This is The Loop, your quick catch-up for this morning's news as it happens.
Key events
Live updates
That's all for The Loop this morning
By Tom Williams
Thanks for joining me today!
If you're just catching up, here are some of the big stories from this morning:
- US officials say special operations forces have killed a senior Islamic State group official and 10 other terrorist operatives
- Cyber security authorities have at least temporarily dismantled the network of a prolific ransomware gang
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Queensland police say it appears they have found the body of missing Gold Coast woman Wendy Sleeman in the back of a car
- Five former police officers have been charged with murder in the arrest and death of Black man Tyre Nichols in the US
- Russia has sent Ukrainians racing for cover with drone attacks and a rush-hour missile barrage, killing 11 people
You can keep up-to-date with other news on the ABC's website, by subscribing to our mobile alerts, and by watching News Channel or listening to local radio here.
The ACCC's influencer crackdown has begun
By Tom Williams
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) is sweeping posts by 100 social media influencers, looking for misleading testimonials and undeclared endorsements.
The consumer watchdog received about 150 tip offs about potentially dodgey practises following a recent call-out.
The commission is targeting sectors including fashion and beauty, food, health and fitness and parenting.
Influencers are meant to declare where they have received incentives for products.
triple j's Hottest 200 is now underway!
By Tom Williams
Ahead of tomorrow's Hottest 100, triple j has just kicked off its Hottest 200, counting down its listeners' top 200-101 songs of last year.
Coming in at #200 is Baker Boy's cover of Blur's Song 2, which he performed for triple j's Like A Version — check it out below.
You can listen to the Hottest 200 countdown on the triple j website, on radio, or via the ABC Listen app.
Over 2.4 million votes have been cast for the Hottest 100, which begins at 12pm AEDT tomorrow.
Education minister meets with regulator to discuss students' use of ChatGPT
By Tom Williams
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare says he has met with the national regulator to ensure school and university students don't misuse an artificial intelligence chatbot called ChatGPT which can generate realistic, human-like text.
The publicly available AI system is able to answer questions from users, and has the ability to write bespoke essays and exam responses.
New South Wales, Queensland, and Tasmania have already banned it in public schools and other jurisdictions are considering whether to follow suit.
Mr Clare told Channel Seven he had a meeting with the tertiary education regulator on Wednesday to examine the issue.
Australia's Caitlin Foord scores as Arsenal gets through to semi-finals
By Tom Williams
Matildas star Caitlin Foord has helped Arsenal beat Aston Villa in the quarter-finals of the English women's League Cup.
Foord scored the Gunners' third goal in the 3-0 victory, which sets up a home semi-final against Manchester City.
Arsenal have won the League Cup five times, with their last success coming in 2018.
Arrests and injuries following out of control gatherings in Perth
By Tom Williams
Several people have been arrested and two officers injured after police declared two out of control gatherings in Perth city overnight.
Police said they were called to Wellington Street to disperse a crowd of about 150 people at 10pm local time last night, following reports of large groups of people fighting.
They were later called to Moore Street in East Perth about 1.20am this morning, following similar reports.
Police said projectiles were thrown at officers during both incidents.
Boeing pleads not guilty in case over deadly Max crashes
By Tom Williams
Boeing has pleaded not guilty to a fraud charge in an unusual case in which families of passengers who died in two plane crashes are trying to throw out a settlement the company reached to avoid prosecution.
At an emotional hearing in Forth Worth, Texas on Thursday, a judge took the plea and ordered Boeing not to break any laws for the next year.
The judge delayed ruling on a request by the families to appoint a special monitor to examine safety issues at the aerospace giant. Boeing and the US Justice Department opposed the request.
More than a dozen relatives of passengers on a Boeing 737 Max that crashed in 2019 in Ethiopia — less than five months after a Max crashed in Indonesia — held nothing back as they testified about their loss.
Boeing's chief aerospace safety officer and lawyers for the company and the US Justice Department sat just feet away but showed no reaction to any of the stories.
The US Justice Department investigated Boeing after the second Max crash and settled the case in January 2021.
With the settlement, the US government agreed not to prosecute Boeing on a charge of defrauding the US by deceiving regulators who approved the plane.
In exchange, the company paid $US2.5 billion ($3.5 billion), including a fine worth $US243.6 million ($343 million).
US forces kill senior Islamic State official and other terrorist operatives in Somalia
By Tom Williams
US officials say special operations forces have killed a senior Islamic State group official and 10 other terrorist operatives in remote northern Somalia.
The operation targeted Bilal al-Sudani, a key financial facilitator for the global terrorist organisation, in a mountainous cave complex.
The Associated Press said US President Joe Biden gave final approval to carry out the operation this week, according to two officials who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity.
US Africa Command said in a statement that it believed no civilians were injured or killed in the operation.
One American was bitten by a military dog, but was not seriously injured, according to an administration official.
Fighting intensifies in eastern Congo, displacing hundreds
By Tom Williams
Fighting has intensified around a town in eastern Congo as a rebel group seeking to expand the territory it controls increased pressure on government troops defending it, forcing hundreds of civilians to flee their homes.
By evening on Thursday it was unclear who controlled Kitchanga in North Kivu province.
Unverified videos on social media appeared to show fighters in the M23 group celebrating and claiming they'd captured the town.
Congo for months has accused neighboring Rwanda of supporting the M23 group — whose origins lie in the region's ethnic fighting — and powerful voices in the West have openly agreed.
Rwanda denies backing the group, which is one of dozens operating in mineral-rich eastern Congo.
