This is The Loop, your quick catch-up for this morning's news as it happened.
Key events
Live updates
That's it for the Loop
By Brianna Morris-Grant
Thanks for joining us today!
Dive straight into our live coverage of the 2023 Screen Actors Guild Awards.
You can also check out our winner's list as it's updated live here.
If you're just getting caught up, here's some of what we've covered (tap the link to go straight to the post):
-
Ukraine releases Banksy postage stamps to mark the first anniversary of Russia's invasion.
-
CIA Director William Burns says Russian President Vladimir Putin is "too confident" in his military's ability
-
Madonna's older brother Anthony Ciccone dies aged 66
-
Mexico’s president posts a photo showing what he says appears to be a mythological woodland spirit
-
Jetstar will assess compensation claims after passengers were left stranded in Alice Springs for seven hours
-
Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX is set to launch the International Space Station's next long-duration team, as the Twitter boss defends a cartoonist accused of racism
-
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fires a senior military commander without reason
Arrest warrant issued for rapper Kodak Black
By Brianna Morris-Grant
A Florida judge has issued an arrest warrant for rapper Kodak Black for failing a drug test while on bail for a drug charge.
The warrant was issued Thursday local time after Black, whose legal name is Bill Kapri, did not appear for a scheduled drug test in early February and then days later submitted a sample that tested positive for fentanyl, according to records.
Broward County Judge Barbara Duffy issued the warrant and wrote that the rapper had violated the conditions of his pretrial release for an oxycodone trafficking charge from July.
Black had pleaded not guilty to the trafficking charge. His attorney was not immediately available to comment on Sunday.
Cardi B performs for mentorship program for community service
By Brianna Morris-Grant
Grammy-winning rapper Cardi B spoke to girls in a police mentorship program as part of court-mandated community service for her role in a pair of brawls at New York City strip clubs in 2018.
The 30-year-old “Bodak Yellow” singer visited an NYPD “Girls Talk” event at the police training academy in Queens and shared what the department said was “her rags to riches story."
She danced with teens and posed for photos.
Cardi B's plea deal requires her to perform 15 days of community service by March 1 to avoid a 15-day jail sentence.
“I feel like there’s so many people that make y’all probably feel like, ‘This is what’s cool, this is what’s going on, this is what it takes to be lit, this is what it takes to be fire,’” Cardi B told her young audience.
“Sometimes that’s a little bit of peer pressure like on a girl. Don’t fall into that. You know what I’m saying? Like, be great. Be you. You’re amazing. You’re dope yourself.”
'No longer a choice' to buy home in Australian market
By Brianna Morris-Grant
A housing expert says buying a home is no longer a choice for many Australians as more and more people get priced out of the market.
New research from Resolve Strategic has found 70 per cent of 18- and 34-year-olds think they will never be able to buy their own house.
The Head of Residential Research at CoreLogic, Eliza Owens, said there had been a long term decline in Australia's home ownership rate due to increasing unaffordability.
“Home ownership rates have fallen the fastest among the lowest income quintiles of each age bracket,” she said.
“So that suggests, along with this recent survey you've referenced, this is no longer a choice, this is not people wanting to remain in the rental market for longer.”
'One of Canada's most iconic actors' dies aged 92
By Brianna Morris-Grant
Gordon Pinsent, an award-winning Canadian actor acclaimed for his performance as a heartbroken husband in the film “Away From Her," has died at 92.
His family said in a statement that Pinsent died in his sleep.
“Gordon Pinsent was one of Canada's most iconic actors,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Sunday on Twitter.
“He was passionate, captivating and endlessly talented.”
He played a role in the 1968 Steve McQueen movie The Thomas Crown Affair, and portrayed the US president in director Joseph Sargent’s 1970 film Colossus: The Forbin Project.
Contaminated waste shipments from train derailment to resume
By Brianna Morris-Grant
Shipment of contaminated wastefrom the site of a fiery train derailment earlier this month in eastern Ohio is set to resume today.
The Environmental Protection Agency ordered transport company Norfolk Southern to "pause" shipments on Sunday.
