Friday, 12 December - Caught in a bad romance

December 12, 2025

Good morning, it’s Friday, 12 December. In your Squiz Today…

  • Getting set to hand over your digital history to US border control

  • TIME names its person/machine of the year

  • And a delicious spin on a tiramisu 😋

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

”Unique and extreme.”

Is how Australian Parachute Federation boss Stephen Porter described the incident of a skydiver cutting himself free after his parachute got caught on a plane wing in mid-air. Footage of the scary cluster disaster over Cairns from September is high octane - and the skydiver probably had a few other choice words for the experience…

Rethinking your double-tapping…

The Squiz

Aussie travellers could face bigger hurdles getting into the US if the Trump administration’s new proposal to have visitors’ social media accounts scoured gets the green light. It’s one of several changes put forward by US Customs and Border Protection (aka CBP - the agency that oversees visa checks as you arrive in the States…), and would target citizens from Oz and 41 other visa-exempt countries. It still has procedural hoops to jump through, but it’d be a step-up from the current rules for people making Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) applications.

Why do they want my socials?

Not to scroll through your #foodstagram shots… CBP says it’s “to keep the American people safe”, and is linked to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump blocking visitors from bearing “hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles”. Under the proposed changes, travellers would have to disclose all social media activity and phone numbers from over the past 5 years, as well as all email addresses over the past 10 years - along with details about immediate family members, including children. The most affected people, according to ANU Professor Donald Rothwell, would be those “very active on social media, especially politically active individuals or those who’ve expressed criticism of US domestic or international policies”.

We can’t get away from social media this week… 

Nope… PM Anthony Albanese was asked about the US proposal yesterday - he didn’t answer questions about whether he was concerned about the changes, instead saying the US is a sovereign nation with “a right to set the rules which are there”. One another note, things became tense during that press conference for another reason… After being grilled on the latest revelations in the parliamentary expense saga (that dozens of senior MPs have uncapped family travel allowances…), Albanese told reporters “I’m not the finance minister… I haven’t changed the rule”. He says his focus is on implementing the social media ban. 

Keeping little ones cool this summer

Those with little ones (or shopping for them) know the drill - summer heat plus kids equals constant outfit changes and cranky wake ups. Love to Dream's new bamboo range tackles both. The fabric is clever - it stretches with every move, making the what-time-is-it nappy changes less of a wrestling match, and the bamboo in it helps with sweaty backs for a better sleep all round. The range covers everything from bodysuits to PJs, and they've built them to survive your washing machine's heavy rotation. Worth bookmarking for baby shower gifts too... Check the collection out here.

Squiz the Rest

Here we go again… 

Former Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn has had his conviction for the murder of an elderly camper overturned in Victoria’s highest court. The stunning decision means 59yo Lynn will get a new trial after originally being found guilty of killing 73yo Carol Clay, but acquitted of the murder of her companion 74yo Russell Hill - both died on a camping trip in 2020. The Victorian Court of Appeal took aim at the “conduct of prosecuting counsel” that led to a “substantial miscarriage of justice”. Lynn has maintained that the deaths of the pair were accidental, claiming there was a struggle over a knife and a shotgun. He’s due to stay in custody until the next court hearing in late January, and he can apply for bail.   

And sticking with the Victorian crime round… 

AFL fans will likely recognise the name Silvagni - it’s in the headlines because the County Court of Victoria lifted a suppression order yesterday, allowing media outlets to name 23yo Tom Silvagni as a convicted rapist. He’s the son of Stephen and Jo Silvagni - he’s the former Carlton star, and she’s the TV personality/former Sale of the Century hostess (maiden name Jo Bailey…). And he’s the brother of current St Kilda player Jack Silvagni. Tom was found guilty by a jury last week of raping a woman twice in January 2024, but given the orders blocking his name or AFL ties from being published in news stories, he was referred to during his trial as a member of a high-profile Victorian family. He was taken into custody after his guilty verdict and is due back in court today for a pre-sentencing hearing.

Drama on the high seas

The US military has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela – an escalation of its campaign against the country's authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro. Dramatic vision shows armed troops rappelling onto the ship from helicopters. The tanker, believed to be carrying around 1.8 million barrels of Venezuelan crude, is the first seizure since Trump ordered a military build-up in the region to counter ‘narco-terrorists’. Asked what would happen to the oil, Trump said: "We keep it, I guess", leading Venezuela to accuse the US of "blatant theft" and "international piracy". Since early September, the Trump administration has struck more than 20 suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean, killing more than 80 people – operations that some experts say may be illegal.

