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The Loop live: Joe Biden's aides discover more classified documents, supermodel Tatjana Patitz dies aged 56

This is The Loop, your quick look at this morning's news as it happens.

Thanks for joining us this Thursday, January 12.

Key events

Live updates

Stay in The Loop

By Kelsie Iorio

Pinned

Thanks for joining our live wrap of today's key headlines.

You can stay up to date on the ABC News website and by subscribing to our mobile alerts.

Police appeal for info after human remains found in Brisbane

By Kelsie Iorio

Police are continuing to appeal for public help to identify a woman whose remains were found in the basement of a unit complex on Brisbane's north side.

Contract cleaners with the housing department made the grim discovery at an address in Alderley last month.

The remains had been partially buried and hidden behind a Besser block wall.

Detectives have been scouring the missing persons list, but the woman is yet to be identified.

Guitarist Jeff Beck has died, his family says

By Kelsie Iorio

Key Event

UK guitarist Jeff Beck has died aged 78.

His family posted this statement on his official social media channels:

Brazil looking likely to name a woman as envoy to Washington for the first time

By Kelsie Iorio

Reuters reports that diplomat Maria Luiza Viotti is expected to be named as the new Brazilian ambassador in Washington.

Viotti, who served as chief of staff to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres from 2016 to 2021, is a top-level diplomat who was Brazil's ambassador to the United Nations and later to Germany.

Her appointment has not yet officially been confirmed by Brazil's Foreign Ministry, pending talks with US officials.

If appointed, she'll be the first woman to be Brazilian envoy to the US.

It comes as new President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pushes for more women in important diplomatic posts.

Supermodel Tatjana Patitz dies aged 56

By Kelsie Iorio

Key Event

Tatjana Patitz, one of an elite group of famed supermodels who graced magazine covers in the 1980s and 90s, has died aged 56 in Santa Barbara.

Patitz's death was confirmed by her New York agent, Corinne Nicolas, who said the cause was illness, but did not have further details.

Patitz, who was born in Germany, raised in Sweden and later made her life in California, was known as part of an elite handful of "original" supermodels, and appeared in George Michael's Freedom! 90 music video along with Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford.

In a 2006 interview, Patitz opined that the golden age of supermodels was over.

"There was a real era, and the reason that happened was because glamour was brought into it," she was quoted as saying in Prestige Hong Kong magazine.

"Now the celebrities and actresses have taken over, and the models are in the backseat completely."

She also noted that models from her era had healthier physiques.

"Women were healthy, not these scrawny little models that nobody knows their names anymore," Patitz said.

Reporting with AP

Opposition wants to know why ICAC report into Gladys Berejiklian has been delayed

By Kelsie Iorio

The NSW Opposition has called on the state's corruption watchdog to explain why the findings of an investigation into former premier Gladys Berejiklian have been delayed again.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption yesterday announced it was unlikely to release the findings of its investigation into the former NSW premier and Daryl Maguire, who was revealed as being in a secret relationship with Ms Berejiklian, before the March election.

Ms Berejiklian resigned as premier in October 2021 after it was revealed she was being investigated over allegations she may have engaged in conduct that breached public trust.

Labor's finance spokesman Daniel Mookhey says it's now up to the ICAC to explain why the findings are being delayed.

"Labor supports the ICAC, we support its independence, it is for ICAC to explain its actions and explain it to the public as frankly as it can," Mr Mookhey said.

Albanese to touch down in PNG today

By Kelsie Iorio

Anthony Albanese is today making the first visit to Papua New Guinea by an Australian PM in more than four years.

Mr Albanese has a busy two-day schedule, which will include giving an address to PNG's parliament — the first foreign leader to ever do so.

"That is an extraordinary honour for Australia and one I regard as … one of the great honours of my life," Mr Albanese told reporters yesterday.

There's more on this here:

Elon Musk breaks a world record

By Kelsie Iorio

Elon Musk has broken the world record for the largest loss of personal fortune in history.

Guinness World Records says that from November 2021 to December 2022 he lost almost US$200 billion (but does acknowledge that the exact figure is "almost impossible to ascertain").

It follows a fall in the value of Tesla shares after he bought Twitter last year.

Biden aides reportedly find second batch of classified documents at new location

By Kelsie Iorio

Key Event

Aides to US President Joe Biden have discovered at least one additional batch of classified documents in a location separate from the Washington DC office he used after serving as vice president.

NBC News first reported the find on Wednesday local time, citing an unnamed source.

