This is The Loop, your quick catch-up for this morning's news as it happened.
Key events
Live updates
That's all for The Loop this morning
By Andrew Thorpe
Thanks for joining us today. If you're catching up, here's a bit of what was covered (click the link to jump straight to the post):
- Perth doctor Ken Elliott released by West African militants seven years after kidnapping
- Sydney is running out burial plots, government says
- Disney's Florida Star Wars hotel to shut down in September
- Albanese heading to Hiroshima for G7 summit
- Car breaches Vatican gate at high speed, man in 'unstable state' arrested
- Colombian children 'found alive' after plane crash actually still missing
You can keep up-to-date with other news on the ABC's website, by subscribing to our mobile alerts, and by watching News Channel or listening to local radio here.
Perth doctor Ken Elliott released by militants
By Andrew Thorpe
Here's some great news out of West Africa, with Perth doctor Ken Elliott being reunited with his family.
Elliott, now 88, was abducted with his wife Jocelyn in Burkina Faso in January 2016 by a group believed to have links to al Qaeda.
Jocelyn was released after about three weeks, but Ken has been held by the group for the past seven years.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong says Dr Elliott is "safe and well" and has been reunited with his wife and their children.
"We acknowledge the strength and resilience Dr Elliott and members of his family have shown through the most difficult of circumstances," Senator Wong said.
TikTok users file lawsuit to block Montana ban
By Andrew Thorpe
Five TikTok creators in Montana have filed a lawsuit in a US federal court seeking to block the state's new ban on the Chinese-owned video app.
Montana Governor Greg Gianforte on Wednesday signed legislation to ban TikTok in the state from January 1, citing concerns over "Chinese Community Party surveillance".
The TikTok users argue the state seeks to "exercise powers over national security that Montana does not have and to ban speech Montana may not suppress".
"Montana can no more ban its residents from viewing or posting to TikTok than it could ban the Wall Street Journal because of who owns it or the ideas it publishes," the lawsuit says.
TikTok has been banned on government devices in Australia, but Montana's ban would extend to the general public, with the law making it illegal for app stores to offer TikTok for download within the state.
Reporting by Reuters
Not bad at all. I won't tell you what I got …
By Andrew Thorpe
7/10 for the Quiz. Fairly normal for me, but better than last week where I tanked at 3/10
- N
Sydney is running out of burial plots
By Andrew Thorpe
It seems there's just no escaping Australia's housing crisis.
The NSW government says an audit of available grave sites across Sydney has identified a looming crisis for faith-based organisations.
Burial is the only option for some faiths, but allocated burial sites for Muslims, along with Armenian, Macedonian and Antiochian Orthodox Christians, are set to be exhausted within three years.
NSW Lands Minister Steve Kamper says the government is acting, starting with a decision to merge three cemetery managers into one organisation.
"I've had representations over the last few years [while in opposition] and faith leaders are crying out for direction and assistance from government," he said.
Quizzlings, it's your time to shine
By Andrew Thorpe
It's Friday, which means it's time for the ABC's weekly news quiz.
Have a crack at it here, and make sure to let me know your score in the comments.
Remember, no cheating.
Disney's Florida Star Wars hotel to shut down
By Andrew Thorpe
After cancelling a proposed employee campus over clashes with Florida's governor Ron DeSantis, Disney has now announced it will shut down its immersive Star Wars-themed luxury hotel in Orlando, less than two years after it opened.
The company didn't provide a specific reason for shuttering the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser hotel, but the media giant has recently been cutting costs throughout its entertainment and parks businesses.
Star Wars fans had also complained about the cost of the hotel, where bookings start at $4,800 for two guests over two nights.
The Starcruiser is due to shut in September, but until then normal service will apparently continue. Who's to say if the experience will remain the same, though?
Surely no one wants room service from a demoralised Wookiee.
'Barely Legal' beer withdrawn after criticism its name is 'sexist' and 'inappropriate'
By Andrew Thorpe
An Australian beer named Barely Legal, which uses a label design similar to that of the pornography site PornHub, has been withdrawn on the eve of a major Melbourne craft beer festival amid criticism the name is "sexist" and "inappropriate".
Sunshine Coast brewery Blackflag Brewing's Barely Legal IPA was marketed with a "boozy" 18.1 per cent alcohol content as "something to tell your friends about".
It was set to be released and poured under that name at this weekend's Great Australian Beer Spectacular craft beer festival in Melbourne, but its marketing was withdrawn late Thursday following backlash on social media.
