This is The Loop, your quick catch-up for this morning's news as it happens.
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By Tom Williams
That's all for The Loop this morning!
You can keep up-to-date on the ABC's website, by watching News Channel or listening to local radio here, and by subscribing to our mobile alerts.
By Tom Williams
The winner of Australia's favourite native tree is about to be announced!
After hundreds of thousands of votes in the ABC's poll of Australia's favourite native tree, the winner is about to be unveiled.
Join our live blog from 9.30am AEST today in the final hours of voting, before we count down the top 10 and root out Australia’s favourite from 11am.
The blog will begin with quizzes, Q&A and expert analysis — and we'll even hear from some ABC personalities on what they chose as their favourite tree.
Get your votes in here, and follow along with the blog below:
By Tom Williams
Happening today: An important Closing the Gap meeting
Government officials will meet with the Joint Council on Closing the Gap for the first time since 2021 in Adelaide today.
Modest improvements have been reported recently, including increases to healthy birth weights and school enrolments for Indigenous children.
But the gap is widening on incarceration rates, out of home care and developmental readiness for school.
Assistant Minister for Indigenous Health, Malarndirri McCarthy, says there is still a big job ahead:
"There is still massive unemployment. We still have to reform programs, like the CDP [Community Development Program].
"We need to improve housing, which also impacts health and wellbeing. These are matters that do impact First Nations Australians quite severely, but we have a plan."
By Shiloh Payne
Zelenskyy warns of 'global radiation disaster' if pressure isn't ramped up against Russia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged the international community to ramp up pressure on Russia to withdraw from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to avoid "global radiation disaster".
Mr Zelenskyy said "a radiation emergency" was avoided on Thursday following a blackout, because "if the diesel generator had not been turned on, if the automation and our station staff had not worked after the blackout".
Zaporizhzhia, which is Europe's largest nuclear plant, has been occupied by Russian forces and run by Ukrainian workers since the early days of Russia's invasion.
Ukraine alleges Russia is essentially holding the plant hostage, storing weapons there and launching attacks from around it, while Moscow accuses Ukraine of recklessly firing on the facility.
By Tom Williams
Beverly Hills, 90210 actor Joe E. Tata has died
Joe E. Tata, the American actor best known as Peach Pit diner owner Nat Bussichio on the 1990s teen drama Beverly Hills, 90210, has died.
He was 85.
His daughter Kelly Tata announced in a GoFundMe page posting that her father died on Wednesday night.
She previously wrote that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2018.
"My father and I are forever grateful for the love and support of family, friends and fans," Ms Tata said, describing her dad as "honest, kind, and a truly incredible father".
She also wrote that the remaining funds raised from her campaign would be donated to the Alzheimer's Association.
During his career, Joe E. Tata also appeared in television shows such as Lost in Space, The Rockford Files, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. and the original Batman series.
By Shiloh Payne
Delays continue for Sydney train passengers
Sydney train commuters are facing more delays today as industrial action continues.
Sydney Trains says there are cancellations and gaps in services of up to 25 minutes, mainly on the T2, T3 and T8 lines.
CEO Matt Longland says commuters should expect delays throughout the day, particularly on the inner west line.
He says they working to restore services.
By Shiloh Payne
Scientists create synthetic mouse embryos with stem cells
Scientists have created “synthetic” mouse embryos from stem cells without a dad's sperm or a mom's egg or womb.
The lab-created embryos mirror a natural mouse embryo up to 8.5 days after fertilisation.
Researchers hope to use these so-called embryoids to better understand early stages of development and study mechanisms behind disease without the need for as many lab animals.
The feat could also lay the foundation for creating synthetic human embryos for research in the future.
By Tom Williams
NASA finds 'first clear evidence' of CO2 in a planet outside our solar system
NASA says its James Webb Space Telescope has captured the "first clear evidence" of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a planet outside our solar system.
Here's what the agency said:
"This observation of a gas giant planet orbiting a Sun-like star 700 light-years away provides important insights into the composition and formation of the planet.
"The finding, accepted for publication in Nature, offers evidence that in the future Webb may be able to detect and measure carbon dioxide in the thinner atmospheres of smaller rocky planets."
Previous observations from other telescopes had found water vapor, sodium and potassium in the planet's atmosphere.
By Shiloh Payne
Meta removes accounts linked to Proud Boys
Facebook's parent company Meta says it has removed a network of accounts liked to the Proud Boys, a far-right group it banned in 2018.
