This is The Loop, your quick catch-up for this morning's news as it happens.
Key events
Live updates
That's it for The Loop this morning
By Brianna Morris-Grant
Thanks for joining us today! If you're catching up, here's what we've covered:
- A Perth mother has passed away after being hit in the head with a lump of concrete in an alleged unprovoked attack.
- US President Joe Biden has no immediate plans to contact Vladimir Putin, but is prepared to speak to him on ending the war with Ukraine.
- An appeals court has reversed a judge's appointment of a special master to vet documents seized by the FBI of former President Donald Trump's Florida home.
- We've gotten the first glimpse of Netflix's Harry and Meghan doco, featuring multiple intimate photos of the couple.
- The biggest volcano in Hawaii has erupted, 38 years since it was last active.
- And the British Film Institute has announced the greatest film of all time. Have you seen it? What would you pick?
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.
Coming up: Finland's PM Sanna Marin will give a speech in Sydney
By Tom Williams
Finland's leader is in Australia to meet with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and will also give a talk on global security for the Lowy Institute in Sydney from 12:20pm AEDT today.
At 37, Ms Marin is one of the youngest world leaders, and held the title of the youngest leader for a brief while after her election at age 34 in December 2019.
Her speech is titled 'How a strong Europe can contribute to a more secure world' and it's expected to cover Finland's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and broader European security topics.
You'll be able to watch the speech via the stream below:
Kyiv children's choir performs Christmas carols in train station
By Brianna Morris-Grant
The Children's Choir of Ukraine has given an inpromptu performance in New York's Grand Central station.
The 56-member choir, visiting from Poland, will perform at Carnegie Hall on Sunday.
'Carol of the Bells' was written by Mykola Leontovych.
The choir's official name — the Shchedryk Children’s Choir — is taken from the song.
They'll perform traditional songs and carols alongside other Ukrainian artists, to raise funds for United24, a platform collecting donations to rebuild Ukraine.
Australian wool prices plummet as lockdowns, war and inflation take toll
By Brianna Morris-Grant
Australian wool has dropped to its lowest price in more than a decade on the world market, leaving producers nervous about this year's clip.
This week the Eastern Market Indicator (EMI), the east coast wool price gauge, dropped 32 cents to $A12.24 a kilo, making it the lowest price in six years in Australian dollar terms.
But in US dollar terms the EMI has plummeted to its lowest since 2010.
And the pass-in rate — wool offered for sale that wasn't sold — jumped from 9 per cent to 17 per cent.
Wool brokers and analysts told the ABC this week's wool market was a "bloodbath" and our biggest buyer China had "gone missing" from sales.
"China is still active in some sectors (but) they're buying selectively to keep mills running," Mr Moses said.
"There's no confidence there at the moment."
- Read the rest of this story at the link below.
Coming up: Chris Dawson's sentencing over the murder of his wife
By Tom Williams
Chris Dawson will today be sentenced for the murder of his wife Lynette Dawson, who vanished 40 years ago.
Mr Dawson , who is now 74, has denied involvement in Ms Dawson's disappearance from Sydney's northern beaches in January 1982.
Mr Dawson was found guilty of his wife's murder in August after a judge-alone trial in which the Crown alleged he was motivated to kill his wife in order to have an "unfettered relationship" with their teenage babysitter, JC.
Ms Dawson's murder was the subject of popular podcast The Teacher's Pet.
Chris Dawson's sentencing begins from around 12pm AEDT today in Sydney.
Orion capsule exits lunar orbit
By Brianna Morris-Grant
NASA's Orion spacecraft is officially on its way back to Earth, just days after travelling more than 432,000km from Earth.
The uncrewed spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to deep space destinations reached the halfway point of it's 25.5 day mission on Tuesday morning, AEST.
The mission will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration, with the goal of a safe crew module entry, descent, splashdown and recovery.
At its furthest point, Orion travelled farther than any other spacecraft designed to carry humans.
It's set to splash back down into the Pacific Ocean on December 11.
Rape charge dropped against the man accused of assaulting Brittany Higgins
By Brianna Morris-Grant
The case against Bruce Lehrmann, the man who was accused of raping former Liberal party staffer Brittany Higgins at Parliament House, will be abandoned.
ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold announced this morning that the sexual assault charge against Mr Lehrmann will be dropped, because it was "no longer in the public interest to pursue a prosecution at the risk of the complainant's life".
Mr Lehrmann had been accused of raping Ms Higgins, who was his colleague at the time, in an office at Parliament House in March 2019.
- You can read the rest of this story here.
Ukraine to limit Moscow-linked religious groups
By Brianna Morris-Grant
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the country will impose limitations on religious organisations linked to Russia.
"The National Security and Defence Council has instructed the government to propose to (parliament) a bill on proscribing activities in Ukraine by religious organisations affiliated with centres of influence in Russia," he said in his nightly address.
"National security officials should intensify measures to identify and counteract the subversive activities of the Russian special services in the religious space in Ukraine."
Last month Ukraine's security service raided a 1000-year-old Kyiv monastery, claiming the move was part of operations to counter suspected "subversive activities by Russian special services".
It's time for the weekly news quiz!
By Brianna Morris-Grant
Think you're pretty across the news from this week?
Test your knowledge (or your luck) in this week's news quiz.
It has just gone live right here:
Appeals court reverses appointment of special master in Trump documents probe
By Brianna Morris-Grant
A US appeals court has reversed a judge's appointment of a special master to vet documents seized by the FBI of former President Donald Trump's Florida home.
A three-judge panel of the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit US Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Justice Department in its challenge to a September ruling by US District Judge Aileen Cannon.
Judge Cannon had granted Mr Trump's request for a special master to vet the records, to decide if some should be kept from investigators, and to bar investigators from accessing most of the records pending the review.
A US House of Representatives committee this week obtained the former president's tax returns, after a years-long-fight.
The committee said it needs the documents, which it obtained following a Supreme Court decision clearing the release, to establish whether the Internal Revenue Service is properly auditing presidential returns and whether new legislation is needed.
New York looking for 'bloodthirsty' rat king
By Brianna Morris-Grant
If you are "somewhat bloodthirsty" and willing to consider "wholesale slaughter" of vermin then you might be the ideal candidate to become New York City's new rat czar.
The rats are going to hate this announcement — but the rats don't run the city, says Mayor Eric Adams.
The mayor's office has posted a job listing for Director of Rodent Mitigation, a position paying between $120,000-$170,000 a year.
To save you the maths, that's $176,164-$249,566 a year in Australian dollars.
"Do you have what it takes to do the impossible?" asks the ad, which seeks someone with a "virulent vehemence for vermin" and a "general aura of badassery."
A bachelor's degree is a must, as is experience in urban planning, project management or government, and proficiency in spreadsheets.
But above all the successful candidate must possess "the drive, determination and killer instinct needed to fight the real enemy -- New York City's relentless rat population."
Popular legend says there are as many rats as human beings in NYC, around nine million.
That's been debunked though, don't worry.
Neil Prakash extradited to Australia
By Jessica Riga
Neil Prakash has been extradited from Turkey to Australia, landing in Darwin this morning to face serious terrorism charges.
The 31-year-old is expected to face a Darwin court later today, where police will apply for him to be extradited to Victoria.
He will then be charged by the AFP Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team.
The Australian Federal Police said in a statement that "there is no threat to the Australian community".
"An investigation started in 2016 when the man was alleged to have travelled to Syria to fight with Islamic State," the AFP said.
"The AFP will allege in court that the man committed a range of serious terrorism offences.
"Given the matter is now before the court, no further comment will be made."
Ukraine gives first estimate of troop death toll in months
By Brianna Morris-Grant
Ukraine's armed forces have lost somewhere between 10,000 and 13,000 soldiers so far in the war against Russia, according to state officials.
Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak gave the first estimate of dead since late August, when the head of the armed forces said nearly 9,000 military personnel had been killed.
"We have official figures from the general staff, we have official figures from the top command, and they amount to (between) 10,000 and 12,500 to 13,000 killed," he said.
Last month America's top general estimated that Russia's military had seen more than 100,000 of its soldiers killed and wounded in Ukraine, and added Kyiv's armed forces "probably" suffered a similar level of casualties.
