Hi there. It's Tuesday, November 15 and you're reading The Loop, a quick wrap-up of today's news.
Let's start here: Floods continue to cause havoc across multiple states
Flooding continues to devastate communities in parts of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
In NSW, emergency services are facing the largest flood operation in the state's history as more defence force personnel and volunteers from around the world join rescue and relief efforts.
Hundreds more homes are expected to go under this week and more than 1,000 people have been evacuated as flood levels rose faster than expected overnight.
In Victoria, there are still many flood warnings in place for the state's central and northern regions.
In South Australia, approximately 2,000 homes will be disconnected from electricity in the state's Riverland in the coming weeks, as up to 165 gigalitres a day is expected to flow down the River Murray into SA from early December, putting an estimated 3,680 properties at risk.
Authorities in Tasmania had also been monitoring river levels throughout the state's south and south-east today after heavy rain fell this morning.
Today we heard about a shipping dispute threatening Christmas supply chains
There's an escalating industrial dispute between maritime unions and Australia's main tug boat operator, and it's threatening to disrupt supply chains just in time for the holiday season.
Here's the rundown from reporters Jake Lapham and Hugh Hogan:
Danish tug boat giant Svitzer will lock out 582 employees from 17 ports indefinitely from Friday, in response to what it described as "damaging" industrial action.
The company holds a near monopoly over hauling operations in key ports, and has been locked in enterprise agreement negotiations with unions for three years.
The company said the union action has resulted in 250 instances of industrial action since late October, amounting to 2,000 hours of work stoppages.
Svitzer said it was hopeful the dispute could be resolved before Friday's lockout, which it said would cause widespread disruption to the freight industry.
The Maritime Union of Australia said the company was acting in bad faith.
News you might have missed
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Novak Djokovic is set to be granted a visa to compete in next year's Australian Open, where the Serbian tennis legend will be chasing his 22nd Grand Slam win. Djokovic was slapped with a three-year ban from entering Australia, after being dramatically deported on the eve of this year's Open, over issues surrounding his COVID-19 vaccination status. The ABC has confirmed reports that Immigration Minister Andrew Giles has overturned that ban.
- Authorities have confirmed the death of a second Australian resident following a Halloween crowd crush in South Korea's capital last month. The ABC has confirmed the person is Justina Cho, who lived in Sydney
- A new COVID-19 vaccine will be available to Australian adults as a third and fourth booster, as case numbers climb. Health Minister Mark Butler said he had accepted advice from ATAGI to approve the Pfizer Comirnaty Bivalent Original/Omicron BA.1 vaccine as a third and fourth dose for eligible Australians. It is the second second bivalent vaccine to be approved in Australia, and will be rolled out from December 12
Here's what Australia has been searching for online
- Jennifer Aniston. The actor has paid tribute to her father, Days of Our Lives star John Aniston, who has died at age 89. "You were one of the most beautiful humans I ever knew," she wrote on Instagram. Photos of them together were shared with her 40 million followers
- Jay Leno. The American comedian has been taken to hospital after his face was burned in his Los Angeles garage when one of his cars burst into flames. The left side of The Tonight Show's former host's face was burned, but his eye and ear were not severely damaged. "I got some serious burns from a gasoline fire," he told Variety. "I am OK. Just need a week or two to get back on my feet"
One more thing: How much would you pay for Steve Jobs's old sandals?
'Not much', I hear you say?
'Depends how much they smell'?
Well this pair of "well used" brown suede Birkenstocks from the mid-1970s retain "the imprint of Steve Jobs's feet", according to Julien's Auctions.
The auction house says the late Apple co-founder's sandals have set a record for the highest price ever paid for a pair of sandals, after being sold for $US218,750 ($326,541.25) — almost four times what they were expected to go for.
The sandals also came with an accompanying NFT (a digital token of ownership).
The buyer wasn't named, but I'm guessing you could probably smell them from a mile away.
You're up to date!
We'll be back tomorrow with more.
ABC/wires
