This is The Loop, your quick catch-up for this morning's news as it happened.
Key events
Live updates
By Tom Williams
Stay in The Loop
That's all for The Loop this morning — thanks for being with us!
We'll be back tomorrow, but in the meantime, you can stay up to date on the ABC News website and by subscribing to our mobile alerts.
If you're just joining us, here's what you need to know:
- Floods are continuing in parts of Victoria and NSW
- Russia has failed to get the UN Security Council to establish a formal inquiry into its accusation that the US and Ukraine have biological weapons programs in Ukraine
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Florida gunman Nikolas Cruz has been formally sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder of 17 people at a high school in 2018
- The US has approved the potential sale of a number of aircraft and some related equipment to Australia in a deal valued at up to $US6.35 billion ($10 billion)
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Education Minister Jason Clare will today announce a draft national plan to address Australia's teacher shortages
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The US Federal Reserve has hiked its benchmark interest rate yet again
By Bridget Judd
Oath Keepers founder tried to get message to Donald Trump to 'save the republic' after US Capitol riot
Days after the US Capitol riot, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes tried to get a message to then-president Donald Trump that urged him to fight to stay in power and “save the republic,” according to trial testimony.
Rhodes, who is on trial for seditious conspiracy in the January 6 attack, said in his message, sent through an intermediary, that the Oath Keepers would support the Republican president if he invoked the Insurrection Act and called them up as a militia.
The message never made it to Mr Trump. The intermediary — a Texas software developer and military veteran who testified he had an indirect way to reach the president — was taken aback by it and went to the FBI instead.
“That’s asking for civil war on American ground ... that means blood is going to be shed on streets where your families are,” Jason Alpers told jurors, adding he decided not to pass along Rhodes’ words.
“It would have wrapped me into agreeing with that ideology in some way, which I did not.”
By Tom Williams
Elon Musk says people banned from Twitter won't be restored for weeks
Twitter's new owner Elon Musk has confirmed that the social media platform won't allow anyone who has been kicked off the site to return until it sets up new procedures — a process that will take at least a few weeks.
It means people banned from Twitter likely won't be able to return before next Tuesday's US midterm elections.
Mr Musk says he won't make major decisions about content before setting up a "content moderation council" with diverse viewpoints.
By Tom Williams
Floods are continuing in Victoria and NSW
Despite conditions easing in some areas, flood emergencies in Victoria and New South Wales are far from over.
In Victoria, major flooding is still occurring along the Murray River in Echuca all the way through to Torrumbarry.
October was the busiest month on record for the State Emergency Service (SES), with more than 13,000 calls for help due to flooding and wild weather.
The SES says major floodwaters will reach Swan Hill next week.
In NSW, evacuation warnings are current for large parts of the state as a massive volume of floodwater moves through local rivers.
Residents in Gunnedah, in the state's north, were ordered to evacuate last night as heavy rain triggered major flooding in the Namoi River.
Forbes, in the Central West, is bracing for what's expected to be the biggest flood in 70 years, with residents told to evacuate by 4am this afternoon.
Around 700 residents in North Wagga and Gumly Gumly in the riverina have been told to leave by 8am tomorrow with flooding possible inside the levee.
Here's the latest advice of the SES in Victoria and NSW:
By Bridget Judd
Charges laid after trick-or-treaters allegedly given cannabis candy on Halloween
Two people have been arrested in Canada for allegedly handing out cannabis candy on Halloween.
The two adults, a 63-year-old man and 53-year-old woman, are alleged to have given gummy candies laced with THC, the psychoactive compound in cannabis, to more than a dozen trick-or-treaters ranging in age from six to 16 in Manitoba.
Cannabis edibles may be purchased legally from licensed distributors in Canada for recreational use, but only for adults.
"I'm upset that it happened, as a parent," Winnipeg Police Constable Dani McKinnon told a news conference.
"As a police officer, unfortunately, I'm not surprised."
The Winnipeg pair face 13 counts each of distributing cannabis to minors, distributing illegal cannabis, causing bodily harm and administering a noxious substance intended to endanger a life.
AFP
By Tom Williams
Ukraine says Russia has fired missiles over its grain export corridor
A Russian jet fired two cruise missiles that flew over the Black Sea corridor being used to export Ukrainian grain, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address.
"Every one of these Russian launches — and they occur almost daily — directly threatens food exports," he said.
