Hello. It's Thursday, February 10 and you're starting your day with The Loop (a good choice, if we do say so ourselves).
Let's start here
The government's contentious religious discrimination bill has passed the lower house.
After a marathon late-night sitting, Labor secured support for amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act to protect LGBT students against religious discrimination, with multiple Liberal MPs crossing the floor to support the amendment.
The government agreed to amend existing laws to prevent schools excluding students because of their sexual orientation, but said that move would not extend to transgender students.
Labor also tried unsuccessfully to pass amendments to prevent discriminatory statements in the name of religion.
One thing you’ll be hearing about today
Leaders from Australia, the US, Japan and India are preparing for a meeting of "the Quad", with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken coming to Australia to take part in person.
The Quad's main focus is to discuss the threat posed by China (but Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian says the US and the other countries concerned should "calm down" about it).
This week's national cabinet meeting has been moved forward to this afternoon so it doesn't clash with the Quad meeting, so while we're not expecting any significant changes from that, there may be some updates amongst the Quad preparation.
News while you snoozed
- Australia's medical regulator has given its first green light to the AstraZeneca booster shot for people above the age of 18. The TGA provisionally approved AstraZeneca, also known as Vaxzevria, as a booster on Tuesday and announced the decision overnight
- New research published today in the journal Nature has found Earth's innards are somewhere between solid and liquid in a "superionic" state, not a solid mass as physicists originally thought
- The IOC says a Beijing Winter Olympics medal ceremony for the figure skating team event has been delayed due to an unspecified, last-minute "legal consultation". The Russian Olympic Committee team placed first in the gold medal event
What Australia has been searching for online
- Belle Brockhoff. The Aussie looked like she was going to ride a sequence of extraordinary races all the way to the medal podium in Zhangjiakou yesterday, but her luck just ran out in the final where she finished fourth
- Johnny Raper. Fans and friends have been paying tribute to the St George Dragons legend and rugby league Immortal after his death was announced yesterday
One more thing
Police in the UK are starting to contact more than 50 people who are believed to have attended lockdown parties at Boris Johnson's Downing Street residence.
Police say they'll be sending them formal questionnaires this week, seeking explanations of their participation.
The document has formal legal status and must be answered truthfully, with responses required within seven days.
That comes as the UK reacts to a leaked photo showing Boris Johnson next to an open bottle of sparkling wine during a Christmas quiz in December 2020.
You're up to date
We'll see you later on for the afternoon edition of The Loop.
ABC/wires
