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Good morning!
If you’re in an office at 9am (AEST) today, don’t be surprised if a few colleagues go missing or a suspicious number of people suddenly have headphones in. That’s when Taylor Swift’s first interview on Travis Kelce’s ‘New Heights’ podcast drops, where it’s likely she’ll reveal details about her new album, The Life of A Showgirl.
Don’t fear though, they won’t be gone for long. The episodes are usually only about an hour or two. They'll be back in action by lunch, promise.
I’ve got 10 seconds
Quote of the day
"These ideas will come up, I’m not going to give a running commentary on all of them, but certainly the Government has no plans."
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at a press conference on Wednesday morning, responding to a question about if the Government is considering a proposal by the Australian Council of Trade Unions to implement a four-day workweek.
Stat of the day
3.4%
The increase in wages in Australia in the 2024-25 financial year, according to the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
TDA reader’s comment of the week
I’ve got 30 seconds
Some headlines from this morning:
A Victorian man has been charged after a major security operation at Sydney Airport yesterday morning. Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers were called to the T2 domestic terminal following reports of a person behaving suspiciously. An AFP statement said the man became “verbally and physically aggressive” when officers tried to speak to him. During a struggle with police, an AFP firearm was unintentionally discharged, but no one was physically harmed. Some eyewitnesses claim the man was attempting to grab an officer's gun when it went off. It was the 41-year-old’s second run-in with police at the airport this week, after AFP Acting Commander Scott Raven said officers spoke with him on Tuesday “in relation to a number of incidents about his behaviour and he left the airport.” An internal investigation into the firearm discharge has been launched. The man is facing up to two years behind bars for resisting arrest, and is due in court next month.
Hundreds of U.S. army personnel have begun patrolling the streets of Washington D.C. after Donald Trump ordered an increased federal law enforcement presence in the capital. It follows the alleged carjacking and assault of a former government employee, 19-year-old Edward Coristine, last week. On Tuesday, the U.S. President posted a picture of a bloodied Coristine and threatened to take control of D.C. to “run this city how it should be run.” Around 800 National Guard troops and 120 FBI agents have now been deployed in the capitol, after Trump signed an executive order. The U.S. President has also called for more arrests of underage offenders. Despite claims of a crime spike, D.C. police have reported a 20% decrease in child arrests over the past year. The city’s overall crime rates have been declining since a peak in 2023.
Recommendation of the day
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I’ve got 1 minute
Fortnite will return to Aus app stores after winning a Federal Court case
The company behind video game Fortnite has won a Federal Court lawsuit against Apple and Google.
Epic Games launched a legal challenge against the American tech giants over in-app purchases, alleging anti-competitive conduct.
The company called the outcome a “win for developers and consumers in Australia.”
Fortnite will return to Australian app stores “at a date to be determined.”
Lawsuit
Free and paid apps may include optional paid elements called in-app purchases.
Users are typically only able to make these purchases with the app store’s in-built payment processor.
Google and Apple take a commission of up to 30% on those purchases.
In 2020, Epic Games developed its own direct payment option that would have allowed users to make in-app purchases at a discount. Apple and Google responded by removing Fortnite from their app stores, prompting Epic to file legal proceedings.
In its lawsuits, Epic claimed the move breached Australian competition and consumer law by imposing high in-app purchase fees.
This week, the Federal Court handed down rulings on both cases simultaneously.
Judge Jonathan Beach found Google and Apple’s in-app purchase policy “is likely to have had the effect of substantially lessening competition in such markets.”
However, Beach dismissed Epic’s claims that the companies had acted in an “unconscionable” manner.
Responses
In a post to social media, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney celebrated the outcome, saying: “Fortnite will return to the Land Down Under.”
In a statement to the ABC, Google acknowledged the decision and disagreed with the “court’s characterisation of our billing policies and practices.”
Apple echoed the sentiment, saying it “continuously invests and innovates” its App Store to make it “a great business opportunity for developers.”
Reporting by Achol Arok.
I’ve got 2 minutes
Around two-thirds of teens say they get health info from social media, new research shows
Research from the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne (RCH) has shown 63% of teenagers get health information from social media.
A survey of nearly 1,500 teenagers found more than three in four (77%) find it difficult to discern what is accurate information on social media.
Around a quarter said they would intentionally look at social media if they were seeking health information.