The allegation comes after Russia said it would resume its participation in a deal freeing up grain exports from Ukraine, reversing a move that world leaders said threatened to exacerbate global hunger.
By Bridget Judd
South African police find 19 bodies of suspected illegal miners
South African police have discovered 19 bodies suspected to be those of informal miners in Krugersdorp, a mining town west of Johannesburg.
Police "responded to a call following the discovery of 19 bodies of alleged illegal miners in one of the active mines in the area," they said in a statement.
Initial investigations suggest the bodies had been moved from elsewhere and dumped at the site where they were discovered, police said, giving no further details.
Autopsies will be carried out to determine the causes of the deaths.
Thousands of unregistered miners known as "zama zamas"— which means "those who try their luck" in Zulu — operate in the country where they scrape for remnants of minerals in obsolete mines.
AFP
By Tom Williams
UN rejects Russia's call for probe of biological weapon claims
Russia has failed to get the United Nations Security Council to establish a formal inquiry into its accusation that the United States and Ukraine have biological weapons programs in Ukraine.
Washington and Kyiv have both denied the claim.
Only China voted with Russia in favour of a draft Security Council resolution on the measure.
The US, Britain and France voted against it, while the remaining 10 council members abstained.
UN disarmament officials have long said they were not aware of any biological weapons programs in Ukraine.
Russia has raised the issue of chemical and biological weapons in Ukraine several times at the UN Security Council since its forces invaded Ukraine in late February.
The United States and its allies have criticised Russia for wasting council time and spreading conspiracy theories.
By Bridget Judd
US pharmacy chains announce opioid settlements totaling $US10 billion
The two largest US pharmacy chains, CVS Health and Walgreen Co., have announced agreements in principle to pay about $US5 billion ($7.9 billion) each to settle lawsuits nationwide over the toll of opioids.
The deals, if completed, would end thousands of lawsuits in which governments claimed pharmacies filled prescriptions they should have flagged as inappropriate.
With settlements already proposed or finalised between some of the biggest drugmakers and distribution companies, the recent developments could be the among the last multibillion-dollar settlements to be announced.
They also would bring the total value of all settlements to more than $US50 billion.
Most of it is required to be used by state and local governments to combat opioids, which have been linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the US over the last two decades.
By Tom Williams
Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz formally sentenced to life in prison
Florida gunman Nikolas Cruz has been formally sentenced to life in prison without parole after pleading guilty to the murder of 17 people at a Parkland high school in 2018.
Cruz watched intently as Judge Elizabeth Scherer sentenced him to 17 life terms for the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in suburban Fort Lauderdale, and an additional 17 for the attempted murders of those he wounded.
Jurors had failed to reach a unanimous decision on the death penalty.
The jury in the three-month trial voted 9-3 to sentence Cruz to death, but Florida law requires unanimity for that sentence to be imposed.
Cruz acknowledged under questioning by the judge before sentencing that he was on medication but could understand what was occurring.
The sentencing came after two days' worth of family members of Cruz's victims and some of the surviving wounded addressing him face to face, with some calling him evil, a coward, a monster and subhuman.
Cruz was 19 at the time of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting.
By Tom Williams
US approves potential $10 billion defence sale to Australia
The US State Department has approved the potential sale of a number of C-130J-30 aircraft and some related equipment to Australia in a deal valued at up to $US6.35 billion ($10 billion), the Pentagon said.
Lockheed Martin Corp was the prime contractor for the proposed sale, which the Pentagon said would help the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) replace its aging cargo fleet and improve its overall operational capability.
Australia's Defence department said on Tuesday that it was "replacing and expanding its current medium air mobility fleet of 12 C-130J Hercules aircraft".
"Defence has identified that the new C-130J aircraft represents the only option that meets all of Australia's capability requirements and assures Defence's medium air mobility capability without introducing substantial cost, schedule and capability risk," the department said.
By Tom Williams
Russia rejoins key deal on wartime Ukrainian grain exports
Russia says it will resume its participation in a deal freeing up grain exports from war-torn Ukraine, reversing a move that world leaders had said threatened to exacerbate global hunger.
Moscow announced the sudden reversal after Türkiye and the United Nations helped keep Ukrainian grain flowing for several days without Russian participation in inspections.
