Hey hi hello. It's Wednesday, November 17 and you're reading The Loop, a quick wrap-up of the news you need to know about.
One thing you should know
The Katherine and Robinson River COVID cluster in the NT has grown to 19 cases, with eight new infections confirmed today.
- All the new cases are Aboriginal Territorians who are household contacts of existing cases
- One is a three-week-old baby
- A 65-year-old woman remains in hospital and requires oxygen
NT Acting Chief Health Officer Dr Charles Pain said vaccination rates must increase to avoid the health system being overwhelmed.
Greater Katherine remains in lockdown and masks are now mandatory across the entire NT.
What else is going on
- A Perth family say they are grateful for the help and support they received after spending five days bogged and stranded in the Simpson Desert. Dad Ori said he "knew we were in trouble" when their truck started to sink into the ground after heavy rains, but luckily had an emergency beacon handy
- There is still some good news in the word — Taronga Western Plains Zoo has announced the birth of Hari, a male greater one-horned rhino calf. He's not exactly a tiny baby — he already weighs more than 100kg and keepers say he's pretty advanced for his age
- Former federal Labor MP Craig Thomson has been charged over his alleged involvement in a multi-million-dollar migration fraud. He was refused bail and ordered to appear in Gosford Local Court tomorrow
News Australia has been searching for online
Tim Tszyu. He risks a guaranteed world title shot when he steps into the ring to fight Takeshi Inoue in Sydney tonight — here's how and when to watch it.
Spider-Man: No Way Home. A new trailer for the latest arachnid-inspired instalment was released today, and it's got Marvel fans freakin' the heck out.
Socceroos. The Aussies are more than halfway through their final World Cup qualifying group and their campaign is looking a lot tougher than it was just a few weeks ago after last night's 1-1 draw with China.
Alerts you might have missed
- Human remains have been found in New Zealand's Pike River mine more than a decade after an explosion killed 29 workers, including two Australians
- 'Expect to get checked': Police have warned people coming to Queensland from interstate COVID-19 hotspots as the state records no new local cases
- Australian wages have grown by another 0.6% in the September quarter, taking the annual growth rate to 2.2%, according to the Bureau of Statistics
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One more thing
The Australian National University has announced its word of the year (big shock that it's pandemic-related... not) — strollout.
Strollout alludes to the debate that developed around whether Scott Morrison had done enough to secure the millions of doses of the Pfizer COVID vaccine.
Decided by the Australian National Dictionary Centre, which is based at the ANU, director Amanda Laugesen says this particular word is uniquely Australian in origin, which is why it got the nod over some other words that have snuck into many a vocabulary this year.
"For many Australians, the pace of the [vaccine] rollout was considered too slow," she says.
The shortlist for this year's Word of the Year included:
- Net zero
- Double-vaxxed
- AUKUS
You're up to date
The Loop returns tomorrow morning.
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