Friday, 22 May - A slice of heaven

May 22, 2026

Good morning, it’s Friday, 22 May. In your Squiz Today…

  • Australia condemns an Israeli minister’s taunting of a group of international detainees

  • Queensland’s Olympic Games Minister has stepped aside amid an electoral role scandal

  • And a winner winner of a chicken dinner… 🍗

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

Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

"Where the bloody hell are you?"

Said New Zealand’s Finance Minister Nicola Willis, inviting Aussie entrepreneurs who aren’t happy with the changes to the Capital Gains Tax to set up across the ditch. It’s not Lara Bingle on a beach, but the promise of “accelerated depreciation and deductibility on capital investments” might prove just as enticing to some… 

Israel faces a tide of criticism

The Squiz

Australia has joined the US, Italy and other countries in condemning the actions of Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who posted video footage online showing him taunting a group of international pro-Palestine activists. Eleven Australians are among the group of 430 people who were detained after their flotilla was blocked from delivering aid to Gaza. Foreign Minister Penny Wong described the footage, in which Israeli troops are seen roughly shoving some of the detainees, as “shocking and unacceptable”, saying “we condemn the actions of Israeli minister Ben-Gvir … and the degrading actions of Israeli authorities towards those detained”. 

Back it up, how did this start?

The detainees were part of a convoy of 54 ships in the Global Sumud Flotilla which left Turkey on 14 May carrying food, medicines and medical supplies for Palestinians in Gaza. Onboard were activists from more than 40 countries, including the Australians. The Israeli navy has a maritime blockade in place to prevent weapons being smuggled to terror group Hamas, so the flotilla was intercepted by the military on Monday. The military claims no aid was found, and the detainees were then taken to an Israeli port and held on a prison ship where the video was filmed of Ben-Gvir. He’s a far-right politician whose name might be familiar because last year, the Oz government sanctioned him over human rights violations of “inciting extremist violence” and “extremist rhetoric advocating the forced displacement of Palestinians”.

What’s in the video?

It shows detainees kneeling with their foreheads on the floor and hands zip-tied. In one part, Ben-Gvir says "welcome to Israel, we are your landlords" while waving an Israeli flag, and he asks Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to let him put them in jail. But Netanyahu rebuked the minister, saying his actions were "not in line with Israel's values". The US called them "despicable" and Italy's PM Giorgia Meloni said they were "a violation of human dignity". Back home, Israel's ambassador to Oz Hillel Newman also criticised Ben-Gvir, calling his actions “disgraceful” but he denied claims that some of the detainees had been beaten or sexually assaulted. Reports say Israel has deported the activists, including the Australians, who were boarding a flight to Turkey last night…

Impact that stretches further

When you think of mining, on-site work is probably what comes to mind, but there’s more to it than that. One example is the BHP FutureFit Academy in Perth, which trained more than 525 apprentices, trainees and employees in the 2025 financial year. It's an accredited training pathway that’s making a real difference in shaping Australia’s future workforce.

Squiz the Rest

Not playing games

Queensland’s Sport and Olympic Games Minister Tim Mander has stepped aside amid claims he enrolled to vote in last year’s federal election using a staffer’s address instead of his actual home. It’s a claim that’s now been referred to the federal police by the Australian Electoral Office, because giving a false address is against the law. Mander says he gave the temporary address while his marriage was ending and before his extra-marital affair with fellow cabinet Minister Amanda Camm became public knowledge. The relationship’s been creating all sorts of heat for the couple in recent weeks - and it’s been referred to the Crime and Corruption Commission. Labor’s calling for Mander’s head, but he says he has “total confidence” it’ll be sorted out, adding that “all appropriate declarations and disclosures have been made”.

Unemployment’s on the rise

The latest figures from the Bureau of Stats show it’s jumped by 0.2% to 4.5% last month - the highest it’s been since 2021. In practical terms, it means that 18,600 less people are in work across the nation, and there are concerns the number will rise higher given the pressures on the global and Oz economies due to the oil crisis in the Middle East. Experts say the downturn in hiring is a sign the economy is slowing - they say “business confidence has cratered” because people are spending less due to the cost of living and higher interest rates. And on those, KPMG’s Brendan Rynne told the ABC the unemployment data may give the Reserve Bank “some cover to pause next month and take stock, but further rate rises later this year are likely”. 

No X-ceptions

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant has won a 3-year legal fight against Elon Musk’s social media platform X after the tech giant admitted failing to show how it was protecting children from child abuse material. The case dates back to 2023 when Inman Grant asked big tech companies to show how they were tackling material harmful to children on their platforms. Yesterday, the Federal Court ordered X to pay a fine of $650,000 plus legal costs as a “deterrent” so large corporations don’t skip out on their obligations in Oz. Musk has criticised Inman Grant’s approach in the past, but she says it’s important that big tech companies are transparent so the public knows how they’re “tackling the worst-of-the-worst content on their platforms”. 