People/Machines of the Year…

TIME magazine has named ‘The Architects of AI’ as its 2025 Person of the Year with cover artwork the features a bunch of tech CEOs - OpenAI's Sam Altman, Nvidia's Jensen Huang, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, xAI's Elon Musk to name a few - perched on a steel beam, recreating that famous 1932 photo of New York construction workers eating lunch. TIME's editor-in-chief said 2025 was the year AI's full potential came into view, and that there's no turning back... As you might expect, the internet has thoughts…  While some critics say it’s wrong to celebrate the CEOs rather than the engineers who built it, others reckon "one strong breeze could save the world" from the tech that many see as a threat rather than an advancement. You can’t please everyone all the time… 

Ready, set, Met…

It’s not on until May, but the hype surrounding next year’s Met Gala has already begun, with the announcement that music superstar Beyoncé will co-chair the event with Aussie actress Nicole Kidman, tennis legend Venus Williams, and fashion icon Anna Wintour. Described as “the Super Bowl of fashion”, the event raises money for New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Met Costume Institute - and every year, there’s much ado over the wild and wacky costumes of the A-listers who attend. Fittingly, next year’s theme is ‘Costume Art’ - so there’s already loads of anticipation for what our Nic and the likes of Beyoncé - who last graced the red carpet a decade ago - will come up with on the first Monday in May…

Friday Lites - 3 things we liked this week

You’ll know that we’re Swifties here at Squiz HQ, so we’re prepping for the first 2 episodes of her docuseries The End of an Era to drop on Disney+ tonight. She’s been busy on the promo trail - from a Stephen Colbert interview to popping up at a screening…

Hands up if you’re dreaming of a travel adventure in 2026 that is the best trip you’ve ever undertaken? We’d settle for a caravan park ATM TBH… But the winners of Tatler’s Travel Awards are inspiring us to be a bit more ambitious…

We’ve got Italian relos who swear by a limoncello after dinner and were persuaded to give this limoncello tiramisu a go for guests not so keen on the traditional coffee flavour. It’s got Nonna’s tick of approval…

Squiz the Day

Friday
It’s the last day of school for kids in the Northern Territory, Queensland, and South Oz 

9.30am (AEDT) - National Australia Bank has its AGM - Melbourne

9.45am (AEDT) - The National Museum of Australia will launch an exhibition showcasing the Korean Wave - Canberra 

11.00am (AEDT) - Daniel Billings, who pleaded guilty to the murder of Molly Ticehurst, is due to face an arraignment hearing in the Supreme Court of NSW - Sydney 

12.30pm (AEST) - Australia’s Health Ministers will meet to discuss funding - Brisbane 

5.30pm (AEDT) - Women's equity and racial equality advocate Juiana Nkrumah will deliver the Human Rights Day Oration at the Australian Human Rights Awards - Sydney

6.30pm (AEDT) - A special ceremony and public concert will be held to mark Victoria's Statewide Treaty Act 2025 coming into law - Melbourne 

7.00pm (AEST) - Swimming: Australia v The World swimming meet will feature Olympic gold medallists Kaylee McKeown, Cam McEvoy and Mollie O’Callaghan to build hype for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics - Brisbane, watch it on 9Now

ABS data release - Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia, October 2025

A birthday for actors Bill Nighy (1954) and Jennifer Connelly (1970) 

Anniversary of:

  • the birthdays of painter Edvard Munch (1863) and crooner Frank Sinatra (1915)

  • the premiere of the film Saturday Night Fever (1976) 

  • the death of author Joseph Keller (1999)

Saturday
10.00am (AEDT) - The Koorie Heritage Trust will hold a Christmas market at Federation Square - Melbourne 

3.00pm (AWST) - Western Oz’s Government House has its annual Christmas Open Weekend - Perth

7.10pm (AEDT) - Cricket: Hobart Hurricanes play the Perth Scorchers in the final - Hobart, watch on 7+

The second round of Chile's presidential election

A happy 100th birthday for actor Dick van Dyke (1925) - and singer-songwriter Taylor Swift celebrates her 36th (1989)

Anniversary of:

  • Dutch explorer Abel Tasman's sighting the South Island of present-day New Zealand (1642)

  • the League of Nations establishing the International Court of Justice in The Hague (1920)

  • the capture of Iraq President Saddam Hussein (2003)

  • the deaths of 2 police officers and a local man in Wieambilla, Queensland in an ambush (2022)

Sunday
Hannukkah begins for 8 days

World Wide Candle Lighting

Monkey Day 🐒

Birthdays for TV personality Sophie Monk (1979) and actor Vanessa Hudgens (1988)

Anniversary of:

  • the deaths of Vlad the Impaler (1476) and George Washington (1799)

  • the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, where 20 children and 6 adults were killed (2012)