☕️ Far-right party dominates a German state election

And happy birthday to Lachlan Murdoch (son of Australian media tycoon Rupert Murdoch) and James Packer (son of the late Australian media tycoon Kerry Packer).

Their parents had more in common than we realised.

The quote: “For two straight years NSW has been losing more than $1 million an hour to poker machines. We are now heading towards $10 billion a year.” Wesley Mission CEO Rev Stu Cameron responding to new figures showing NSW residents lost a record $4.76 billion on poker machines in the first half of 2026, up more than $300 million from the same time last year.

The stat: 8. The number of airports across Indonesia forced to close due to a volcanic ash cloud from eruptions at Mount Anak Krakatau on Sunday (local time).

The big question:

Yesterday’s results: 57% of you first found TDA on Instagram, 23% through word of mouth, 5% via our podcast, 7% through a Google or web search, and 9% somewhere else. Thanks for voting - your responses inform TDA's journalism and research. [1,588 votes].

Last week, the UN General Assembly adopted a new world map.

Most current maps use the Mercator projection to represent the size of different continents, which has been criticised for distorting the real scale of some regions, including Africa.

During the sitting, 164 states voted in favour of adopting a more accurate map, such as the Equal Earth projection.

The U.S. voted against the resolution, while six others abstained from the vote.

World maps generally use the Mercator projection, a scale developed in 1569 by the cartographer Gerardus Mercator.

As the Earth is a spherical, three-dimensional object, attempts to flatten it will create some distortion.

The Mercator projection scale reduces the size of some land masses, while others are enlarged.

For example, Greenland appears a similar size to the African continent, despite being 14 times smaller in reality.

Last week, the UN Group of African States introduced a resolution to “correct” world maps, e.g. with the Equal Earth projection.

On the resolution, Togo Foreign Affairs Minister Robert Dussey said: “Correcting the map means recognising that every region of the world deserves to be represented accurately and with dignity... A fair map does not change the geography of the world; it changes how we see the world. And when our perspective becomes more just, it paves the way for greater understanding, respect and peace among nations.”

Of the 171 member states present for voting on the resolution, 164 voted in favour.

Georgia, Estonia, Lithuania, Moldova, Serbia, and Ukraine abstained, while the U.S. was the only state to vote against.

U.S. representative Yaryna Ferencevych told the General Assembly the change “cannot be separated from the much larger and more radical ideological project it belongs to.”

She said resolutions like these are “barnacles on our work here”.

Reporting by Emily Donohoe.

🎧 On today’s TDA podcast, editor-in-chief Billi explains what’s next for Lindsay Clancy. Listen or watch on Apple here, Spotify here, or YouTube here.

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🧬 It can take 8-12 weeks to find out if a cancer treatment is actually working - a long time to be waiting on an answer. Brisbane biotech Gelomics is trying to close that gap, using Google AI trained on lab-grown, personalised tumours, so in the future, doctors can know what will work before a patient commences treatment. We sat down with CEO Dr Christoph Meinert to learn how - listen here.

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Over the weekend, far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) secured the most votes of any party at a German state election.

AfD, led by candidate Ulrich Siegmund, attracted around 44% of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt, more than double the next most popular party.

It has not secured enough votes to form a majority government, however, and other parties have a “firewall” against AfD, meaning they will not form a coalition with it.

Here’s what you need to know.

AfD is a far-right political party, formed in 2013 by former members of centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Experts have called it the most successful far-right party in Germany since World War II.

Support for AfD has increased over the years, with the party attracting 20.8% of votes at Germany’s national election last year, up from 10.4% in 2021.

Across those two elections, support has broadly shifted from the left-wing Social Democratic Party (SPD) to AfD and the CDU.

Germany has 16 states, including Saxony-Anhalt, which has around 2.1 million people.

On Sunday, its residents voted in a state election.

Preliminary election results show AfD received around 44% of votes, more than double the next highest party, CDU.

AfD is estimated to secure 39 of 83 seats, just under the 42 needed to form an absolute majority.

In Germany, parties historically work together in large coalitions to form government.

The head of the party with the most votes usually takes on the role of leader.

In Saxony-Anhalt, AfD’s lead candidate was Ulrich Siegmund, who investigative journalism magazine Der Spiegel last month described as “Germany’s most dangerous man,” with what it called “extremist baggage”.

Siegmund went on to sign copies of the magazine for AfD supporters.

“This is a political earthquake, also directed towards Berlin...

Together, we have shown that we want to make history, that we’ve had enough of being patronised, and that we finally want to reclaim our old, secure Germany.”

Siegmund in a video shared to X on Sunday evening (local time).

Preliminary results show that AfD has not attracted enough votes to form a majority government.

This means it cannot lead on its own.

Political parties, including CDU, have previously declared a “firewall” against AfD, meaning they refuse to partner with the far-right party.

CDU also adopted similar measures in the past against the Left Party.

This means Saxony-Anhalt’s government is in a stalemate until a resolution is made.

Reporting by Emily Donohoe.

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Scientists analysed DNA and personality data from over a million people across 46 cohorts worldwide, uncovering more than 1,200 gene variants linked to the “Big Five” traits: conscientiousness, openness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. The genetic links connected to outcomes like physical and mental health, career paths, and even where people choose to live. Genes linked to conscientiousness were associated with being more active during the day, while those linked to extraversion and openness were tied to being more of a night owl. The study’s lead author, Michigan State University assistant professor Ted Schwaba said: “Personality seems to be relevant nearly everywhere you look.” He hopes the findings will “encourage many other scientists to incorporate personality traits into their fields of study.”

Reporting by Emma Gillespie.

Move over, footy finals. The biggest sporting event of the year has already happened this past weekend: the Hungarian national grave-digging competition.

Competitors raced in teams of two to dig 1.6 metre-deep graves as fast as possible.

The winners were Róbert Nagy and László Kiss, per the Associated Press, who dropped their shovels after just one hour and 21 minutes.

I’m dead.

Reporting by Lucy Tassell.