This is The Loop, your quick catch-up for this morning's news as it happens.
Key events
Live updates
That's it for The Loop this morning
By Kate Ainsworth
Thanks for joining us throughout the morning.
If you're just tuning in, here's some of what we covered (tap the link to jump to the relevant post):
- Liberal Senator Jim Molan has died aged 72, after being diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago
- Harry and Meghan say Jeremy Clarkson's latest apology doesn't go far enough, after Clarkson issued a lengthy statement on his Instagram over his infamous column in The Sun
- Authorities in Nepal say they have identified more than half of the victims of Sunday's crash
- Mackay's mayor says the north Queensland city has 'dodged a bullet' after the Pioneer River reached 8.7 metres overnight, but more rain is going to fall over the next 24 hours
- Boris Johnson is writing a memoir covering his time as Britain's PM (PartyGate likely included)
We'll be back to do it all again tomorrow.
Remember Frankie Muniz? He's had quite the career change
By Kate Ainsworth
He's arguably best known to us as Malcolm in the Middle or Agent Cody Banks, but actor Frankie Muniz is forging a new career path — in NASCAR (yes, really).
Over the weekend Muniz shared that he's competing as a full-time race car driver in the ARCA Menards Series, which typically features less-experienced drivers, with the first of his 20 races for the year starting next month.
But we shouldn't be *too* surprised at his career swap — Muniz has been a long-time car racing enthusiast, and first drove the pace car for the Daytona 500 all the way back in 2001.
(Is anyone else low-key hoping for a Frankie Muniz/Drive to Survive type show, or is it just me? Netflix, you know what to do.)
BTS star Jimin named Dior's global brand ambassador
By Kate Ainsworth
French fashion house Dior has named K-pop star and BTS singer Jimin as its global brand ambassador.
Dior announced the partnership on its social media, sharing several photos of the singer in sporty looks designed by Kim Jones (and sending the internet into a frenzy, naturally).
It's not too surprising that Dior has tapped Jimin to be their ambassador — several European luxury houses are using the global popularity of K-pop stars, especially with younger audiences.
The LVMH-owned label has also forged links with K-pop star Jisoo from Blackpink, who draws major crowds when she attends Dior's runway shows in Paris.
Permission to dance granted, army (not that you need it, of course).
LeBron James becomes second-ever NBA player to score 38,000 points
By Kate Ainsworth
There's just no stopping LA Lakers star LeBron James — he's now joined a *very* exclusive club of becoming the second player in NBA history to score 38,000 career points.
He hit the figure in the first quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers when he scored 16 points (yeah, no biggie).
The only other player to have reached that milestone is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who scored 38,387 points in his career.
Not that he needed anymore reason to have NBA legend status, but if James continues at his current pace, he'll be the highest career point scorer in the entire NBA as early as next month.
Wage growth is on the rise, treasurer says
By Kate Ainsworth
According to analysis from Treasury, wages grew at the fastest rate in nearly a decade last year.
The growth was at 3.1 per cent, passing the annual average rate of 2.3 per cent over the last ten years.
The data also shows that workers in low paid jobs saw the strongest wage bump.
But while wages are growing, they’re not keeping up with the rising cost of living, with inflation rising to 7.3 per cent over last year to November.
Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers says he expects wages to continue to grow.
“One of the most important things that we can do, when people are under cost of living pressure is to do whatever we can to get wages moving again,” he said.
“We're pleased we're seeing the beginnings of that. It's a consequence of the minimum wage rise we supported enthusiastically.”
By political reporter Nour Haydar
Ukraine's ambassador condemns Russian flag appearance at Australian Open
By Kate Ainsworth
Ukrainian ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroschnychenko is demanding Tennis Australia enforce its "neutral flag" policy after a Russian flag was displayed during a game played by a Ukrainian tennis player.
Russian and Belarusian players don't have their flags represented during the Australian Open — which some players, including Novak Djokovic, have criticised.
But the former Australian ambassafor to Ukraine, Doug Trappett, says the Australian Open and Tennis Australia should followed Wimbledon's stance, which had its ranking points stripped by tennis's governing bodies.
