Hello. It's the last day of January 2022 (yes, really) and you're reading The Loop, a quick look at what's making headlines today.
Let's start here
Rafael Nadal has won the Australian Open men's singles title after a gruelling five-hour, five-set marathon against Russia's Daniil Medvedev.
It is Nadal's 21st major, meaning he moves ahead of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic on the men's all-time major winners' list (they've both won 20 majors).
- The match didn't finish until after 1am AEDT
- At five hours and 24 minutes, it was the second-longest match in Aus Open history
- Nadal came back from two sets down to win 2-6, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5
The 35-year-old said after the match that this trip to Australia might be his last as a player, with the past couple of years being difficult due to injuries, but he was going to "keep trying my best to keep coming next year".
One thing you’ll be hearing about today
The COVID pandemic has not done any favours for the reduction of single-use plastics and other items.
In fact, between masks, PPE, cleaning products, hand sanitiser, medical supplies and now rapid antigen tests, there's a fair bit of stuff that millions of people are using once and throwing in the bin.
It's still a little tricky to get hold of a rapid antigen test at the moment, but when you have used one, do you know which bin it should go in?
The swab, buffer tube and cassette (the part that shows your result) must all go in the rubbish — they cannot be recycled.
CEO of Pathology Technology Australia Paul Whiting said that had nothing to do with what they were made out of, explaining anything contaminated with biological material could harbour a contagion or an infectious agent.
Mr Whiting said cardboard packaging materials and any instructions on the paper included in the kits could be recycled, but used kits should be put inside a sealed plastic bag and thrown away with the rest of your household waste.
Planet Ark says there was not enough data yet on how much plastic from rapid antigen COVID tests was going into landfill, but it was "likely a significant amount".
"Any time we see an increase in the amount of single-use plastic being used we are concerned for the potential impact on landfill and consumer habits," the environmental group said.
News while you snoozed
- The Taliban's acting higher education minister says Afghanistan's public universities are set to reopen in February (they've been closed since the Taliban seized power in August), but has not revealed whether female students will be allowed to return. Most high schools have only reopened for boys. Some private unis have also reopened, but most female students haven't been able to return
- The US has again ramped up diplomatic and financial pressure on Russia over Ukraine, promising to put Moscow on the defensive at the UN Security Council. Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Menendez, told CNN he was confident of reaching bipartisan agreement on legislation to punish Russia if it attacked
What Australia has been searching for online
- Danielle Collins. ICYMI on Saturday (not sure that's possible but still), Australian legend Ash Barty beat the American in the Australian Open women's singles final. Despite the loss, Collins is expected to jump into the top 10 of the world rankings, up from her current position of 30
- I'm A Celebrity Australia. Stop reading now if you don't want to know who won. There's a spoiler coming. Have you stopped reading? OK, you've been warned. Radio and TV host Dylan Lewis has been crowned this year's king of the jungle on the eighth season of the fan-favourite reality show
One more thing
Over the past few days, you may have heard that artists like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell have pulled their music from Spotify because they don't want to share the streaming platform with podcaster Joe Rogan.
Rogan's podcast has drawn controversy over alleged misinformation about COVID-19. Almost 300 scientists and medical professionals signed a letter earlier this month urging Spotify to take action.
Now, musician James Blunt has taken a unique approach by threatening (jokingly … we think) to release new music if Rogan remains on Spotify:
Blunt has a long history of making light-hearted jokes at his own expense, mainly that his music is unpopular (despite him having almost 10 million monthly listeners on Spotify).
Even Victoria's CHO Brett Sutton got around it:
Fans (or ... impartial appreciators) are loving it, with one saying: "I’d like to thank James Blunt for being a shining example of why self-deprecating humour is of huge value to society."
"Like him or not James Blunt is a Twitter genius," another posted.
You're up to date
Stick with us for more news updates throughout the day.
ABC/wires
