Friday, 12 September - I want to ride my bicycle

September 12, 2025

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

  • The search is on for the person who shot US conservative activist Charlie Kirk

  • The NRL finals kick off tonight

  • And a Singapore noodles recipe as delicious as it is informative… 🍜

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

“You’ve got to reiterate quite a lot to the Australians what they need to be doing in the rules sometimes.” 

Said Kiwi PM Christopher Luxon after PM Anthony Albanese rocked up to a Pacific Islands Forum event wearing the wrong shirt. Albanese wore pink when everyone else was dressed in blue, but a quick change of clothes sorted that out. Dress codes are hard…

Searching for an assassin in the US

The Squiz

A shooter is on the run after killing 31yo conservative activist Charlie Kirk as he was speaking at a Utah college campus yesterday. Kirk was shot once in the neck, and his death in the hospital shortly afterwards was announced by his close ally, US President Donald Trump. Trump said he was "filled with grief and anger" over Kirk's death, and "no one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie". The FBI has released photos of a person of interest and offered a reward for any information as the search continues.

Who was Charlie Kirk?

He was a high-profile conservative activist who built his reputation by hosting debates on college campuses around the US, where he would take on primarily left-wing students. When he was killed, he was speaking at an event run by Turning Point USA, the organisation he founded when he was 18, which was focused on spreading the conservative message across US colleges. His work with Turning Point brought him to the attention of Trump's Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement - he acted as an aide for Donald Trump Jr. in 2016 before becoming a close ally of the President - and he was widely credited for helping turn out young people to vote for Trump in his 2024 election victory. He was married to podcaster Erika Frantzve and had 2 young children.

What’s the fallout been?

Because of his political opinions and approach, which included vocal support for Trump's agenda and opposition to issues like same-sex marriage, abortion rights and gun control, Kirk was a polarising figure - at the time of his death, he was travelling with a security team. His murder is another in a series of violent political moments in the US, including the shootings of 2 Democratic politicians in June, and the attempted assassination of Trump as he was running for election last year. Commentators say it’s a sign that political violence is becoming increasingly normalised, even as both Democratic and Republican politicians condemned the shooting. In a video message, Trump himself blamed the “radical left” for Kirk’s shooting, and said his administration will “find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity”.

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Squiz the Rest

A week of chaos in Nepal

The Nepalese army has taken control of the capital of Kathmandu after days of protests and violence in the mountainous Asian country. This began last Thursday, after Nepal announced a ban on social media platforms including Facebook, X and YouTube, saying the companies wouldn’t play ball with new government rules. Social media is particularly popular in Nepal, and over the weekend, there were initially peaceful protests over the ban. But things escalated as more people joined out of frustration over economic inequality, before turning violent on Monday - police fired on the demonstrators, killing 19 people. Since then, the social media ban has been lifted and Nepal's PM KP Sharma Oli has resigned - and now the army is negotiating with protestors to work out where to go from here.

Paying the price

After pushing Jacinta Nampijinpa Price out of the Coalition's frontbench this week, leader Sussan Ley is still navigating the fallout from the NT Senator's controversial comments about Indian immigrants in Oz. During a visit to Hobart yesterday, Ley apologised to Indian Australians and said Nampijinpa Price’s remarks were hurtful. For the most part, Coalition MPs have lined up behind Ley - with senior MPs like her finance spokesman James Paterson saying she made the right call to remove Nampijinpa Price. But he also foreshadowed her return to the Coalition’s frontbench, saying he’s “confident Jacinta will be back in a prominent role in due course”. As for her replacement, that’s another tricky area for Ley to navigate, with both the right and left factions of the party with their eyes on the prize…

A shake-up at ANU

After 12 months of tensions in the top ranks of the Australian National University (better known as ANU), the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Genevieve Bell, has resigned, with Professor Rebekah Brown, Bell's deputy, temporarily stepping into the role. To get you up to speed: Bell's faced sharp criticism for her leadership style and a $250 million cost-cutting program featuring forced redundancies, and the university's been under investigation over concerns about its operations. Yesterday, Bell said that ANU "requires a solid financial, cultural and operational foundation" and she wants to see it "thrive". And she's not the only one who's been facing pressure… The uni's Chancellor, former Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, was accused of bullying and harassment last month, but she denies any wrongdoing and yesterday said she’ll stay on in the role.

The NRL season is at the pointy end

It was the AFL’s turn last week, and tonight the NRL kicks off its finals series with a game between 2nd-placed Melbourne Storm and the 3rd-placed Canterbury Bulldogs. Then it's off to NZ on Saturday afternoon, where the NZ Warriors will try and end the season of the Penrith Panthers, who have won the last 4 premierships but had a tougher time of it going for their fifth. On Saturday night, the Cronulla Sharks play the Sydney Roosters in another elimination final, and it all wraps up on Sunday arvo when this year's best home-and-away team, the Canberra Raiders, take on the Brisbane Broncos. The Raiders are the favourites to win the whole shebang - but finals can be a funny time…

A full circle moment…

A round of applause is in order for Aussie freestyle motocross rider Clinton Moore, who’s just become the first in the world to land an “impossible” trick… It’s called a 720, and the video of 37yo Moore pulling it off is the best way to understand what's going on, but essentially, it involves 2 full rotations of the bike in mid-air. Calling it 'difficult to land' is an understatement, and it's taken Moore 15 years to nail it, with several failed attempts in the past. And making it extra sweet: he did it on his family's sugarcane farm in Bundaberg, Queensland, where he learned to ride. Moore said it's "taken a lot of dedication and hard work over the years", and feels like he's "got a massive weight" off his shoulders. So much so that he's now ready to retire. Fair play to him…

Friday Lites - 3 things we liked this week

Though it has a very, very hard act to follow, the new The Office US spin-off The Paper is a pretty pleasant, watchable sitcom, and hopefully it only gets better during the (already announced) second season… You can stream it on BINGE.

