Friday, 7 August - Please don't stop the music

August 07, 2026

Good morning, it’s Friday, 7 August. In your Squiz Today…

  • Russia and Ukraine trade strikes, as the war approaches the 4.5-year mark

  • The ABC apologises to Gina Rinehart

  • And a nutty birthday cake…

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

Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

"She is in the studio right now".

Said Rihanna’s partner A$AP Rocky while appearing on a podcast, fuelling mass speculation that we could be about to get new music from the global popstar after a 10-year hiatus… We’re sure she’s hard at work, work, work, work, work…

Fighting continues in Ukraine

The Squiz

It’s been another grim week in the fighting between Russia and Ukraine, as the conflict nears the 4.5-year mark and peace talks have ground to a halt. Ukraine says it has struck two oil refineries deep inside Russia, causing big fires. Meanwhile, officials in Kyiv say more people have been killed across the country in Moscow’s latest attacks. Both sides are intensifying strikes on fuel, energy and transport facilities, as well as trade routes, which experts say are aimed at harming each country’s economy by damaging infrastructure used to make money…

Back it up a bit…

Ukraine has been launching strikes on Wildberries facilities (that’s like Russia’s version of Amazon), with a warehouse about 200 kilometres south of Moscow hit earlier this week, but the local Governor Dmitry Milyaev says no one was killed. Reports say Ukraine has hit close to 20 of the retailer’s sites since 18 July, because it believes the depots supply the Russian military - but Wildberries and Moscow deny this. On the other side - Russia has intensified attacks on Kyiv in recent weeks, with people also killed in Kharkiv and Donetsk. Experts say that the capital city’s air defences didn’t intercept any of the missiles Russia fired at it, which has reignited Ukrainian calls for better air defence systems…

So what’s going on there?

Reports say Moscow’s recent attack on Kyiv used more than 2 dozen ballistic missiles - which military experts say can only be blocked by US-made Patriot missile interceptors, which are expensive and in high demand. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been consistently asking allies for more of these - and last month, it looked like he was going to get them, when US President Donald Trump said he’d let Ukraine manufacture them on the sidelines of the NATO summit… But it looks like he’s since changed his mind. Zelensky met Trump in Washington last week, as well as a US weapons manufacturer company that produces Patriots, but it’s not really clear if Ukraine will get what it wants anytime soon…

Recognising the signs

Financial abuse is something that can happen to anyone, regardless of their age, background, income, or gender, and recognising the signs is an important step to getting help - whether it’s for yourself or someone you care about... It’s things like restricting access to money, preventing someone from working or studying, building up debt in someone else's name without their awareness or consent, or controlling a household's financial decisions. CommBank’s Next Chapter program offers free support, even if you don’t bank with them.

Squiz the Rest

A tragic incident in Charleville…

Reports say a 23yo woman and a 45yo man were found dead after an incident lasting almost 8 hours that forced the outback town in Queensland's south-west into lockdown. Police were called to a home about 800 kilometres west of Brisbane around 6pm on Wednesday night, after reports of a serious assault, which led to residents across a three-street block being told to stay indoors. A toddler was found at the property in question and taken to hospital, but is said to be in a stable condition. The incident was deemed so serious that specialist teams were flown in from Brisbane to help. Police say the “complex” investigation is ongoing, and a report is being prepared for the coroner.
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Aunty apologises to Gina Rinehart

This is over a segment by contestant Kate McGuinness on the ABC documentary reality series Race Around the World, which featured violent language about the mining billionaire. Rinehart’s company Hancock Prospecting took legal action over the clip, which aired on 12 July. It was referred to the ABC Ombudsman, who found it didn’t breach editorial standards relating to harm and offence. That said, Managing Director Hugh Marks said “the episode has fallen short of community expectations” and they’re going to review the guidelines. For her part, McGuinness has also apologised and says she meant no offence, calling her writing “cartoonish and always satirical”. She added that “unfortunately, jokes do not land with everyone. Its purpose was never to be taken literally”.

Generating Aussie jobs

It's not the usual tale that goes with seeing AI and jobs in the same headline, but a new report by accounting giant EY has found that at least 15 sectors could gain more jobs than they lose. Construction is tipped as the biggest winner, followed by wholesale and retail trade, and transport and warehousing. At the other end are agriculture and mining, where automation is expected to cut the number of workers needed. All up, EY reckons AI could deliver a net gain of 36,000-44,000 jobs over 10 years, and a boost of between $95-116 billion to the economy. The firm predicts that with increased productivity, household incomes would also rise. But it says the jobs won't come from AI itself - rather from the extra cash it frees up being spent on building/buying things.

The AFLW is back

The women’s Aussie Rules competition starts up again on Sunday, with St Kilda taking on Carlton at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne. It’s a 12-round season this year, which will end with the Grand Final in late November. And you’d be a brave person to bet against the North Melbourne Kangaroos featuring in that - they are very strong favourites to win the flag for the third year in a row, making them the most dominant team in the competition’s history. Now in its eleventh season, the AFLW will be looking to grow its audience and crowds, which were both a bit down last year. At this stage, it’s been reported that the AFLW is losing money - so it’s trying out more double-headers with the men’s game this year, and less overlapping fixtures. You can watch the action on Channel 7 and Kayo.

