☕️ Sam Kerr charged in the UK

Happy hump day!

For those new around here, on Wednesdays, we do riddles (although we recently changed it to rebus puzzles).

Here is today’s puzzle! As a reminder, a rebus puzzle conveys a phrase or a word that is a common idiom or expression.

Can you guess what this means?

Answer is in the tidbit!

I’ve got 10 seconds

Quote of the day

“It is no exaggeration to say that Sinéad [O’Connor] would have been disgusted, hurt, and insulted to have her work misrepresented in this way by someone who she herself referred to as a ‘biblical devil’.”
Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor’s estate and record label have released a joint statement responding to U.S. Presidential candidate Donald Trump’s use of the song ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ at political rallies.

Stat of the day

€1.8 billion ($AU3b)
How much Apple has been fined by European Union authorities for restricting other music streaming providers in its App Store. The European Commission found Apple users were unable to make “informed and effective decisions on where and how to purchase music streaming subscriptions” because of the big tech company’s actions.

Today in history

1869
Dmitri Mendeleev presented his first version of the periodic table to the Russian Chemical Society. His table included 64 elements with empty spaces as he predicted new elements would be discovered.

I’ve got 30 seconds

Some headlines from this morning:

• The cost of private health insurance will increase by an average of 3.03% on 1 April, but specific increases will vary by insurer. Health Minister Mark Butler said “any increase” during current cost of living pressures “will be hard to bear” but that annual health insurance premiums had increased at a slower rate than wages and inflation.

• A house fire near Newcastle in NSW has claimed the lives of two people, which firefighters say are the state’s first deaths from a lithium-ion battery fire. Fire and Rescue said two others managed to escape the blaze, which it blamed on the problematic batteries. It said there have been 45 fires related to lithium-ion batteries in NSW in 2024 so far. The batteries have been linked to multiple incidents around Australia and the world, particularly from e-bikes. Firefighters are urging people to “use extra caution” and to avoid leaving lithium-ion batteries charging unattended.

I’ve got 1 minute

Sam Kerr has been charged in the UK with racially harassing a police officer

Matildas player Sam Kerr has been charged in the UK with a “racially aggravated offence” relating to a police officer.

Kerr pleaded not guilty in court, but has not commented publicly on the matter.

In a statement, the Metropolitan police said Sam Kerr had been charged in the UK over “an incident involving a police officer who was responding to a complaint involving a taxi fare on 30 January 2023 in Twickenham [in London]”.

Football Australia also released a statement, saying: “Football Australia is aware of the legal proceedings involving Sam Kerr in the United Kingdom. As this is an ongoing legal matter, we are unable to provide further comment at this time…

“We will continue to monitor the situation and provide support as appropriate.“

I’ve got 2 minutes

Polls are open in 16 U.S. states for Super Tuesday. What is it?

Super Tuesday, one of the most important days in the U.S. presidential election cycle, is now underway with primary elections across 16 states.

Republican voters will choose between frontrunner Donald Trump and his last standing challenger, former U.S. Ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden is expected to be chosen to lead the Democratic Party in the 2024 White House race.

Super Tuesday is a major test for presidential candidates. Here’s what you need to know.

Primaries

Each of the 50 states in the U.S. has its own rules in the lead-up to a presidential election.

Most states hold a vote called a "primary" ballot to select a presidential candidate — known as a party's nominee.

In most cases, winners of primaries secure ‘delegates’, and whoever wins the majority of delegates typically becomes the party’s presidential candidate.

Delegates are awarded using a points system, and bigger states (e.g. California) usually have more delegates than smaller states (e.g. Rhode Island).

Why Tuesday?

Voting on a Tuesday is an American tradition dating back to the 19th century when Christian farmers needed enough time to travel to voting booths after Sunday church services.

Both the November presidential election and March’s Super Tuesday fall on the first Tuesday of the month.

The number of races on a Super Tuesday varies each election.

In 2008, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton faced off in 24 contests for the Democrat nomination.

2024 contests

The states highlighted in purple are those voting in Super Tuesday. The majority are holding both Republican and Democrat primaries.

Likely outcomes

Recent primary contest results show it’s very likely former President Donald Trump will win the Republican party nomination.

His main rival, Nikki Haley, has lost seven races so far, including in her home state of South Carolina. She has only won a single primary poll in Washington D.C.

Similar to Trump, Joe Biden is expected to win the Democratic primary races, as he has no serious challenger.

What next?

Several more U.S. states will still vote in primary elections after Super Tuesday.

While the day is normally an indication of who will ultimately win the party’s nomination, it does not guarantee their overall victory.

The parties will officially choose their presidential candidates at a party convention later this year. Republicans will hold theirs in Milwaukee in July and the Democrats will choose their leader a month later in Chicago.

Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, announced last week it will not renew its deals with large traditional Australian media companies. Separately, Meta also announced last month it’s taking steps to limit the reach of “political” content on its platforms.

Australian news publishers now fear a breakdown in mediation talks between the tech giant and the Australian Government could lead to news being blocked on the platforms. We'll explain why you need to care about Meta's decision in today's deep dive.

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Give me some good news

An international travel list has ranked a Queensland beach as the best in the world.

Queensland’s Palm Cove Beach topped Conde Nast Traveller’s list of the best beaches in the world. It described Palm Cove as “the epitome of a tropical paradise.”

Five other Australian beaches made it onto the list of 34, including Sydney’s Mona Vale Beach and Western Australia’s Turquoise Bay.

TDA tidbit

A spoonful of sugar may help the medicine go down, but nothing can help you swallow this bitter pill: chocolate is going to get more expensive 😔

According to the latest report from the International Cocoa Organisation, global cocoa production is projected to drop by almost 11% in the 2023/24 season.

Top-producing country Ghana has been hit hard by bad weather and smugglers, making production unpredictable.

So, stock up on your faves while you can! I’ll be buying all the milk chocolate liquorice bullets I can find. Simply nothing better.

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Rebus puzzle answer: Pacing back and forth

TDA asks