☕️ Meet the new Australian of the Year

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The 2025 Australian of the Year is Neale Daniher, a former AFL player and coach who co-founded the charity FightMND, which aims to find a cure for motor neurone disease (MND).

Daniher was diagnosed with MND in 2013. The disease’s average life expectancy is three years. FightMND has invested over $115 million into research for a cure.

Daniher, whose ability to speak has been impacted by MND, accepted the award with a pre-recorded speech. He said: “I call it a beast of a disease... having no hope is devastating. We wanted to change that narrative.”

Any Australian citizen who is at least 16 on the day of the awards is eligible for the award, other than currently sitting politicians. You can’t submit an application for yourself.

State and territory selection panels review applications and choose nominees based on their “contribution to the Australian community” and “excellence in their field”.

The National Australia Day Council makes the final decision.

A judge in the U.S. state of Washington has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s push to stop some children from becoming citizens at birth. Trump plans to appeal the judge’s decision.

Under the U.S. Constitution, children born to parents who migrated to the country are granted citizenship as their ‘birthright’.

Citizenship includes access to civil rights, social services, and certain jobs.

Birthright citizenship was established under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution – the country’s founding document – in 1866.

The amendment was designed to let people who had been enslaved become citizens. Today, it means almost anyone born in the U.S. becomes a citizen, allowing them to vote and access social services.

It has been legally challenged in the past, and does not include some children, such as those born to diplomats representing other countries.

On the first day of his new presidency, Trump signed 26 executive orders.

These are Presidential directives for government departments to follow.

Earlier this week, Trump ordered an overhaul of birthright citizenship status for children who are born to:

(a) an “unlawfully” visiting non-citizen mother, and non-citizen father.

(b) a “lawful but temporary” visiting non-citizen mother, and non-citizen father.

Trump’s measure would bar anyone born to parents in this situation from receiving official citizenship documents, such as a U.S. passport.

The action was slated to take effect within 30 days and apply to anyone born in the U.S. under the order’s specified circumstances from that point.

Trump’s order described American citizenship as “a priceless and profound gift.” It argued birthright citizenship shouldn’t be extended to “everyone born within the United States”.

22 states and the District of Columbia (D.C.) immediately took legal action to stop the order from coming into effect.

One of the legal actions was jointly filed by four Democrat-led states: Washington, Oregon, Illinois, and Arizona.

The legal action called Trump’s executive order “unquestionably unconstitutional”.

It said affected citizens would be “irreparably harmed,” deprived of access to basic rights, and left at risk of deportation.

A federal court judge in the state of Washington, John C. Coughenour, approved the legal request to temporarily block Trump’s executive order.

It will be blocked for 14 days as the court considers further evidence and legality of the measure.

The judgement bars federal authorities, such as police and immigration officials, from enacting Trump’s measure.

In a press conference at the White House, Trump was asked about his response to the Washington judge’s ruling.

“Obviously we’ll appeal it,” Trump said.

Referring to Coughenour, Trump said: “There’s no surprises with that judge.”

Coughenor was appointed to the Federal Court by former Republican President Ronald Reagan in 1981.

Reporting by Harry Sekulich.

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A study, led by Penn State, has attached hundreds of tiny QR codes to the back of “several hundred bees” in rural parts of the states of Pennsylvania and New York. The tags track when the bees go in and out of their hives. While most trips outside of the hive last a few minutes, researchers have already learned that some of the bees spend hours away from the hive at a time. Researchers said the tracking method enables “far more comprehensive and expanded observations” of bee behaviours.

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Reporting by Emma Gillespie.

UnitedHealthcare has appointed a new CEO, about two months after Luigi Mangione, 26, was arrested for the murder of Brian Thompson.

The company has appointed long-time executive Tim Noel, who it said had “unparalleled experience”.

Thompson, who became CEO of the health insurance company in 2021, was murdered on 4 December in New York City.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to several charges, including murder as an act of terrorism.

Reporting by Rosa Bowden.

It's a public holiday today, following Australia’s national day yesterday... but 20% of TDA readers don’t actually know why Australia Day is held on 26 January. Today, we’ll take a closer look at the history of January 26, its protests and celebrations, and how Australian workplaces and attitudes are shifting in response to this public holiday.