Marmot’s got money troubles…

It turns out the cost of living crisis is impacting our furry friends too, with a Colorado biologist resorting to making an OnlyFans account for his marmots - they’re chubby, ground-based squirrels found across North America, Europe, and Asia. Dr Daniel Blumstein heads up a long-running study of the stout-looking rodents, but its funding got cut, prompting him to get creative. Apparently, he had the idea to start posting family-friendly videos on the platform (which is more commonly associated with racy content) after watching the TV show Margot's Got Money Troubles - with his students coming up with the name OnlyMarms. And it’s going well - the account has raised more than $7,000 so far. You had us at squirrel…

Friday Lites - 3 things we liked this week

The third season of Traitors Australia returned to our screens this week, hosted by Gretel Killeen. Think reality TV meets murder mystery… The franchise has won Emmys in the US and bagged more than 11 million live viewers in the UK. It’s a lot of fun - you can watch it on Channel 10…

We’ve been intrigued (no other word for it) for years by Nara Smith’s Instagram content where she makes all manner of things from scratch (sprinkles, cereal, chewing gum…) in couture. Last week the 24yo mother-of-4 was on Call her Daddy asking people to stop calling her a trad wife, so we had to listen…

Remember when friands (little buttery almond cakes) were a big deal in cafes? Some of our kids haven’t moved on - and so for a recent birthday, we made raspberry friands and artfully stacked them in a pile with a candle on top. Here’s our favourite recipe, and you don’t even need a fancy tin…

Thank you

To you lovely lot… A total of 7,124 Squizers completed our survey - Carole Barnes from Bibra Lake in Western Oz was the lucky winner of the $250 gift voucher, and we’ve now sent our donation off to the Red Cross. We’ll have more to say on what you told us in the coming weeks, so stay tuned…

Squiz the Day

Friday
9.00am (AEST) - The final report from the Senate Inquiry into the Optus Triple Zero service outage in September last year is due to be tabled - Canberra

9.00am (AEST) - The Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand will hold its annual conference - Canberra

9.00am (ACST) - Australian Pool Rescue Championships, where more than 400 Oz athletes will put their skills to the test in the race for national titles in obstacle, manikin, rescue and relay events (until 9 August) - Adelaide

Mount Isa Mines Rodeo (until 9 August) - Mount Isa

North Sydney pool (the one under the Sydney Harbour Bridge) reopens after a 5-year $122 million glow-up - Sydney

Resmed will publish its Q4 and annual results

James Hardie Q1 earnings

Edinburgh Fringe Festival begins (until 31 August) 

Twins Days Festival starts - Twinsburg Ohio (until 9 August)

Purple Heart Day in the US, commemorating the creation of the oldest American military decoration

🍺 International Beer Day

Birthdays for Aussie cricket legend Greg Chappell (1948), surfer Trevor Hendy (1968), actress Sophie Lee (1968), model Megan Gale (1975), and actress Abbie Cornish (1982)

Anniversary of:  

  • Nobel Peace Prize winner Ralph Bunche born (1904)

  • The bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania which killed at least 224 and injured 4,500 (1998) 

  • the discovery of the bodies of Canadian teens Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky, who were at the centre of a  huge manhunt and suspected of killing three people in British Columbia (2019)

Saturday
The 2026 Ekka (Royal Queensland Show) begins (until 16 August) - Brisbane

7.00pm (AWST) - Juventus v Inter Milan in an exhibition match - Perth, watch on 7Plus

8.05pm (AEST) - Rugby Union: Test Match, Wallabies v Japan (this is the team’s first game under new coach Les Kiss) - Osaka, watch on Stan Sports

The Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand’s annual conference is on (until 11 August) - Canberra

Elvis Week begins in Graceland, Memphis

National Indigenous Music Awards

🍫 Chocolate Winterfest begins (until 9 August) - Latrobe

International Cat Day

Birthdays for actor Dustin Hoffman (1937), tennis ace Roger Federer (1981), Beatrice, Princess of York (1988), and singer Shawn Mendes (1998)

Anniversary of:

  • the invention of Corn Flakes by William Kellogg (1898)

  • the US, USSR, Britain and France signing Treaty of London, which set down procedures for the Nuremberg war trials of Nazi leaders (1945)

  • the formation of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) (1967)

  • the death of Olivia Newton-John (2022)

  • Aussie fashion brand Zimmermann being purchased by Advent International, making it Australia's most valuable fashion brand (2023)

  • The deadliest US wildfire in over a century devastating the Hawaiian island of Maui (2023)

Sunday
City2Surf - Sydney 

4.35pm (AEST) - AFLW's 2026 season begins with a game between St Kilda and Carlton at Marvel Stadium - Melbourne 

Singapore's National Day

📖 Book Lovers Day

Ekka, Royal Queensland Show, begins - Brisbane (until 17 August) 

Birthdays for Aussie tennis legend Rod Laver (1938), fashion designer Michael Kors (1959), actress Gillian Anderson (1968), actor Eric Bana (1968), and actress Anna Kendrick (1985)

Anniversary of:

  • the opening of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican (1483)

  • the publication of Henry David Thoreau's Walden (1854)

  • the US dropping a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan (1945)

  • the Manson family committing the Tate-LaBianca murders (1969)

  • the resignation of US President Richard Nixon (1974)

  • Singer Whitney Houston is born (1963)