Meanwhile Kyiv's mayor has told residents to stock up on water, food and warm clothes in case of a total blackout.
New Alzheimer's drug shows modest slowing of early disease
By Brianna Morris-Grant
Scientists are cautiously optimistic about the promise of an experimental drug shown to modestly slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease in some patients.
Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia and is a physical brain condition that causes impaired memory, thinking and behaviour.
It has no cure and, so far, treatments have focused more on managing symptoms — with limited success — as opposed to a new drug, lecanemab, which is designed to slow the progression of Alzheimer's.
A stage-three clinical trial was conducted, involving administering the drug to people in the early stages of the disease.
You can read the rest of this story via the link below.
Federal Parliament passes industrial relations laws
By Jessica Riga
The biggest changes to workplace laws in two decades have now passed federal parliament.
The 'secure jobs better pay bill' allows a return to multi-employer bargaining, letting workers from different businesses negotiate the same pay deal.
Senior ministers say this will result in higher wages for staff in low paid sectors, but business groups argue it will lead to more strikes and less productivity.
After a lengthy debate in the senate last night, the Greens and ACT Independent Senator David Pocock voted with the government to pass the bill.
This morning the legislation cleared the final hurdle, with the lower house voting in support of the changes.
Looks like Ye won't be buying Parler
By Jessica Riga
Parlement Technologies and Ye (Kanye West) have agreed to terminate the intent of the sale of social media platform Parler, according to a statement from Parlement Technologies.
If you're only just now hearing about Parler for the first time, it's a social media network that bills itself as "the premier global free speech platform".
It was launched in August 2018, but didn't start gaining momentum till 2020 when the pandemic set in and Black Lives Matter protests picked up following the death of African American man George Floyd.
Rishi Sunak says racism must be confronted after Buckingham Palace aide controversy
By Jessica Riga
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says the country has made progress in tackling racism but that it was "never done" and must still be confronted, following a controversy involving Prince William's godmother.
Speaking to Sky News, Sunak declined to comment on the incident directly but said he had experienced racism growing up in Britain.
"The racism I experienced as a kid and a young person I don't think would happen today because our country's made incredible progress in tackling racism," he said.
"But the job is never done and that's why whenever we see it we must confront it and it's right that we continually learn the lessons and move to a better future."
Meanwhile, Prince William and Princess Catherine are currently in Boston.
Have you heard of the new 'greatest film of all time'?
By Brianna Morris-Grant
The British Film Institute has polled a group of critics and directors to find out the greatest film of all time.
Once a decade the BFI releases the Sight & Sound poll, known as one of the more prestigious film ranking lists.
So who did they vote for?
The film critics chose an experimental slice-of-life drama entitled: Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles.
The film directors, on the other hand, took a different approach — their pic was the influential sci-fi film, 2001: A Space Odyssey.
You can find out more about the full list, as well as which big names in film were involved in the vote, in this story by ABC film reviewer Matt Neal.
Thoughts? What would you rank as the best film of all time?
Japan upset Spain, Germany out of World Cup
By Jessica Riga
Japan has caused one of the surprises of the soccer World Cup in Qatar, coming back to beat Spain 2-1 and book its place in the round of 16 at the expense of Germany.
Germany beat Costa Rica 4-2 with three late goals but it wasn't enough for the four-time winners who crash out at the group stage.
Earlier, Morocco beat Canada 2-1 to top group F ahead of Croatia, who drew nil-all with Belgium.
We're live blogging all the action right here.
Perth mother passes away after alleged unprovoked attack
By Brianna Morris-Grant
A 30-year-old pregnant Perth woman has passed away overnight following an alleged unprovoked attack.
The woman, who the ABC has chosen not to name for cultural reasons, suffered a cardiac arrest after being hit in the head with a lump of concrete while sitting in her car after shopping on Tuesday night in Karawara, south of Perth.
Passers-by spent 20 minutes trying to resuscitate her in the car park, before she was taken to Royal Perth Hospital.
The victim was the mother of an eight-month-old baby.
She passed away in the early hours of this morning.
A 17-year-old boy made a brief appearance in the Perth Children's Court on Wednesday charged with grievous bodily harm in relation to the incident and was remanded in custody.
