Monday, 20 April - Beauty's where you find it

April 20, 2026

Good morning, it’s Monday, 20 April. In your Squiz Today…

  • US diplomats are on their way to Pakistan for peace talks - but whether Iranian diplomats will be there is another question…

  • One Nation sees a slight dip in its polling numbers as the Farrer by-election approaches

  • And a Queensland bushie designs his own board game…

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

“This is probably the first time I’ve ever performed with someone that’s shorter than me.”

Said pop music superstar Madonna - who has performed with plenty of big names - after a surprise appearance in the 152cm-tall Sabrina Carpenter’s headlining Coachella set on Saturday. You don’t need to be tall to strike a pose…

A possibility of peace talks

The Squiz

With the 2-week ceasefire between Iran, the US and Israel set to expire on Wednesday, President Donald Trump says US diplomats are on their way to Pakistan for new peace negotiations. He’s also repeated his threat to destroy civilian infrastructure - think power plants and bridges - if Iran doesn’t come to the table. Iranian state media has said the country isn’t likely to send a team at this stage as long as the US continues its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which was closed again on Saturday.

Wait, the Strait reopened?

Yep, but blink and you missed it… On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the strait was “completely open” - a claim backed up by the US President. Given the strait’s closure has caused so much havoc to the world’s fuel supplies, that was music to the ears of many international leaders - but it didn’t last long. When the US said it would keep its military presence in the strait - where it’s monitoring ships passing through and stopping them from visiting Iranian ports - Iran closed it again. Even before that, Indian officials reported Iranian gunships had fired on 2 ships sailing through the strait under the Indian flag - something Trump said was a violation of the ceasefire agreement.

So will these peace talks go ahead?

Hard to say at this point - things are changing quickly, but preparations are underway in Islamabad for Iran and US officials to meet. If they don’t, Trump has said that the US “might have to start dropping bombs again”, so it’s a high-stakes few days with not much time left in the current ceasefire. As we mentioned on Friday, there’s also a 10-day ceasefire in effect between Israel and Lebanon, although it doesn’t include the militant group Hezbollah as a formal signatory, which Israel has been fighting in the south of Lebanon since shortly after the war in Iran began. Not much news on where those talks are up to yet - but the success of the ceasefire in Lebanon is crucial to the success of the ceasefire in Iran, so it’s another one to watch this week… 

Supercharging your knowledge

You might have heard the words “payday super” a bit recently. That’s because workplaces around the country are preparing to transition to it on 1 July. It’s coming up fast, which is why small business platform Xero is encouraging business owners to get in early by understanding their cash flow now and making sure they have the right tools in place to manage their payroll and ensure compliance. Learn more about the switch to payday super - and find practical tips, guidance and tools to prepare - here.

Squiz the Rest

Ben Roberts-Smith speaks

After being released on bail last Friday, the former SAS soldier says he’ll use his upcoming criminal trial to clear his name. The war veteran is facing 5 counts of the war crime of murder, after failing to prove his innocence in civil court over the past few years. In a public statement yesterday, he said he’ll “always be in the fight”, and had a crack at the circumstances of his arrest at Sydney Airport on 7 April. He called that arrest - and the public nature of it - “sensational” and an “unnecessary spectacle.” Less public was his release from prison on bail on Friday, where he appeared to be protected from public/media view by correctional officers. That may be a breach of protocol, which has triggered a review. For Roberts-Smith, his case is expected back in court on 5 June.
*If you’d like to unpack how a criminal trial is different from a civil one, we’ve got a Squiz Shortcut for you…

One Nation might have peaked

Poll-wise, anyway… After a huge rise in support over the past year or so, Pauline Hanson’s party has seen a drift across 2 polls published on the weekend. The Resolve Political Monitor says One Nation’s primary vote support has dropped 2 points to 22%, and Newspoll has it down 2 points to 24% - both numbers still much higher than the 6.4% it earned at the federal election last year. But it’s a notable shift as we enter the home stretch of a federal by-election in Farrer (former Coalition leader Sussan Ley’s old seat), where the party’s candidate David Farley is considered one of the frontrunners. That by-election on 9 May is tipped to be very close, and may have just become even closer…

