☕️ Pipe bombs found in Canberra

Please know that the whole TDA team spent about two hours more than usual compiling today’s newsletter.

You’ll see why very soon.

“Whilst [Adelaide Festival]'s statement acknowledges the harm done, it is not a quick fix to repair the damage and injury inflicted.”
Palestinian-Australian author and advocate Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah in a statement on Instagram after the new board of the Adelaide Festival apologised for the previous board disinviting her from its 2026 Writers’ Week. In a statement last week, the former festival board released a statement saying Abdel-Fattah’s invitation was rescinded because her previous comments meant it would “not be culturally sensitive“ to include her in the wake of the Bondi terror attack, leading to more than 100 writers dropping out.

259.
The number of homes burned during the January Victorian bushfires, according to Victoria's Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebusch.

2026 is the new 2016. Social media users are posting throwback pictures of themselves from 2016 in an attempt to reclaim 2026 as the new 2016 — a year of filters and peace signs. See the TDA team’s throwback pictures below (we had way too much fun making this):

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Australia’s peak union body has signed a deal with Microsoft to give workers a “voice” in the design and development of AI.

Under the Australian Council of Trade Unions’ deal with the tech giant, Microsoft will give workers and union leaders insights into the production of AI and collaborate on “responsible AI policy”.

The ACTU said the deal “sets a new benchmark for workers’ rights in the tech sector.”

The ACTU and Microsoft signed the deal on Wednesday. It has three components:

Microsoft Australia Vice President Steven Miller said the deal will “ensure workers’ voices are at the heart of Australia’s AI transformation”.

ACTU Assistant Secretary Joseph Mitchell said it will let workers “better engage with and contribute to the design of AI systems in their workplaces.”

The AI boom has affected many big businesses.

Last year, Commonwealth Bank (CBA) said it would cut 45 jobs in call centres because AI would reduce work.

The Finance Sector Union (FSU) took CBA to the Fair Work Commission over the redundancies.

CBA later reversed the job cuts and apologised, with FSU calling it a “major win.”

Outdoor hobbies, weekend runs, beach walks – it’s why we love summer. 

Try to pick times when the UV is lower, like early mornings or late afternoons, your skin will thank you for it!

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Hearings have begun in a genocide case against Myanmar in the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

In 2019, West African nation The Gambia accused Myanmar (in South East Asia) of “genocidal acts” against the Rohingya people.

It is the first case of its kind.

Here’s what you need to know.

Myanmar is the largest country by area in mainland South East Asia. Its official religion is Buddhism.

Following a military coup in 1962, Myanmar was under totalitarian control for decades. The regime was marked by violent crackdowns against anti-government protesters and mass killings.

The Rohingya people are a Muslim ethnic minority that have lived in Myanmar for generations.

Since the 1980s, authorities have denied them citizenship of Myanmar.

In 2016, a Rohingya militant group called the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) attacked police in the western Rakhine region on multiple occasions. This region is the Rohingya’s traditional home.

The same year, the Myanmar army was forcing Rohingya out of the area, killing them, and burning their villages, according to a UN report.

In August 2017, Myanmar’s army sent a battalion into Rakhine. The ARSA then attacked a number of police and army officers, killing 12.

In response, Myanmar’s army burned Rohingya villages and killed thousands of civilians.

Advocacy groups have reported widespread rapes and sexual assaults of Rohingya women and girls by the military.

Around 700,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh, which neighbours Myanmar to the west. They joined an existing Rohingya population of around 300,000 who had previously fled Myanmar.

To date, more than a million Rohingya live in the world’s largest refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, a city in southern Bangladesh.

Humanitarian groups say the camps lack sufficient access to clean water, toilets, food, education, shelter, and space.

The ICJ, sometimes called the World Court, rules on disputes between states, and hands down opinions on legal issues brought forward by the UN.

In 2019, the West African nation of The Gambia submitted a case to the ICJ accusing Myanmar of “genocidal acts” against the Rohingya population, in reference to the 2017 crackdown.