Some liquid and solid waste had already been taken to sites in Michigan and Texas.
Some of the liquid waste will be sent to a facility in Vickery, Ohio, for disposal in an underground injection well.
Norfolk Southern will also begin shipping solid waste to an incinerator in East Liverpool, Ohio, and additional solid waste disposal locations are being sought.
UK and EU leaders to meet to finalise Northern Ireland deal
By Brianna Morris-Grant
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will announce a new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland — if the two can agree final details during lunchtime talks in Britain.
The deal seeks to resolve tensions caused by the 2020 post-Brexit arrangements governing the British province and its open border with EU member Ireland.
However it remains to be seen whether it will go far enough to end political deadlock in Northern Ireland and satisfy critics in Britain.
Ms Von der Leyen will travel to Britain for "late lunchtime" talks, after which Mr Sunak will convene a meeting of his cabinet.
His office said that if a deal had been reached, it would then be announced at a joint news conference and afterwards to Britain's parliament by Mr Sunak.
'Real concern' as principals look to retire early
By Brianna Morris-Grant
The Australian Catholic University says the number of school principals wanting to retire early or quit has tripled since 2019.
The new research, surveying two and a half thousand principals across the country, found longevity in the profession is impacted by heavy workloads and a lack of time to focus on the core responsibilities of teaching and learning.
Researcher and senior lecturer in Educational Leadership Dr Paul Kidson told ABC Radio Melbourne, it was a drastic increase overall.
“Principals are very very generous, they're giving of themselves,” he said.
“They serve their communities with distinction and should be applauded for doing so, but this report highlights to us that maybe the fuel is getting a little low in the tank and that's a real concern.”
Avian influenza cases identified as old strain
By Brianna Morris-Grant
The virus that infected two people in Cambodia with H5N1 avian influenza has been identified as endemic clade of bird flu circulating in the country, the US Centers for Disease Control says.
The cases reported last week had raised concerns they were caused by a new strain of H5N1, which emerged in 2020.
The strain has caused record numbers of deaths among wild birds and domestic poultry in recent months.
An investigation is ongoing, but so far there's no indication of person-to-person spread and the disease appears to be "an older clade" according to the CDC.
Zelenskyy fires top military commander
By Brianna Morris-Grant
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has fired a senior military commander helping lead the fight against Russian troops in the country's embattled east.
He gave no reason for the move.
In a one-line decree, Mr Zelenskyy announced the dismissal of Eduard Moskalyov as commander of the joint forces of Ukraine, which are engaged in battles in the Donbas region.
Mr Moskalyov had been in the post since March 2022, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Revelers across Greece celebrate Carnival for first time since pandemic
By Brianna Morris-Grant
Throngs of revelers across Greece attended end-of-Carnival celebrations this weekend for the first time in four years.
The COVID-19 pandemic prevented the festivities held before the beginning of Lent in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Many of the customs observed are based on rituals from celebrations of the changing seasons that predate antiquity, while others are more recent.
Belarus leader and Putin ally to visit China
By Brianna Morris-Grant
Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus and a close ally of Russia's President Vladimir Putin, will visit Beijing this week.
The visit comes as top US officials repeated warnings to China against providing military aid to Russia in its war on Ukraine, saying that would bring heavy consequences.
Belarus has strongly backed Moscow and allowed its territory to be used as a staging ground for the initial invasion of Ukraine a year ago.
Spokesperson Hua Chunying said Lukashenko is due to visit Tuesday through Thursday, but gave no details about his agenda.
Elon Musk says media 'racist against whites' after Dilbert controversy
By Brianna Morris-Grant
Twitter chief Elon Musk has defended Dilbert creator Scott Adams, who has been under fire over comments in which he called black people "a hate group".
The cartoonist also said he didn't "want to have anything to do with them", later complaining media organisations had dropped his comic strip over his remarks.
Musk tweeted, and then later deleted a reply to Adams's tweet, saying: "What exactly are they complaining about?"
The tweet is part of a growing pattern of the Tesla boss expressing more concern about "free speech" for people who make racist or anti-Semitic comments.