Meta said it recently uncovered and removed about 480 Facebook and Instagram accounts, pages and groups linked to the Proud Boys.
That brought the total number of Proud Boys assets it has removed to around 750 this year, the company said.
The former leader of the Proud Boys and other members of the group were charged with attacking the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
By Tom Williams
Guilty pleas over a scheme to sell Biden's daughter's diary
Two people in Florida have pleaded guilty over a scheme to sell a diary and other items belonging to US President Joe Biden's daughter to a conservative group called Project Veritas for $US40,000 ($57,000).
Aimee Harris and Robert Kurlander pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport stolen property across state lines.
Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams said:
"Harris and Kurlander sought to profit from their theft of another person's personal property, and they now stand convicted of a federal felony as a result."
Lawyer Sam Talkin said Harris "has accepted responsibility for her conduct and looks forward to moving on with her life".
Kurlander's lawyer declined to comment.
The pair face up to five years in prison when they're sentenced.
By Shiloh Payne
Jack Dorsey says his biggest regret is Twitter became a company
Twitter founder and former chief executive Jack Dorsey has tweeted that he regrets the social media platform became a company.
It comes after Mr Dorsey was subpoenaed by Elon Musk on Tuesday as a part of his legal battle against Twitter.
Mr Musk alleges the company misled him about key aspects of the business, which he had offered to purchase but has since walked back.
Mr Dorsey stands to receive $US978 million ($1.4 billion) if the agreement for Musk to buy Twitter is completed.
By Tom Williams
Dangerous heat is predicted to hit three times more often in the future
Some more uplifting news for your Friday.
A new study has found that dangerous heat is likely to hit much of the world at least three times more often in the coming decades, as climate change worsens.
The study in the journal Communications Earth & Environment found an "extremely dangerous" feels-like temperature exceeding 51 degrees Celsius (which rarely happens at the moment) will likely hit a tropical belt which includes India one to four weeks a year by the century's end.
Here's what study author Lucas Zeppetello, a Harvard climate scientist, had to say:
"That's kind of the scary thing about this. That's something where potentially billions of people are going to be exposed to extremely dangerous levels of heat very regularly.
"So something that's gone from virtually never happening before will go to something that is happening every year."
By Tom Williams
US approves $2.8 billion potential sale of military equipment to Australia
The United States has approved the potential sale of military helicopters and equipment to Australia, for an estimated cost of $US1.95 billion ($2.8 billion).
Australia had requested to buy 40 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters and the principal contractor will be Lockheed Martin Corp, the Pentagon said.
It comes as Australia seeks to boost its military presence in the Indo-Pacific region.
In May the US State Department also approved the sale of mobile rocket launchers to Australia.
By Tom Williams
Here's the news Australia is searching for
- Novak Djokovic. The Serbian tennis star has withdrawn from the US Open, as he's not vaccinated against COVID-19 and therefore can't enter the United States. The withdrawal occurred just hours before the draw was revealed, ahead of play starting on Monday. Here's what Djokovic had to say on Twitter:
- Broncos v Eels. Parramatta have claimed a 53-6 NRL win over Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium, leaving the Broncos' finals hopes in tatters. Brisbane halfback Adam Reynolds failed a Head Injury Assessment in his 250th NRL game, after leaving the field in the 13th minute. Prop Tom Flegler was also put on report for a shoulder charge, before being taken to hospital with a throat injury
By Tom Williams
News while you snoozed
- A judge has ordered the US Justice Department to make public a redacted version of the affidavit it relied on when the FBI searched the Florida estate of former president Donald Trump to look for classified documents. The judge set a deadline of tomorrow for a redacted, or blacked-out, version of the document
- Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to increase the size of his country's armed forces from 1.9 million to 2.04 million, as the war in Ukraine enters its seventh month. It comes after Russian attacks took place on Ukraine's Independence Day earlier this week
By Tom Williams
One thing to know: A review has cleared the Morrison government of rorting industry grants
A review has green-lit a number of grants established by the former Morrison government, after finding they were "independently assessed".
Here's what you need to know:
- 69 grants were announced under the $1.3 billion Modern Manufacturing Initiative between the start of March and May 17
- Labor was critical of the spending at the time, as it was around the time of the election
- The review found former prime minister Scott Morrison made himself the final decision-maker for some of the grants
- The current Labor government said this was "in defiance of usual practice"
- But the review found decisions were supported by an independent committee and grant opportunity guidelines
You can read more on this story here:
