Monday, 14 October - I see your true colours

Good morning, it’s Monday, 14 October. In your Squiz Today…

• Secret Hamas documents have been discovered in Gaza

• A racist rally has shocked a Victorian town

• And Aurora Australis puts on a show… ✨

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

Said Elon Musk after his company SpaceX pulled off a world-first by launching its Starship capsule and then catching the booster rocket in huge metal tongs called ‘chopsticks’ so it can be used again. Hats off - the average dim sim can be tricky with chopsticks, let alone the most powerful rocket ever built…

A glimpse into Hamas’s thinking

The Squiz

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has joined leaders from the Hezbollah terror group in denying they were linked to the 7 October attack after a New York Times report showed Hamas was looking for support. The notes - which were found by the Israeli military on a computer in Gaza - give an insight into what happened during 10 secret Hamas meetings between Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar (who was thought to be dead until reports that he’s recently resurfaced…) and his political and military chiefs. They detail the group’s strategy behind the 7 October attack on Israel - something Sinwar hoped would prompt Israel’s “collapse”.

What else do the notes say? 

That Hamas’s leaders originally planned to carry out the attack in 2022 but hit pause while trying to get Iran and Hezbollah on board. Hamas stopped its skirmishes with Israel in 2021 to focus on “the big project” (aka the 7 October attack) and “lull Israeli leaders into a false sense of security”. It was also keeping a close eye on Israel’s “internal situation” with its 5 elections since 2019 and pressure on 2022 poll winner PM Benjamin Netanyahu over his controversial judicial overhaul plans. The terror group’s plan worked, and in the year since the attack, questions about Israeli intelligence agencies' failure to stop the attacks remain a sore point. Reports say the Hamas meeting minutes have prompted more internal reviews in Israel - but there is still no official inquiry.

And what’s the latest on the ground?

Israel’s war in Gaza continues, including strikes on refugee camps it says are being used by Hamas for shelter. And in southern Lebanon, Israel has ordered the evacuation of more towns as it continues to fight Hezbollah in the region. The IDF has also repeatedly struck the United Nations peacekeeping force’s headquarters in the small southern city of Naqoura after telling staff to evacuate. Five peacekeepers have been injured, drawing criticism from world leaders, including US President Joe Biden (who has so far kept out of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict…). Israel argues that the UN has failed to stabilise the region, so it’s going in to confront Hezbollah. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati says Israel’s actions are "a crime which is directed at the international community".

Every refill counts

If you’re anything like us, mornings are busy, but swinging by your favourite coffee shop rarely falls off the list of things to do. So, let us tell you about the HuskeeSteel reusable coffee cup. It ensures your morning cup of liquid gold is at the perfect temperature. Made from 91% post-consumer recycled stainless steel, it's dual-walled and vacuum-insulated to keep your coffee hot and your digits cool. It also comes in a new 12oz (355ml) size - just the right amount to get you to your lunchtime coffee run.

Squiz the Rest

A shocking scene

The town of Corowa on the Victorian-NSW border is known for its key role in shaping Australian democracy as host of the People’s Convention in 1893, but it was a white supremacist rally that put it on the map this weekend… Dressed in black and wearing masks, about 50 people marched to the war memorial, shouting slogans and carrying banners. NSW Police were called to break it up - no arrests were made and their inquiries are continuing. Local MP/deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley said no community should or could "tolerate gangs of balaclava-covered thugs spouting hate" and has called on NSW to join Victoria in banning the Nazi salute and related symbols. Earlier this year, ASIO boss Mike Burgess said they were worried about the rise of racist and nationalist extremists who want to spark a race war in Australia. 

Weathering the storm

Florida is picking up the pieces after the double whammy of Hurricanes Helene and Milton claimed almost 300 lives and left 1.1 million without power over the weekend. US President Joe Biden has given the green light for a major disaster declaration, unlocking federal funding to help with recovery and rebuilding while disaster assistance for impacted locals is also starting to flow. The hurricanes have caused about $300 billion in economic losses, wiping out homes, businesses and infrastructure - but many Floridians say they are determined to rebuild… Bill O’Connell is one who says the storms are "the price you pay to live in paradise." The issues locals face as they head into this week: widespread flooding after the huge amount of rain that has been dumped across the state and fuel shortages. Some pics to give you a sense of the scale of things are here. 

