Friday, 16 October - I do my hair toss, check my nails

Good morning, it’s Friday, 16 October. In your Squiz Today…

• The Greens investigate allegations that Senator Jordon Steele-John behaved inappropriately towards women

• Donald Trump cancels US plans to livestream a prisoner’s execution

• And the messy manicures getting the farshun world talking… 💅🏻

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🙋🏻‍♀️ This newsletter was written by Andrew Williams, Anna Pykett, Larissa Huntington and Sophie Felice

Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

That’s the reason director Greta Gerwig said Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page and Robert Plant let her license their iconic song Stairway to Heaven for the first time ever for Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew. And going by the trailer, she’s set to create more box-office magic…

A Greens investigation

The Squiz

The Greens are looking into allegations that Western Oz Senator Jordon Steele-John made inappropriate comments to multiple women. This has been making news because he’s a prominent figure and the party’s disability spokesperson, as well as the fact that the treatment of women in Parliament has been a key issue over the last few years. Senator Steele-John denies the allegations and is taking leave from the party room while an investigation happens.

Tell me more about him

Jordon Steele-John first entered Parliament in 2017 as the country’s youngest-ever senator at 23yo, and the first to use a wheelchair, because he has cerebral palsy. He’s been the party’s disability spokesperson for almost a decade, and represents the party on issues to do with disability inclusion, health and mental health. The now 32yo has been one of the most prominent critics of the Federal Government’s cuts to the National Disability Insurance Scheme in the Senate. He has also been the Greens’ spokesperson for defence and nuclear issues.

So what do we know?

The allegations first appeared yesterday in the Sydney Morning Herald, which reported that 7 members of the Greens sent a letter to Greens leader David Shoebridge on Tuesday night, claiming they’d been made aware that Jordon Steele-John had behaved inappropriately towards women on numerous occasions between 2017 and 2025. It also said multiple women who’d worked or volunteered for the party had been warned ‘not to … be alone with him’. Senator Shoebridge said the party was taking the allegations seriously and the Western Oz Greens will carry out an independent inquiry. We’ve also heard from Senator Steele-John, who says: “I utterly reject this characterisation of me, which tries to assert I am someone I am not”. This caps off a challenging few weeks for the party, which had to find a new leader after Larissa Waters stood down due to health concerns.
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Looking for quality

Tomorrow is the annual Uber x Australian Red Cross Clothing Drive, and there’s still time to find some clothes you don’t wear anymore but that are in good nick and donate them to Australian Red Cross to raise funds for its humanitarian programmes across Australia and around the world. If you’re based in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, and now Canberra, between 10am and 4pm AEDT tomorrow, you can jump on the Uber or Uber Eats app and order a courier to come and pick up your clothes - at absolutely no cost to you. What an easy way to do your bit and feel good about it too. More details here.

Squiz the Rest

A livestream execution backflip in the US

President Donald Trump has gone back on plans to livestream the execution of a former US Army psychiatrist by a military firing squad. Nidal Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and injuring dozens more at Fort Hood military base in Texas in 2009, and he’s set to become the first US prisoner to be executed in that way since 1945. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth first announced the plan a week ago, and initially Trump backed it, but it led to a backlash in the US and around the world, including here in Oz. Trump says Hasan will still be executed on 3 December, but many “people would rather not watch him die”. Some analysts say Americans disliked the livestream plans, and Trump’s change of heart could be because the US midterm elections are less than 3 weeks away.

Ukraine is going to start striking Russian energy facilities (again)

We started the week by telling you the US had announced an “energy ceasefire” between Ukraine and Russia - but it looks like that’s off. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he held off hitting Russian oil refineries for 3 days after US President Donald Trump’s surprise announcement, but Russia didn’t play ball - so Ukraine is resuming its attacks. It’s the latest chapter in the beef between Zelensky and Trump. Last week, Trump announced a controversial deal to buy Russian diesel, and said it was time for Ukraine to get a new president. Zelensky says he feels betrayed by the deal, and he’s also frustrated by cutbacks to US intelligence sharing as well as Elon Musk’s SpaceX slowing down the Starlink internet Ukraine’s troops rely on. So things are going well…

Much ado about health insurance

A row has been brewing this week over the Federal Government’s plans to scrap the extra rebates Aussies over 65yo get on their private health insurance. Under the changes, 3 million senior Australians would have to pay hundreds of dollars more for their cover from next April - but the plans haven’t gone down well with the private health industry, as well as the Coalition, Greens and crossbench, who say older Australians are being abandoned, and the states and territories say it could pile pressure on the public health system. Some economists say the hits to hospitals wouldn’t be that bad, and Health Minister Mark Butler says the reforms are “necessary” to free up money for the aged care sector, but at this point, it seems unlikely the legislation will get passed without the Federal Government making some tweaks to its bill.

A little from column A-League

It’s an exciting time for Aussie football fans, with our domestic competitions (the A-League and the A-League Women) kicking off over the weekend. Tonight, Sydney FC (last season’s runner-up) will take on Western Sydney Wanderers (last year’s wooden spooners) in the men’s season opener at 8pm AEDT. All the Aussie teams will be trying to wrest the trophy back across the Tasman after Auckland FC won it back in May. In the women’s league, the Wanderers will take on Melbourne Victory tomorrow arvo at 3pm AEDT - but it’s the Victory’s cross-town rivals in Melbourne City that are looking to retain their title. It’s all available to watch on Paramount+... And if league’s more your thing, the Aussie men started strong in the Rugby League World Cup, beating the Kiwis 24-22 in last night’s opener.

