Hi there. It's Thursday, February 3 and you're reading The Loop, a quick wrap-up of the news you need to know about.
Let's start here
There are growing concerns about a prison in the Northern Territory experiencing a significant COVID-19 outbreak, where about half of the more than 600 inmates have tested positive.
The president of the NT Criminal Lawyers Association, Chrissy McConnel, is backing calls for an emergency response to the outbreak at the Alice Springs Correctional Centre.
She's backed calls from the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) for the early or temporary release of some prisoners as a necessary emergency measure.
Her backing comes as Arnhem Land community leaders accuse the Territory government of irresponsibly opening its borders to COVID-19 before adequate health and police resources were in place in remote areas.
The leaders say the federal government's new widespread lockdown of remote communities won't help them protect residents from COVID-19 unless they're backed up by resources.
Something you’ll be hearing about today
US President Joe Biden has approved the deployment of nearly 3,000 extra American troops to eastern Europe in the coming days.
It comes amid a stand-off with Russia over Ukraine and the Pentagon said it was a signal of US readiness to defend its NATO allies.
The move is aimed to reassure NATO allies in the face of a Russian military build-up near Ukraine while avoiding new deployments to Ukraine itself, which is not part of NATO.
Russia denies planning an invasion of Ukraine but — having engineered the ongoing crisis by surrounding Ukraine with forces from the north, east and south — Moscow is now citing the Western response as evidence to support its narrative that Russia is the target, not the instigator, of aggression.
News while you snoozed
- At least 60 people have been killed in a militia attack at a displaced persons' camp in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The head of a local humanitarian group and a camp resident both told Reuters that the CODECO militia was responsible for the killings at the Savo camp near Bule in Ituri province
- The NFL world is reacting to the news that former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores is suing the league and multiple teams in it, alleging racial discrimination in hiring practices. Flores — who was passed over for a job with the New York Giants last week — filed a class action lawsuit on the premise the league and its owners are inherently racist in their operations. The NFL and teams have denied the claims.
What Australia has been searching for online
- Jeff Zucker. The chair of CNN in the US has resigned after revealing he had been in a consensual relationship with another network executive
- The Lansdowne Hotel. Sydney's live music venue that has hosted countless iconic acts will exist no longer, with operators, Mary's Live, revealing the hotel's landlords want to convert the performance space into hostel accommodation.
One more thing
The nominees for the 2022 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are in.
They include Rage Against The Machine, Eminem, Duran Duran and (heck yeah) Dolly Parton., who at time of writing was ranked second in the fan ballot behind Pat Benatar.
In the Hall of Fame's words:
The Hall of Fame says fan votes will be "tallied, along with the other ballots, to choose the 2022 inductees", and with more than 200,000 votes cast so far, we're expecting the fan portion to be fairly significant in the final decision.
You're up to date
Thanks for reading.
ABC/wires