Here’s what to know.
Method
The RCH began by surveying nearly 1,500 parents, who then nominated one of their teenage children to take a separate poll.
The surveys were nationally representative, meaning their gender, demographics and socio-economic makeup reflected Australia’s population.
Findings
Almost all teenagers surveyed use social media (90%).
Of teenagers who used social media, 79% had seen fitness and exercise content in the month before taking the survey.
Most had also seen nutrition (71%), mental health (59%) and relationship advice content (51%).
Girls were 15% more likely than boys to have seen body image-related content.
Social media influenced teens’ health decisions, with more than 40% of those surveyed saying they had considered trying something after seeing it online.
While 63% of teens surveyed had ever seen health-related social media content, around half had seen it in the past month.
Two-thirds reported getting health information from parents in the previous month, and considered their parents their “number one source”, which researchers said was “reassuring”.
Govt ban
The Federal Government is set to introduce a new social media age restriction in December this year.
This will prevent children under sixteen from creating accounts on social media platforms, including Instagram and Youtube.
The survey results showed 85% of teens and 86% of parents said under-16s would “still find ways to access social media,” despite the new regulations.
Recommendations
The report said “most parents and teens find it difficult” to distinguish the truth on social media.
RCH Poll Director Dr Anthea Rhodes says it is vital that teenagers “exercise health scepticism and learn how to identify evidence-based health information.”
Researchers called for more education to help “both parents and young people” to identify mis- and disinformation.
Other research
The findings follow a study by La Trobe University, which showed misleading birth control advice on TikTok is resulting in an “increased risk of unplanned pregnancies.”
The study analysed 100 TikTok videos on contraceptive health, which had collectively been viewed almost five billion times.
Of this sample, only 10 videos were made by health professionals.
The researchers found more than half of TikTok creators reviewed had “clearly rejected hormonal birth control,” while more than a third “expressed distrust in health professionals.”
Lead researcher Dr Carolina de Moel-Mandel said: “Many TikTok creators promoted natural contraceptive methods, [failing] to mention these methods are generally ineffective when used on their own.
“Misinformation, combined with growing distrust in health professionals can result in…. unplanned pregnancies.”
Reporting by Anju Dhanushkodi.
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🍊 A two-time Olympic medallist has been suspended. Who?
🍊 Mondo Duplantis has broken another world record. More details here.
🍊 Heard of the World Games? What are they?
🗞️ Also in today’s Sport Newsletter: cricket, rugby, and more…
Give me some good news
Australian researchers have discovered evidence of mutual playtime behaviours between dolphins and whales.
Griffith University’s Whales & Climate Program investigated footage of hundreds of interactions between 19 whale and dolphin species around the world. According to findings published in the journal Discover Animals, at least a quarter of the interactions were defined as “mutual,” and “the vast majority of the observed interactions did not show avoidance behaviour.” Dr Olaf Meynecke from Griffith Uni said humpback whales had an especially positive response to dolphins. “The humpback whales were rolling from side to side, undertaking belly presentation and other behaviours that are associated with courtship or friendly socialising,” he said. The findings challenge the perception that dolphins “harass and annoy the whales.”
Want more good news? Sign up to our weekly Good Newsletter here - we promise it’ll make your week better!
Reporting by Emma Gillespie.
TDA titbit
An American influencer has been stranded on an island in Antarctica since June, after he allegedly landed his plane illegally in the territory.
19-year-old Ethan Guo set out in September 2024 on a solo flight to all seven continents to raise funds for childhood cancer research, documenting his journey for his one million Instagram followers.
In late June, Guo diverted from his original flight plan and allegedly made an unauthorised landing on King George Island, an Antarctic territory held by Chile. He was arrested the next day and has been detained since.
This week, a Chilean judge dropped the charges in exchange for a $US30,000 payment to charity and a ban on entering Chile for three years.
Guo is permitted to leave once weather conditions allow him a safe journey.
Reporting by Rosa Bowden.
Want more from The Daily Aus? Listen to our podcast!
This month, the tech company behind ChatGPT released what they claim is their smartest AI model yet.
According to OpenAI, GPT-5 operates at the level of a PhD student. But experts are warning that the AI race has become a marketing battle, as companies manipulate test results to claim their product is the best.
Today, we're unpacking how AI companies measure intelligence and why that's become a problem.
TDA asks