A year of reflection

Today marks a year since the Indigenous Voice referendum got the thumbs down from over 60% of Aussies, and Indigenous leaders are divided on the question of what comes next. ‘Yes’ campaigner/unionist Thomas Mayo says "the forces that worked against Indigenous recognition are trying to take us backwards.” Campaigners say councils that have recently ditched Welcome to Country ceremonies are evidence of that… Other campaigners, including Tom Calma, say reconciliation is "still alive and well". How that progresses isn’t clear, with the Albanese Government backing away from the process spelt out in the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Speaking of the PM, he’s home from the ASEAN summit to Newspoll results (paywall) that place the Coalition ahead of Labor on a 2-party preferred basis for the first time since he was elected, with housing affordability top-of-mind for voters.

A TikTok’in risk to democracy  

The spotlight is back on China’s attention/data-absorbing social media machine, with the Coalition’s Home Affairs spokesman James Paterson prodding Team Albanese to take steps to mitigate for potential “national security and foreign interference risk”. In the US, ByteDance (TikTok’s parent company) has until mid-January to sell to non-Chinese owners or be banned. The company is fighting the new law, claiming it's unconstitutional and would stifle the free speech of its 170 million American users. Paterson hasn't called for the government to follow suit but says steps need to be taken to keep Australian users safe. And reports say TikTok is laying off 700 employees as it makes greater use of AI in content moderation. The company says 80% of dodgy content is now removed by automated technologies. 

Blinded by the lights

The early bird gets the worm - or in this case, the light show known as Aurora Australis. Those who rose early (or never went to bed…) in southern Australia over the weekend were treated to a solar event so bright it could be seen with the naked eye. Thankfully for the non-early birds, plenty of people took photos… To get you across the science, Aurora Australis (and Aurora Borealis, in the Northern Hemisphere) is caused by solar storms around the sun. Pulses of energy, or solar flares, are expelled towards Earth, resulting in the pink, red, yellow and purple lights. NSW woman Emma Kidson described them as “enchanting”, saying “the beams dance across the sky”. While they’re notoriously difficult to predict, experts say signing up for Australian Aurora alerts is the best way to stay in the loop - along with testing your equipment beforehand. Happy stargazing…

We’ve got a sweet little deal for you…

You telling your people about us is the number one way that we grow, and we want to say thanks by sweetening the deal. Each person who signs up off your unique link by 19 October gets you into the draw to win a $450 Go-To voucher - their whole schtick is skincare that’s effective, effortless, and fun… A bit like us. And have we mentioned how easy sharing your favourite shortcut to the news is? Copy and paste the link below and share it round to your network…

Your unique link: https://squiztoday.thesquiz.com.au/subscribe?ref=PLACEHOLDER

PS: Your friends will need to confirm their email to guarantee entry into the draw. This competition ends at 11.59pm AEDT on 19 October, and the winner will be drawn on 20 October 2024 and contacted via email. Go forth…

Apropos of Nothing

Officials in the Canadian province of Newfoundland are scratching their heads after mysterious white “globs” began washing up on local beaches. One resident says they smell like vegetable oil and look “like someone had tried to bake bread and done a lousy job”. Tasty…

Meanwhile, we’ve got a seaside glob of our own… Sydney’s Andrew Hankin has submitted an inflatable melanoma design for this year’s Sculpture by the Sea. He says the goal is to raise awareness of early melanoma detection.

And much further west, in Busselton, University of Western Australia researchers are set to look into the cancer-fighting compounds found in marine sponges thriving under the town’s famous jetty. They’ll start collecting sponge samples in February. How good is science…

Squiz the Day

9.00am (AEDT) - SXSW Sydney, a festival for global creative professionals,  kicks off (until 20 October) - Sydney

10.15am (AEDT) - Bruce Lehrmann’s appeal against his defamation case loss to Network Ten is back in court for a hearing to decide whether he has to put up a $200K surety or pay the $2m in legal costs he owes before the appeal case can go ahead - Sydney 

10.30am (AEDT) - A pre-trial hearing continues for Erin Patterson, the woman accused of murder by serving a poisonous mushroom lunch - Melbourne 

8.45pm (AEDT) - The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel - Stockholm, Sweden

NSW, SA, and Tas public schools return for Term 4 of 2024

Start of National Nutrition Week (until 20 October) 

World Standards Day – so it’s not a day to drop them…

Birthdays for Ralph Lauren (1939) and Usher (1978)

Anniversary of:

• the publication of Arthur Conan Doyle's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892) and AA Milne's Winnie the Pooh (1926)

• Martin Luther King Jr winning the Nobel Peace Prize (1964)

• the premiere of reality TV show Keeping Up with the Kardashians (2007)

• the Albanese Government's Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum being voted down (2023)