Friday, 25 July - I've got the music in me

July 25, 2025

Good morning, it’s Friday, 25 July. In your Squiz Today…

  • Australia’s ended a ban on beef imports from the US

  • Professional wrestling star Hulk Hogan has died

  • And a soup that’s perfect for cold winter nights… 🍜

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

"It's a very long and sometimes torturous road to publication."

Said author Siang Lu, the winner of this year’s $60,000 Miles Franklin Literary Award, with his novel Ghost Cities. “Torturous road” is right - the draft of Ghost Cities sat in Lu’s drawer for a decade, rejected more than 200 times. His publisher must be pretty happy right about now…

Settling a beef over imports

The Squiz

The White House is claiming a win after the Albanese Government lifted restrictions on the imports of US beef yesterday, with US officials crediting President Donald Trump for his success in the "negotiations". That's because Trump has long seen our ban on US beef as an issue, so analysts say its removal could pave the way for a new Oz-US trade deal, possibly including lower tariffs on Aussie exports. But our Agriculture Minister Julie Collins says the decision had nothing to do with trade negotiations… She says it was made off the back of “a rigorous science and risk-based assessment over the past decade”.

Why was it banned in the first place?

It’s to do with our biosecurity laws. You can read up here, but basically, our Department of Agriculture had restrictions on fresh beef from the US heading our way because it’s tricky to trace the products and screen them for things like mad cow disease. But, with the US improving its movement controls for beef before it’s exported earlier this year, the Albanese Government says the risk has dropped and it has greater certainty that products aren’t carrying disease or pests. Nationals leader David Littleproud isn’t so sure, though - he says he hasn’t seen the scientific evidence supporting the decision, and wants an independent review into it. He reckons “it looks as though it’s been traded away to appease Donald Trump, and that’s what we don’t want”.

What do our beef producers say?

Will Evans from Cattle Australia - which represents our $75 billion beef industry - says “a lot of people” will “feel really frustrated and threatened by this”, and he encouraged them to “recognise that the science has been used here”. The Deputy Chair of Cattle Australia's board, Adam Coffey, was more cautious, saying, "If a biosecurity issue exists, then we need to know what the science-based review is". And if you're wondering how much US beef you'll see on our supermarket shelves as a result of the decision, Evans doesn’t think it’ll be much because our beef is cheaper than what the US can produce. When it comes to trade talks, some experts have questioned whether lifting the ban will even score us any points with Trump - and given he and PM Anthony Albanese are yet to meet, we’ll have to wait and see…

The power of hope

Rural Aid does incredible work supporting Aussie farmers hit by drought. In the last decade, it's distributed $125 million worth of assistance via 160,000 bales of hay and 13,000 counselling sessions. But CEO John Warlters says it’s also about hope: “And there's no 4-letter word that's more powerful than that one.” Woolworths is a longtime supporter of Rural Aid - a relationship that’s the subject of a new podcast episode from their From Grassroots series. Listen here.

Squiz the Rest

Pleas for more aid in Gaza

The head of the UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine said overnight that “more than 100 people, the vast majority of them children, have reportedly died of hunger”. Phillipe Lazzarini says 1 in 5 children in Gaza City is malnourished, and that the UNRWA has thousands of food trucks waiting to be let in - he's calling on the Israeli government to do more to let the supplies through, adding to earlier aid agency warnings over mass starvation in the region. Israeli government spokesman David Mencer rejected that his government is responsible - he said Hamas fighters were looting the food trucks, which they have denied. Humanitarian groups have called for a ceasefire to make supplying aid easier, but this morning, US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff pulled the US out of ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas in Qatar, saying "Hamas does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith".

Trump’s Epstein problems continue…

…with more reports from the Wall Street Journal on the US President’s relationship with the financier and sex offender yesterday. Back in May, Trump’s Attorney-General Pam Bondi briefed the President on her department’s review of files connected to the Jeffrey Epstein case - and the WSJ is reporting that she did let Trump know that his name does appear in those files. How it appeared or in what context, we don’t know, but the story runs counter to Trump’s previous claims that he wasn’t told his name appears in the files, and also follows the WSJ story from over the weekend that Trump wrote Epstein a letter for his 50th birthday. Trump denied that and is suing the WSJ over it, and his team is calling this report “fake news” as well.

For more background on Trump’s relationship with Epstein and the political problem it’s presenting for him, our Squiz Shortcut will get you up to speed…

The legal runway is cleared…

…for a group of Australian women to sue Qatar Airways over alleged “unlawful physical contact” after they were subjected to invasive strip searches in October 2020. You might remember this incident… More than a dozen women were forced off a Sydney-bound Qatar plane at Doha’s international airport, with some given internal exams without consent, after a baby was found in an airport bin. In 2022, 5 Australian women took legal action against Qatar Airways, the airport’s operator, and Qatar’s Civil Aviation Authority, but their case was dismissed for reasons you can get into here. Yesterday, the Federal Court overturned that decision, opening the door for the women to pursue the airline for damages. Their lawyer, Damian Sturzaker, says his clients “endured a traumatic experience … and they deserve to have their day in court”.