Myanmar and The Gambia are signatories to the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

Genocide is defined under the Convention as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”.

The case against Myanmar from The Gambia is the first time the ICJ has heard a case filed by a country not directly affected by the alleged genocide.

Other cases have been brought forward by nations impacted by another country’s genocidal acts.

For example, Bosnia and Herzegovina filed a case against Serbia for a 1995 massacre in the town of Srebrenica, which was ruled a genocide in 2007.

Hearings in the case against Myanmar began on 12 January (local time).

The Gambia alleges “Myanmar acted with the intention to destroy the Rohingya as a group, in whole or in part.”

Among the evidence submitted by The Gambia is documentation from the 2017-19 UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission into Myanmar.

The mission report alleges Myanmar “is failing in its obligation to prevent genocide,” and details “chronic persecution” of the Rohingya.

The case will run for three weeks, with Myanmar representatives expected to present their arguments later this week.

In November, Myanmar said it “rejects the baseless and one-sided quotes” of UN officials “on the situation of human rights in Myanmar”.

The country said a 2025 report on its human rights situation “deliberately exclude[s] and fail[s] to recognise Myanmar’s efforts towards repatriation and the actual situation on the ground.”

The ICJ’s final judgement could take months to be delivered.

The judgement in the case against Myanmar could impact future genocide cases brought by third-party countries in the ICJ.

While the use of precedent is not mandatory in its judgements, the ICJ often refers to its past decisions to support new ones.

Israel is currently facing allegations of genocide in the ICJ over its actions against Palestinians in Gaza, in a case brought by South Africa.

The deadline for Israel to submit its response to the ICJ is 12 March 2026.

South Africa has made several allegations, including that Israel has committed a genocide, and failed in its obligation to prevent a genocide in Gaza, as specified under the Genocide Convention.

Meanwhile, separately to the ICJ, the International Criminal Court is investigating the Acting President of Myanmar Min Aung Hlaing on charges of crimes against humanity over the 2017 attacks on the Rohingya.

Reporting by Emily Donohoe.

Saving in 2026, according to you:

We asked you on TDA’s Instagram what you’re saving for in 2026. Housing stood out straight away, with home deposits, rent, mortgages and renovations coming up far more often than anything else.

Travel was the next big theme, with plenty of mentions of holidays, overseas trips and time away. Beyond that, responses covered a mix of life moments and everyday realities - from weddings and kids to cars, debt and keeping on top of costs.

Read the full poll breakdown and stick around as we roll out explainers at CommBank Newsroom based on what you told us matters most.

Recent above-average rainfall across the state and record December downpours for parts of southern California have replenished major Californian lakes.

The decades-long drought contributed to several natural disasters, including the January 2025 wildfires. Now, officials have confirmed the state is “free of drought and abnormal dryness for the first time since 2000”.

Want more good news? Sign up to our weekly Good Newsletter here - we promise it’ll make your week better!

Reporting by Annabel Whitehouse.

A new app has skyrocketed in popularity in China over the last couple of weeks. 

The app is called ‘Are You Dead’, and it’s designed for people who live on their own to check in and confirm they are alive. 

If a user fails to notify the app for multiple days in a row, the software will flag it with their emergency contact. 

It’s become so popular because lots of people in China live alone, with Chinese media suggesting 200 million citizens could be living by themselves by 2030. 

Reporting by Annabel Whitehouse.

This week, U.S. President Donald Trump renewed calls for America to take control of the Arctic territory of Greenland. On Wednesday, Denmark's foreign minister held talks in Washington with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, but the meeting failed to resolve what Denmark described as a "fundamental disagreement." Now, NATO allies including Sweden, Norway and Germany have begun deploying military personnel to Greenland in a show of support for Denmark. On today’s podcast, we're breaking down what's happened this week, why Trump actually wants Greenland, and what the international response tells us about tensions within NATO.