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Friday, 13 June - Com-pu-pu-pu-pu-puter-puter-puter-puter-putercomputer games
Good morning, it’s Friday, 13 June. In your Squiz Today…
A major plane crash in India has killed at least 240 people
The AUKUS deal hangs in the balance as a US review begins
And a warming weekend dish that’s bean a hit… 🫘
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Squiz the Weather
Squiz Sayings
“It’s been like Christmas every week.”
Said Valerie the dachshund’s owner Josh on her third birthday, which she celebrated after spending 529 days surviving solo on Kangaroo Island. The pooch is now a major celeb, with sponsorship offers, gifts, and even a spot on a TikTok series. Some dogs have all the luck…
A major plane crash in India
The Squiz
At least 240 people have died after Air India Flight AI171 crashed shortly after takeoff in the city of Ahmedabad in the west of India. The flight was heading to Gatwick Airport in London and was in the air for less than a minute before it crashed into a residential area. Local police say it hit a doctors' hostel - one journo on the scene is the BBC’s Yogita Limay, who says there is a “row of buildings… 5 or 6 of them… that are completely charred.”
What do we know so far?
The plane was a 256-seat Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, and Air India says there were 242 passengers on board - mostly British and Indian nationals, with one Canadian and 7 Portuguese passengers. This is the first time a plane of this type has crashed, and it comes a month after Boeing announced that the 787 Dreamliner fleet has carried 1 billion passengers worldwide since its launch almost 14 years ago. The owners of Air India say $156,000 will be paid to the families of the victims - but between the passengers on the plane and those on the ground, it’s still unclear how many people that will be.
So there are some survivors?
British passenger Vishwashkumar Ramesh has survived - the Indian Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah has met with him in the hospital. His relatives in the UK city of Leicester who have spoken to him say he's "fine" but has "no idea" how he managed to escape the plane. Kumar himself has been quoted as saying that "30 seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise … it all happened so quickly." As for the number of other survivors or the cause of the crash, that remains unknown. Air India's Accident Investigation Bureau will investigate, with assistance from a UK team. UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says both countries are working together to "urgently establish the facts".
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Squiz the Rest
An awkward time for AUKUS
Defence Minister Richard Marles has downplayed the risk of the AUKUS defence deal falling apart after his counterparts in the US Department of Defense announced a review early yesterday morning. Marles says that’s “perfectly natural for an incoming administration to do - it’s exactly what we did”. But the Coalition, which led the establishment of the AUKUS deal, was less relaxed… Its Defence spokesman Angus Taylor said the review is “deeply concerning and adds to a growing list of issues in Australia’s relationship with the United States”. To discuss those issues, PM Anthony Albanese is expected to meet with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Canada, but [insert shrugging lady emoji]…
Erin Patterson’s evidence ends
Yesterday was her eighth and final day of giving evidence in her trial over her alleged use of death cap mushrooms to poison 4 lunch guests in 2023. Patterson has repeatedly said she's innocent, and yesterday, Patterson's phone usage was the big focus. The prosecution says Patterson owned 2 phones, one of which has been hidden from the police, and that she repeatedly factory reset a second phone so she could pretend that was her primary device. Patterson denied all of that as well. You can read a full recap of the day here - next week, both the prosecution and defence will give their closing arguments, and then the jury will start deliberating.
Monash IVF is under pressure
Yesterday, its CEO resigned, and the share price took another hit after the company revealed a second incident of implanting the wrong embryo into a patient. Mike Knapp has been the boss since 2019, but he's gone following 2 mistakes - one from a couple of years ago in Queensland and one from this month, both of which the company is investigating. The story has put regulation issues on the national agenda - and our federal and state/territory Health ministers will discuss it at a meeting today.
A dino-tastic discovery
If you’ve ever wondered how we went from tadpoles to the T-Rex, a study from scientists at Canada’s University of Calgary might have some answers… They’ve discovered a new species that changes what's known about the evolution of the famous dinosaur. PhD student Jared Vois was looking at 2 skeletons, both about 86 million years old, which were thought to be an Alectrosaurus - an entirely different dinosaur. But he noticed they had some Rex-y features, and sure enough, eventually worked out they were actually ancestors of the tyrannosaurs, a group of dinosaurs that includes the Rex. Even better, they’ve named the species Khankhuuluu mongoliensis - which translates to “the Dragon Prince of Mongolia”. Go on, find a cooler nickname than that…
Selling like hot cakes
The Nintendo Switch 2 has become the fastest-selling video game console of all time, with 3.5 million of the things racing out the door worldwide in 4 days. It's the follow-up to the original Switch in 2017, which gamers could use as either a handheld device (aka you could play it in bed...) or hook it up to their TV for a bigger screen. This new version promises more power, a bigger screen, and more options to chat and talk with friends while you humiliate them at Mario Kart. To give you an idea of how big a hit it’s been, it took the original Switch well over a month to sell the same number of consoles. If you’re keen to jag one, it’ll set you back around $700, but you’ll be doing well just to find one at this point…
Gaming is big these days, which is something we talked to gaming journalist Stephanie Bendixsen about on our News Club entertainment series ‘The Call Sheet’ - you can listen to that chat here.