Pro wrestling loses a major star

That’s Hulk Hogan, real name Terry Bollea, who died at 71yo following a cardiac arrest overnight. Hogan was the headline star for the then-World Wrestling Federation (now the WWE) throughout the 1980s and 90s, and he’s often credited as the performer who took the industry mainstream. His stardom lasted decades, from bodyslamming Andre the Giant in 1987 to going head-to-head with The Rock in 2002. He parlayed that stardom into occasional movie roles and even a reality show, Hogan Knows Best, which was similar to The Osbournes, whose star Ozzy Osbourne also died earlier this week. Hogan’s career was also filled with controversy, including a steroids scandal in the early 90s and a 2015 suspension from the WWE Hall of Fame for using racial slurs (he was later reinstated). He had an eventful life - here’s a full obituary.

Feeling hot, hot, Hottest 100

If you come by some Hottest 100 listening parties this weekend and wonder if you’ve time-travelled to January, fear not… It’s because Triple J is broadcasting a special countdown of the Hottest 100 Australian songs of all time, as part of a celebration of their 50th anniversary. Listeners - and the odd PM - have been voting in the poll with their personal top 10s, but with countless great Aussie tracks on offer, good luck trying to actually predict the winner. If you'd like to head to a pub or club to find out who tops the list, here's a list of venues hosting events to celebrate the countdown. And if you haven't voted yet, that ship has sadly sailed, but there's nothing stopping you from making a list for fun - we'll read it...

Friday Lites - 3 things we liked this week

A good family spy flick can do the trick when it comes to pleasing everyone on a Saturday night, and Back in Action delivers. It's Cameron Diaz's first movie in 10 years, and she stars with Jamie Foxx as former CIA spies turned suburban parents who can't shake their past...

Last night, a remarkable AFL story wrapped up with Carlton player Sam Docherty ending his 184-game career. Docherty recovered from 2 bouts of testicular cancer over that career, and his first goal in 2022 after his second return from illness is a special sporting moment…

Wintry weather means only one thing: it’s soup season, and this Thai Coconut Pumpkin Soup from RecipeTinEats is a twist on the classic. It’s a good one to meal-prep, and is best served with crusty bread - or homemade croutons, if you’re feelin’ fancy. So gourd…

Squiz the Day

Friday
🎅 Merry Christmas in July

10.00am (AEST) - Neurologist at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Andrew Kornberg’s solo flight around Australia as part of Fly for the Kids ends in Melbourne

12.15pm (AEST) - Federal Trade Minister Don Farrell will deliver an address to the Lowy Institute on the government’s trade agenda and recent EU-Australia trade discussions - Sydney

5.30pm (AEST) - Bankstown Food Bites festival begins - Sydney

Darwin Show Day - NT

Puerto Rico Constitution Day

Republic Day in Tunisia

World Drowning Prevention Day

Anniversary of:

  • scientists announcing the first human stem cells to be cultured in a laboratory (1997)

  • Lance Armstrong winning the first of 7 consecutive Tour de France titles (but is later disqualified for drug cheating) (1999)

  • WikiLeaks publishing classified documents about the war in Afghanistan, one of the largest leaks in US military history (2010)

Saturday
7.30am - Deputy PM Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong will host their UK counterparts at the Australia-UK ministerial consultations (AUKMIN) - Sydney

9.00am - Open House Melbourne Weekend celebrates architecture and design - Melbourne

10.00am (AEST) - the countdown to Triple J’s hottest 100 Australian songs begins

2.00pm (AEST) - Rugby union: Our national women’s team, the Wallaroos, go up against Wales at Ballymore Stadium - Brisbane, watch on Stan Sport

8.00pm (AEST) - Rugby union: The Wallabies take on the British & Irish Lions in the second Test at the MCG - Melbourne, watch it on Stan Sport

A Gala dedicated to Hollywood fashion designer Orry-Kelly will be held in his home town of Kiama, NSW  

Independence Day in Liberia 

💃🏻 Wuthering Heights Day - a tribute to the great Kate Bush

Strive to be Kind Day (in memory of Allison Baden-Clay)

Birthdays for former PM John Howard (1939), singer Mick Jagger (1943), actors Helen Mirren (1945), Kevin Spacey (1959), and Sandra Bullock (1964), former PM of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern (1980), and rapper Stormzy (1993) 

Anniversary of:

  • the birthdays of psychologist Carl Jung (1875), writer Aldous Huxley (1894) and director Stanley Kubrick (1928)

  • the capital of New Zealand moving from Auckland to Wellington (1865)

  • the formation of the US Office of the Chief Examiner (later renamed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation) (1908)

  • US President Harry S Truman signing the National Security Act which establishes the Central Intelligence Agency (1947)

Sunday
2.00pm (AEST) - Netball: Sydney Swifts v Melbourne Vixens in a preliminary final - Sydney, watch on Kayo

5.30pm (AEST) - Talisman Sabre closing ceremony - Darwin

7.55pm (AEST) - Cycling: Stage 20 of the Tour de France begins, with the ride into Paris expected around 10.00pm AEST - catch that on SBS on Demand. 

11.00pm (AEST) - Motorsport: F1, the Belgian Grand Prix race begins - Francorchamps, Belgium, watch it on Kayo

Start of Donate Life Week (until 3 August)

National Tree Day

Victory Day in North Korea, marking the end of the Korean War (1953)

Anniversary of :

  • the first tobacco being brought to England from Virginia (1586)

  • Frederick Banting and Charles Best isolating insulin at the University of Toronto (1921)

  • Bugs Bunny’s cartoon debut in A Wild Hare (1940)

  • the Korean War armistice (1953)