A high-profile defamation case kicks off today…

…between Rebel Wilson and Charlotte MacInnes, the director and star of recent Aussie movie The Deb. It’s a feel-good musical about a debutante ball in outback Oz, and it’s the first movie Wilson has ever directed - but the behind-the-scenes story has been anything but feel-good. This particular lawsuit (there are a lot involving this film), is about social media posts by Wilson where she said MacInnes had told her she’d been sexually harassed by one of the film’s producers - and then later retracted that claim in exchange for a lead role in the film. MacInnes says those posts defamed her, and that’s led to this trial in the Federal Court, which will be live-streamed on YouTube and is expected to run for 9 days.

The Blues face questions

There was a big unfolding story in the world of Aussie Rules football over the weekend, after a Carlton player seemed to be in an unusual state on the field. Tracking back to Thursday night’s close loss to Collingwood, 23yo Elijah Hollands looked out of sorts and confused - failing to get a possession until the third quarter, and being taken off the ground shortly after. Carlton described the incident as a mental health episode, which led to questions as to how he was allowed on the field in the first place if he wasn’t right to play. The Blues say they’re looking into it, and the AFL says it wants the results of their investigation ASAP. Hollands won’t play this weekend, but expect to hear plenty more about this as the week goes on…

Far from board in the outback

While plenty of us might have thought about making our own board game, 69yo Steve Hawe from Queensland has actually gone and done it. Despite being a board game novice, he’s designed a game called Campdraft, which is based on a sport played almost exclusively in the Oz outback, where competitors separate an animal from a herd and then guide it through a course (on horseback). Hawe’s game is still in the playtesting stage, but he’s hoping to get it published - which would be a rarity in Oz. Although we’ve been doing well in the video game world of late, board games made or designed here are still fairly rare - maybe a little bush ingenuity will change all that…

Apropos of Nothing

Keep an eye out for Australian professional wrestler Rhea Ripley today - she’ll be competing in a huge match against champion Jade Cargill at night 2 of Wrestlemania in Las Vegas (watch on Netflix). The Adelaide-born Ripley is one of the biggest wrestling stars in the world… 

The Australian panel show Good News Week turned 30yo yesterday, and some of the show’s stars reflected on those early days at the ABC - and the controversial move to Channel 10. Reminds us of this all-time TV moment it produced in 1997… 

And a truck carrying one million bees crashed on a Tennessee highway on Friday, causing havoc and traffic delays. It was bad news for motorists, but wonderful news for pun-inclined headline writers everywhere (guilty - we were pretty buzzed about it...)

Squiz the Day

9.00am (AEST) - Trial begins for Charlotte MacInnes' defamation case against Rebel Wilson over Wilson's film The Deb, Federal Court of Australia - Sydney 

9.30am (AEST) - Decision expected in Ruth Langford's request to have the evidence on her protest charges held on Country, in a first for the Tasmanian justice system, Hobart Magistrates Court - Hobart

11:30pm (AEST) - The 130th Boston Marathon begins - Boston, US

New blood donation rules take effect in Australia that will expand eligibility for gay and bisexual men, as well as transgender people  

The Reserve Bank will release details of its report into cash use and attitudes in Oz

Travis Lovett will begin a “Walk for Truth” from Victorian Parliament to Federal Parliament, calling on PM Anthony Albanese to establish a First Nations truth-telling commission

It’s 420 Day - an informal day of celebration for cannabis users around the world (and a day sometimes used to advocate for legalisation)

Birthdays for Jessica Lange (1949), Carmen Electra (1972), and Miranda Kerr (1983)

Anniversary of:

  • Captain James Cook arriving in what is now New South Wales (1770)

  • Marie and Pierre Curie isolating the radioactive compound radium chloride (1902)

  • the Columbine High School massacre (1999)

  • the death of Avicii (2018)

  • Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin being sentenced to 22.5 years' prison for the murder of George Floyd (2021)