This is The Loop, your quick catch-up for this morning's news as it happened.
Key events
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Live updates
That's it for The Loop today
By Felicity Ripper
Thanks for joining us for The Loop.
If you're catching up now, here's a bit of what we covered(click the link to jump straight to the post):
Twitter to take blue ticks
By Felicity Ripper
Twitter has announced it will remove blue ticks for individual users who have not signed up as a paid subscriber from April 1.
A blue tick has been used as verification tool for high-profile accounts as a badge of authenticity.
Twitter says from April it will begin winding down its legacy verified program and removing legacy verified checkmarks.
It says organisations with a blue tick can sign up to be a Verified Organisation.
Attorney-General says the footage of Lidia Thorpe at a rally is 'concerning'
By Felicity Ripper
Federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has labelled footage of Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe being pulled to the ground by a police officer yesterday as "concerning".
Senator Thorpe was knocked to the ground after attempting to interrupt anti-trans-rights campaigners at a rally outside Parliament House in Canberra.
The Attorney-General says he hasn't yet received advice from federal police on the incident.
You can catch up on what happened here:
House Republicans have failed to override Joe Biden's veto
By Felicity Ripper
The US House has just failed to override President Joe Biden's first veto.
The veto was on a Republican-led bill that would have banned the consideration of environmental, social or governance issues in retirement and other investment decisions.
Republicans couldn't mount the necessary two-thirds votes needed in the House to override the president's veto of the investment bill.
The override failed on a 219-200 vote mostly along party lines as most Democrats opposed.
The standoff was a first test of the strength of the new Republican majority in the House as it confronts the Democratic president in the White House.
Starry 'Dungeons & Dragons' film brings fantasy game to big screen
By Felicity Ripper
The fantasy world of Dungeons & Dragons has come to a rainy London's Leicester Square as actors Chris Pine, Rege-Jean Page and Michelle Rodriguez premier their new film imagining of the popular role-playing game.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves hits cinemas from next week hoping to entice a new generation of fans with the game which first came out in 1974.
In the film, Pine's character Edgin brings together a band of adventurers for a mission to retrieve a powerful relic.
"I didn't really know anything about it but my nephew is... a D&D player...I watched he and his pals play and was really blown over by how much joy there was in it and how much improvisation, it was just like an imagination gym basically," Pine told Reuters on the red carpet.
"Hopefully what people get out of our film is that it's a fun world with interesting characters that requires creativity and imagination and it's just a wonderful way to spend time."
It's the final day before the NSW election
By Shiloh Payne
Millions of people across New South Wales will head to the polls tomorrow to choose the 58th parliament.
Premier Dominic Perrottet is hoping voters will back the Coalition for a historic fourth term, while Opposition Leader Chris Minns is targeting an end to Labor's 12 years in the political wilderness.
Nearly 640,000 people have already voted at pre-poll centres and more than 28,000 have chosen to submit postal votes.
- If you've got questions about the voting process, Paige Cockburn has put together this article to explain how and where to vote.
Afroman is being sued over police raid footage
By Felicity Ripper
American rap artist Afroman is being sued, accused of improperly using footage from a police raid on his home last year in his music videos.
Seven law enforcement officers brought the suit earlier this month, claiming invasion of privacy.
They're seeking all profits from the rapper's use of their personas and a court injunction to take down the videos and posts.
The 48 year old rapper is best known for the 2000 song Because I Got High.
Ramadan has kicked off
By Felicity Ripper
In case you missed it, Muslims around the world are welcoming the start of Ramadan, a month of fasting, increased worship, heightened charity, good deeds and community.
Thousands of Muslims gathered in Jerusalem's Old City, where they let off fireworks and paraded through the narrow streets playing music and singing.
In Turkiye's largest city of Istanbul, people gathered near the city’s iconic Hagia Sophia.
Diplomats and leaders have expressed new hope for peace efforts, including in Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Elon Musk and the WHO chief have sparred on Twitter
By Felicity Ripper
Twitter CEO Elon Musk has tweeted that countries should not "cede authority" to the World Health Organization, and the UN health agency's chief has quickly rejected his comments.
