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National
Tom Williams

The Loop: Australia's first multi-strain COVID vaccine, Donald Trump pushes back against investigation, and it's time for the Emmy Awards

Hi there. It's Tuesday, September 13.

Here are some of the top stories that you might have missed while long queues formed as people pay tribute to the Queen in St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh.

Australia's first multi-strain COVID-19 vaccine has been approved

The federal government has approved a COVID-19 vaccine which specifically targets two coronavirus variants of concern, including the original Omicron strain.

The new Moderna vaccine targets the original Wuhan strain as well as the Omicron BA.1 strain, and it is the first multi-strain COVID-19 vaccine to be approved in Australia.

Experts have welcomed the move, but say the vaccine's exact efficacy remains unclear.

Health Minister Mark Butler said the government had accepted a recommendation from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation on the use of a new Moderna vaccine as a booster shot for people aged 18 years and older.

The first doses of the bivalent vaccine have already arrived in the country and will now undergo batch testing by Australia's medical regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

They will be introduced into the rollout as existing stocks of Moderna's already-approved COVID-19 vaccine are exhausted.

Trump opposes Justice Department request over documents taken by FBI

Attorneys for former US president Donald Trump say they oppose the Justice Department's request to continue reviewing classified documents taken by the FBI from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida last month.

In a court filing, Mr Trump's lawyers also asked a US District judge to require an independent arbiter, called a special master, to include the roughly 100 documents with classification markings in their review of more than 11,000 records recovered during the court-approved search of Mr Trump's estate.

Mr Trump is under investigation for retaining government records, some of which were marked as highly classified, at Mar-a-Lago after leaving office in January 2021.

The government is also investigating possible obstruction of the probe.

US court hears more closing arguments in R Kelly case

A prosecutor has told a court in the US that singer R Kelly is a sexual predator who used his fame to abuse minors.

In her closing arguments at the R&B star's child pornography trial, Elizabeth Pozolo cited one of Mr Kelly's accusers, who was the government's star witness at the month-long trial.

Referring to the accuser by the pseudonym "Jane", Ms Pozolo said Mr Kelly, who is also accused of trial-fixing, "took advantage of Jane's youth".

Jane testified at the trial that she was the teenager in footage which jurors were shown excerpts of, including some which Ms Pozolo said showed Kelly abusing Jane while she called him "daddy" and referred to herself as being 14 years old.

Calls to reduce exploitation of skilled migrants

Eighteen legal centres across Australia have written a letter to the federal government calling for key legal reforms such as criminalising wage theft, allowing migrant workers to act against exploitative employers and extending the Fair Entitlements Guarantee to all employees, including those on temporary visas.

It comes after the government announced earlier this month that it would lift Australia's annual permanent migration cap from 160,000 to 195,000 to address economy-wide skills shortages.

You can continue reading this story, and hear from some of the migrant workers speak out, right here.

The 74th Emmy Awards are on today!

The 2022 Emmy Awards are taking place from 10am AEST today in Los Angeles, California, with some of the biggest names in television set to attend.

HBO series Succession has a whopping (and well-deserved) 25 nominations — the most of any project this year.

Fellow HBO production The White Lotus also has 20 nominations, as does Apple TV+'s soccer comedy Ted Lasso.

Nominated for best drama, Netflix series Squid Game could make history again if it becomes the first non-English-language show to win the category.

Actor and comedian Kenan Thompson, who is best known for his work on Saturday Night Live, is set to host, while presenters will include the likes of Selena Gomez, Squid Game's Jung Ho-yeon and Lee Jung-jae, as well as Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler.

Stay tuned to ABC News as we live blog the ceremony, update the full list of winners and cover all of the key moments.

Until then, here's the full list of nominees.

ABC/wires

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