Aides have been searching for additional materials after a set of classified documents were found in November at a Washington think tank, NBC News reports.

Republicans call on George Santos to resign

By Kelsie Iorio

Key Event

This happened not long ago:

Before the group from his home district in Nassau County had even finished urging the newly elected congressman to step down, he rejected their call and told reporters at the Capitol that he would stay in office.

Top Republicans in the House of Representatives (who only hold a slim majority) have not called for Santos to resign, but Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters on Wednesday that Santos would not be given a seat on any key committees.

Santos has been outed for several lies and dubious claims, including saying he had Jewish heritage — then later backtracking and saying he was "Jew-ISH".

Illinois has banned semiautomatic gun sales — and Joe Biden wants other states to follow

By Kelsie Iorio

Illinois has banned the sale of several semiautomatic guns with immediate effect in response to a massacre at an Independence Day parade in Highland Park last year and other mass shootings.

The new law includes semiautomatic rifles and pistols with detachable magazines and lists dozens of popular gun brands made by US gun makers.

Rifles that hold more than 10 bullets and pistols that hold more than 15 are also banned, as are rapid-fire attachments and .50-caliber guns.

People who already own such weapons will be able to keep them but must register them with state police.

Illinois State Rifle Association executive director Richard Pearson says his group would sue to reverse the ban, declaring "challenge accepted" in a statement.

White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierr says President Joe Biden wants more states to join Illinois in banning assault weapons.

Eight other states and the District of Columbia have already enacted similar bans.

UK MP booted from party over tweet comparing vaccine rollout to the Holocaust

By Kelsie Iorio

British MP Andrew Bridgen has been expelled from the Conservative Party over a social media post describing the COVID-19 vaccine rollout as a crime akin to the Holocaust.

Some senior members of the government, including PM Rishi Sunak, have condemned Mr Bridgen's misinformation and anti-Semitism.

Mr Bridgen had previously been vocal about receiving COVID vaccinations and encouraged others to take up the vaccine, before campaigning against it in the last six months.

Here's more on this story:

Police investigating after man stabbed in Alice Springs

By Kelsie Iorio

Northern Territory Police are searching for three men after a 45-year-old was allegedly stabbed in the Alice Springs CBD.

Police say they responded to reports of a disturbance in the area around the town's main supermarket early Wednesday morning, and a man was found with serious injuries to his upper body.

The man remains in Alice Springs hospital.

Naomi Osaka is pregnant

By Kelsie Iorio

Key Event

And her withdrawal from the Australian Open suddenly makes a lot more sense!

The four-time Grand Slam champion posted this little announcement on Instagram early this morning:

"I know that I have so much to look forward to in the future, one thing I'm looking forward to is for my kid to watch one of my matches and tell someone, 'that's my mom'," she said.

The 25-year-old has been dating rapper Cordae for a few years now.

The Vatican reacts to George Pell's death

By Kelsie Iorio

George Pell, who died yesterday of complications from a hip replacement surgery, was highly respected as a leader by some factions in the Vatican.

Europe correspondent Isabella Higgins is in Rome and has been talking to people on the ground about the news of his death.

You can read the full story here:

Not a great day to be at an airport in the US

By Kelsie Iorio

Thousands of travellers have been left stranded at US airports due to an hours-long computer outage.

Things are slowly starting to get back up and running now, but more than 1,100 US flights were canceled and nearly 8,000 flights were delayed as of Wednesday afternoon local time, according to the tracking site FlightAware.

Industry officials say it's the first time in two decades there's been a national grounding of all flights.

US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told CNN an issue with overnight safety message "irregularities" sent to pilots prompted the outage, and that the ground stop was the "right call" to make sure messages were moving correctly and there was no direct evidence of a cyber attack.

Even though the Federal Aviation Administration was at fault for the outage, airlines will be on the hook for refunds and other compensation.

Reporting with AP

Damar Hamlin is going home

By Kelsie Iorio

Key Event

The Buffalo Bills have revealed overnight that Damar Hamlin, who went into cardiac arrest on the field less than two weeks ago and had to be revived in front of his teammates, has been released from hospital.

He was well enough to be transferred from a Cincinnati medical facility to his home state of Buffalo earlier this week, but the Bills say after a series of tests, the 24-year-old is well enough to continue his recovery at home with his family.

While he's made a pretty remarkable recovery — even medical staff say they were amazed how quickly he advanced through the process — what's not clear at this stage is whether he's likely to play professional football again.

Bills head coach Sean McDermott says the team will welcome him back "when he feels ready", but "his health is first and foremost on our mind".

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