs to further the murder conspiracies. Vallow Daybell’s former husband, Charles Vallow, died while the two were estranged but had said in divorce documents that Vallow Daybell believed she was a godlike figure responsible for ushering in the apocalyptical end times. Daybell wrote doomsday-focused fiction books and recorded podcasts about preparing for the apocalypse.

Friends of the couple told law enforcement investigators that the pair believed people could be taken over by dark spirits, and that Vallow Daybell referred to her children as “zombies,” a term they used to describe those who were possessed.

Hundreds of COVID-19 infected passengers are disembarking a cruise ship this morning but an expert is reminding Australians there are plenty of "protections in place".

There are an estimated 800 COVID-19 patients among the 3300 guests and 1300 crew on board the Majestic Princess, which has ended its journey in Sydney.

Anyone who has tested positive has been told to get a private transfer and isolate at home.

READ MORE: Zelenskyy says Ukrainian special military units enter Kherson

Infectious disease expert professor Robert Booy told Today infected guests were disembarking separately to those who test negative.

"They have been isolating in their cabins, but it takes you back to 2020, 'Ruby Princess' and this is the sister ship," Booy said.

He reminded Australians that we have a lot more protections in place than this time last year.

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"The advice is to either go and get a booster and, if you do end up with COVID-19, get that anti-viral as quick as you can, if you are eligible… It can stop the virus in it tracks.

"Most people have got immunity from both infection and vaccination and a combination is called a hybrid, which is really quite strong."

Earlier NSW Health said the cruise company would be responsible for "assisting passengers with COVID-19 to make safe onward travel arrangements".

"There are currently increasing levels of COVID-19 throughout the community as the current wave of infections, driven by the new Omicron subvariants continues to grow," a NSW health spokesperson said.

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NSW Health ranked the Majestic Princess as a tier three risk level, indicating a high rate of transmission.

Princess Cruises senior vice president Stuart Allison said the company was helping anyone who has tested positive whilst on the ship to access "private transport and accommodation to continue isolation when they disembark".

"We also have a range of strict and robust measures in place to ensure our guests and crew are safe, as well as ensuring we limit the exposure of current cases in the community," Allison said in a statement.

All passengers will have undertaken a rapid antigen test in the 24 hours before disembarking and all will be masked "regardless of COVID status".

"Our onboard medical team will continue to support guests until they disembark", Allison said.

"We understand this current wave of COVID-19 is concerning to many in the community and we take our responsibility in keeping everyone safe very seriously."

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Passengers who have tested positive for COVID-19 have been isolating in their rooms. All other passengers "are wearing masks" and it's understood crew members have been advised to wear full PPE.

The cruise company said those who had tested positive on the ship "are mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic and are isolating in their staterooms".

"We have been proactively preparing for and managing incidences of COVID-19 and continue to work closely with NSW Health including adhering to their guidelines."

There was no suggestion of any potential plan to prevent unwell passengers from disembarking.

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NSW Health did not confirm the exact number of passengers who have tested positive to COVID-19.

"NSW Health is liaising with the Majestic Princess cruise ship to monitor the health of its passengers and crew members," the health department said.

"Carnival has advised NSW Health that they are assisting passengers with COVID-19 to make safe onward travel arrangements."

Ukrainian officials said Friday that Ukrainian flags were appearing "en masse and all over the place," in the wake of Russia's retreat from the southern region of Kherson, one of the four regions in Ukraine that Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed in September.

The months-long Ukrainian offensive to recapture the city of Kherson, the only provincial capital that has been under Russian control since the early days of the invasion, is coming to a head.

The fall of the city would deal another humiliation to Moscow after a string of battlefield defeats and other setbacks.

READ MORE: Ukraine troops prepare to reclaim city abandoned by Russians

Here's a look at what is happening and why Kherson is such an important city for both sides.

WHY IS THE CITY SUCH A PRIZE?

Kherson, which had a prewar population of 280,000, is the only regional capital to be captured by Russian forces. The city and surrounding areas fell into Moscow's hands in the opening days of the war as Russian troops quickly pushed their attack north from the Crimean Peninsula — the region illegally annexed by the Kremlin in 2014.

