This is The Loop, your quick catch-up for this morning's news as it happens.
Key events
Live updates
By Tom Williams
That's all for The Loop this morning!
You can keep up-to-date on the ABC News website, by watching News Channel or listening to local radio here, and by subscribing to our mobile alerts.
We'll be back with another live blog tomorrow morning.
By Tom Williams
Former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro to give evidence on controversial appointment
Former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro will appear this morning before an inquiry created to investigate his appointment as NSW's trade commissioner to the Americas.
Here's how reporter Lara Hyams has explained the situation on News Breakfast this morning:
By Tom Williams
Colombia's first leftist President has been sworn in
Gustavo Petro, Colombia's first leftist president and a former member of the M-19 guerrilla group, has been sworn into office.
It's a major turning point for a country haunted by a long war between the government and guerrilla groups.
Mr Petro is pledging to unite the polarised nation in the fight against inequality and climate change, and achieve peace with leftist rebels and crime gangs.
By Bridget Judd
Canines catch waves in World Dog Surfing Championships
ICYMI over the weekend, the World Dog Surfing Championships took place in California.
Dogs competed in categories according to size in small, medium and large-very large groups.
The canines also competed in tandem dogs as well as tandem human-dogs with their owners on board.
Dogs are judged on multiple factors, including the length of the ride, technique (standing on all fours vs sitting vs laying down), confidence, and size or strength of the wave.
By Bridget Judd
Joe Biden leaves White House for first time since latest COVID-19 infection
Ending his most recent COVID-19 isolation, US President Joe Biden has left the White House for the first time since becoming infected last month.
Mr Biden tested negative on Saturday and Sunday, according to his doctor, clearing the way for him to emerge from an isolation that lasted longer than expected because of a rebound case of the virus.
“He will safety return to public engagement and presidential travel,” Dr Kevin O’Connor wrote.
By Tom Williams
UK museum agrees to return looted Benin Bronzes to Nigeria
A London museum has agreed to return a collection of Benin Bronzes looted in the late 19th century from what is now Nigeria.
The Horniman Museum and Gardens in south-east London said that it would transfer a collection of 72 items to the Nigerian government.
The decision comes after Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments formally asked for the artifacts to be returned earlier this year and following a consultation with community members, artists and schoolchildren in Nigeria and the UK, the museum said.
“The evidence is very clear that these objects were acquired through force, and external consultation supported our view that it is both moral and appropriate to return their ownership to Nigeria,” Eve Salomon, chair of the museum’s board of trustees, said in a statement.
By Bridget Judd
Brad Pitt’s Bullet Train pulls into station with $US30.1M
Bullet Train, starring Brad Pitt, has arrived with a $US30.1 million ($43.5 million) opening weekend, according to studio estimates, as the last big movie of Hollywood’s summer recovery landed in cinemas.
The Bullet Train debut for Sony Pictures was solid but unspectacular for a movie that cost $130 million to make and was propelled by Pitt’s substantial star power.
Even if it holds well in coming weeks, cinemas have no major studio releases on the horizon for the rest of August.
While it's always a quiet period in cinemas, it will be especially so this year — and likely to sap some of the momentum stirred by Top Gun: Maverick, Jurassic World: Dominion, Minions: The Rise of Gru and others.
AP
By Bridget Judd
More human remains discovered as drought dries Lake Mead
More human remains have been found at the drought-stricken Lake Mead, near Las Vegas.
It’s the fourth time since May that remains have been uncovered as drought forces the shoreline to retreat at the shrinking Colorado River reservoir behind the Hoover Dam.
National Park Service officials said rangers were called to the reservoir between Nevada and Arizona after skeletal remains were discovered at Swim Beach.
On May 1, a barrel containing human remains was found near Hemenway Harbor.
Police believe the remains were that of a man who died from a gunshot wound and the body was likely dumped in the mid-1970s to early 1980s.
AP
By Tom Williams
Let's set you up for the day
From a big Joe Biden deal passing the US Senate to a new ceasefire in Gaza and a woman saving animals in Ukraine — here's what you need to know at 7:30am AEST.
By Tom Williams
One thing to know: The US Senate has passed its largest effort on climate change
A huge election-year economic package worth an estimated $US 740 billion ($1.1 trillion) has passed the US Senate, and it includes the largest-ever federal effort on climate change — close to $580 billion.
Democrats held united in the Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote to pass the package 51-50.
The bill also attempts to lower pharmaceutical costs and raise some corporate taxes.
It now heads to a vote in the House of Representatives.
By Tom Williams
News while you snoozed
- Australia has won an historic inaugural Commonwealth Games gold medal in women's T20 cricket, beating India in the final over
- Australia has also won its 1,000th Commonwealth Games gold medal, with the Diamonds claiming a 55-51 victory over Jamaica in the netball final
- A ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants has come into effect after three days of violence which dozens of people dead —the worst fighting in Gaza since an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas last year
- Underground car parks, shopping centres and subway stations in Taiwan are being prepared for use as air-raid shelters as tensions with China raise new fears of an attack
By Tom Williams
Here's the news Australia has been searching for
- Anne Heche. The American actor and director is said to be in a stable condition in hospital, aftera crash in which her vehicle smashed into a house and caught on fire
- Kelsey-Lee Barber. The Australian (and world champion) has claimed the Commonwealth Games gold medal in the women's javelin with her final throw. Barber — who tested positive to COVID-19 on the eve of the Games — unleashed a winning throw of 64.43m to overtake her Australian teammate Mackenzie Little
By Tom Williams
One more thing: Meet the woman rescuing wild animals in Ukraine
Natalia Popova, a 50-year-old former economist, has saved more than 300 animals from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Her shelter houses 133 animals and she has gone almost $300,000 into debt to fund the saving of Ukraine's threatened creatures.
You can read more at the link below, or scroll up for the latest blog posts.
