☕️ Dolly Parton dies

Here is today’s trivia question: What are the two star signs that fall in August?

Answer is in the titbit!

P.S. If you live in Sydney, we're back with another TDA IRL community event, this time in partnership with Macquarie University. The event will be held Saturday morning on 19 September, at Harry's By Giuls in Darlinghurst. Tickets are free but limited – grab yours here.

The quote: “Our decision to scrap good character references at sentencing hearings ensure [sic] that victims are always put first. I have… heard how distressing it can be when a criminal's professional standing and community reputation are used to try to reduce their sentence.” Western Australian Attorney General Dr Tony Buti on the state government’s plan to remove good character references for all convictions.

The stat: $1.09 billion. Supermarket giant Coles’ profits after taxes for the 2025-26 financial year. The company said “a competitor’s collectibles campaign” affected its sales temporarily - a reference to Woolworths’ ‘Disney Ooshies’.

The big question:

Yesterday’s results: 65% of you think price matters most when choosing an airline to fly with, followed by flight times (17%), destinations they fly to (9%) and loyalty program (9%). Thanks for voting - your responses inform TDA's journalism and research. [2,477 votes].

Together with AAP.

Zambrero's new air-fried chips have entered the chat

Zambrero is going beyond burritos and bowls with Air-Fried Chips and a brand-new Cali Burrito. The chips are crispy, golden and yes, coated in zesty chicken salt. The Cali Burrito takes it a step further, stuffing those same air-fried chips and guac straight into the burrito (because duh). Snack on the chips solo or pair them with your go-to order - either way, it's an easy upgrade to Zam night.

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Scientists have confirmed the world’s oceans reached their hottest average surface temperature on record last week.

The new high of 21.1°C beats the previous record set in 2024, during the last major El Niño.

The new record was set months after ocean temps are usually at their peak.

In a press release on Monday, the European Union’s climate department, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said 22 August saw the hottest sea surface temperatures on record, at 21.1°C.

This is the temperature of the ocean’s surface, which tells scientists about climate change and marine animals’ health.

The previous record, 21.09°C, was set in March 2024, during a strong El Niño. The weather pattern temporarily pushes global temperatures higher, on top of long term warming from climate change.

C3S said this El Niño could be the strongest in decades.

A warmer ocean makes sea levels rise faster, because water physically takes up more space as it warms up.

It also fuels more intense marine heatwaves, and can supercharge extreme weather, since warmer water pumps more heat and moisture into the atmosphere.

The latest data from the Bureau of Meteorology shows a strong El Niño is already locked in. Some international forecasters have flagged the possibility of a “super” event this year, though a stronger El Niño doesn’t always mean worse impacts here.

In Australia, El Niño years tend to bring warmer temperatures and drier conditions across central and eastern parts of the country, especially in winter and spring.

Reporting by Elliot Lawry.

🎧 On today’s TDA podcast, co-founder Sam explains the battle over data centres. Listen or watch on Apple here, Spotify here, or YouTube here.

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The Washington Post has been ordered to reinstate opinion columnist Karen Attiah, almost a year after she was fired over social media posts made in the days after the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

The Post said her comments breached its social media policy and hurt the masthead’s integrity.

Attiah and her union always maintained she was doing her job as an opinion writer, not breaking any rules. Now an independent arbitrator has agreed.

The Washington Post is a major American newspaper published in Washington D.C. It is currently owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

Attiah spent 11 years at the publication, including a stint as its first Global Opinions editor.

In September 2025, conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at a Utah university event.

Attiah posted commentary on the social media platform Bluesky about the public mourning for Kirk, who was known for controversial rhetoric on race, gender, and gun violence.

The Post fired Attiah shortly afterwards. In her termination letter, the paper said her posts harmed “the integrity” of the organisation and broke its standards requiring civility on social media.

Attiah and her union rejected the claim, arguing the posts were commentary, well within her role as a columnist.

Attiah is a member of her union, the Washington-Baltimore News Guild’s branch at the Post.

The union’s contract with the Post says the paper can only fire a member without disciplining them first if they’ve engaged in “gross misconduct or wilful neglect of duty”.

Attiah and the union didn’t believe her firing met those conditions. Meetings between Attiah, the union, and the Post didn’t resolve the dispute, so it escalated to arbitration - a private, binding process where a neutral third party (not a judge) hears both sides of a dispute and issues a decision that the parties are required to follow.

Arbitrator Sarah Miller Espinosa found the Post “did not have good and sufficient cause” to fire Attiah and had violated its agreement with the union.

She found the Post “failed to establish the grievant engaged in gross misconduct,” and ordered it to reinstate Attiah with full back pay and benefits.

Attiah welcomed the decision, saying she hopes it “sends a message to journalists and media institutions everywhere that freedom of expression is always worth fighting for.”

A Washington Post spokesperson told The New York Times the company respects the arbitration process, but declined to comment.

A spokesman for Turning Point USA, the organisation Kirk founded, told Fox News companies should be able to fire people who “reveal themselves to be a ghoul.”

Reporting by Elliot Lawry.

How did a 22-year-old influencer take on an airport, and start a conversation about gluten-free food options in the process?

To the trained mind, the SophaDopha x Sydney Airport beef is a lesson in the power of social media, and how brands should (or shouldn't) show up. To everyone else still reading this, it's a sign that you might like TDA Culture.

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The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, named after an important U.S. astronomer who helped set up the Hubble Telescope, is heading into space from Florida on Sunday (local time). It’s heading for a spot about 1.6 million kilometres from Earth to monitor space for around 10 years. NASA hopes the telescope will help scientists to map galaxies, discover planets outside our solar system, investigate black holes, and look as far as “the edge of the observable universe.”

Reporting by Lucy Tassell.

Queensland Police have arrested a man for dropping $1 million worth of drugs into a prison with a drone.

Prison guards found the drone with its payload of methamphetamine, a pipe to consume the drug, a phone and sim card, as well as other drugs, at the Townsville Correctional Centre.

He faced court on the charges this week.

Reporting by Lucy Tassell.

Trivia answer: Leo and Virgo.