This is The Loop, your quick catch-up for Tuesday morning's news as it happened.
Key events
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Live updates
That's it for The Loop this morning
By Felicity Ripper
Thanks for joining us today as we caught up on news happening around the world.
Here's a bit of what we covered (click the link to jump straight to the post):
Protesters in Paris set rubbish on fire
By Felicity Ripper
Protesters have set piles of rubbish on fire in central Paris after French President Emmanuel Macron's government narrowly survived a no-confidence motion in parliament on Monday over a deeply unpopular pension reform.
The failure of the no-confidence vote will be a relief to Macron.
It could have sunk his government and killed the legislation, which is set to raise the retirement age by two years to 64.
But the relief proved short-lived.
In some of Paris' most prestigious avenues, firefighters scrambled to put out burning rubbish piles left uncollected for days due to strikes as protesters played cat-and-mouse with police.
Police have arrested officials in a corruption sweep in Venezuala
By Felicity Ripper
Venezuela's oil minister Tareck El Aissami says he will resign and at least six officials were arrested following investigations by police into corruption, including at state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).
"In light of the investigations that have begun about serious occurrences of corruption at PDVSA, I have taken the decision to present my resignation as Minister of Oil, with the intent to support, accompany and totally back this process," El Aissami, who has been minister since 2020, posted on Twitter.
Venezuelan anti-graft police arrested a mayor, two judges and three government officials, at least two of whom are connected with PDVSA.
Arresting government officials for corruption is rare in Venezuela, which rights groups such as Transparency International have described as opaque.
Forced adoption survivors head to Canberra
By Felicity Ripper
Today marks a decade since Julia Gillard gave a historic apology to thousands of Australians affected by the forced adoption era.
Survivors have headed back to Canberra to push for the support they say they were promised, but never received.
Extreme weather more intense due to climate change, NASA says
By Shiloh Payne
A study has shown how droughts and wet weather events across the world have become more intense as a result of climate change.
NASA scientists have used satellite imagery to map water availability during extreme events, including during the Millennium Drought.
NASA hydrologist Mathew Rodell says the Millennium Drought was the 14th-longest drought observed as part of the study.
"As the world warms there are more frequent and more intense droughts and pluvials around the world and this has grave implications if the world continues to warm," he says.
"We can expect to see bigger and stronger events and more frequent events around the world and this is something we hadn't seen before."
Joe Biden has issued his first veto, taking on the new Republican House
By Felicity Ripper
US President Joe Biden has issued the first veto of his presidency in an early sign of shifting White House relations with the new Congress since Republicans took control of the House in January.
Mr Biden sought to kill a Republican-authored measure that would ban the government from considering environmental impacts or potential lawsuits when making investment decisions for people's retirement plans.
In a video released by the White House, Mr Biden said he vetoed the measure because it “put at risk the retirement savings of individuals across the country".
Another 9,000 cuts at Amazon
By Felicity Ripper
Amazon.com Inc says it will axe another 9,000 roles, piling on to a wave of layoffs that has swept the technology sector as an uncertain economy forces companies to get leaner.
In a remarkable turn for a company that has long touted its job creation, Amazon will have eliminated 27,000 positions in recent months, or 9 per cent of its roughly 300,000-strong corporate workforce.
The latest cuts focus on Amazon's highly-profitable cloud and advertising divisions, once seen as untouchable until economic concerns led business customers to scrutinise their spending.
The layoffs will affect Amazon's streaming unit Twitch as well.
Dan Clancy, who was named as CEO of Twitch last week, says the platform will lay off more than 400 employees.
Amazon aims to finalise who will be affected by April.
The company's stock fell 1.8 per cent.
Murdoch makes his fifth marriage proposal
By Felicity Ripper
Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch has announced his engagment to Ann Lesley Smith, a former police chaplain.
It will be the fifth marriage for the 92-year-old, who finalised his divorce from actress and model Jerry Hall last year.
Mr Murdoch and Ms Smith met in September at an event at his vineyard in California.
The nuptials are unlikely to change the ownership structure of businesses in which Mr Murdoch holds stakes, including News Corp, and Fox Corp, the parent company of Fox News Channel.
Russia says fighter jet scrambled over Baltic as 2 US bombers flew towards border
By Shiloh Payne
Russia's defence ministry says a Russian Su-35 fighter jet was scrambled over the Baltic Sea on Monday after two US strategic bombers flew in the direction of the Russian border, but that it returned to base after they moved away.
The development followed the March 14 crash of a US drone into the Black Sea after it was intercepted by Russian jets.
"On March 20, radar facilities of the air defence forces of the Western military district on duty over the Baltic Sea detected two air targets flying in the direction of the Russian Federation's state border," the ministry says.
It says the targets were US Air Force B52H strategic bombers.
It says a fighter jet took to the air in order to prevent a border violation, and that "after the foreign military aircraft moved away from the Russian Federation state border, the Russian fighter returned to its base airfield."