Eiffel Tower lights up in solidarity with Iranian protesters
By Kate Ainsworth
The Eiffel Tower is no stranger to spectacular light shows at night, but overnight it lit up with messages in support of Iranian protesters and women fighting for more rights in the country.
The tower displayed the slogans "Woman. Life. Freedom" and "#StopExecutionsInIran", which have been the main chants of the protests in the four months since Mahsa Amini died in custody.
Authorities in Nepal begin identifying victims of plane crash
By Kate Ainsworth
Authorities in Nepal have identified the bodies of more than half those killed in Sunday's plane crash near the tourist town of Pokhara, where the plane was heading when it nosedived into a gorge.
All but two of those missing have been recovered.
The bodies of foreign nationals will be sent to Kathmandu for further identification and post mortem examinations, including Sydney teacher Myron Love.
Yesterday search crews found the Yeti Airlines plane's flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, which authorities will use to try and shed light on why the plane crashed.
UK government to overrule Scottish parliament over transgender bill
By Kate Ainsworth
For the first time, the UK government has used its powers to block legislation passed by Scottish parliament that would make it easier for transgender individuals to alert their legally recognised sex.
The move comes after weeks of tensions between the two parliaments during the bill's debate.
To understand what it all means and why it's so significant, my colleague in London Jacqueline Howard has you covered:
BREAKING: Liberal senator Jim Molan has died aged 72
By Kate Ainsworth
Liberal senator Jim Molan has died at the age of 72.
Senator Molan was diagnosed with an "aggressive form" of prostate cancer back in April 2021 and took sick leave from parliament.
The NSW senator returned to parliament and was re-elected to the Senate in May last year for a six-year term.
During his four decades in the Australian Army he reached the rank of major general and went on to hold a senior operations role during the Iraq war.
Harry and Meghan say Jeremy Clarkson's apology doesn't go far enough
By Kate Ainsworth
A spokesperson for Harry and Meghan has responded to Jeremy Clarkson's lengthy apology to the couple on Instagram, confirming that while they received an apology from him, not enough had been done to address his behaviour.
"What remains to be addressed is his long-standing pattern of writing articles that spread hate rhetoric, dangerous conspiracy theories, and misogyny," the spokesperson said.
"Unless each of his other pieces were also written 'in a hurry', as he states, it is clear that this is not an isolated incident shared in haste, but rather a series of articles shared in hate."
(If you're just joining us and have missed Clarkson's latest apology, scroll down a couple of posts for the full thing.)
Mackay 'dodged a bullet' as river avoids forecast major flood level
By Kate Ainsworth
Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson, who was speaking to ABC reporter Lillian Watkins a short time ago on ABC News Breakfast, says the Pioneer River has not reached its forecasted major flood level overnight.
"The BOM forecast 500mm, that didn't occur. There's a lot of water up there, they were forecasting the Pioneer River to be at a major flood level up the valley, at half past two this morning, at 11 metres, but it only got to 8.7 metres," he said.
"That's taken the pressure off. But another three metres on the river right now, we would've been in trouble. It wouldn't have burst the levee system but the low lying areas could've been under water.
"There's a lot of rain. It's causing a lot of issues, particularly up the valley, the township is cut off.
We need to work with the local disaster management groups about how long we expect this to go for, and how the resupply for the townships is going to happen.
"We dodged a bullet overnight. The torrential rain we're getting in the urban area, that run-off has nowhere to go. We got all the flood gates in. There will be a little bit of water lying around the streets, but not enough to go into people's homes."
Nick Kyrgios to undergo knee surgery on Monday
By Kate Ainsworth
If you missed it yesterday, Australia's Nick Kyrgios withdrew at almost the final hour from the Australian Open due to a knee injury.
Now he's confirmed on Twitter that he'll be going under the knife on Monday "to get it fixed".
Jeremy Clarkson says he's apologised to Harry and Meghan over The Sun column
By Kate Ainsworth
Shortly after Variety reported that Amazon wouldn't be renewing Jeremy Clarkson's shows beyond their commissioned seasons, the former Top Gear host has issued a "mea culpa with bells on", and confirmed he's apologised to Harry and Meghan for his column in The Sun last month.
