☕️ The U.S.' diarrhoea outbreak spreads

More than 90,000 people are getting ready to run Sydney’s legendary City2Surf on Sunday.

Bonus points if you spot Team TDA - we’ll be the ones in purple being slightly too competitive for a fun run!

The quote: “While the Ombudsman has found that the film did not breach the ABC’s editorial policies, the ABC acknowledges the episode has fallen short of community expectations. The ABC apologises to [Gina] Rinehart and to anyone else affected or upset by the publication of the film.”
The ABC in a statement about a short film broadcast on its show ‘Race Around the World’, where filmmaker Kate McGuinness asked if, “when the revolution comes,” viewers were ready to “shove a stick right up Gina Rinehart’s butthole.”

The stat: $US100 billion ($AU142 billion). The amount of money the U.S. Government has spent to refund tariffs that were applied in the months before the country’s Supreme Court ruled they were illegal, per a legal filing.

The big question:

Yesterday’s results: 85% of you think Jetstar shouldn’t charge for overhead carry-on luggage. Thanks for voting - your responses inform TDA's journalism and research. [3,475 votes].

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An outbreak of a parasite that causes explosive diarrhoea has spread to 15 U.S. states.

The parasite causes an infection called Cyclosporiasis and spreads through contaminated food and water.

Officials are focusing on iceberg lettuce from one company, Taylor Farms, and lettuce served at the fast food chain Taco Bell.

Taylor Farms has recalled all of the lettuce it imported from Mexico and distributed to the U.S.

A person can catch cyclosporiasis by eating food or drinking water that is contaminated with a parasite called cyclospora cayetanensis.

Symptoms usually begin within a week of contact and include explosive diarrhoea. We don’t think we need to explain that aspect any further.

Health authorities say it’s safest to buy whole heads of lettuce rather than bagged mixes and wash them yourself, and to cook any greens rather than eat them raw.

Earlier this week, the first two deaths from the outbreak were reported in the state of Michigan.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says the two people had “significant underlying health conditions” that would have been exacerbated by contracting the parasite.

The FDA and CDC added that as of Wednesday (U.S. time), there are more than 6,300 reported cases, though the actual number may be higher.

Reporting by Lucy Tassell.

🎧 On today’s TDA podcast, multimedia journalist Elliot explains Aussie sport’s gambling problem. Listen or watch on Apple here, Spotify here, or YouTube here.

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This week, a Senate inquiry held two days of hearings into Australia’s gambling industry.

The inquiry is examining a Government bill that would limit the way gambling companies can advertise.

Throughout the hearings, witnesses described how gambling companies allegedly offered problem gamblers inducements including drugs and escorts to keep them betting.

Australia records the highest gambling losses per capita in the world.

The Australia Institute estimates Australians lost $36 billion to gambling in the year to March alone. That works out to more than a thousand dollars a year for every adult in the country.

The Australia Institute highlighted online gambling as “a significant driver of the growing toll.”

In 2023, Labor MP Peta Murphy chaired a parliamentary inquiry into online gambling. The final report made 31 recommendations, including a total ban on gambling advertising, phased in over three years across TV, radio, social media and sports sponsorship.

It also recommended a national gambling regulator, a ban on inducements (encouragements used to keep you betting), and a national public education campaign.

Last month, the Labor Government introduced the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026. The bill is part of its response to the Murphy-led review.

If passed, it would cap gambling ads at three per hour on free-to-air TV and ban them during live sport broadcasts in those hours.

On 1 July, the Coalition, the Greens and crossbench senators voted to send the bill to a Senate inquiry rather than debate it straight away.

Public hearings ran for two days this week in Canberra, with gambling companies, reform advocates and industry parties presenting evidence.

Former NRL player Luke Bateman told the inquiry on Monday that gambling companies unofficially offered him illicit drugs while courting him as a “VIP” punter.

He said his gambling addiction cost him tens of thousands of dollars a month.

Bateman told TDA he wants to see the Government “put in the regulations and the protections that should have been there from day one”.

Separately, gambling reform advocate Tim Costello told the inquiry that TAB and Sportsbet had provided accommodation, escorts, and drugs to a ‘high roller’ (a person who regularly bets large sums of money) now facing charges in a Sydney prison.

Both companies said they had found no evidence supporting the claims, and asked for more information so they could investigate.

Sportsbet director of corporate affairs Jules Norton Selzer told the inquiry: “We have no tolerance for that kind of deplorable conduct.”

Shadow Communications Minister Sarah Henderson said the bill is “riddled with deficiencies and must be significantly amended,” and that the Coalition “won’t be supporting this deficient legislation in its current form”.

The Greens’ Sarah Hanson-Young told the Guardian her party also can’t support the bill in its current form.

The committee’s report is due on 17 August.

Reporting by Elliot Lawry.

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Close to 400 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander continuing and commencing USyd students are expected to receive a scholarship in Semester 2, including around 214 new scholars. Deputy vice-chancellor of Indigenous strategy and services Reuben Bolt said the initiative - which will initially be run as a three-year pilot - will be critical for many students. Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said the scholarship program will help “remove barriers and open the doors of opportunity for more young Indigenous students… [to] get the skills and qualifications they need and build the life of their dreams.” A 2026 report by the University of Wollongong found Indigenous students are disproportionately impacted by financial insecurity.

ACT Opposition Leader Mark Parton has told media he admits he sent someone a text saying “f**k my job is boring” while carrying out official business.

Parton was in the middle of budget estimates, where the opposition and minor parties in any parliament ask the government how it’s spending taxpayer money.

While he’s admitted to the text, he denies the allegation that the person he was texting was a sex worker.

Reporting by Lucy Tassell.