"Countries should not cede authority to WHO," Mr Musk, whose Twitter account has more than 132 million followers, wrote in response to a video of right-wing Australian senator Malcolm Roberts criticising the organisation.
"Countries aren't ceding sovereignty to @WHO," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted in response.
"The #PandemicAccord won't change that. The accord will help countries better guard against pandemics."
In separate comments at the WHO's weekly news conference later on Thursday, Dr Tedros said the claim that the pandemic treaty would see countries relinquish power to the WHO was "quite simply false" and "fake news".
News Australia is searching for
By Felicity Ripper
- Linus Tech Tips
One of YouTube’s most popular content creators for tech hardware has been taken off the platform after the account was hacked.
Crypto scammers hacked the Canadian Youtuber to run Bitcoin ads.
An error page on his videos now says his account, which had 15 million followers, has been terminated.
Rio Tinto staff may have had their data stolen
By Felicity Ripper
Former and current employees of Rio Tinto may have had their personal data stolen by a cybercriminal group.
The stolen data relates to an attack on a third-party app used by the mining company, which says payroll information may have been seized.
Rio Tinto says the group threatened to release the data onto the dark web and investigations into the incident are ongoing.
Read more here:
It's the battle of Brisbane in the NRL tonight
By Shiloh Payne
The NRL will make history tonight in Brisbane as the Broncos and Dolphins face off for the first time at Suncorp Stadium.
Both teams are going into the clash undefeated, with the Broncos experiencing their best start to a season since 2009.
Show us who you want to win!
- React to this post with surprised for the Brisbane Broncos
- React to this post with informed for the Redcliffe Dolphins
A court has ruled a school shooter's parents can face a manslaughter trial
By Felicity Ripper
The parents of a teenager who killed four students at a Michigan high school can face trial for involuntary manslaughter, the state appeals court says, in a groundbreaking case of criminal responsibility for the acts of a child.
The murders wouldn't have happened if the parents hadn't purchased a gun for Ethan Crumbley or if they had taken him home from Oxford High School on the day of the shooting when staff became alarmed about his extreme drawings, the appeals court says.
James and Jennifer Crumbley are accused of failing to secure a gun and ignoring the mental health needs of their son before the shootings. Besides the deaths of four students, seven people were wounded.
Crumbley, 16, has pleaded guilty to terrorism and murder and could be sentenced to life in prison without parole.
He was 15 at the time of the November 2021 shooting.
Manhattan District Attorneys office faces accusations ahead of potential Trump indictment
By Shiloh Payne
New York prosecutors have pushed back against a congressional probe into their investigation of former US President Donald Trump.
Our North America correspondent Jade Macmillan says the Manhattan district attorney's office has accused the Republican chairs of three congressional committees of attempting an "unlawful incursion into New York's sovereignty" after they demanded information on a hush-money inquiry into the former president.
"The office also says the members of Congress only made their request after Donald Trump created a 'false expectation' that he would be arrested earlier this week," she says.
"The grand jury considering the case is not expected to make any decisions about a possible indictment until at least next week."
Beijing says China and the Philippines should properly manage their differences
By Felicity Ripper
China and the Philippines should manage their differences properly, the Chinese foreign ministry says, after the first in-person meeting between senior diplomats from the countries since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bilateral tensions have risen recently over naval disputes in contested areas of the South China Sea and the increasing US military presence in the Philippines.
"Both sides reaffirmed the importance of properly managing differences through friendly consultations, as well as maintaining the general direction of Sino-Philippine friendship," Beijing's ministry said in a statement.
It came after Chinese Vice Foreign Minister began a three-day visit to Manila by meeting with Philippines counterpart Theresa Lazaro.
Scientists explain alien comet 'Oumuamua's strange acceleration
By Felicity Ripper
The quirky comet 'Oumuamua, the first interstellar object found visiting our solar system, has been the subject of fascination since being spotted in 2017, including its curious acceleration as it hurtled away from the sun.
Hypotheses were floated in light of its unexpected behavior, including fleeting speculation that it might actually have been an alien spacecraft.
A new study has offered a more sober explanation — that 'Oumuamua's speed-up was due to the release of hydrogen gas as the comet warmed up in the sunlight.
'Oumuamua lacks the tail of gas and dust characteristic of many comets.
