Friday, 11 July 2025 - The handbags and the gladrags

Good morning, it’s Friday, 11 July. In your Squiz Today…

• A plan to tackle antisemitism is launched

• A big bid for the Birkin bag

• And a suitable soup for cycling 🚴🏻‍♀️ 🥣

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

Said American #13 seed Amanda Anisimova after defeating top seed Aryna Sabalenka to reach her first-ever grand slam tennis final at Wimbledon. She'll play #2 seed Iga Świątek, who is also chasing her first Wimbledon title. It’s the stuff dreams are made of… 

A plan to tackle antisemitism

The Squiz

About a year ago, the Albanese Government appointed Jillian Segal as the special envoy to combat antisemitism, and yesterday she handed down new recommendations to do just that. Segal has been working on this report for 9 months, and she's found that antisemitism has risen to what she called "troubling levels" - with the number of incidents tripling in the year following the 7 October 2023 attacks by Hamas. She's made a stack of recommendations to the government - PM Anthony Albanese said those recommendations are under review.

What were those recommendations?

Here’s the full report if you'd like to have a read, but to pull out some of the key bits… Universities were a big focus - Segal recommended that the government should be able to pull funding from unis that either enable or don't act against antisemitism, and she's also called on the government to set up an official inquiry into the issue at universities ahead of the 2026 education year. Social media was another high priority - the report calls for more transparency on the algorithms that platforms use to make sure they aren't boosting the wrong content and making sure that AI doesn't amplify antisemitic views, as happened with Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok this week. The President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Daniel Aghion, says the changes in the report are “urgently needed”. 

And when will those changes be made?

That’s less clear… Both the PM and Segal talked about the report’s importance following the alleged arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue last Friday, but the government hasn't committed to adopting any particular recommendation just yet. The PM was also asked if some of the recommendations in the report would threaten free speech or legitimate criticism of the Netanyahu Government's actions in Gaza, which are in the news again this morning after health authorities there accused the Israeli miltary (IDF) of killing women and children who were queuing for nutritional supplements - the IDF says it struck a terrorist. The PM said yesterday that his government had itself been critical of the Israeli government’s actions, but that any criticism had to be respectful.

Turning water into shine

If you’ve turned a new/clean leaf for the new year, Skipper’s #1 just-add-water home and body care range is for you. Chuck one of their tablets into some water, and you can save some cash and reduce waste. The range includes universal cleaners, body washes, laundry sheets and more, and you can build your own bundle and get up to $120 off. Skip to it...

Squiz the Rest

There’s been a fatal car crash in Melbourne

A woman has died and 2 others, including a toddler, are in hospital with serious injuries after a car struck them on a footpath at Wantirna, in the city’s east, just after midday yesterday, before driving through a nearby park fence. We don’t know much yet about the victims’ identities, but Ambulance Victoria says a man was taken to The Alfred Hospital, and the young boy went to the Royal Children’s Hospital - both with life-threatening injuries. The woman died at the scene. Police say the driver of the small Toyota hatchback was also taken to hospital, but only has minor injuries. The early police statement said it’s believed the car lost control on the residential road before hitting the pedestrians and going through the fence. Major crash detectives are still investigating.

A remarkable rescue

A 19yo surfer from NSW has quite a story to tell after being swept out to sea from Wooli Beach on the state's North Coast… A search was launched after Darcy Deefholts's clothes were found on the beach on Wednesday evening, leaving his family spending an anxious night without him. But by 9am yesterday, they had good news - a rescue team, which included Darcy's uncle, found him on a small island about 13km offshore. His dad, Terry, said he was "at the point of thinking the absolute worst" when the call came that the teen was alive, saying, "It's a one in a million. Who survives this?". He says he was overwhelmed by the way the local community all chipped in to help find his son, who aside from a bit of exposure, is doing fine.

Soaring to new heights

Just over a year since AI computer chip maker Nvidia became the world’s most valuable company, it’s notched another win - becoming the first company in the world to reach $6.12 trillion in market value. Yep, with a T… The Silicon Valley tech giant makes the chips needed to power AI technologies, which means it has benefited from the steep increase in those over the past couple of years. To put it into perspective, it's even more successful in this space than its competitors, such as Apple and Microsoft. It hasn't been without a few bumps in the road… The launch of Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek - a low-cost alternative to the likes of ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot - caused Nvidia to suffer the biggest single-day loss in US market history. But it's well and truly rebounded, and analysts reckon it’s only upwards from here…

An expensive bit of regifting

The original Birkin bag has sold for $15.2 million at auction in Paris overnight, which auction house Sotheby’s says is the most anyone has ever bid for a handbag. The bag was made for the late British actress Jane Birkin by the fashion house Hermès in 1984. The story goes that a chance encounter on a flight with the company's chief executive, Jean-Louis Dumas, led to a chat about what Birkin wanted from a good handbag. The 2 got chatting, and one sketch on one of those air travel sick bags later, Hermès had the beginnings of a design that would go on to be one of the most sought-after luxury fashion items in the world. As for who bought the OG version, we don't know yet, but we're surprised they need a bag, considering those deep pockets… 

For some background on what makes the Birkin bag such a big deal, check out our timely Squiz Shortcut on the topic…

But good luck regifting these

Researchers from Canada have been trying to figure out why orcas - also known as killer whales - have been giving food to humans as ‘gifts’. This all started after one researcher, Jared Towers, noticed that on 2 occasions, an orca he was observing had presented him with a dead seabird or some other piece of prey. Curious, he asked his colleagues around the world if they’d noticed the same thing, and they had - 34 times in the last 20 years. And in a new research paper looking into why, the possible explanations range from cute (they're just curious and/or playing) to the decidedly less cute (they're using it as bait and are hoping you'll be the tastier snack). Turns out Willy likes to give things away for free…

Friday Lites - 3 things we liked this week

We’re admittedly a little late to the party on this, but we’re catching up on the award-winning comedy/drama series Hacks, starring Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder. With 4 seasons available, it’s a good time to get up to speed, as it might pick up some more Emmy noms next week…

If you watched and liked the 2022 Apple TV+ series Black Bird, you might like the streamer’s new series Smoke from the same creative team. It’s the story of a hunt for a serial arsonist, but just make sure you watch until the end of episode 2 for what the show's really about…  

Or if you’re planning a weekend curled up on the couch watching the Tour de France, we can think of no better accompaniment than this French Onion soup with some très fancy Gruyere croutons - oui, s'il vous plaît…

Squiz the Day

Friday
10.00am (AEST) - Tasmanian Liberal Premier Jeremy Rockliff will hold a press conference ahead of the state’s election next Saturday - Hobart

11.00am (AEST) - World Aquatics Championships begin - Singapore

11.15am (AEST) - A judgement in Senator Pauline Hanson’s case over sexual discrimination against former Senator Brian Burston will be delivered at the NSW Federal Court - Sydney

1.15pm (AEST) - A trilateral logistics agreement will be signed by representatives from Australia, Japan and the US at the Port of Brisbane - Brisbane

4.00pm (AEST) - Surfing: WSL - JBay Open - Eastern Cape, South Africa

7.30pm (AEST) - Wrexham FC (Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney's Welsh team) will play Melbourne Victory at Marvel Stadium - Melbourne, watch on Paramount+

10.30pm (AEST) - Tennis: Wimbledon men’s semi-final, Carlos Alcaraz v Taylor Fritz - London, watch on 9Now

Hunter Valley Wine & Beer festival gets underway (until 12 July)

Tennant Creek Show Day - NT

Supercars: Townsville 500 (until 13 July) - Townsville, watch on Kayo

Darwin Fringe Festival

International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica

World Population Day

Birthdays for Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani (1934)

Anniversary of:

• the birthdays of Charlotte’s Web author EB White (1899) and former PM Gough Whitlam (1916)

• the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960)

• the death of actor Laurence Olivier (1989)

• the escape of Mexican drug lord Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán from a maximum-security prison near Mexico City (2015)

Saturday
12.10am (AEST) - Tennis: Wimbledon men’s semi-final, Novak Djokovic v Jannik Sinner - London, watch on 9Now

3:45am (AEST) - Gout Gout will race in the U23 200m at the Diamond League meet in Monaco, in a programme to prepare him for the Tokyo World Championships in September - Monaco City

6.30pm (AEST) - A pink carpet gala will be held for the launch of Legally Blonde The Musical - Melbourne 

From 10.00pm (AEST) - Tennis: Wimbledon women’s finals get underway, watch on 9Now 

PM Anthony Albanese will head to China for a week-long visit  

A birthday for women's rights activist Malala Yousafzai (1997)

Anniversary of:

• the marriage of King Henry VIII to his final wife, Catherine Parr (1543)

• Britain’s King Charles II ratifying the Habeas Corpus Act giving those under arrest the right to be brought before a judge or into court (1679)

• the death of US Founding Father Alexander Hamilton (1804)

• legislation being passed that gives women 21yo and older the right to vote in Aussie federal elections (1902)

Sunday
8.00am (AEST) - The Talisman Sabre begins (until 4 August) - a military exercise jointly conducted by Australia and the US, involving over 30,000 people from 19 countries and including PNG for the first time - across Australia

10.00am (ACST) - Cricket: Australia A v Sri Lanka A - First Men's Four Day Match - Darwin (until 16 July), watch on Kayo

11.00am (AEST) - Lara Trump’s interview with her father-in-law US President Donald Trump on her weekly show My View With Lara Trump on Fox News will air

10.00pm (AEST) - Tennis: Wimbledon men's singles final - London, watch on 9Now

Netball: Super Netball home and away season ends

Birthdays for actors Patrick Stewart (1940) and Harrison Ford (1942)

Anniversary of:

• the establishment of the famous Hollywood sign, which originally read "Hollywoodland" but dropped the last four letters after a renovation in 1949 (1923)

• Frank Sinatra making his recording debut (1939)

• the death of artist Frida Kahlo (1954) 

• the Live Aid charity concert, which raised money for African famine relief (1985)

• Kylie Minogue releasing her debut single Locomotion (1987)

• the founding of #BlackLivesMatter in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman on trial for the murder of Trayvon Martin (2013)

• the election of former British PM Theresa May (2016)

• an assassination attempt being carried out on former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania (2024)