Blackflag did not respond to requests for comment, but in a statement posted to its social media accounts, the Queensland brewery said it regretted any "offence or distressed caused".
"We acknowledge that a single marketing theme, which was intended to be light-hearted and engaging, unfortunately missed the mark and inadvertently conveyed implications that were offensive," the statement read.
Read the full story here:
Albanese gearing up for G7 summit
By Andrew Thorpe
Looking ahead today, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to arrive in Hiroshima early this afternoon for the G7 summit.
Australia has been invited as an outreach partner along with several other nations, a fortuitous occurrence as it means a quasi-Quad meeting will be able to take place on the G7 sidelines, in lieu of the full Quad leaders' summit cancelled this week due to the US debt ceiling crisis.
In addition to meeting US President Joe Biden, Japanese PM Fumio Kishida and Indian PM Narendra Modi, Mr Albanese will also likely have meetings with the presidents of Brazil and South Korea.
Regional security, the war in Ukraine and nuclear non-proliferation are all on the agenda.
Car breaches Vatican gate at high speed, man in 'unstable state' arrested
By Andrew Thorpe
A man driving a car at high speed has breached a security gate at the Vatican, reaching a central courtyard of the Apostolic Palace before being arrested.
A statement from the Vatican said the man, described as about 40 years old and in an "unstable state of mind", did not get near the guest house on the other side of Vatican City, where Pope Francis lives.
The man first tried to enter the Vatican at St Ann's Gate, but the Swiss Guard turned him away, the statement said.
He then raced back through the gate at high speed, as well as a second checkpoint near the back of St Peter's Basilica.
A Vatican police officer fired a shot at the car but the man kept speeding ahead until he reached the San Damaso Courtyard, where he was arrested. He was later examined by Vatican doctors.
Reporting by Reuters
Colombian children 'found alive' after plane crash actually still missing, president says
By Andrew Thorpe
Colombia's president Gustavo Petro has retracted a claim he made on Twitter yesterday that four children missing after a plane crash in thick jungle two weeks ago had been found alive.
The fate of the children remains unclear, with Mr Petro saying reports of their discovery were unconfirmed and the search for the children — aged 13, 9, 4 and 11 months — was still ongoing.
"I have decided to delete the tweet because it hasn't been possible to confirm the information provided by the [child welfare agency]," Mr Petro said.
"I'm sorry it happened," he added.
Rescuers supported by search dogs had previously found discarded fruit the children ate to survive, as well as improvised shelters made with jungle vegetation.
News Australia is searching for: Tom Hanks thinks he's doomed to be resurrected by AI
By Andrew Thorpe
AI is continuing to spark search interest among Australians, this time regarding the likelihood that actors' AI-generated likenesses will carry on starring in films long after their real-life counterparts have left this world.
Speaking on British comedian Adam Buxton's podcast on Saturday, Tom Hanks said it was currently possible for him to pitch movies in which he'd be "32 years old from now until kingdom come".
"Anybody can now recreate themselves at any age … by way of AI or deepfake technology," he said.
"I could be hit by a bus tomorrow and that's it, but my performances can go on and on and on.
"There'll be nothing to tell you that it's not me."
Disney pulls plug on Florida development as fight with governor Ron DeSantis continues
By Andrew Thorpe
They say you don't mess with the mouse.
The Walt Disney Company says it is scrapping plans to build a new campus in central Florida and relocate 2,000 employees from southern California, following a year of sparring with governor Ron DeSantis.
Disney had planned to build the campus near the giant Walt Disney World theme park resort, but the chairman of Disney's parks, experiences and products division said "new leadership and changing business conditions" meant the company was abandoning those plans.
"I remain optimistic about the direction of our Walt Disney World business," Josh D'Amaro said.
"We have plans to invest $US17 billion and create 13,000 jobs over the next 10 years. I hope we're able to do so."
One more thing: The Queen's funeral cost the UK government $304 million
By Andrew Thorpe
The British government has revealed it spent 162 million pounds ($304 million) on the state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II.
Britain's longest-reigning monarch died in September 2022, after which the country entered 10 days of national mourning followed by a state funeral, the first since Winston Churchill's in 1965.
Cost estimates published by the UK Treasury on Thursday showed 73.7 million pounds, about 45 per cent of the money, was spent by the Home Office, which handled policing and security.
The cost of King Charles' coronation has been the topic of fierce debate regarding ceremonial pageantry, at a time when many in the UK are living in poverty.
The UK government has, so far, refused to comment on the cost of that event.
You can read the full story here:
