Friday, 22 November - We're back on the train

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

• A holiday turns tragic for Melbourne teens

• An international arrest warrant has been issued for the Israeli PM

• And a tasty dinner salad… 🥬 

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

Are some of the Aussie-isms deployed by our men's cricket captain Pat Cummins in a new tourism campaign encouraging visitors from India to come down under… Cummins is also back to his day job today as the first Test against India kicks off in Perth. C’mon Aussie…

A tragedy on holiday

The Squiz

The family of Melbourne teenager Bianca Jones say their “beloved daughter and sister” has died in hospital, becoming the latest victim of a mass alcohol poisoning event in Laos last week. Bianca and her best friend Holly Bowles, both 19yo, were on a backpacking trip in the Southeast Asian country when they fell sick after a night out. And they weren’t the only ones - at least 14 people were hospitalised after drinking the tainted alcohol. Four people - Bianca, a US citizen and 2 young Danes - have died. 

What happened?

That’s not clear. Local authorities suspect the group unknowingly drank methanol-laced alcoholic drinks in the tourist town of Vang Vieng. That was on Tuesday last week. Many of the victims had been staying at the Nana Backpackers Hostel, but it’s not clear yet where they were served the drinks - it could have been there or at another venue... FYI - methanol is similar to ethanol (the key alcohol in wine, beer and spirits) but with one big difference - it’s highly toxic to humans. But as a cheap option, it is sometimes used in alcoholic drinks, often to disastrous effect. After falling ill, Bianca and Holly were taken to hospital one-by-one on the back of a motorbike and then transported to different hospitals in Thailand in critical condition. Their families flew in this week to be with them.

And what about Holly?

Her dad Shaun Bowles says she’s on life support at a hospital in Bangkok. Back at home, there’s been plenty of messages of support since the girls were named earlier this week… The Melbourne football club where they played, the Beaumaris Sharks, described them as “cherished and highly respected” members. Yesterday, PM Anthony Albanese offered his condolences to their families, saying what had happened to them was “every parent's very worst fear and a nightmare that no one should have to endure”. Bianca’s family has also put out a statement - they say that “she was surrounded by love” when she died, and that they “are comforted by the knowledge that her incredible spirit touched so many lives during her time with us”.

Your fresh market update…

At the Squiz, we’re all about giving you the useful stuff. So, we’ve teamed up with Woolies to share their top weekly fruit and veg picks. Here’s what to grab this week:

🍒 Australian cherries - Fun fact: the cherry season only lasts 100 days, so get in quick…

🍅 Truss tomatoes - They ripen on the vine, giving them maximum sweetness and juiciness…

🥕 Carrots - It’s a good time to stock up on these crunchy staples…

🥒 Lebanese cucumbers - These are smaller than Continental cucumbers, but just as crunchy…

Squiz the Rest

Better get a lawyer, son…

The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defence minister Yoav Gallant and senior Hamas official Mohammed Deif - who Israel says has died in an airstrike. The warrants for the Israelis are for alleged crimes against humanity during the Gaza war - including starvation as warfare. Deif, whose death Hamas has never confirmed, is accused of the war crimes of hostage-taking, rape, and torture carried out during Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October last year. Netanyahu’s office was having none of it, calling the charges “antisemitic” and the ICC “biased”, and said Israel won’t withdraw from Gaza until its “war goals” are achieved. The ICC relies on the police forces of its 124 member countries to enforce arrests, so Netanyahu and Gallant aren’t likely to be locked up anytime soon…

If you want to know more about the ICC’s role in the world, we’ve got a Shortcut for you…

Withdrawal from the starting Gaetz

Incoming President Donald Trump's picks for his new Cabinet were a hot topic last week, and Matt Gaetz was getting most of the attention. Trump had tapped him to become his Attorney General, but he's withdrawn from consideration this morning… Gaetz was reelected to the House of Reps earlier this month and he quit that job to take up the appointment with the idea he’d shake up the Department of Justice - aka Trump’s least favourite part of the government... Gaetz is a controversial figure who was previously under federal investigation for sex trafficking, and there was an open congressional inquiry into his relationship with a 17yo girl amongst other things - and there have been calls for the findings of that inquiry to be made public. This morning he tweeted that he was “becoming a distraction" to the new administration. Onwards and upwards… 

All aboard…

Last-minute crisis talks between NSW’s Rail Tram and Bus Union and Premier Chris Minns/Transport Minister Jo Haylen have proven fruitful, with a Sydney train strike set to start this morning called off as negotiations continue. That means the city’s train services should be running as usual today and across the weekend, much to the relief of the million people who rely on them... The strike was planned after a breakdown in long-running pay negotiations - the union wants a 32% pay rise over the next 4 years, but the government is proposing 11% over 3 years. For now, the government has agreed to a union demand to run 24/7 train operations this weekend - something the union wants to see ongoing. That’s only temporary, though - the hope is a long-term agreement will be reached in the coming fortnight. 