If you're a fly gal, get your nails done…

… raps Missy Elliott - but Italian fashion brand Miu Miu has some new ideas about what a fresh manicure should look like. Its models walked the runway at Paris Fashion Week with bright red nails that have got people talking because of how the varnish kind of spills over onto the cuticle and fingertip, a bit like how we used to paint our nails when we were kids… Miu Miu’s Japanese nail artist Mei Kawajiri reckons the “clean girl look has had its moment”, and this new messy trend is more about beauty being “real and imperfect”. It’s been splitting opinions in farshun circles. Some have celebrated the message that a little messy polish never killed anyone, but some on social media have given it “a well-painted thumbs down”…

Friday Lites - 3 things we liked this week

We know socks are a cliché Christmas pressy - but these Pilates grip socks from Aussie brand Leelo Active have become a staple of our workouts over the last few months. They come in a heap of colours and patterns, and they’re currently on sale. Warning: they might motivate you to head to class…

We LOL’d at Bron Lewis’s latest comedy special Chaos… It comes with a salty language warning, but she’s a mum of 3 with a partner who works from home, a golden retriever who can’t read the room, and her mum’s sneakily moved in. She’s got a lot going on - and what better way to vent than a national tour…

We’re coming into barbecue season, and our gift to you is this Street Corn Salad by Brian Lagerstrom (it’s the third recipe in this clip). We sub in halloumi for the cheese and add an extra jalapeño. Like a Top 10 banger, be prepared for friends and family to ask you to play it again and again…

Squiz the Day

Friday
6.00am (AEDT) - Certis security workers across Sydney Airport will strike from 6am-10am, and again from 5pm-9pm across domestic and international terminals. They’re calling for better pay and greater job security - Sydney

8.30am (AEDT) - Public hearing in the Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence - Canberra 

9.30am (AEDT) - Contest mention for media mogul Antony Catalano on family violence and assault charges - Melbourne 

9.00am (AEST) - Mention on jury questioning and phone evidence applications ahead of Bruce Lehrmann's rape trial. Lehrmann is not required to appear - Brisbane 

10.30am (AEDT) - Minister for Defence Industry and Pacific Island Affairs Pat Conroy to hold a press conference about Australia gifting drones to Fiji's military - Sydney 

8.00pm (AEDT) - Football: A-League Men round one Sydney FC v Western Sydney Wanderers - Sydney, watch on 10

8.05pm (AEDT) - Rugby league:  Women's Rugby League World Cup Group A Australia v Samoa - Sydney, watch on 7Plus

Day one of the sentencing hearing for the killers of Australian brothers Callum and Jake Robinson in Mexico (until 17 October) - Ensenada, Mexico 

Football: A-League men's season begins 

Melbourne International Jazz Festival begins (until 25 October) 

Groundwater Country Music Festival begins (until 18 October) - the Gold Coast 🤠

Sculpture by the Sea begins in Bondi - it's the world’s largest annual free-to-the-public outdoor sculpture exhibition (until 2 November)

Fiano Day - if you're not familiar, it's an ancient white wine grape variety, yum... 

World Food Day

World Bread Day 

Birthdays for Red Hot Chilli Peppers bassist Flea (1962), Aussie motorcycle racer Casey Stoner (1985), and tennis player Naomi Osaka (1997)

Anniversary of:

• the death of Marie Antoinette by guillotine (1793)

• Oscar Wilde’s birthday (1854)

• the foundation of the Liberal Party of Australia (1944)

• the publication of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre (1847) and CS Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950)

• the beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

• the Balibo 5 - Five young Australian, British and Kiwi journalists covering the invasion of East Timor being deliberately shot and stabbed by Indonesian special forces (1975) 

Saturday
12.00pm (AEDT) - Rugby Union: quadruple-header at Accor Stadium Wallaroos v Scotland, then the men’s and women’s Sevens, then the Wallabies v All Blacks in the second Bledisloe Cup Test at 3.45pm (AEDT) - Sydney, watch on 9Now 

3.00pm (AEDT) - Football: first games of A-League Women round one Western Sydney Wanderers v Melbourne Victory - Sydney, and Newcastle Jets v Perth Glory - Newcastle, watch on 10

4.15pm (AEDT) - Horse racing: the Everest race at Royal Randwick Racecourse - Sydney 

The Coolangatta Gold surf lifesaving event begins (until 18 October)

Horse racing: the 2026 Caulfield Cup - Melbourne 🏇

Football: Women's A-League season begins 

Gymnastics: World Championships begin (until 25 October) - Rotterdam

ABC Radio National will begin its countdown of the top 100 Australian books (until 18 October) 

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 

A birthday for rapper Eminem (1972)

Anniversary of:

• Queensland Parliament voting to decriminalise abortion (2018)

• the birthdays of playwright Arthur Miller (1915) and actor Rita Hayworth (1918)

• the death of composer Frederic Chopin (1849)

Sunday
5.30pm (AEDT) - Netball: game one of the Constellation Cup Australia v New Zealand - Auckland, watch for free on Kayo 

7.00pm (AEDT) - Cricket: Second Men's Test South Africa v Australia (until 22 October) - South Africa, watch on Kayo 

7.15pm (AEDT) - Cricket: First Women's T20 International Australia v New Zealand - Sydney, watch on Kayo 

World Menopause Day

Basketball: WNBA finals begin 🏀

Independence Restoration Day in Azerbaijan

Alaska Day - marking the anniversary of the US taking possession of the territory after purchasing it from Russia (1867)

A birthday for actor Zac Efron (1987)

Anniversary of:

• the founding of the British Broadcasting Company, later called the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), (1922)

• Disney's The Jungle Book being released (1967)

• the first all-female spacewalk by NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir outside the International Space Station (2019)