Its loss was a major blow to Ukraine because of its location on the Dnieper River near the mouth of the Black Sea, and its role as a major industrial center. Ukrainian resistance fighters have challenged Russian troops for control of the city ever since, with acts of sabotage and assassinations of Moscow-appointed officials.

Kherson also sits at a point where Ukraine can cut off fresh water from the Dnieper to Crimea. Kyiv blocked those vital supplies after the Crimean Peninsula's annexation, and Putin mentioned the need to restore them as one reason behind his decision to invade Ukraine.

WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW?

In the last 24 hours, Ukrainian troops have made gains northwest, west and northeast of the city of Kherson, advancing up to seven kilometres in some areas, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank.

"Russians have moved to positions they hope will be easier to defend. Ukraine will have to decide whether, when, and how to keep pushing," said Olga Oliker, director for Europe and Central Asia at the International Crisis Group. "But Ukraine seems on the verge of taking back … and this is very good news for Mykolaiv, which Russia will now have a much harder time bombarding. It is a serious Ukrainian advance."

WHAT HAVE THE UKRAINIAN TROOPS FOUND?

Kherson's Ukrainian-appointed regional official, Serhii Khlan said as Russia pulled its troops from the western bank of the river that divides the region, they have left wreckage in their wake, destroying key infrastructure, including power facilities and bridges.

"It will all have to be reconstructed," he said Friday at a video briefing. "While fleeing, they were blowing up everything, everything that could deter the (Ukrainian) advance."

Khlan advised civilians to stay home and said the humanitarian situation was really complicated, with power supplies cut off and very limited communications.

WHAT DOES THE KREMLIN SAY?

The Kremlin remained defiant Friday, insisting that battlefield developments in the Kherson region in no way represented an embarrassment for Putin.

Fearing such a major Ukrainian counterattack, the Kremlin-installed regional administration in Kherson reportedly relocated at least 70,000 residents earlier this month.

WHAT WOULD LOSING KHERSON MEAN FOR RUSSIA?

A retreat from Kherson and other areas on the Dnieper's west bank would shatter Russian hopes to press an offensive west to Mykolaiv and Odesa to cut off Ukraine's access to the Black Sea. Moscow had also hoped to build a land corridor to the separatist Transnistria region of Moldova, home to a major Russian military base.

"The loss of Kherson will turn all those southern dreams by the Kremlin into dust," said Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov.

"Kherson is a key to the entire southern region, which would allow Ukraine to target key supply routes for the Russian forces. Russians will try to retain control of it using all means."

WHAT WOULD RECAPTURING KHERSON MEAN FOR UKRAINE?

For Ukraine, capturing Kherson would set the stage for reclaiming the Russia-occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region and other areas in the south, and eventually pushing back into Crimea.

Reclaiming control of Kherson would also mean that Kyiv could again cut off water to Crimea.

"After the de-occupation of Kherson, the Russians will again have problems with fresh water in Crimea," Zhdanov added.

WHAT WILL CHINA THINK?

Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Kyiv-based Penta Centre independent think tank, noted that controlling the Kherson region and other southern areas was a major prize for Russia and their loss would have painful consequences for Putin at home and abroad.

"If the Russians leave Kherson, the Kremlin will face another wave of fierce criticism of the military command and the authorities in general from ultra-patriotic circles," Fesenko said, adding that the fall of the city would further demoralise Russia's armed forces and possibly fuel opposition to the mobilisation effort.

He also said China and India would see the fall of Kherson as a sign of Kremlin weakness.

"Putin will face reputational losses not only inside the country, but also in the eyes of China, and that could be particularly dangerous for the Kremlin," Fesenko said.

When Chandler Tran arrived home from holiday care at Easter this year with a pea-sized lump on his knee and a limp, his parents thought he'd probably suffered a bump in the playground.

But Chandler, eight, told them he hadn't had any accidents – which left his parents Cong, 42, and Trang, 41, worried.

After an X-ray at their local hospital the next day, he was sent to Westmead Children's Hospital.

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A week later, the family was given devastating news.

Little Chandler had osteosarcoma, also known as bone cancer.

It's a rare cancer which usually grows on the longer bones in the body, such as in the legs, and affects only a few dozen children a year.

While the family, from Fairfield East in Sydney's west, was initially hopeful the cancer could be treated, a worse update was to follow.

Chandler also had multiple tumours in his lungs, doctors told them.