Friday Lites - 3 things we liked this week
Just like a kebab shop after the pub, we couldn’t go past this list of the world’s 25 best sandwiches without stopping to mull over the options… On the menu: the Kastsu sando from Japan, the classic Cuban, Vietnam’s Bánh mì and plenty of others we’d never heard of but would gladly travel to try…
We’re into the new-ish Broadway musical Death Becomes Her, an adaptation of the 1992 cult classic movie starring Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn. Seeing it live is tricky - you’ll need a flight to New York to do that - but this Tiny Desk Concert from NPR gives you a good steer on why it’s so much fun…
We were on brekkie duty recently on a weekend away, and a batch of Maggie Beer’s Boston Baked Beans with some thick-cut toast was a tasty (and warm) start to the day. When we make these, some members of Team Squiz have used canned beans and smoky bacon, which cuts the cooking time down to an hour. They also make a delicious lazy Sunday night dinner…
Squiz the Day
Friday
PM Anthony Albanese will travel to Fiji (until 14 June) for bilateral talks ahead of the G7 Leaders' Summit
8.00am (AEST) - The Human Cities Summit on urban development is on in Sydney
5.30pm (AEST) - Antony Green will speak at the ANU, reflecting on his career as the ABC’s chief election analyst - Canberra
ABS data release - Overseas arrivals and departures, April 2025; Tourism Satellite Accounts, March 2025
Birthdays for musician Red Symons (1949), actors Stellan Skarsgård (1951) Tim Allen (1953), Chris Evans (1981), and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (1986)
Anniversary of:
the birthdays of poet WB Yeats (1865) and musician Slim Dusty (1927)
the premiere of the film Grease (1978)
Saturday
On the next leg of his trip, PM Anthony Albanese will travel to the US (until 15 June) for bilateral talks ahead of the G7 Leaders' Summit
10.30am (AEST) - Basketball: NBA Finals game 4 - Oklahoma City Thunder vs Indiana Pacers - Indianapolis, US, and watch on Kayo
10.30am (AEST) - Finals for the Australian swimming team championship selection - Adelaide
11.00am (AEST) - American naval ship USS America (LHA 6) will swing through Sydney
6.30pm (AEST) - Hockey: Australia v India in the Men’s and Women’s FIH Pro League (the women are on at 8.00pm) - Antwerp, Belgium, and watch on 7+
7.30pm (AEST) - The Trooping the Colour parade begins for King Charles’ official birthday - London, UK
International Bath Day
Birthdays for US President Donald Trump (1946) and singer Boy George (1961)
Anniversary of:
the founding of the US Army (1775)
the recording of the first country music hit Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane (1923)
Nelson Mandela stepping down as President of South Africa (1999)
the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy in London that killed 80 people and injured 74 (2017)
Sunday
6.00am (AEST) - The Cairns Ironman race - Cairns (derr), Queensland
8.30am (AEST) - US President Donald Trump will preside over a large military parade to mark the US Army’s 250th birthday - Washington DC
10.00am (AEST) - The FIFA World Cup kicks off. It’s being held in 11 host cities across the US, with the final to take place in New York on 13 July. First up is Al-Ahly v Inter Miami - Miami, US
1.00pm (AEST) - Boxing: Australian boxer George Kambosos Jr will fight Richard Hitchins for the IBF Super Lightweight World Championship, watch on Kayo - New York, US
6.30pm (AEST) - Hockey: FIH Pro League Men's, Australia v India - Antwerp, watch on 7+
7.30pm (AEST) - Hockey: FIH Pro League Women's, Australia v India - London, watch on 7+
Refugee Week begins (until 21 June)
Global Wind Day (meteorological, not flatulence…)
Birthdays for Chinese President Xi Jinping (1953) and actor Neil Patrick Harris (1973)
Anniversary of:
the signing of the Magna Carta (1215)
France surrendering to Nazi Germany, which occupied Paris (1940)
the premiere of Disney’s The Lion King (1994)
Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes being charged with fraud (2018)
Monday
1.00am (AEST) - The G7 Leaders' Summit gets underway (until 17 June) with PM Anthony Albanese attending - Alberta, Canada
3.00am (AEST) - Motorsport: F1, Canadian Grand Prix - Montreal, watch it on Kayo