For a deep, deep dive into recent movie history, this list by US site The Ringer of the 100 Best Movie Performances of the 21st Century is a ripper. And not to spoil anything, but there are quite a few Aussies at the very top of the tree…

This recipe for Singapore noodles is a winner - delicious, moreish and a nice easy one to have a crack at on a weekend. As a bonus, it’s not only a tasty meal but also a very informative history of the dish - turns out Singapore noodles actually originate in Hong Kong… 

Squiz the Day

Friday
10.00am (AEST) - A hearing will begin on Qantas seeking court orders against hackers who stole customer information - Sydney

10.00am (AWST) - The Federal Court will hand down its decision over an application put forward by Murujuga traditional owners to protect ancient rock art close to the North West Shelf project - Perth

12.00pm (AEST) - The Melbourne Magistrates Court will deliver its decision in a contested hearing for Neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell over charges of intimidating police and breaching personal intervention orders - Melbourne 

1.40pm (AEST) - Reserve Bank Assistant Governor of Financial Systems, Brad Jones will deliver a speech at FINSIA’s The Regulators 2025 event - Sydney

7.50pm (AEST) - Rugby League: The NRL finals begin with Melbourne Storm vs. Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium - Melbourne, watch on Kayo

ABS data release: Quarterly Tourism Labour Statistics, June 2025; Survey of Income and Housing 2023-24

Braveheart’s White Balloon Day to benefit child protection advocacy

Birthdays for writer Michael Ondaatje (1943) and composer Hans Zimmer (1957)

Anniversary of:

  • the marriage of John F Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier (1953)

  • the collapse of Ansett Australia (2001)

  • the disappearance of 3yo William Tyrrell from Kendall, NSW (2014)

Saturday
8.00am (AEST) - Polling places open in the by-election for the NSW state electorate of Kiama which was vacated by former MP Gareth Ward - Kiama, NSW

8.00am (AEST) - The Tokyo World Athletics Championships begin - Tokyo, Japan

9.30am (AEST) - Floriade, Australia’s largest flower festival, opens for Spring (until 13 October) - Canberra 🌷

10.00am (AEST) - The Puffing Billy Running Festival gets underway (until 14 September) - Dandenong Ranges 

1.00pm (AEST) - Tennis: Australia play Belgium in the second round of qualifiers in the Davis Cup at Sydney Olympic Park, with captain/coach Lleyton Hewitt participating despite a delayed suspension for “offensive conduct” - Sydney, watch on 9Now

1.30pm (AEST) - Stella Day Out, the one-day literary festival, is on - Brisbane

2.00pm (AEST) - Rugby: Test 2 of the Wallabies vs. Argentina at Allianz Stadium - Sydney, watch on Stan Sport

9.30pm (AEST) - Football: Ange Postecoglou will make his debut as head coach of Nottingham Forrest in a match against Arsenal - London, UK, watch on Stan Sport

Anniversary of:

  • the birthdays of Roald Dahl (1916) and Shane Warne (1969)

  • the Swiss inventor George de Mestral receiving a patent for Velcro (1955)

  • the premiere of the TV series Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (1969)

  • the release of Nintendo's first-ever Super Mario Bros. game (1985)

  • the premiere of the TV series Law and Order (1990)

Sunday
1.00am (AEST) - Rugby: The Wallaroos play Canada in the quarter finals of the Women’s Rugby World Cup - Bristol, UK, watch on Stan Sport. 

10.00am (ACST) - Supercars: The Enduro Cup race kicks off - Tailem Bend, South Australia, watch on Kayo

10.45am (AEST) - A commemorative service for the 85th anniversary of the Battle of Britain will be hosted by the Royal Australian Air Force Association Tasmania Division - Hobart

11.00am (AEST) - Boxing: 2-division undisputed champion Terrence Crawford will fight Canelo Álvarez - Las Vegas, US, watch on Netflix

6.00pm (AEST) - Cricket: Game 1 of Australia v India, First Women's ODI - Tira, India, watch on Kayo

Birthdays for Pope Leo XIV (1955), actor Andrew Lincoln (1973) and rapper Nas (1973)

Anniversary of:

  • Amy Winehouse’s birthday (1983)

  • Francis Scott Key writing the poem that would later become known as The Star-Spangled Banner, the US national anthem (1814)

  • the premiere of TV series The Golden Girls (1985)

  • the deaths of Princess Grace of Monaco (1982) and actor Patrick Swayze (2009)

  • Malcolm Turnbull ousting Tony Abbott as PM and leader of the Liberal Party (2015)