2024-25 Squiz the Break

The news just didn’t let up over the last couple of weeks, so we’re here to make the transition from lazy mornings and a devil-may-care attitude to your general appearance (or maybe that’s just us…) to regular programming a little bit easier.

Squiz the Break

A terror-filled 2 weeks - It started when 5 people were killed and nearly 300 injured when a car driven by a Saudi-born doctor hit crowds at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg on 20 December. Taleb al-Abdulmohsen’s motive still isn’t clear. Then, in the US city of New Orleans, 14 people were killed when a pickup truck drove through the city’s French Quarter in the very early hours of New Year’s Day. The driver was army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar - he was shot and killed by police. Later that day, a Tesla Cybertruck driven by another army veteran named Matthew Livelsberger exploded outside a Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. Police ruled out any link between the US attacks, but they are still investigating. 

Devastating plane crashes - South Korean investigators are piecing together what led to last week’s deadly crash landing of a Jeju Air flight at Muan International Airport in the country’s southwest. With 179 people killed, it’s South Korea’s deadliest aviation disaster. And in Kazakhstan, an Azerbaijan Airlines plane came down over Russia on Christmas Day killing 38 people. Russian air defence crews were accused of firing at the plane - Russian President Vladimir Putin apologised, but he hasn’t copped to Russia being at fault.

The wars go on - There’s been no pause in fighting in the Middle East, with Israel firing at ports and power stations in Yemen. World Health Organisation Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was caught up in the chaos… As for Russia’s war on Ukraine, Russia unleashed a massive missile attack on the country’s energy infrastructure on Christmas Day. And mystery surrounds the fate of 32yo Australian teacher Oscar Jenkins after a video showing he’d been captured by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine did the rounds online. DFAT says it is looking for answers…

A deadly Sydney to Hobart - Two sailors died in separate incidents in the iconic race’s rough conditions off the NSW South Coast - they were South Australian Nick Smith (65yo) and West Australian Roy Quaden (55yo). They were the first fatalities in the race since 1998. Line honours went to LawConnect for the second year in a row.

Fatal shark attacks - 40yo youth pastor/fisherman Luke Walford died in late December after being attacked by a shark while spearfishing on Humpy Island in Queensland. He’s been remembered as “a wonderful man in the prime of his life”. And last week, 28yo Lance Appleby died after being attacked while surfing southwest of Streaky Bay in South Australia. The search for his remains ended unsuccessfully yesterday.  It was the fourth fatal shark attack in the state in the last 20 months. 

Daniel Duggan to be extradited - The Australian pilot face charges in the US - he’s accused of illegally training Chinese armed forces in South Africa after he left the US Marines. The request was approved by the Australian Government just before Christmas, and his family say they’re devastated by the decision and the timing. 

New year, new Lib leader in Victoria - Brad Battin’s in the job after the party ditched John Pesutto, who was at the helm for 2 years but was out of favour with his colleagues, particularly since losing a defamation case brought against him by Moira Deeming, which was a whole thing for the party… 

Donald Trump’s after some more real estate - 2025 is a year for the US President-elect to think big, and he has expressed interest in taking control of both the Panama Canal and the island of Greenland over the break. The Panamanian President has been quick to nip any idea of handing over in the bud, and so has Greenland, which Trump has been keen on buying for a while… Trump also has a couple of big dates coming up - he’ll be sentenced in his hush money trial on 10 January, and inaugurated on 20 January.

Foxtel sold, pending regulator approvals - Sports streaming service DAZN has agreed to shell out $3.4 billion for the News Corp/Telstra owned media business. DAZN is backed by the British-American billionaire Len Blavatnik and has a global presence - this deal will add cricket and AFL to its offering - and possibly NRL.

The times, they are a-changing - The New Year brings with it a bunch of legislative/payment changes to keep an eye on - here’s a handy list of some of the big ones for the hip pocket, including increased welfare payments, new wage theft penalties and passport costs (spoiler alert: we’re now the proud owners of the world’s most expensive passport…).

It won’t be ending with these 2 anytime soon - We’ll be hearing about the 2024 box office hit It Ends with Us for a long time to come after producer/star Blake Lively and director/star Justin Baldoni launched lawsuits over production issues. Lively sued Baldoni, accusing him of sexual harassment and orchestrating a PR campaign to smear her reputation. Then Baldoni sued the New York Times for libel over its story on the lawsuit, and his lawyer says he plans to sue Lively as well.

Apropos of Nothing

Charlie Woods scored a hole-in-one at the PNC Championship, a family-based 2-day golf tournament. It wasn’t enough for Tiger’s son to get them the win, but it got golf fans pretty excited…

A new theory has emerged on the origin of the mysterious British stone circle Stonehenge - scientists say the stones that make it up are from all over the island, so it might have been built as a monument to represent a unified Britain. 

And Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, will be back on our screens this year - her new Netflix show With Love, Meghan is out on 15 January. The trailer hit the interwebs recently to (ahem…) a decidedly mixed response…