You made it. It's Friday, February 18 and you're reading The Loop, a quick wrap-up of today's news.
One thing you should know
The president of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach says he's "very concerned" for the wellbeing of 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva after seeing her entourage's "chilling" reaction to her free skate event in Beijing.
After falling on the ice multiple times overnight and leaving the ice in tears for the second time in two events, coach Eteri Tutberidze asked the teenager: "Why did you stop fighting?"
Tutberidze only put her arm across Valieva's shoulder as she sat sobbing in the so-called kiss and cry area while waiting for her results.
- Kamila Valieva tested positive for a banned substance on December 25
- But her test result wasn't revealed until February 8, after she'd already competed in the Winter Olympics team event
- Bach said Valieva was being offered "all the support available" while she was in Beijing
Bach said today that Valieva's entourage showed "tremendous coldness" towards the teenager.
"All of this does not give me much confidence in this closest entourage of Kamila, neither with regard to what happened in the past, nor as far as it concerns the future," he said.
The World Anti-Doping Agency has said it will investigate Valieva's entourage.
What else is going on
- Western Australia will reopen its borders to fully vaccinated travellers from March 3. The state's borders have been tightly controlled for two years. They were due to reopen in early February but that was delayed due to the threat of the Omicron variant
- Donald Trump and his two eldest children have been ordered by a judge to answer questions under oath in New York state's civil investigation into his business practices. The former US president is expected to appeal against the judge's decision
What Australia has been searching for online
- Austin Butler. After a particularly rocky start to production, the first trailer for the biopic Elvis has been released, offering up the first glimpse of the 30-year-old actor's transformation into The King. In classic Baz Luhrmann fashion, it looks like quite the production.
- Nicole Kidman. What's wrong with this picture?
A fair bit, according to punters. They've been calling out what they allege is excessive photoshopping, claiming Kidman's knee pops out at an angle incongruous with her foot, and the line of her left oblique runs just next to her belly button.
News alerts you might have missed
- The NSW Police Force has launched an internal investigation into the ABC's revelations about the horseracing interests of some senior officers
- The Queensland government will be put under the microscope as part of an independent probe into culture and accountability in the public sector
If you're not signed up for ABC News alerts yet, you're absolutely missing out. Head to the ABC News app homepage ➡️ Settings ➡️ Notifications and tailor your alerts to what you want to know.
One more thing
Don't … don't tell me you haven't done today's News Quiz yet?!
There's still time.
There are THREE questions with dogs in them this week — sure, one of them is Snoop Dogg, but that counts.
Give it a go here (and don't forget to share your score at the end).
You're up to date
See you next week.
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