☕️ How the strikes are impacting international travel

Make sure you look up at the sky tonight to see the ‘blood moon’, also known as a total lunar eclipse. This is when the Moon, Earth and Sun all line up perfectly.

The total eclipse is due to begin at about 8:50pm AEDT, and will peak at 10:33pm.

The plan: Look up. Say “wow”. Take a blurry pic. Go back inside.

The quote: “Today is the day when each of us can rightfully say: we have survived this winter, the hardest since the beginning of the war. The Russians wanted to use this winter to destroy Ukraine and the Ukrainians, but Ukraine did not break."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a video address marking the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere.

The stat: 1 in 4. The number of women in the UK who feel comfortable discussing menopause with a male boss, according to the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

The big question:

Yesterday’s results: 41% of you said you often check the news on the weekends [1,685 votes]. 

For those with running goals this year:

We’re not saying you need to run a marathon – but if you’ve been thinking about it, 11–12 April 2026 is a pretty good weekend to start.

Whether it’s your first 5K or you’re stepping up to the half, the two-day Canberra Marathon festival is built for runners at every level. Prices jump on Thursday night, so if you’re keen, lock it in and give yourself something to work toward.

Many Australian companies have a smaller gender pay gap than they did a year ago.

Each year, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) analyses pay data from businesses representing nearly 5.9 million Australian workers.

It found the majority of Australian companies still have a gender pay gap of at least 11.2% in favour of men, but that more employers are reducing their gaps.

Australian law requires employers with 100 or more employees to report their gender pay gap data to the WGEA, which analyses the information and publishes it.

The gender pay gap highlights a disparity in typical earnings between men and women.

The WGEA looks at base salary and total remuneration. Sometimes the gender pay gap for total remuneration is larger than the gap for base salary, because it includes things like bonuses and sales commissions.

The WGEA noted that these extra payments often widen the gender pay gap in favour of men.

In 2024-25, more women were in high-paid roles, but men were still 1.8x more likely to be in the highest paid jobs.

Women were also 1.4x more likely to be employed in the lowest earning jobs.

WGEA said more employers each year are analysing their gender pay gaps and asking employees about gender equality at work.

More than half of the companies that conducted an analysis uncovered the reason for their gender pay gap, and 27% have implemented targets to reduce the gap.

Since WGEA first published this data, the number of employers in the target range has increased by 1.1%.

You can access employer & industry pay gap data via WGEA’s Data Explorer.

Reporting by Elliot Lawry.

🎧 On today’s TDA podcast, Emma explains the endometriosis treatment scandal in Victoria.

💶 Sign up to TDA Finance here for economic news explained simply in your inbox on Wednesday morning.

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Countries across the Middle East have closed their airspace, resulting in thousands of flights being cancelled.

On Saturday, the U.S. and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran, killing the regime’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran has responded with retaliatory strikes targeting Israel and U.S. military bases across the Middle East, including in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, the Australian Government has changed its advice to “do not travel” for most of the region.

On Saturday, Flightradar24 reported the airspace over Iran, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE, Israel, Kuwait, Syria, Iraq, and parts of Saudi Arabia had been closed.

Major transit hubs, including the international airports in Dubai, Doha, and Abu Dhabi have been closed since Saturday.

A large number of flights have been cancelled as a result, leaving passengers stranded across the globe.

On Sunday, an Abu Dhabi Airports spokesperson said the interception of a drone targeting Zayed International Airport “led to falling debris which resulted in one fatality... and seven injuries.”

A Dubai Airports spokesperson confirmed an Iranian strike damaged Dubai International Airport over the weekend.

The Bahrain News Agency said the country’s international airport “was targeted by a drone attack” on Sunday, sustaining minor damage.

In the UAE, the U.S. Navy uses a port in Dubai, and the U.S. Air Force has assets at an air base near Abu Dhabi.

The U.S. Navy’s base in Bahrain has around 8,000 personnel onsite.

The largest U.S. military base in the Middle East is the Al Udeid Air Base near Doha, Qatar, with around 10,000 troops and 100 UK soldiers.

In January, the U.S. and UK governments withdrew some personnel from the base.

On 1 March, Smartraveller updated its advice to “do not travel” to Lebanon, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain, joining the same advice level as Israel, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, and Yemen.

It told Australians with plans to travel to Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Oman to “reconsider your need to travel”.

Smartraveller encouraged travellers to look over their insurance policies. However, most insurers do not cover war or following “do not travel” advice as a valid reason for a claim.

On Monday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong issued a warning that Australians “should be prepared for serious travel disruptions,” citing Europe layover destinations as an example.

Wong announced a 24/7 consular support crisis line has been activated, and a crisis portal is open for Australians in Israel, Iran, the UAE and Qatar.

Speaking to media on Monday, Wong said the Government could not take steps to organise repatriation flights while airspace is closed, but said commercial flights would be “the fastest way” to bring Australians home.

Reporting by Emily Donohoe.

Finally! A guide to love that actually makes sense

If relationships feel complicated sometimes… that’s because they are. 

Messy Love by Jay Shetty is a genuinely engaging podcast that feels more like a thoughtful chat than a lecture. 

Drawing on sessions with real couples, it unpacks emotional patterns and those tricky, “why did that escalate?” moments in a way that actually sticks. It’s the kind of podcast you’ll come back to when you need a reset – or a reminder to respond, not react.

The limestone slab, excavated over a century ago in the Netherlands, had long puzzled historians; until researchers noticed wear patterns showing where players had slid pieces across its surface. A team from Leiden University in the Netherlands then used an AI system to pit two bots against eachother. The bots played more than 1,000 rounds of 100 historical rule sets. Historians matched the movement patterns to the stone's actual wear marks and discovered the slab is a type of ancient blocking game, where one player tries to trap the other's pieces in a corner. It’s now available to play online.

Reporting by Emma Gillespie.

A young crocodile was found in Newcastle over the weekend after residents spotted it swimming in Federal Park. 

Crocodiles typically live in tropical parts of the country like Far North Queensland and the Northern Territory. 

Local MP Sonia Horney said it is believed the animal was kept as a “pet” and its owner “dumped” it in the creek. Horney said there are reports of two other crocs in the waterway. 

Reptile experts have rescued the young croc. 

Reporting by Annabel Whitehouse.