Peter Dutton calls Australian Open behaviour of Djokovic's father 'bizarre'
By Tom Williams
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has joined the criticism of tennis superstar Novak Djokovic's father, who appears to have been seen posing with spectators carrying a banned Russian flag at the Australian Open.
Tennis Australia has banned Russian and Belarussian flags from Melbourne Park, with the invasion of Ukraine continuing.
Dutton was asked on Channel Nine whether Srdjan Djokovic should be banned.
"The Russian onslaught continues, and frankly everybody of goodwill should be trying to deter, not encourage President Putin. So, it's a bizarre act," he said.
"And sometimes you see these from tennis parents and others over the years. But it's an issue for Tennis Australia as to how they react."
Ukraine's ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, says he wants Tennis Australia to ban Djokovic's father from the Australian Open before Novak plays again later today.
It's Friday, so it's time for a news quiz
By Tom Williams
I hope you've been paying attention to the news this week, because it's time to test your news knowledge.
You can take this week's quiz below, and sign up to get quiz alerts through the ABC News app here.
Good luck!
2017's New York City bike path killer has been convicted
By Tom Williams
An Islamic extremist who killed eight people with a speeding truck in a 2017 rampage on a popular New York City bike path has been convicted of 28 federal crimes and could face the death penalty.
Jurors deliberated for about seven hours over two days before finding Sayfullo Saipov guilty in a Halloween attack inspired by his reverence for the Islamic State militant group.
The jury announced its verdict in a Manhattan courtroom just a few blocks from where Saipov's attack ended.
The jury will return to court within days to hear more evidence to help them decide whether he should be executed or spend the rest of his life in prison.
Coming up: Near-Earth asteroid to make 'one of the closet approaches' ever recorded
By Tom Williams
Don't worry, it's not going to hit Earth — but an asteroid the size of a truck is due to whizz past our planet today, in what NASA expects will be "one of the closet approaches by a near-Earth object ever recorded".
The asteroid, known as 2023 BU, will pass about 3,600 kilometres above the southern tip of South America today, at around 11:27am AEDT.
For reference, that's around 10 times closer than the bevy of communication satellites circling above the Earth.
As NASA tracks 2023 BU, there's a chance it'll show up on its live Eyes on Asteroids system, which you can monitor at the link below.
Spanish police raid home of suspect in church machete attacks
By Tom Williams
Spanish police have raided the home of a young Moroccan man held over the machete attacks at two Catholic churches which left a church officer dead and a priest injured.
The attacks occurred in in the southern city of Algeciras.
A police investigation is considering the violence as a possible act of terrorism.
The suspect is believed to have acted alone.
The interior ministry says the suspect is a Moroccan citizen with no prior criminal record either in Spain or any other country.
Five former US police charged with murder in Black man Tyre Nichols's death
By Tom Williams
Five former Memphis police officers have been charged with second-degree murder and other crimes in the arrest and death of Tyre Nichols, a Black man who died three days after a confrontation with the officers during a traffic stop.
Former officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills, Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith have been charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.
Nichols's stepfather Rodney Wells told The Associated Press that he and his wife RowVaughn Wells, who is Nichols's mother, discussed the second-degree murder charges and are "fine with it." They had pushed for first-degree murder charges.
The Memphis police chief has called the actions of five officers involved in the violent arrest "heinous, reckless and inhumane" and made a plea to residents of the city to protest peacefully when video of the arrest is released to the public in the coming weeks.
'We hacked the hackers': FBI shuts down major ransomware site
By Tom Williams
The FBI and international partners have at least temporarily dismantled the network of a prolific ransomware gang they infiltrated last year, US officials have announced.
"Simply put, using lawful means we hacked the hackers," Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said at a news conference.
Officials said the targeted syndicate, known as Hive, operates one of the world's top five ransomware networks and has heavily targeted hospitals and other health care providers.
The FBI said its work had stopped the group from collecting more than $US130 million ($183 million) in ransomware demands from more than 300 victims.
The FBI quietly gained access to its control panel last July and was able to obtain software keys to decrypt the network of some 1,300 victims globally, said FBI Director Christopher Wray.
News of the takedown first leaked on Thursday when Hive's website was replaced with a flashing message that said: "The Federal Bureau of Investigation seized this site as part of coordinated law enforcement action taken against Hive Ransomware."
Hive's servers were also seized by the German Federal Criminal Police and the Dutch National High Tech Crime Unit.
It was not immediately clear how the takedown will affect Hive's long-term operations, however. Officials did not announce any arrests but said they were building a map of Hive's administrators and affiliates.
News Australia is searching for
By Tom Williams
Triple j Hottest 100. Yep, it's Hottest 100 season — and today triple j will be counting down the 100 songs which just missed out on making it into the Hottest 100 of 2022 (that's being broadcast on Saturday).
The Hottest 200-101 will begin today at 10am AEDT, and you can find out more about timings for the rest of the countdown at the link below.
One more thing: Succession has a season four premiere date (and a new trailer)
By Tom Williams
HBO has FINALLY announced a premiere date for the 10-episode fourth season of Succession, which will debut in late March.
The series begins in the US at 9pm EDT on Sunday, March 26, which puts it at 12pm AEDT on Monday, March 27 for Australian audiences.
Here's how HBO described the craziness the Roy family will be getting up to this time around:
"The sale of media conglomerate Waystar Royco to tech visionary Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) moves ever closer.
"The prospect of this seismic sale provokes existential angst and familial division among the Roys as they anticipate what their lives will look like once the deal is complete.
"A power struggle ensues as the family weighs up a future where their cultural and political weight is severely curtailed."
Catch the new trailer for season four, below.
