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Good morning!
Have you heard? We are officially in the late 2020s, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Well huh.
I’ve got 10 seconds
The quote: “It was a real sign of a galvanised group who are hungry to show that they’re capable.” Sydney Swans coach Dean Cox in a post-match interview after his team beat the Brisbane Lions on Saturday by 53 points to secure their spot in the preliminary final. It comes after the club suspended five of its best players, four of whom are at the centre of a police investigation into sexual assault allegations. No players have been charged.
The stat: 300. The number of dangerous weapons the Queensland Government says have been removed from Brisbane streets since expanded police powers allowed officers to use handheld metal detectors, or wands, in more public places without a warrant.
The big question:
Where did you first find TDA?
Friday’s results: 78% of you don’t use a physical alarm clock. Thanks for voting - your responses inform TDA's journalism and research. [2,784 votes]
I’ve got 30 seconds
Some headlines from this morning:
A Sydney-bound Qantas plane had to make an emergency landing on Saturday afternoon after one of its engines emitted flames shortly after take-off from Queenstown, New Zealand. A Qantas spokesperson said the plane was believed to have suffered an engine issue and steps would be taken to support affected customers. "Our pilots are highly trained to manage situations like this and the aircraft landed safely," they said. "We know this would have been a distressing experience for passengers and will be contacting all customers to provide support."
Bird flu has made its way to the shores of another major Australian city, with the first case of the deadly strain detected in Sydney. Testing of a greater crested tern found on the Northern Beaches has returned a positive result for H5 bird flu. It is the first confirmed case in Sydney among three new H5 bird flu events in NSW. The strain has previously been detected in widespread parts of South Australia as well as in WA, Victoria, Hobart, and off the coast of Brisbane. The state’s Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said in a statement: "No government policy can stop this virus from spreading... What we can do to support our wildlife is vaccinate insurance populations, protect their habitat and eliminate invasive species."
Together with AAP.
A moment of clarity with Specsavers
Working under big fluorescent lights with the sun blasting through the window?
You can't always cut screen time at work, but Specsavers recommends checking your setup instead. Ditch the harsh overhead light and let your screen do less fighting - bright light and glare can contribute to eye strain and discomfort. Still struggling by 5pm? An eye test at Specsavers can tell you what's going on.
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I’ve got 1 minute
The judge in the Lindsay Clancy case has declared a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision.
Clancy was on trial for the murder of her three children. She pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
It is now up to prosecutors to decide whether they will take the case to trial again.
Background
Lindsay and Patrick Clancy had three children and lived in their family home in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. She worked as a nurse, while he worked in software sales at Microsoft.
On the evening of 24 January 2023, Patrick returned home from picking up takeaway for the family to find Lindsay in the backyard. He said Lindsay had tried to die by suicide. He called emergency services. Patrick said he found their three children in the basement. Two of the three died that night, and the third died in hospital days later.
Lindsay was hospitalised and is now paralysed from the waist down. Her legal team does not dispute that she killed her children. What is in dispute is whether she should be held criminally responsible. They argue she should be found not guilty by reason of insanity due to postpartum psychosis (PPP).
PPP is a rare but severe psychiatric emergency marked by mania, hallucinations and paranoia. It has been linked to an elevated risk of suicide and infanticide. In the months before the killings, multiple doctors prescribed Lindsay 13 different medications for her symptoms.
Mistrial
On Friday, local time, the judge declared a mistrial. This came after the jury had sent at least three notes to the judge during their deliberations to say they were unable to come to a unanimous decision.
Kevin Reddington, Clancy’s lead defence lawyer, said the jury’s note indicated they were split 11 to one, with the majority believing she should be found not guilty.
Now, it is up to the prosecution to decide whether there will be another murder trial for Lindsay Clancy. The lead prosecutor, Timothy Cruz, has said they will not decide immediately.
If this story has raised issues for you, help is available 24/7 at Lifeline on 13 11 14. If you’re a parent and you think you might be experiencing postpartum depression, you can call Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia (PANDA) seven days a week on 1300 726 306.
Quick hits
🎧 On today's TDA podcast, Billi and Elliot explain the Coalition's plan to legalise vapes. Listen or watch on Apple here, Spotify here, or YouTube here.
🎾 Want the latest on the U.S. Open? Sign up to TDA Sport here for a full run-down in your inbox at 4.30pm.
Good Finds
⚽️ Missed our WSL video? Beloved Aussie stars like Mary Fowler, Caitlin Foord and Ellie Carpenter are all back for the new season, and Alexia Putellas just signed up to join them. Watch every match live & on demand on Stan Sport - get to know the names before the rest of the world catches up in Brazil.
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I’ve got 2 minutes
A rapidly intensifying El Niño in the Pacific is on track to become the strongest ever recorded.
El Niño is a weather pattern that causes hotter and drier conditions in most of Australia and a higher risk of heatwaves, drought and bushfires.
The warnings come from both the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology (BoM).
UN warning
On Thursday, the WMO said El Niño is “firmly established” in the tropical Pacific Ocean and will intensify into a “very strong event” in the coming months. Forecasters now put the likelihood of El Niño lasting until February 2027 at almost 100%, the most certain the WMO has ever been in one of these updates. WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said: “If this trajectory continues, it may be stronger than anything since our monitoring began, so literally off the charts”.
BoM warning
The BoM’s data shows El Niño is firmly underway in the Pacific, and it’s already running hot. The key patch of ocean scientists watch to track El Niño’s strength was more than two degrees warmer than average in the last week of August, well past the point needed to call it an official El Niño. The BoM says it could get hotter still. Forecasts suggest it may reach levels beyond anything recorded since reliable records began in 1950, and the BoM expects the event to stick around until autumn 2027.
Climate change
A study published by the University of Michigan found El Niño events have grown nearly 40% stronger than in the pre-industrial era. Lead author Julia Cole said: “We don’t see a time in the past where El Niños have been as strong as today, and we show that the strength of El Niño changes in parallel with the warming of global temperature”.
What’s next?
El Niño is forecast to peak in late spring or summer. The BoM’s outlook for spring points to below-average rainfall for southern and eastern Australia, and above-average temperatures south of the tropics.
Reporting by Elliot Lawry.
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Give me some good news
A pig kidney has kept a man with kidney failure alive for a record nine months.
Surgeons implanted the genetically modified organ from a pig into Tim Andrews, a man in his 60s who only had a 9% chance of receiving a human kidney within five years.
The pig kidney kept him alive for nine months, becoming the first to successfully act as a bridge until a patient could receive a human kidney transplant.
Details of the breakthrough were published in the Lancet medical journal, with researchers saying it could help people facing long waits for donor organs.
Reporting by Pavitra Ravi.
TDA titbit
Hungary's Debre beat out France's Blinky in the GeoGuessr World Championship over the weekend in a tightly contested battle. It was the fourth edition of the annual competition and the first time it was held in Berlin.
What's GeoGuessr? Imagine you're dropped in a random location on Google Street View. The aim of the game is to find out where you are based on surrounding clues. The closer you are, the more points you get.
If you're a chronically online person, you've likely seen clips of Rainbolt, a popular Geoguessr content creator with a loud mouse and keyboard, saying "nice" as he immediately recognises Polish bollards or Brazilian dirt.
Reporting by Adam Wan.
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