Dependably Pendlebury

That’s Collingwood Magpies midfielder Scott Pendlebury, who’s set to break the all-time AFL games record by playing his 433rd game tomorrow. He’s done plenty over his career - a 2-time premiership player, the longest-serving captain of his club, 6-time All-Australian - but when he runs out against West Coast at the MCG, it’ll be something special. So special in fact that he’ll be wearing a guernsey with a golden #10 on it - the number he’s worn for most of his games so far. Commemorative guernseys will be on sale, so anyone at the game might be lucky enough to score one. For those watching at home, there’ll be a Fox Footy cam just on him, and with over 90,000 fans expected to turn up for the occasion, we're sure there’s no pressure on his teammates to win this one… 

Do the doco-motion

If you’ve seen a stack of Minogue facts in the news this week, it’s because the Impossible Princess has a brand new Netflix doco out called Kylie. It’s from the same team that produced the doco Beckham in 2023 (they keep their titles simple, that lot…) and it’s turned up quite a few insights on the Aussie icon… One of the big ones was that in 2021, Minogue was diagnosed with breast cancer again, years after she was first diagnosed with it in 2005 - but she kept it private as she underwent treatment. She also talks about her relationship with the late INXS frontman Michael Hutchence, saying that he was “probably” the love of her life and taught her about the “finer things in life”. The series is getting excellent reviews, so go on, come into her world…

Friday Lites - 3 things we liked this week

Despite the thoroughly bizarre premise, we really enjoyed The Sheep Detectives, the new movie starring Hugh Jackman as a shepherd whose murder is investigated by… his own sheep. It’s cute, but be warned - it might also make you cry… 

On the small screen, we’ve dived into the first 3 episodes of Yellowstone spin-off Dutton Ranch which follows Beth and Rip’s story. If you’re a fan of the original, you won’t be disappointed, and Annette Bening and Ed Harris are great additions to the cast… Catch it on Paramount+.

It’s winter sport season and that calls for something hearty and warming when you get home. Adam Liaw’s chicken pie meets the brief. It’s fast, full of veggies and uses ready-rolled pastry - all up, a winner winner chicken dinner…

Squiz the Day

Friday 
1.35pm (AEST) - The final episode airs for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. 

Vivid Sydney begins (until 13 June)

Darwin’s street art festival begins (until 5 June) - the only Australian city with a mural on every major city street

🕵️ Sherlock Holmes Day

World Goth Day 

Birthdays for super model Naomi Campbell (1970) and tennis player Novak Đoković (1987)

Anniversary of:

  • the abolishment of the transportation of British convicts to NSW (1840)

  • the founding of the non-profit news organisation Associated Press (1846)

  • the first modern sighting of the Loch Ness Monster by Aldie and John Mackay, who saw "something resembling a whale” (1933)

  • Ireland becoming the first country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage by popular vote (2015)

Saturday
6.10pm (AEST) - Football: A-League men grand final Auckland FC v Sydney FC, Go Media Stadium - Auckland, watch on 10Play

Victorian Labor state conference - Melbourne 

🐄 Beef Week, annual celebration of the Australian beef industry and the rural way of life - Casino (until 31 May) 

World Turtle Day 

Anniversary of:

  • US Founding Father Benjamin Franklin announcing his invention of bifocals (1785)

  • Mao Zedong starting the Great Leap Forward movement in China (1958)

  • the Good Friday Agreement being accepted in a referendum in Northern Ireland (1998)

  • Indian PM Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) winning re-election in a landslide (2019)

  • Netflix announcing password sharing restrictions to restrict account sharing beyond the household (2023)

Sunday
Final day of the Sydney Writers' Festival and Melbourne Design Week

Motorsports: Indy 500 begins

Parliamentary election in Cyprus 

Independence Day in Eritrea

World Schizophrenia Awareness Day

👑 International Tiara Day 

Birthdays for singer Bob Dylan (1941), businesswoman and ex-wife of Elvis Presley Priscilla Presley (1945), and cinematographer Roger Deakins (1949)

Anniversary of:

  • the birthdays of Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686) and Queen Victoria (1819)

  • Samuel Morse tapping out "What hath God wrought" in the world's first telegraph message (1844)

  • Amy Johnson becoming the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia (1930)

  • American management consultant Marilyn Loden first coining the term ‘glass ceiling’ to describe invisible career barriers for women (1978)

  • the completion of the world's largest cat-proof fence (44km) at Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary, in central Australia (2018)

  • the death of rock and roll queen Tina Turner who died at the age of 83 (2023)

Monday 
1.00am (AEST) - Football: Premier League final day matches, watch on Stan 

4.00am (AEST) - Motorsport: Formula 1 Montreal Grand Prix, watch on Kayo