It was previously described as being cigar-shaped but now is thought to resemble a rocky pancake.
Smaller than originally estimated, it is now pegged at approximately 115m by 111m with a thickness of about 19m.
Researchers said it appears that 'Oumuamua was born like many other comets as what is called a planetesimal - a small object formed in the early stages of planet formation - and was essentially a large, icy space rock.
After it was somehow ejected from its solar system of origin, they said, the comet's chemistry changed as it was bombarded by high-energy radiation while venturing through interstellar space.
This converted some of the comet's ice — frozen water — into hydrogen gas that was trapped within the rest of its ice.
'Oumuamua then was warmed up as it passed through our inner solar system, causing the comet's ice structure to rearrange and releasing the trapped hydrogen gas — giving 'Oumuamua a little bit of a kick as it headed away from the sun.
TikTok's CEO has been grilled in the US
By Felicity Ripper
US politicians have grilled the CEO of TikTok over data security and harmful content, responding skeptically during a tense committee hearing to his assurances that the app prioritises user safety and shouldn't be banned.
Shou Zi Chew's rare public appearance came at a crucial time for the company, which has 150 million American users but is under increasing pressure from US officials.
TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance have been swept up in a wider geopolitical battle between Beijing and Washington over trade and technology.
In a bipartisan effort to reign in the power of a major social media platform, Republican and Democratic lawmakers pressed Mr Chew on a host of topics ranging from TikTok’s content moderation practices, how the company plans to secure American data from Beijing, and its spying on journalists.
“Mr Chew, you are here because the American people need the truth about the threat TikTok poses to our national and personal security,” Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican, said in her opening statement.
Mr Chew, a 40-year-old Singapore native, has told the House Committee on Energy and Commerce that TikTok prioritises the safety of its young users and denied it's a national security risk.
He reiterated the company’s plan to protect US user data by storing it on servers maintained and owned by the software giant Oracle.
“Let me state this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country,” Mr Chew said.
World Athletics is banning transgender women from competing in elite international events
By Felicity Ripper
They won't be able to take to female competitions if they have gone through male puberty, the sport's governing body says.
The council also voted to tighten restrictions on athletes with Differences in Sex Development (DSD), cutting the maximum amount of plasma testosterone for athletes in half.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe told a news conference that the decision to exclude transgender women was based "on the overarching need to protect the female category".
The governing body had previously floated the option of transgender athletes being allowed to compete in the female category if they, too, maintained testosterone levels below 2.5 nanomoles per litre for 24 months.
Yet it said on Thursday that it became apparent there was little support within the sport for that proposal.
"We're not saying no forever," Mr Coe said, adding that the body would form a task force to study the issue of trans inclusion that would be chaired by a transgender athlete.
DSD athletes will have to reduce their testosterone levels below the new limit for a minimum of 24 months to compete internationally in any elite event in the female category, WA said in a statement.
The tighter rules will impact DSD athletes such as two-times Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya, Christine Mboma, the 2020 Olympic silver medallist in the 200m, and Francine Niyonsaba, who finished runner-up to Semenya in the 800m at the 2016 Olympics.
One more thing: French unrest is impacting King Charles III's trip
By Felicity Ripper
Unrest in France is tarnishing the sheen of King Charles III's first overseas trip as UK monarch, with striking workers literally refusing to roll out a red carpet amid pension reform protests and calls for the visit to be canceled altogether.
Charles is scheduled to undertake the trip beginning Sunday on behalf of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government, which hoped a glamorous royal tour would underscore efforts to rebuild Anglo-French ties that were frayed by Brexit.
But anger over French President Emmanuel Macron's resolve to increase the retirement age from 62 to 64 are clouding what was meant to be a show of bonhomie and friendship.
Instead, Charles' visit is being seen as an unnecessary display of hereditary privilege.
“It’s very bad timing. Normally the French would welcome a British king. But in this moment, people protesting are on high alert for any sign of privilege and wealth,” said Paris-based writer Stephen Clarke, the author of Elizabeth II, Queen of Laughs.
With piles of uncollected garbage lining the French capital's once-pristine boulevards, observers say the optics could not be worse — for both Charles and Macron.