The Russian defence ministry justified the change by saying it had received guarantees from Kyiv not to use the Black Sea grain corridor for military operations against Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Moscow reserves the right to withdraw again from the agreement if Kyiv breaks its word.
"We demanded assurances and guarantees from the Ukrainian side that … humanitarian corridors will not be used for military purposes," Putin told a Security Council meeting, according to Russian state news agencies.
"I have given instructions to the Ministry of Defence to resume our full participation in this work."
By Tom Williams
Happening today: The government will release its draft plan to fix teacher shortages
Education Minister Jason Clare will today announce a draft national plan to address Australia's teacher shortages.
Here's some of what it's expected to include:
- $25 million for trialling ways to reduce teacher workloads and to "maximise the time" teachers spent actually teaching
- A $10 million PR campaign to raise the profile of teaching
- Extra money to train more than 4,000 additional teachers, focusing on students who have traditionally been under-represented in the profession
- Extra funding for scholarships, as well as initiatives for people changing careers
The plan is in response to escalating education worker shortages, with the federal government predicting that if nothing changes, there will be around 4,000 fewer teachers than required by 2025.
You can read more about the situation here:
By Tom Williams
US Federal Reserve announces sixth rate hike this year
The US Federal Reserve has hiked its benchmark interest rate by three quarters of a percentage point for a fourth straight time to fight high inflation.
The move raised the key short-term rate to a range of 3.7 per cent to 4 per cent.
It's the central bank's sixth rate hike this year, and has heightened the risk of a recession.
But the Federal Reserve says in coming months it will consider the cumulative impact of its hikes on the economy.
Speaking at a news conference, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said "incoming data since our last meeting" suggested that policymakers may have to raise rates higher than they previously thought.
By Tom Williams
News while you snoozed
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has again defended the government's decision not to offer cash handouts to Australians struggling to pay their energy bills, saying it would do more harm than good.
Speaking at The Australian-Melbourne Institute Outlook conference on Wednesday night, Albanese said the government wanted to help households, but it had to be careful.
"Instead of helping households, it would only add to the inflationary pressures that are eating away at family budgets and devaluing wages," he said.
"What's more, it would put the independent Reserve Bank in a position where it would likely raise interest rates higher than it otherwise would."
Thousands of supporters of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro have called on the country's military to keep the far-right leader in power, even as his administration signaled a willingess to hand over the reins to leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva following his weekend election loss.
The president's supporters gathered in the rain outside the Eastern Military Command in Rio de Janeiro, one of the army's eight regional headquarters.
Many of them brandished Brazilian flags and sang the national anthem. Some chanted, "Armed forces, save Brazil!" and "United, the people will never be defeated!"
Meanwhile, truck drivers who for days have maintained roadblocks across the country to protest Bolsonaro's defeat were still out in force, despite a Supreme Court order to dismantle them.
By Tom Williams
Here's the news Australia is searching for online
- WBBL. In cricket, Melbourne Stars teenager Tess Flintoff has smashed the fastest 50 in WBBL history. The all-rounder blasted an unbeaten 51 from only 16 balls in the Stars' match against Adelaide on Wednesday. Flintoff broke the previous mark of 22 balls by smashing a six off the final ball of the innings to push the Stars to 5-186 at North Sydney Oval
- Taronga Zoo. In case you missed it — Sydney's Taronga Zoo is now investigating how five lions escaped from their enclosure yesterday morning. The zoo said four of the lions "calmly" made their way back to their main exhibits on their own and "one lion cub was safely tranquillised". Taronga officials said an initial review found "an integrity issue with a containment fence" allowed the lions to escape
By Tom Williams
One more thing: These police dressed up as superheroes for a drug raid
Footage has emerged of a group of police officers disguised as superheroes capturing members of a family allegedly engaged in drug dealing in Peru's capital Lima.
Officers disguised as Spiderman, Captain America, Thor and Catwoman can be seen entering a house of alleged drug dealers and thieves by breaking down a door with a hammer.
Local authorities said the costumes were used so the anti-drug officers could go unnoticed by the nearby residents, and officers had pretended to be entertainers attending a show at a nearby school.
The operation was named 'Marvel', because of course it was.
By Tom Williams
Let's set you up for the day
Hi there. I'm Tom Williams and this is The Loop for the morning of Thursday, November 3.
From more unrest following Brazil's federal election to another rate hike in the US and Australia's plan to boost its teaching workforce, here I am bringing you what you need to know:
