☕️ More Epstein files released

Long time TDA readers will know we have now entered my least-favourite month, because of its awful name: February.

Is it ‘Feb-ree’? ‘Feb-roo-ry’? ‘Feb-you-airy’?

According to Google, it’s ‘feh-byoo-uh-ree’.

I’m sceptical of the existence of the ‘uh’.

The quote: “In public bars, we chat with our customers about the issues of the day. A lot of the time, the thoughts in the minds of our customers are shaped by what is said on the radio. Many of our patrons call the open lines and there are no better arbiters of what passes “The Pub Test”.
Former Liberal MP Craig Laundy on Nine Entertainment's sale of its radio network, including 2GB and 3AW, to his family, owners of a major pub group.

The stat: 45.2 billion. The number of minutes of Bluey streamed in the U.S. in 2025, making it the most streamed program that year.

The big question:

Last week’s results: 77% of you are not in a run club [1522 votes].

Headlines are just part of the story, so what does inflation actually mean for your day-to-day?

CommBank Newsroom has broken down what inflation measures, what it leaves out, and why everything can still feel so expensive even if inflation is falling. If the figures in the news don’t match your budget, this is a great place to start.

Read or watch HERE.

A man has been arrested and charged with impersonating an FBI agent in a bid to free Luigi Mangione from prison.

Mangione is being held in a Brooklyn jail while he awaits trial over the killing of a health insurance company CEO in December 2024.

Mark Anderson allegedly told jail officers that he was an FBI agent in possession of paperwork “signed by a judge” authorising the release of one of the inmates at the jail.

Here’s what happened.

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was on his way to an investor conference in NYC in December 2024 when he was shot and killed on the street.

Following a five day search, Mangione was arrested in Pennsylvania.

Police allege he was carrying a gun and a silencer, consistent with the ones used in the murder, when he was apprehended.

He is set to face trial on charges of murder.

Anderson allegedly approached the intake area at the Brooklyn jail where Mangione is detained on Wednesday night (local time).

He claimed to hold paperwork “signed by a judge” authorising the release of a prisoner in custody at the facility.

The criminal complaint did not name which inmate, but sources told ABC News (U.S.) it was Mangione.

When jail officers pressed Anderson for identification, he showed them a Minnesota driver’s license and threw “numerous documents” at them.

On further questioning, the 36-year-old claimed he had weapons in his bag.

Police allege a barbecue fork and a pizza cutter were inside his bag.

Anderson was arrested and charged with impersonating an FBI agent. He is expected to appear in court on Thursday.

Mangione is also due in court next week. The judge overseeing his case is expected to decide if the death penalty will remain a sentencing option, should he be found guilty.

Reporting by Elliot Lawry.

🎧 On today’s TDA podcast, Elliot explains why Aussies are reading more romance novels.

🎾 For a full recap of all the Aus Open finals action over the weekend in your inbox this afternoon, sign up to TDA Sport here.

A Victorian Coroner is calling for an overhaul of drug checking practices at music festivals, noting strategies like sniffer dogs, police, and security guards “have no positive impact on drug use”.

The call comes as part of a report on the death of a woman after a Melbourne music festival.

Coroner Ingrid Giles found the lack of pill testing facilities at the event meant the woman “could not” have known the strength of what she took, leaving her “vulnerable to overdose”.

The Victorian Government launched a pill testing trial in early 2025.

In September 2023, 28-year-old Trang Thi Thu Le died from an overdose of MDMA and ketamine after an EDM event in Melbourne.

In January 2024, nine people were hospitalised for drug overdoses following a Melbourne EDM festival. From 2000 to 2024, there were 18 drug overdose deaths associated with music events in Victoria.

Giles investigated Le’s death, as well as the broader use of drugs at festivals.

Giles’ report outlines the events leading up to Le’s death, including access to harm reduction services.

Le attended an EDM event at John Cain Arena in Melbourne with her partner and two friends. Once inside, Le met another friend who gave her a pill understood to be ecstasy or MDMA.

Le’s partner later described the pill to medical professionals as “big,” and said she had also taken ketamine. Her partner told the coroner that once on the dancefloor, Le asked him for a drink of water, which he said took “more than half an hour because it was very busy”. Le lost consciousness during this time and was given medical treatment, but died in hospital overnight of MDMA and ketamine toxicity.

Giles said she had sought advice from the coroners’ death prevention unit (CPU) in analysing Le’s death. The CPU said there was a “broad cultural practice” of people taking MDMA at EDM events, adding that research had shown pill testing at festivals led to people taking lower doses.

Giles identified “significant broader opportunities for prevention” of drug-related harms, including more pill testing, and improved guidance for event organisers from the Victorian Department of Health.

The coroner said attendees would be “more likely to make safe choices” if event practices, like access to pill testing, were clearer.

“This is not about encouraging people to break the law,” Giles added.

Giles noted research showing measures “designed exclusively to prevent people using drugs” such as bag searches and sniffer dogs have “no positive impact” on drug use.

“In some cases [they] can actually lead to riskier drug use and greater drug harms,” the coroner added.

In a statement for the report, Harm Reduction Victoria – which operates the DanceWize program – said these practices may create “a sense of mistrust and fear surrounding the event”.

Pill testing is a harm-minimisation service. In Australia, it’s generally free and confidential. Drug samples submitted for testing undergo chemical analysis to identify potentially harmful or unexpected ingredients.

Results from drug checks generally relate to the strength and contents of the drug, and can include health advice for users.

Victoria began a mobile pill testing trial in December 2024, attending multiple festivals like Beyond the Valley and Pitch. A fixed site also opened in Fitzroy in Melbourne’s inner north in August 2025.

Giles commended the pill testing trial, saying she is “optimistic” that it “will support Victorians to make more informed and safer choices”. She encouraged the Department to ensure these services are accessible, particularly at EDM events where attendees “may be at a higher risk of experiencing drug-related harms.”

Giles recommended that the Victorian Department of Health review and refresh its ‘Code of practice for running safer music festivals and events’, published in 2013.

She said the Department should consult with harm reduction experts “to ensure its guidance... reflects current evidence and best practice.”

The code of practice includes three pages on harm reduction, while 12 are dedicated to planning, preparation, and management.

In a statement to TDA, a Victorian Government spokesperson said: “Every drug-related death is a tragedy, and we send our deepest condolences to Trang Thi Thu Le’s family and loved ones.”

They said the Government is “addressing drug harm in our community,” highlighting the fixed and mobile pill testing sites.

However, the spokesperson added that “there’s more to do” and that the Government “will carefully consider the coroner’s findings.”

Reporting by Emily Donohoe.

Why café coffee prices have climbed

Lots of TDA readers have noticed their usual café coffee isn’t as cheap as it used to be – and we wanted to know why.

CommBank Newsroom dug into what’s changed since Covid, why prices haven’t dropped even as coffee bean costs ease, and what’s making running a café tougher right now.

From rent and wages to supply chain quirks, there’s more behind that $5 latte than you might think.

You can read or watch the full story HERE.

A newly developed special technique uses bacteria as tiny factories to create vaccines in just three weeks instead of months. These vaccines can then be stored in regular fridges instead of super-cold freezers. Experts suggest this new way of developing vaccines would lower costs, making immunisations more affordable around the world. Dr. Steven L. Zeichner, from the University of Virginia School of Medicine, said: “We hope that the vaccines made using this platform will help prevent disease not only in people, but also in animals, so that they can help farmers and consumers, and prevent diseases from spreading from animals to humans”.

Reporting by Emma Gillespie.

NASA scientists have found a planet that looks like Earth’s frosty twin.

The planet, HD 137010 b, is rocky, Earth sized, and orbits a Sun-like star around 146 light years away. It takes roughly a year to complete its orbit, but it sits right on the chilly outer edge of the star’s habitable zone.

The star itself is cooler and dimmer than our Sun, so the planet receives less than a third of the sunlight we get on Earth. That level of light would leave its surface sitting at -68°C, even colder than icy Mars.

Scientists only saw it once in a single blink in data from the Kepler Space Telescope. This means it is still just a “candidate” until telescopes can confirm it.

For now, it is being dubbed a “cold Earth”: same vibe, different climate and definitely not picnic weather.

Reporting by Pavitra Ravi.