A land of extremes

A lot of Aussies are in for some pretty full-on weather over the next few days - with high temps and heavy rain hitting different parts of the country… Flash flooding has already thrashed Charleville in Queensland’s central west - with some nearby towns getting 184mm of rain in just 24 hours. The state’s disaster coordinator Shane Chelepy is urging people not to drive through floodwaters after a bunch of recent rescues… But for southern Australia, it’s the heat that’s coming, with some places about to hit temps 12C above the November average. Adelaide and Melbs could reach 35/36C today, Canberra’s due for 34C on Sunday, and Western Sydney will give 40C a nudge on Monday. The BOM has issued a heatwave warning - stay cool and sun-safe…  

A final flush of footy fever

It's going to be a bumper Saturday for the AFLW, with 4 teams fighting it out for a place in the grand final… Minor premiers North Melbourne have got their injured skipper Emma Kearney back for their match against Port Adelaide - and you can bet they are praying to the hamstring gods she makes it through… The other prelim sees Brisbane take on the Adelaide Crows - then the winner of each match gets a spot in the big dance (aka grand final) next Saturday. And if the Aussie Rules fans in your life are talking about “the draft” - aka the annual sign-up of the young and up-and-coming players - this should get you across the highlights… And while we’re talking sport, our Aussie tennis men have beaten the USA to reach the semi-finals of the Davis Cup. In the words of their captain/coach Lleyton Hewitt…C’mon!

Wanna be in the Saturday Squiz?

President-elect Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate has a new security guard - a robot dog. It had the team talking about the different types of robots people have in their homes like vacuums, pool cleaners and lawnmowers…

Friday Lites - 3 things we liked this week

Confession time: we’re big Cormac McCarthy fans - his bestseller All The Pretty Horses is an all-time favourite. Then there’s this piece that was published yesterday in Vanity Fair about his relationship with a troubled 17yo girl - someone who became his muse and can be traced in 10 of his novels - when he was 43yo… It’s billed as “the craziest love story in literary history”, but the issues can’t be denied. 

Speaking of Americana, we don’t have a cap on the volume of Elvis-related content we’re willing to consume so this new Netflix doco Return of the King about his rise and fall and the path to his ‘68 televised comeback special was devoured this week. All the people you’d want on it give interviews, including his wife Priscilla Presley. 

We’ve done very little cooking this week, but someone very dear to us reckons this lentil and haloumi salad is an evening meal. Longtime Squizers know how we feel about soup (it’s liquid, so it’s not food derr…), and the concept of a dinner salad hits us kinda like that. But this girl knows her tasty tucker so we’re diving right in - and you should too.

Squiz the Day

Friday
9.30am (AEDT) - A judgement is due in singer Katy Perry’s appeal against a Federal Court finding that she infringed on Aussie designer Katie Perry’s trademark when she sold clothes with a “deceptively similar” one while on tour in Oz - Sydney 

10.20pm (AWST) - Cricket: Australia v India - First Men's Test - Perth, and watch on Kayo

11.00pm (AEDT) - Men’s Basketball: Australia v Thailand, FIBA World Cup qualifier - Bangkok, and watch on Kayo

AFL: Rookie and pre-season drafts

Port of Newcastle blockade "Protestival" (on until 24 November) - November 

Schoolies Week begins for school leavers in NSW, Vic, and SA 

Lebanon’s Independence Day

🚴 Go For a Ride Day 

Kimchi Day

Birthdays for Jamie Lee Curtis (1958), Scarlett Johansson (1984), and Hailey Bieber (1996)

Anniversary of:

• the first interracial kiss on television, between Star Trek's Captain Kirk and Uhura (1968)

• the release of Toy Story, the first feature-length film created completely using computer-generated imagery (1995)

• Angela Merkel becoming the first female Chancellor of Germany (2005)

• the deaths of Aldous Huxley (1963) CS Lewis (1963), John F Kennedy (1963), Michael Hutchence (1997) and Bryce Courtenay (2012)

Saturday
8.00am (AEDT) - Skepticon XL: Australian Skeptics national convention (until 24 November) - Sydney

9.00am (AEDT) - AusCryptoCon (until 24 November) - Australian Crypto Convention - Sydney

3:05pm (AEDT) - AFLW: Preliminary final, North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos vs Port Adelaide - Melbourne, and watch on 7Plus 

6.30pm (AEST) - AFLW: preliminary final - Brisbane v Adelaide - Brisbane, and watch on 7Plus 

Davis Cup Tennis - Australia’s in the semi-finals

World Supercross Australian GP 2024 - Perth

A birthday for Shane Gould (1956), Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro (1962) and Miley Cyrus (1992)

• Anniversary of the death of author Roald Dahl (1990)

Sunday
5.00pm (AEDT) - Men’s Basketball: Australia v Korea, FIBA World Cup qualifier - Korea, and watch on Kayo

5.00pm (AEDT) - Motorsport: F1, Las Vegas Grand Prix - Las Vegas, and watch on Kayo

Romania’s presidential election: round one of 2

🤹 Unique Talent Day

Fairy Bread Day

Birthdays for Arundhati Roy (1961) and Katherine Heigl (1978)

Anniversary of:

• Dutch explorer Abel Tasman 'discovering’ Van Diemen's Land (1642)

• the publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, which explained his theory of evolution by means of natural selection (1859)

• Kevin Rudd's Labor beating John Howard's Coalition to claim government (2007)

• the deaths of Queen’s Freddie Mercury (1991) and Aussie wit Clive James (2019)

Monday
12.40am (AEDT) - Rugby union: Wallabies v Scotland - Scotland, and watch on Stan Sport