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Good morning!
It’s safe to say right now is an intense period of news. Since day one, TDA has promised our readers that we would make an extra effort to surface good news, not just the biggest stories (which, more often than not, tend to be heavy).
That’s why we started The Good Newsletter, and why there’s a good news story at the bottom of every edition of this newsletter. The Good Newsletter is where we go deeper on the purely positive stuff. Sign up here and enjoy a walk on the bright side!
I’ve got 10 seconds
The quote: “6 7, 6 7. Now that I have your attention… We have decided to do something difficult but necessary. To ban access to social media for children under 15.”
Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announcing a social media ban for children under the age of 15-years-old. It comes after Australia introduced a social media ban for under 16s in December.
The stat: 11. The number of tropical cyclones in Australia in the 2025-26 season, according to the BoM. Severe Tropical Cyclone Maila is currently heading towards the Queensland coast from the Solomon Sea.
The big question:
Are you satisfied with the depth of your social connections right now?
Yesterday’s results: 51% of you said you trust small independent businesses most to act in your interests. [2,023 votes].
I’ve got 30 seconds
Some headlines from this morning:
Bruce Lehrmann has lost his last chance to appeal his failed Federal Court defamation case against Channel 10 and journalist Lisa Wilkinson, with the High Court refusing to hear his appeal. Lehrmann had sued over an interview with Brittany Higgins on the Project, where she alleged she had been raped in Parliament House. While Lehrmann was not named, he argued he was identifiable. Federal Court Justice Michael Lee found it was “more likely than not”, on the balance of probabilities, that Lehrmann raped Higgins. Lehrmann appealed to the full Federal Court, which ruled against him, and then tried to appeal to Australia’s top court, the High Court. The Court dismissed Lehrmann’s application for his appeal to be heard this week, meaning he has exhausted all options to pursue this case.
A woman has been charged with assault in Sydney after allegedly attacking a man with a hammer in Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in the early hours of Thursday morning. Police say the pair were known to each other, and that the man has serious head injuries. Sydney Local Health District chief executive Deb Willcox told media on Thursday the 63-year-old man is “well known” to staff, who she said “care about [him] very much”. No other patients or staff were harmed in the attack, with Willcox saying staff acted “very quickly”. The man remains in a critical condition in the ICU, while the woman, 46, was denied bail on Thursday afternoon.
Recommendation of the day
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I’ve got 1 minute
A former New York architect at the centre of a notorious murder case has pleaded guilty.
Rex Heuermann appeared in court this week to admit to the murders of eight women between 1993 and 2010.
He will be sentenced later this year and is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison.
Murders
The case, known as the Gilgo Beach killings, began after the bodies of Heuermann’s victims were discovered near Gilgo Beach on Long Island between 1993 and 2010.
Prosecutors say he used burner phones to arrange meetings before strangling his victims, and in some cases dismembering and moving their remains across multiple locations.
The victims were women in their twenties and early thirties. Many were reported to be sex workers he lured into meeting him.
Heuermann was arrested in July 2023 in connection with three murders, before being charged with four more over the following year.
Guilty plea
This week in court, Heuermann pleaded guilty to all seven murder charges. He also admitted to the 1996 murder of an eighth victim. He had not been charged over that killing.
Heuermann’s sentencing will take place at a hearing later this year, where the 62-year-old is expected to receive three consecutive life sentences without parole, along with four additional consecutive 100-year prison terms.
Reporting by Achol Arok.
Quick hits
🎧 On today’s TDA podcast, Billi and Emma talk about second hand fashion giant Depop being sued in a U.S. court over hidden fees.
🌞Craving a good news wrap? You can sign up to TDA Good News here for a wholesome Artemis II explainer in your inbox this Sunday morning.
I’ve got 2 minutes
The first day of the U.S-Israel and Iran ceasefire has seen widespread strikes, and conflicting claims from both sides over who and what is covered by the agreement.
Iran has struck neighbouring countries including Kuwait and the UAE, while Israel has continued its strikes on Lebanon, which it says was not included in the deal, killing more than 250 people.
In response, Iran has shut the Strait of Hormuz.
Overnight, Israel agreed to hold direct peace talks with Lebanon amid ongoing strikes.
Ceasefire
U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran had a deadline of Tuesday night (U.S. time) to make a peace deal.
In a post to Truth Social on Tuesday morning, he said: “A whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”
Hours later, the U.S, Iran, and Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif announced a two-week ceasefire. Iran also agreed to open the Strait of Hormuz for the two weeks.
Sharif’s statement said the ceasefire applied “everywhere including Lebanon”.
Lebanon
After the joint U.S-Israeli strikes on Iran in February, the Iran-backed, Lebanon-based group Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel.
In retaliation, Israel has repeatedly struck southern Lebanon, going on to announce on 31 March it intends to occupy the region.
Yesterday, the Lebanese Civil Defense Ministry said Israeli strikes killed 254 people and injured 1,165 people.
Israel and the U.S. have said the ceasefire agreement did not apply to Lebanon.
“I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise,” said U.S. Vice President JD Vance to the press in Hungary.
Strait of Hormuz
In response to Israel continuing to strike Lebanon, Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz.
State media reports the regime plans to withdraw from the agreement if Israel continues.
Since the ceasefire was announced, the Hormuz Strait Monitor shows three ships have transited in the last 24 hours – around 2.2% of the average.
Australia’s response
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said: “We have called early, and we continue to call - with others- for the ceasefire to apply to Lebanon, to both Hezbollah and to Israel. If fighting continues in Lebanon, the ceasefire is at risk.”
Australia led a statement with countries including the UK and Brazil calling for protection of aid workers in Lebanon, saying: “Attacks that threaten the safety and security of humanitarian personnel must stop.”
Shadow Defence Minister James Patterson told ABC Radio National he is “reluctant to endorse [Iran’s] claims” that Lebanon was included because the Iranian regime had “sponsored terrorist attacks on Australian soil”.
The Government closed its embassy in Iran last year after confirming the regime had orchestrated attacks on Australia’s Jewish community.
What’s next?
On Wednesday (local time), White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Vance, Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and former Special Envoy Jared Kushner will attend peace talks in Islamabad on 11 April.
In a post to X, Sharif said Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had confirmed Iran will be participating in the discussions.
“Pakistan remains committed to working closely with all its friends and partners to advance peace and stability in the region and beyond,” Sharif said.
Reporting by Emily Donohoe.
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Give me some good news
An Australian-Sri Lankan playwright has won the Windham-Campbell prize, a major literary award in the U.S which gives writers 175,000 U.S. dollars.
S. Shakthidharan wrote the award-winning 2018 play Counting and Cracking, based on his family’s story of leaving Sri Lanka for Australia during its civil war. He is also the author of several other plays, a memoir, and an upcoming film. In an Instagram post about the award, Shakthidharan said he was “still in shock” about the prize, noting you can only be nominated in secret by another person, and that is given based on a writer’s entire body of work. “The judges decide the winners by reading their work. This means a group of strangers overseas - who had never heard of me - were taken in by these stories of Asia and Australia and chose to embrace them,” he added.
Reporting by Lucy Tassell.
TDA titbit
The Badminton World Federation has agreed to trial synthetic-feathered shuttlecocks.
A shuttlecock is a small cone-shaped object used in badminton. Typically, they have a rubber base and duck and goose feathers.
The synthetic feather shuttlecocks will be trialled during various global junior tournaments.
The proposal isn’t expected to ruffle any feathers.
TDA asks