If you missed it, last month Clarkson wrote that he "hated" Meghan on a "cellular level" and he dreamt of Meghan being publicly shamed in a column published by The Sun newspaper, shortly after Harry and Meghan's Netflix documentary aired.
During his book tour, Prince Harry described the column as "horrific and hurtful and cruel".
The column was later taken down by The Sun, with a record 25,000 complaints made to the British press regulator.
Now Clakson's shared a lengthy apology on Instagram, saying he emailed Harry and Meghan on Christmas Day to apologise and that he was "profoundly sorry".
(You can scroll through to read the full apology posted to his Instagram account.)
Mackay braces for flooding as rain cuts off Bruce Highway
By Kate Ainsworth
Parts of the north Queensland city of Mackay is expected to flood this morning when high tide hits, with an emergency alert issued to residents in Cremorne, on the northern bank of the inundated Pioneer River last night.
High tide is due around 7am AEST (so in about an hour's time), which is expected to lead to moderate flooding in some of the city's streets — but authorities aren't anticipating any threat to properties.
Heavy rain has closed several roads in the area, including parts of the Bruce Highway, leaving hundreds of travellers stranded until conditions ease.
Refuge centres have been set up at the Bowen PCYC and Prosperpine Entertainment Centre or those stranded in the region.
The rain is forecast to continue until at least tomorrow afternoon.
Coming up: Kokkinakis, de Minaur and Djokovic's first matches at the Australian Open
By Kate Ainsworth
It's day two of the Australian Open and plenty of Aussies will be hitting the courts at Melbourne Park — along with some high profile drawcards for good measure, naturally.
Australian wild card Kimberly Birrell will meet Estonia's Karen Kanepi from 10am AEST, while Thanasi Kokkinakis will take on Italy's Fabio Fognini in the afternoon.
We were also expecting to see Nick Kyrgios take on Roman Safiullin from Russia today — but if you missed it yesterday, Kyrgios withdrew from the comp due to a knee injury, which means Safiullin will face off against the USA's Denis Kudla.
Later tonight we'll see Alex de Minaur up against Taiwan's Hsu Yu-hsiou, but all eyes will be on Rod Laver Arena when Novak Djokovic meets Spain's Roberto Carballes Baena from 6pm AEST.
ABC Sport's Paul Johnson will have live coverage of the day's biggest matches a little later on — but until then, you can keep up-to-date with the latest scores from *all* of today's matches with this handy link below:
News Australia is searching for
By Kate Ainsworth
- Cate Blanchett. The Aussie actress used an acceptance speech at the Critics Choice Awards yesterday to take aim at the whole concept of award shows, saying they pit women against each other.
- Gina Lollobrigida. The Italian film legend who achieved international stardom in the 1950s and was dubbed "the most beautiful woman in the world" after one of her films has died in Rome, aged 95.
News while you snoozed
By Kate Ainsworth
- The Russian and Belarusian air forces have started joint drills in Belarus, which borders Ukraine's north and was a staging ground for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank in Washington DC, says the drills are likely a sign of the Kremlin is planning to turn its invasion of Ukraine into a "major conventional war".
- Italy's most-wanted fugitive, convicted Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro has been arrested in Siciliy after spending 30 years on the run. Messina Denaro ordered some of Italy's most heinous killings, and hundreds of police have been working to track him down over the years. Italian premier Giorgia Meloni called his capture "a great victory of the state".
One more thing: Boris Johnson is writing a memoir
By Kate Ainsworth
Inspired by Prince Harry, perhaps?
Former British PM Boris Johnson has signed a deal with publisher Harper Collins for the book, which is set to cover his dramatic years in Downing Street.
The publisher says it will be a memoir "like no other", but has given no details about how much he would be paid, or when it would hit shelves.
Since the book will cover his time in Downing Street, we can only expect to hear more about *those* government parties at Number 10 when Britain was under a strict COVID lockdown, and the events leading up to his resignation in September last year.
It also won't be his first foray into the publishing world — he's previously written a biography of Winston Churchill, and had agreed to write a book about William Shakespeare before he became PM.
