The Loop: Australia and France's relationship repaired, French ambassador says, and emergency workers fired over arrest of Tyre Nichols — as it happened
Former minister for human services Alan Tudge is fronting the Robodebt inquiry
This is The Loop, your quick catch-up for this morning's news as it happens.
By Kate Ainsworth
Thanks for joining us. If you're just catching up, here's some of what we covered (hit the link to jump to the post):
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.
By Kate Ainsworth
Feel old yet?
The Jonas Brothers — aka Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas — have been honoured with their very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The group have been awarded a star in the recording category, for their success as a band and individual musicians.
Plus, the brothers have teased new music to be released this year, and will be taking their yet-to-be-announced new album on tour.
It's the 2,745th star on the walk, and is located at 7060 Hollywood Boulevard.
If you're a big JoBros fan, you can watch the full ceremony back below:
By Kate Ainsworth
The World Health Organization's week-long board meeting has begun in Geneva.
Health policy expert have said the agency is pushing for an expanded role in tackling the next global health emergency after COVID-19, but it's still seeking answers on how to fund it.
At the Executive Board's annual meeting from January 30 to February 7, countries will give feedback on WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus' global strategy to strengthen readiness for the next pandemic which includes a binding treaty currently being negotiated.
"I think the focus is very much on the programme budget, then sustainable financing," WHO director for governing bodies Timothy Armstrong told journalists when asked about the agenda.
The WHO is seeking a record $6.86 billion ($AU9.97 billion) for the 2024-2025 budget, stating that approving this sum would be "a historic move towards a more empowered and independent WHO".
By Kate Ainsworth
The Memphis Fire Department has confirmed it's fired two emergency medical technicians who responded to the brutal police beating of Tyre Nichols, saying an investigation had found they failed to provide adequate medical care.
"Their actions or inactions on the scene that night do not meet the expectations of the Memphis Fire Department and are not reflective of the outstanding service the men and women of the Memphis Fire Department provide on a daily basis," Fire Chief Gina Sweat said in a statement.
It follows the suspension of a sixth Memphis police officer overnight.
By Kate Ainsworth
A Chicago prosecutor has confirmed she will drop sexual abuse charges against singer R. Kelly, after federal convictions in two courts that mean he will remain jailed for decades.
Kim Foxx, the State Attorney for Cook Country, announced the decision a day ahead of a court hearing related to state charges accusing him of sexually abusing four people, three of whom were minors. Foxx said she would ask a judge to dismiss the charges at a hearing tomorrow.
Foxx acknowledged that the decision “may be disappointing” to women who stepped forward to accuse Kelly of crimes.
“Mr. Kelly is looking at the possibility of never walking out of prison again," Foxx said.
"We believe justice has been served."
Since R. Kelly was indicted in 2019, federal juries in Chicago and New York have convicted him of a raft of crimes, including child abuse material, enticement, racketeering and sex trafficking related to allegations that he victimized women and girls.
R. Kelly is serving a 30-year prison sentence in the New York case and awaits sentencing on February 23 in Chicago federal court. He is appealing those convictions.
Based on the New York sentence alone, the 56-year-old won’t be eligible for release until he is around 80.
Another sexual-misconduct case is pending in Hennepin County, Minnesota, where the Grammy Award-winner faces solicitation charges — but that case is also on hold while the federal cases play out.
Minnesota prosecutors haven’t said whether they still intend to take Kelly to trial.
By Kate Ainsworth
Victorian legal advocates are urging the state government to act quickly to make the justice system safer for First Nations people, after the findings of a coronial inquest into the death of Veronica Nelson.
Coroner Simon McGregor has called for the state's bail laws to be reformed, which were instrumental in placing Ms Nelson in a prison cell where she later died.
The coroner also said there was evidence of "pervasive stigma" towards women who use injectable drugs at the correctional facility Ms Nelson was held in.
Victorian Law Institute President Tania Wolff says such stigma is a core issue and needs to change.