The ministry says the Su-35's flight was strictly in line with international rules of the use of airspace.
"No violation of the state border of the Russian Federation was permitted," it says.
The lights are off for 10,000 Queenslanders
By Felicity Ripper
Those who woke up early in north-west Queensland might have been eating breakfast in the dark this morning, with a widespread power outage impacting about 10,000 customers.
It's affecting areas including Mount Isa, Cloncurry, Julia Creek and Three Rivers.
Ergon Energy says a technical fault is to blame.
A jury has convicted three men of murder in the death of rapper XXXTentacion
By Felicity Ripper
A jury has found three men guilty of first-degree murder in the 2018 killing of star rapper XXXTentacion, who was shot outside a South Florida motorcycle shop while being robbed of $50,000.
Michael Boatwright, 28, Dedrick Williams, 26, and Trayvon Newsome, 24, were also convicted of armed robbery by a jury that rendered its verdict less than an hour after beginning its eighth day of deliberations.
Their sentencing, which Circuit Judge Michael Usan set for April 6, will largely be a formality as Florida law dictates a life sentence for first-degree murder convictions.
Barricades erected around US courthouse as city braces for possible Trump indictment
By Shiloh Payne
Workers are erecting barricades around a Manhattan courthouse as New York City braced for a possible indictment of Donald Trump over an alleged hush-money payment to a porn star during his 2016 campaign.
The barriers are going up in preparation for what would be the first-ever criminal case against a US president, two days after he urged his followers on social media to protest what he said was his looming arrest.
A grand jury was expected to indict Mr Trump late on Monday or on Wednesday, Politico reported, for arranging payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Mr Trump, who is seeking the Republican nomination for the White House again in 2024, predicted he would be arrested on Tuesday.
But on Monday, the grand jury still appeared to be collecting evidence before deciding whether charges were warranted.
Coming up: NRL players are contesting game charges
By Felicity Ripper
Tonight's NRL judiciary will hear Melbourne Storm halfback Jahrome Hughes and Dolphins forward Felise Kaufusi are both contesting charges.
Hughes is risking a two-game ban by choosing to fight his charge for a late hit on Titans half Tanah Boyd.
Kaufusi could have accepted a three-match ban with an early guilty plea, but will be suspended for four games if he fails in his appeal against a grade two dangerous contact charge.
Dolphins second rower Kenny Bromwich says he believes Kaufusi's tackle on Newcastle's Jackson Hastings doesn't warrant such a lengthy ban
What's trending
By Felicity Ripper
- Lionel Messi — Football fans are debating about the future of Messi playing for his Paris Saint-Germain club. It comes after his performance in the 2-0 loss to Rennes on Sunday afternoon did little to assuage doubts about his level of play. He is currently in negotiations for a renewal past the summer.
Hall-of-Famer's hospital update
By Felicity Ripper
Shaquille O'Neal has had hip surgery.
The four-time NBA champion gave fans a fright by posting a photo of himself lying in a hospital bed.
The 15-time All-Star and analyst for "Inside the NBA" will be absent from the broadcast booth while he recovers but sent out a note of support for the job being done by his fellow sportscasters.
The 51-year-old posted to Twitter with a photo of himself in a hospital gown.
A United Nations climate report has given a stark warning
By Felicity Ripper
Humanity still has a chance, close to the last, to prevent the worst of climate change ’s future harms, a top United Nations panel of scientists says.
But doing so requires quickly slashing nearly two-thirds of carbon pollution by 2035, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says.
The United Nations chief said it more bluntly, calling for an end to new fossil fuel exploration and for rich countries to quit coal, oil and gas by 2040.
“Humanity is on thin ice — and that ice is melting fast,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says.
“Our world needs climate action on all fronts — everything, everywhere, all at once.”
Stepping up his pleas for action on fossil fuels, Guterres called for rich countries to accelerate their target for achieving net zero emissions to as early as 2040, and developing nations to aim for 2050 — about a decade earlier than most current targets.
He also called for them to stop using coal by 2030 and 2040, respectively, and ensure carbon-free electricity generation in the developed world by 2035, meaning no gas-fired power plants either.
The White House has urged China's Xi to press Putin on Ukraine
By Felicity Ripper
The White House urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to use his visit to Moscow this week to tell Russian President Vladimir Putin to respect Ukraine's sovereignty and end Russia's war against Ukraine.
John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson, told reporters the United States is concerned that Xi, currently on a trip to Moscow, will reiterate calls for a ceasefire that would leave Russian forces inside Ukrainian sovereign territory.
Mr Kirby said Xi should speak with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy about the impact of the war on Ukraine.
"We encourage President Xi to press President Putin directly on the need to respect Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said.
"The world and China's neighbours will certainly be watching closely."
One more thing
By Felicity Ripper
Ted Lasso has taken to the White House.
The cast of the comedy television series joined Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at the daily press briefing in Washington.
They were invited as guests to the Brady Press Briefing Room to discuss the importance of addressing mental health to promote overall well-being.