Chandler's dad, Cong Tran, said they explained to the little boy about his illness and treatment.

"He's a very smart kid. We talked to him like we would have an adult," Tran told nine.com.au.

"His exact words were, 'I'm going to kick it in the nuts.'"

Chandler spent the next few months in hospital having chemotherapy and lost his hair.

Poignant note after upsetting decision

Meanwhile, Chandler's leg was becoming so painful because of the tumour that he was unable to stand up and doctors started looking at drastic options.

His parents were given the distressing news that they wanted to amputate the leg just above the knee.

It wouldn't cure him of cancer, but it would mean he wasn't in pain.

"We were really heartbroken," Tran said.

"It was gruesome to think about, but you take the emotion away."

Before the upsetting surgery, Chandler's dad helped him with an emotional request.

"He said: 'Can you take a photo of my leg on my tablet?'" Tran said.

"He drew a little love heart over his leg and wrote a little message.

"He wrote: 'Dear leg, I'll miss you so much when you're gone, love Chandler.'

"He was sad about the prospect of losing his leg, but he was like, 'If that's what I need to do to not have pain, then that's okay.'

"For us seeing him coping so well, that really helped us."

Chandler will get a prosthetic leg once he is properly healed.

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No further treatment planned

Days after getting over that operation, the family was given more terrible news.

The tumours in Chandler's lungs have grown and there's nothing more doctors can do to save his life.

He's on pain medication and also has portable oxygen tanks.

Doctors simply can't tell his parents how much time he has left.

"They said any treatment would just be palliative, to try and slow the cancer down," Tran said.

"We won't be able to save him."

Chandler is now home with his parents, who are keen to give him time with his six-year-old brother Carson.

He's spending his days enjoying his favourite hobby – playing with LEGO.

The family recently pulled off a special treat for him by getting his idol, LEGO artist Tiago Catarino, who lives in Portugal, to call him for a video chat.

His father said the special call made Chandler "very happy".

The IT infrastructure engineer, wanted to raise awareness about his son's illness.

He said whenever he said his son has cancer, people expected it to be the most common childhood cancer, leukemia.

A fundraiser for the family has raised almost $75,000.

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Osteosarcoma symptoms

There are more than 30 different types of primary bone cancer, according to the Cancer Council

Also called bone sarcoma, the most common types include osteosarcoma, which starts in cells that grow bone tissue, chondrosarcoma, which starts in cells that grow cartilage, and Ewing's sarcoma, which affects cells in bone or soft tissue.

Osteosarcoma symptoms include a swelling or lump on a bone, with or without pain.

Denise Caruso, the CEO of the Australia and New Zealand Sarcoma Association, said sarcomas are unbelievably rare.

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"A GP may see one sarcoma in their entire career," she told 9news.com.au.

She said there are only 25 to 30 osteosarcoma cases in under-15s annually in Australia.

The survival rate is around 50 per cent, she said.

Because the numbers are so small, researchers have to battle alongside more common cancers for funding.

"Because our patients don't often survive, it's hard to get momentum," she said.

She said if parents are worried about symptoms in their children, they should push to have scans done.

Do you have a story? Contact journalist Sarah Swain: ss****@******om.au

The four cubs, three female and one male, were named in an online contest. From left to right they are Zahara, Makena, Mshango (the male cub) and Neema.

South Australians are excited for the Christmas pageant to once again roll through city streets for its 90th anniversary today, after two years of a modified event due to COVID-19.

This year, the biggest Christmas pageant in the southern hemisphere will have 170 different sets, 3000 performers and 16 bands joining the parade.

In the days before the 2022 National Pharmacies Christmas Pageant, host Brenton Ragless was just as excited as most children in the days before Christmas.

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"The older I get, the younger the pageant makes me feel," the 9News Adelaide presenter said.

Ragless said it was an honour to be involved this year as it's the 90th time the pageant has gone ahead, only pausing once during the Second World War.

"Christmas is just steeped in so much tradition in our lives here in Australia and it really kicks off the festive season … not just for Adelaide but the whole country," the host of 15 years said.

He knows there will be grandparents watching on who remember the first one in 1933.

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The pageant's history

The pageant first began during the height of the great depression, with John Martin deciding to create a Christmas pageant to open his department store.

Ragless said it began "as a way of returning joy to South Australians amid what was a fairly gloomy time".

