☕️ Mardi Gras after-party axed

What was the result of yesterday’s poll about the new Wednesday tradition?

By a huge margin, trivia won. To get you excited for next Wednesday’s trivia, here’s a fun fact we recently learned in the office: Hugh Grant’s middle name is Mungo.

As in, Hugh Mungo. As in, humongous.

The quote: “The waves are massive and I have no life jacket on... I just kept thinking 'just keep swimming, just keep swimming'.”
13-year-old Austin Appelbee speaking to the ABC about swimming four hours to save his family, who were swept out to sea in WA.

The stat: 8.4%. The percentage of people who feel safe catching public transport alone at night in the Northern Territory, according to a Productivity Commission report on government services.

The big question:

Yesterday’s results: 42% of you want trivia to become TDA’s new Wednesday intro tradition. [2,670 votes].

Why renting feels hard – and what could change

If finding or keeping hold of a rental feels harder than it used to, you’re not alone. In many Aussie cities, there simply aren’t enough homes to go around.

This explainer helps cut through the noise, breaking down what’s really driving rental prices right now, why interest rates aren’t the main reason, and what changes in home building could mean next.

You can read the easy-to-digest breakdown at CommBank Newsroom.

The official 2026 Sydney Mardi Gras after-party has been cancelled, weeks before it was set to go ahead.

Here’s what to know.

Each year, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras party takes place following the world-famous parade down Oxford Street. Past headliners of the event have included Dua Lipa, Kylie Minogue, and Cher.

In a statement on Tuesday, Mardi Gras CEO Jesse Matheson revealed the event has been running at a financial deficit since 2020. That was the same year the after-party was forced to move venues, greatly reducing its capacity.

Despite its smaller scale, it has remained one of the most expensive events on the Mardi Gras calendar, with prices growing to $250 a ticket.

In this week’s announcement, Mardi Gras revealed its 2026 headline artist had pulled out over the Christmas break. Matheson didn’t say who the headliner was meant to be.

He noted other setbacks, including rising production, infrastructure, staffing and compliance costs. All of these issues led organisers to decide that this year’s after-party was no longer financially viable.

Matheson said he couldn’t “continue to sell expensive tickets to an event [he] did not believe offered value for our community”.

Last year, Meta and Google both withdrew their support for Sydney Mardi Gras. American Express, one of the festival's biggest financial backers, also recently ended its sponsorship.

It comes amid a global decline in corporate sponsorships for Pride events. A poll by Gravity Research found 39% of major U.S. corporations planned to scale back their Pride-related engagements in 2025.

The Sydney Mardi Gras Festival runs from 13 February to 1 March.

Reporting by Elliot Lawry.

🎧 On today’s TDA podcast, Achol talks to Billi about the campaign to scrap ‘good character’ references in criminal sentencing.

🎤 Not sure why Bad Bunny’s appearance at the Super Bowl is causing so much conversation? Sign up to TDA Culture here for an explainer in your inbox this afternoon.

We all know a post-work swim hits different in summer. Just remember: water doesn’t block UV. Stay sun safe so you can keep enjoying your swim.

*Transparency: This is a sponsored part of the newsletter - the best way to keep the newsletter free for you.

French cybercrime authorities have raided social media platform X’s Paris office.

The platform is being investigated over allegations its algorithm is being manipulated “for the purpose of foreign interference,” and that Musk’s AI system Grok has created offensive material.

The UK launched a separate investigation into Grok this week.

It follows reports users were asking Grok to generate sexual images of others without their consent, including of children.

Grok is an AI tool developed by Musk’s company xAI for use on X.

Late last year, users discovered they could request Grok edit images of people with prompts like “put her in a bikini”.

Researchers at the U.S. Center for Countering Digital Hate estimate Grok created 3 million sexualised images between 29 December and 8 January.

Grok was also used to create child sexual abuse material during this period, with an average of one image every 41 seconds.

This week, French cybercrime officers searched X’s Paris office.

The search was part of an investigation launched in response to two reports lodged in January 2025, alleging “manipulation of X’s algorithm for the purpose of foreign interference.”

Éric Bothorel, an MP in President Emmanuel Macron’s party, filed one of the complaints. French newspaper Le Monde reported Bothorel believed Musk was making “personal interventions” in X’s algorithm to “reduce diversity of voices and opinions”.

The investigation also originally focused on the alleged “fraudulent extraction of data” from X’s systems.

Prosecutors said the investigation was expanded after reports on the use of Grok to create offensive material, including for the “dissemination of Holocaust denial context and sexually explicit deepfakes.”

Musk, former X CEO Linda Yaccarino, and other X employees have been summoned for voluntary interviews in Paris in April.

A post shared to the X Global Government Affairs account called the raid “an abusive act of law enforcement theatre.”

“The allegations underlying today’s raid are baseless and X categorically denies any wrongdoing,” it said.

Musk appeared to respond to the raid by reposting comments from British far-right influencer Tommy Robinson about an alleged child sexual abuse case in France, saying: “This is what authorities in France should be focused on”.

This week, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) announced a formal investigation into Grok’s “potential to produce harmful sexualised image and video content.“

ICO Executive Regulatory Risk Director William Malcolm said the reports from UK citizens raised “deeply troubling questions” around the use of personal data “to generate intimate or sexualised images without... consent”.

The UK Office of Communications (Ofcom) announced its own investigation into X last month.

Ofcom said it will look into whether X had “complied with its duties to protect people,” in response to reports about Grok.

Similarly, the European Commission (the leadership team of the European Union) launched an investigation into the platform on 26 January.

A Commission representative said: “Sexual deepfakes of women and children are a violent, unacceptable form of degradation.”

On 15 January, the X Safety account announced changes to Grok.

It said the platform had “implemented technological measures” to stop Grok from editing people’s pictures to show them in “revealing clothing” on X.

The ability to create and edit images through Grok was also made available to paid subscribers only to add “an extra layer of protection” and hold “individuals who attempt to abuse the Grok account... accountable.”

Reporting by Emily Donohoe.

Why the Aussie dollar keeps moving

When the Aussie dollar moves, it can change how far your money goes - from overseas trips to the cost of things we buy from overseas.

At CommBank Newsroom, we’ve broken down what actually drives the dollar and why it can shift quickly.

You can read the full explainer at CommBank Newsroom.

The 18.5-centimetre footprint was discovered by a teenager northwest of Brisbane in 1958. However, it remained unstudied for more than 60 years. University of Queensland research confirmed the artefact’s age and significance, and it has now been recognised as Australia’s oldest dinosaur fossil. The footprint, from the earliest part of the Late Triassic period, likely came from a small, two-legged dinosaur. Dr Anthony Romilio from UQ’s Dinosaur Lab said the footprint proves dinosaurs were present in Australia earlier than previously thought.

Reporting by Emma Gillespie.

Scientists in Canberra are trying a new tactic to bring back a frog species that vanished from the ACT nearly fifty years ago: spas and saunas.

Researchers built warm shelters and water stations around a pond in the ACT before releasing more than 20 green and golden bell frogs (bred in captivity) into the area.

They gave the frogs an immunity boost against chytrid fungus beforehand, a disease that has caused other amphibian species to go extinct. It’s hoped the saunas will help the frogs fight infection and survive long enough to breed.

The original species has not been seen in the ACT since the 1970s, after its population collapsed by about 90%. Scientists say if the trial works, the same spa and sauna method could help protect vulnerable frog species globally.

Reporting by Pavitra Ravi.