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Happy Wednesday!
Here’s today’s riddle: Can you guess the next letter in the series? CYGTNLIT
Answer is in the tidbit!
I've got 10 seconds
The quote
"Turns out on your 146th birthday, you run out of room for candles!" — U.S. President Joe Biden in an Instagram post for his 81st birthday.
The stat
$AU13 million
The amount Shakira paid in fines to settle a tax evasion case brought by Spanish prosecutors. The pop star is still subject to another tax case in the country.
Today in history
1963: U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade through the streets of Dallas, Texas.
I've got 30 seconds
Some headlines from this morning:
Young Australians are reducing their discretionary spending, pulling back on the purchase of items like clothes and household goods, according to new data from Commonwealth Bank. According to CBA, there has been an increase in spending on essentials, such as insurance and pharmaceuticals. People aged 25 to 29 have seen a 5.1% decline in total spending.
A United Nations report has found that the Earth's climate is on track to warm by nearly 3°C this century. The Emissions Gap Report calls for countries that produce greater emissions to take further action and to provide support to developing countries to attain the funds and infrastructure needed to tackle the climate crisis. According to the UN, “humanity is breaking all the wrong records when it comes to climate change.”
I've got 1 minute
The national consumer watchdog has warned shoppers of a "concerning" increase in online scams ahead of Black Friday sales this week.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said there’s been a spike in fake websites that look like "genuine" and "big-name" online retailers.
Online shopping scams have cost Australians over $6.2 million in the year to October.
Background
The Black Friday sales weekend follows Thanksgiving — a national holiday in the U.S. this Thursday.
Despite being tied to an American tradition, Black Friday has increased in popularity with Australian retailers over recent years.
Black Friday officially starts on 24 November and continues with Cyber Monday on 27 November. However, many brands have launched their sales early.
Scam warning
Australian consumers are predicted to spend $6.36 billion this Black Friday period, prompting the ACCC to warn against the "opportunistic" nature of scammers.
ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said there’s been an "alarming increase" in scams "which use the latest technology" to look like well-known Australian brands.
Lowe said scammers are increasingly paying for fake websites "to appear at the top of your internet search".
Safe shopping
The ACCC said the best way to detect a scam "is to search for independent reviews before purchasing".
It urged customers to "slow down and consider whether a sale is too good to be true," and to avoid following links in emails, text messages or social media.
It recommended using apps from official app stores and paying by PayPal or credit card. "Never pay by direct bank deposit, money transfers or digital currencies."
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I've got 2 minutes
The Fair Work Commission has ruled against an employee who wanted to work from home full-time.
Fair Work sided with the man’s employer, saying working in the office can benefit productivity.
The employers’ victory comes as many workplaces encourage staff to return to the office, following COVID-era work from home trends.
The case
Adelaide man Charles Gregory works for Maxxia, a financial services company.
After COVID-19 restrictions eased, the company told staff they were required to work from the office 40% of the time. For full-time workers, that’s equivalent to two days per week.
Gregory requested to work from home every day, because he suffers from inflammatory bowel disease and needs to look after his son every other week.
Maxxia rejected Gregory’s request to work from home full-time. It said it tried to make accommodations for Gregory’s disease, including moving his desk closer to the office bathroom.
Gregory brought the case before the Fair Work Commission in September after talks with the company failed to bring a resolution.
The law
An employee is entitled to request “flexible working arrangements” if they’ve been with an employer for at least a year. They also need to meet at least one category from a range of criteria such as living with a disability or being the parent of a school-aged child.
Under legislation updated last year, employees can raise disputes with the workplace tribunal if an employer rejects flexible work requests.
Decision
The Fair Work Commission said the company’s decision to reject Gregory’s full-time work from home request was based on “reasonable business grounds”.
The commissioner said “face-to-face contact” was important for productivity and workplace culture. It means during weeks when Gregory is not looking after his son, he’ll be required to work in the office at least 40% of the time.
Impact
CEO of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Andrew Mackellar has welcomed Fair Work’s decision.
Mackellar told TDA the Commission’s decision “reinforces the benefits of face-to-face working on workplace productivity.”
However, he acknowledged decisions needed to be made on a “case-by-case basis”.
Give me some good news
You can send your name into space as part of NASA’s mission to one of Jupiter’s moons next year.
NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft will travel 2.6 billion kilometres with NASA’s “Message in a Bottle” on board.
The bottle will include names stencilled onto a tiny silicon microchip with an electron beam. Attached to the names will be a poem titled “In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa”.
A message from our sponsor
When Jannik Sinner ate a carrot during a match in Austria a few years ago, he didn’t expect it to become the symbol of his cult following. Fast-forward to 2023, and this rising star of tennis has a group of diehard fans following him around the world, dressed as… carrots.
And his fans have plenty to celebrate - in just the last six months, Sinner has made his first Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon, won his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Canada, beat the world No.2 and No.3 in China and took out the Vienna Open. Now that’s a hot streak.
Sinner’s name is synonymous with the future of men’s tennis - and off the court, the 22-year-old has already used his platform to talk about mental health, and raise money for medical supplies in his homeland of Italy during the pandemic. Oh, and a fashion deal with Gucci.
At the Australian Open 2024, Sinner is not to be underestimated - we have a feeling the Carrots will be in the stands towards the pointy end of the tournament. We took a deep dive into the story of Jannik Sinner - the tennis player and the human - ahead of AO 2024.
A TDA tidbit
I’m so sorry. I told you all fake news. I fell for a marketing ploy.
On Monday, I told you that Snoop Dogg, a marijuana enthusiast, was “giving up smoke”. Now it makes sense why his post was not grammatically correct…
Because he was talking about smoke in the form of fire pits.
Turns out the announcement was part of Snoop Dogg’s collaboration with Solo Stove, a smokeless fire pit company.
In an Instagram reel with Solo Stove, Snoop Dogg says: “I’m going smokeless. Solo Stove fixed fire. They took out the smoke. Clever.”
I’ll see myself out…
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Riddle answer: S.
CYGTNLITS = Can you guess the next letter in the series.
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