It started with about eight floats and four bands but this year the city is expecting about 300,000 people to line the streets.

Most of the floats still used to this day once pulled the baggage at train stations and airports across the country in the 1950s and 1960s.

"The amount of hours that goes into it is remarkable," Ragless said.

"It is significant the amount of involvement, not to mention the volunteers behind the scenes.

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"It is a massive thing to put on and preparation starts the day after it ends."

And the huge amount of effort doesn't go unnoticed in the family-friendly city.

Many parents and grandparents arrive as early as 3am to secure the best spots for their family.

"I will be going home on a Friday night after doing the news and there will be families securing their spot on the pageant route and that's the night before," he said.

One of the most special parts is the drawings families make on the streets before the pageant begins.

"Before the police go though and close off the pageant route, the kids go along and do chalk drawings and once we do our broadcast you see all the beautiful artwork from all the kids," Ragless said.

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And of course, the part that really sets the parade out from its worldwide competition is the blue honour line painted onto the road along the parade route.

"Most pageants around the world these days have big barricades, which prevent you from feeling like you are one with the pageant … the kids have to stand behind the line and they are very well-behaved," Ragless said.

If you're wondering why the Christmas pageant goes ahead in November, there are a few reasons.

The main one is to make sure Santa arrives in Adelaide before he appears in shopping centres so children don't get confused.

"There is something really special about being able to bring the pageant home to people that can't be there," Ragless said.

The pageant will begin at 9.30am from South Terrace and finish with Father Christmas arriving at the Adelaide Town Hall.

The broadcast will be streaming on 9NOW and on Channel 9 Adelaide from 10.30am.

You can find all the pageant details including this year's float list, route and road closures here.

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Across the world, nations paid respect with moments of silence and solemn ceremonies for their fallen soldiers in World War I on Friday.

Although, this year, Remembrance Day (also known as Armistice Day in parts of the world and Veterans Day in the US) was pierced by the rumblings of Russia's war in Ukraine that showed again, peace is all too often elusive.

Casualties since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 are estimated at around 200,000 and on the continent that already spawned two world wars in little over a century, that gave any of Friday's reminiscences about the horrors of wars past a poignant ring of the present.

READ MORE: Ukrainian troops enter Kherson city after Russia retreats

"Since 1918 we have marked Armistice Day and paid tribute to the brave men and women who have served to give us peace. Yet as we salute our troops this year, this peace has been shattered by a Russian aggressor," UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said.

"As we honor the war dead of the past, we also remember Ukraine's fight for freedom today."

READ MORE: Fears Russian troops leaving 'city of death' as they retreat

The thought echoed around the globe, starting in Australia and New Zealand, where dawn came first on the anniversary of the November 11, 1918 truce that brought an end to the First World War.

The "Lest we forget" phrase — gold-engraved into the Moruya granite of the Sydney cenotaph — towered atop wreaths and flowers that Australians brought.

"We must always remember the brave men and women who've defended our nation at our time of need, who've made the ultimate sacrifice," Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

Together with soldiers from New Zealand and other parts of the British Commonwealth like Canada and South Africa, Australians joined the 1914-1918 war in Europe to make it the first truly global conflict.

World War I pitted the armies of France, the British empire, Russia and the US against a German-led coalition that included the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires. Almost 10 million soldiers died, sometimes tens of thousands on a single day.

For decades in Europe, the return of such mass carnage seemed impossible, but the scenes from Ukraine's cities and countryside made all think again.

The day was marked from the smallest cemeteries in Flanders Fields in western Belgium to the Champs Elysees in Paris and countless streets and offices beyond.

At the heart of the Flanders Fields in western Belgium, where several of the war's bloodiest battles were fought and one huge tower was built under the motto "War Never Again," the tributes had an all too contemporary ring.

"These words sound different this year," Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said.

"Today, we do not only commemorate Armistice Day, but also the brave fight of the Ukrainians for their freedom and country."

City workers at Lloyd's of London stood, almost with military rigor across six floors of their headquarters, to mark the day.

In Paris, French president Emmanuel Macron laid a wreath on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe.

Later, Macron will attend the annual Paris Peace Forum, leading a debate on how Russia's war in Ukraine is testing the ideas of universalism and multilateralism that flourished after the world wars of the last century.