SpaceX set to launch next International Space Station crew for NASA
By Brianna Morris-Grant
Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX is set to launch the International Space Station's next long-duration team into orbit, with an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates and a Russian cosmonaut joining two NASA crewmates for the flight.
The SpaceX launch vehicle, consisting of a Falcon 9 rocket topped with an autonomously operated Crew Dragon capsule called Endeavour, was set for liftoff from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The four-member crew should reach the International Space Station (ISS) about 25 hours after takeoff, to begin a six-month mission in microgravity aboard the orbiting laboratory some 420 km above Earth.
NASA said the mission's launch readiness review was completed on Saturday, and that the flight was given a "go" to proceed to liftoff as planned.
Government to overhaul 'useless' $1.7b cyber security plan
By Brianna Morris-Grant
Australia's federal government will overhaul a $1.7 billion cyber security plan set up under Scott Morrison in the aftermath of the hacks of Optus and Medibank.
A national cyber office — led by a new coordinator for cyber security — will be established under the Home Affairs Department to lead the renewed strategy.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said the Optus and Medibank hacks exposed flaws in Australia's cyber laws.
"In those events, we were meant to have at our disposal a piece of law that was passed by the former government to help us engage with companies under cyber attack," Ms O'Neil said.
"That law was bloody useless, not worth the ink printed on the paper when it came to actually using it in a cyber incident. It was poorly drafted."
- You can read the full report by political reporter Jake Evans here.
COMING UP: Screen Actors Guild Awards 2023
By Brianna Morris-Grant
Stars will begin arriving on the red carpet for the annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in just over an hour.
The awards ceremony is thought of as the big precursor to the Oscars, with Michelle Yeoh and Cate Blanchett facing off for the Best Actress title.
We'll be handing you off to the SAGs liveblog when that gets underway.
Jetstar apologises to passengers stranded for seven hours
By Brianna Morris-Grant
Airline Jetstar says it will assess claims for compensation on a case-by-case basis after passengers were left stranded at Alice Springs airport for seven hours.
The flight from Bangkok to Melbourne was diverted due to a medical emergency, but a electrical issue was later discovered — leading to further delays.
The more than 300 passengers touched down in Melbourne at around 11pm last night.
Reporter Stephanie Ferrier told ABC News Breakfast: "Alice Springs airport is not an international airport, it doesn't have customs facilities.
"Jetstar say that is the reason all of those passengers were onboard and had to stay there until they could find room to be able to put them in [before] getting them on to a replacement aircraft."
Migrant boat kills nearly 60 off Italian coast, dozens missing
By Brianna Morris-Grant
A wooden boat crowded with migrants smashed into rocky reefs and broke apart before dawn Sunday off the Italian coast, authorities said.
Rescuers recovered nearly 60 bodies, and dozens more people were missing in the rough waters.
Officials feared the death toll could top 100 since some survivors indicated the boat had as many as 200 passengers when it set out from Turkey, United Nations refugee and migration agencies said.
At least 80 people were found alive, including some who reached the shore after the shipwreck just off Calabria's coastline along the Ionian Sea.
- You can find more details and developments on this story here.
Australia wins women's Twenty20 World Cup
By Brianna Morris-Grant
Meg Lanning's champion Australian side have won another global crown, successfully defending their women's T20 World Cup title with an emphatic 19-run victory over hosts South Africa in Cape Town.
Ash Gardner, who was named player of the tournament after the match, played a vital hand with a momentum-shifting 29 off 21 but admitted it took some defending.
"We fought and we scrapped and we bowled the absolute house down," she said.
- You can check out recap of the match as it happened here.
Mexico's President posts photo of 'elf'
By Brianna Morris-Grant
Mexico’s president posted a photo on his social media accounts showing what he said appeared to be a mythological woodland spirit similar to an elf.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador did not seem to be joking when he posted the photo of an "Aluxe”, a mischievous woodland spirit in Mayan folklore.
He wrote the photo “was taken three days ago by an engineer, it appears to be an aluxe," adding “everything is mystical.”
Mr López Obrador has long expressed reverence for indigenous cultures and beliefs.