"Dealing with the stigma that's associated with addiction, we have to start to get to a point of realising that people who are in pain will resort to measures to ease that pain and we have to look at that in a much more compassionate way than we do at the moment," she said.
By Kate Ainsworth
Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has applied for a six-month tourist visa to remain in the United States, his lawyer says, despite calls for any US visas held by him to be revoked after violent protests in Brazil.
The United States received his application on Friday, his lawyer, Felipe Alexandre said, adding that Bolsonaro will remain in the United States while his application is pending.
"He would like to take some time off, clear his head, and enjoy being a tourist in the United States for a few months before deciding what his next step will be," Alexandre said in an email response to Reuters.
"Whether or not he will use the full six months will be up to him and whatever strategy we agree to embark on based on his plans as they develop."
Far-right Bolsonaro flew to Florida two days before his term ended on January 1 and leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office, before the former president's supporters stormed the country's capital.
Supporters of Bolsonaro ransacked Brazil's Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace, calling for a military coup to overturn the October election that Lula won.
Brazil's Supreme Court has agreed to open an investigation into Bolsonaro for allegedly encouraging anti-democratic protests that ended in the storming of government buildings by his supporters in Brasilia.
Earlier this month, 41 Democratic members of the US House of Representatives asked US President Joe Biden's administration to cooperate with Brazil's investigation into violent protests in Brasilia and revoke any US visas Bolsonaro held.
By Kate Ainsworth
I'm sorry to break the news to you this way, but Phoebe Dynevor is moving on from Bridgerton and won't be back next season.
Dynevor, who plays Daphne Bridgerton in the first two seasons, has told ScreenRant she's "sadly not in season three" and is "just excited to watch as a viewer".
When asked about her Bridgeton future by Variety a little while ago, she gave the cryptic hint that she'd "done what I wanted to do with that character and she had a great arc."
But not all hope is lost — Dynevor says she could return "potentially in the future".
By Kate Ainsworth
France's ambassador to Australia says the two countries have repaired their relationship in the wake of an agreement to provide artillery shells to Ukraine.
Overnight France and Australia agreed to supply Ukraine with 155-millimetre artillery shells, after a meeting between the countries's defence ministers.
Australia has had a fractured relationship with France ever since Australia cancelled its French submarine contract in 2021, in favour of American nuclear submarines.
Speaking from Paris, Jean-Pierre Thebault was asked by RN Breakfast host Patricia Karvelas whether bilateral relations between Australia and France were now "fully repaired".
"I can honestly answer yes," he said.
"This started with the Prime Minister's visit in Paris on the first of July last year when he met with President Emmanuel Macron … and they committed to restoring the relationship.
"This is the result today."
By Kate Ainsworth
The International Olympic Committee has rejected fierce criticism from Ukrainian officials, who have accused it of promoting war after saying Russians could potentially be given the opportunity to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Over the weekend, Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak described the IOC as promoting "violence, mass murders, destruction" and said a Russian presence at the Games would constitute giving the country "a platform to promote genocide".
That message was echoed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday in his nightly video address, and called for a campaign to keep Russian athletes from competing in Paris last week.
But the IOC has hit back at the statements from the president and his advisor.
"The IOC rejects in the strongest possible terms this and other defamatory statements," the IOC said in a statement.
"They cannot serve as a basis for any constructive discussion."
By Kate Ainsworth
South Australia's new voluntary assisted dying scheme takes effect today, with about 40 people expected to initiate the process monthly.
Laws legalising the service passed state parliament 18 months ago, after 16 failed attempts across 26 years.
From today, certain people with terminal medical conditions will be able to request to legally end their life.
They'll need to meet strict personal and clinical criteria, including that their condition is incurable and in its advanced stages.
The SA Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board's presiding member, Dr Melanie Turner, says she's confident there are enough safeguards in place to make sure its used appropriately.
"Not everybody is able to have all their needs met in a level of comfort that they want the last few days or weeks of their life to be and this is now the opportunity to choose this pathway," she said.
By Kate Ainsworth
The Australian Bureau of Statistics will today release retail trade data for the typically busy shopping month of December (no prizes for guessing why).
The latest figures should shed light on the resilience of consumers amid interest rate hikes and cost of living pressures.
It comes after the ABS earlier this month revealed Australian retail turnover rose 1.4 per cent in November 2022 — a new record high.
By Kate Ainsworth
Belgian police have arrested an attacker who stabbed three people in a Brussels metro station on Monday, leaving one person with critical injuries.
While the motives of the 30-year-old attacker are unclear, police have ruled out a terrorist attack.
A source close to the investigation has told Reuters the attacker was previously known by police.
"Cooperation with the various federal police services and (the local police) ensured that the perpetrator could be arrested quickly", Brussels' mayor Philippe Close said on Twitter.
The attack happened at 5.45pm local time in a subway car as it arrived at Schuman station, a stop known to be busy at rush hour.
One of the wounded is in a critical condition, and all three are being treated in hospital.
By Kate Ainsworth
More heavy rain is on the way today for New Zealand's largest city where flashing flooding has already taken lives and caused millions of dollars' worth of damage in recent days.
New Zealand's official weather bureau MetService has issued another severe weather warning for Auckland and Great Barrier Island with heavy rain expected from 5pm tonight until 5am tomorrow, local time.
Between 80mm and 120mm of rain is expected.
Auckland Council yesterday warned that further flooding and landslides were expected.
The city has experienced record levels of rainfall since Friday.
By Kate Ainsworth
A sixth Memphis police officer has been suspended for his involvement in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, days after video footage of the killing was released to the public.
Officer Preston Hemphill has been "relieved of duty", a Memphis Police Department spokeswoman confirmed. No criminal charges have been announced against him, and the spokeswoman didn't disclose his role in the arrest.
In a statement, Hemphill's lawyer, Lee Gerald, said he was the third officer at the traffic stop that preceded the violent arrest and activated his body camera, but was not at the scene where Nichols was beaten.
The five other officers dismissed from the force have been charged with second-degree murder, assault, kidnapping, official misconduct and oppression in the death of Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who was beaten by police after a traffic stop.
On Friday local time, the department released footage showing officers kicking, punching and striking Nichols with a baton in his mother's neighbourhood after the traffic stop on January 7.
He was hospitalised and died of his injuries three days later.
By Kate Ainsworth
If you missed it, the philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder was interviewed by 7.30's Sarah Ferguson last night, and it covered a lot of ground to say the least.
Gates revealed he complained to technology companies about COVID-19 conspiracy theories circulating about him online (including those completely unfounded claims he was using COVID vaccines to control people), and that the mainstream media made the spread about them worse.
Ferguson also asked Gates about his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison in 2019.
"You're going way back in time. But I will say for the, you know, over 100th time, yeah, I shouldn't have had dinners with him," Mr Gates said.
It's an interview well worth the watch if you have some time — it's available on ABC iview.
By Kate Ainsworth
And we've gotten our first look at who will play the King of Pop.
Michael Jackson's very own nephew, 26-year-old Jaafar Jackson, will play the singer in the authorised biopic.
Production house Lionsgate confirmed the casting for the film, which is being produced by Oscar-winning producer of Bohemian Rhapsody, Graham King.
“I met Jaafar over two years ago and was blown away by the way he organically personifies the spirit and personality of Michael,” King said in a statement.
“It was something so powerful that even after conducting a worldwide search, it was clear that he is the only person to take on this role."
On Twitter, Jackson said he's “humbled and honored to bring my Uncle Michael’s story to life.”
Catch me in the cinema like…
By Kate Ainsworth
Good morning, it's Tuesday, January 31 and you're reading The Loop, a quick wrap-up of the headlines to get you going for the day.
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work.
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