Monday, 22 September - I got that sunshine in my pocket

Good morning, it’s Monday, 22 September. In your Squiz Today…

• The PM faces pressure to lock in a meeting with US President Donald Trump

• Optus explains last week’s devastating network outage

• And Aussie high jumper Nicola Olyslagers wins gold in Tokyo…

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

Said Douglas Bassett, an expert in the spear-throwing tool, the atlatl (or ‘a stick by which you can throw another stick’). He just competed in a US atlatl championship, and despite knowing its history inside out, still can’t quite nail how to say its name. An ancient mystery…

Waiting on a ‘consequential’ meeting

The Squiz

PM Anthony Albanese is in the United States and facing questions about when he’ll meet with US President Donald Trump. The President hinted at a chinwag when he reprimanded an ABC journo last week, and there was speculation it could happen yesterday - but we’re still waiting… There’s a lot for the pair to talk about - the AUKUS deal, defence spending, and China’s rise are all pressing issues. That’s why one of the US’s most well-known diplomats/former Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell summed it up as “probably the most consequential meeting between an American and Australian in living memory”. 

Why’s it been so hard to get into Trump’s diary? 

It’s not for a lack of opportunities… You might recall that the pair were set to meet at the G7 Summit in Canada in June, but Trump left early to address Middle East issues, and Albanese has been left hanging since then. And thanks to a freedom of information request, we can see how hard Team Albanese’s been working to get a face-to-face locked in since then. As for why Trump’s been hard to pin down, some analysts speculate that the Trump administration isn’t thrilled with the stance our government has taken on several issues. They range from our climate policies, our desire to get big tech to pay for news content, and our reluctance to significantly boost defence spending. And a big one for this week - going against Israel and the US on acknowledging Palestinian statehood…

That’ll be a big talking point this week…

Yep - Albanese is in New York and overnight he made Australia’s position clear ahead of leaders’ week at the United Nations General Assembly, which starts tomorrow. We’ve joined a list of more than 150 other nations that support an independent Palestinian state, and we’re not the only Western nation backing it for the first time… France, Canada and the United Kingdom have also now formally recognised Palestinian statehood. FYI - it’s largely a symbolic action, and it’s intended to up the pressure on Israel to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as it continues - and ramps up - the war against Hamas. Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu has already responded - he says Australia and the other nations backing an independent Palestinian state “are giving a huge reward to terrorism”. 

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Squiz the Rest

Thousands gather for Kirk’s farewell

Another big event happening in the US is the memorial service for murdered conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot while speaking at a Utah university earlier this month. It’s underway this morning as we speak, and President Trump and Kirk’s wife Erika are set to address the thousands of people in the crowd… The service is being held under Super-Bowl level security at a stadium in Arizona and being live-streamed via Kirk’s channel Rumble, as well as Fox. There have been concerns about the prospect of more political violence in the US, but progressive analyst Van Jones says that wasn’t Kirk’s way, citing Kirk’s encouragement to “disagree about the issues agreeably.” Jones says it’s up to all players to de-escalate things, “as Kirk was doing with me”.  

Optus fails again 

Huge news over the weekend was the revelation that another multi-state network outage from Optus blocked hundreds of triple-0 calls getting through last Thursday. We say 'another' because it's less than 2 years since its last major outage… This time, a botched infrastructure upgrade took emergency calls offline for nearly 14 hours, and it's been linked to the deaths of at least 3 people - 2 in Western Oz and one in South Oz. It was thought that the death of a baby was also linked, but police now say that was “unlikely”. The company admitted receiving several complaints about emergency calls not getting through, but they weren’t escalated. CEO Stephen Rue said it was “clearly not good enough” and an independent investigation will be carried out. Communications Minister Anika Wells said the company had “let Australians down when they needed them the most.”

TikTok scrolls on

A peek inside the deal between China and America to let video-sharing app TikTok stay stateside was offered by the White House yesterday. The US Government threatened to ban the app owned by the Chinese company ByteDance due to national security concerns - unless it was removed from Chinese hands. That sale is now underway, and under the terms, ByteDance will get 1 of 7 board seats, meaning “TikTok will be majority-owned by Americans”. The new owner is tipped to be a company formed by investors from the finance and tech sectors. Trump says Chinese President Xi Jinping “approved” the deal and they’ll meet on the sidelines of APEC next month to lock it in. With 170 million users in the US, that’s one big, collective sigh of relief…

A golden night in Tokyo

Last night was a highlight for Aussies at the World Athletics Championships - with high jumper Nicola Olyslagers winning the gold medal (with her trusty notebook at hand, which got a bit wet during the rain-delayed final…). The Olympic silver medalist cleared 2m for the win, while fellow Aussie Eleanor Patterson finished fifth. On the track, Ky Robinson ran fourth in the 5,000m final - the fastest time of any Aussie over the distance. And Jess Hull came eighth in the 800m final after a rollercoaster ride and an area record to get there… Not going so fast overnight was Aussie F1 driver Oscar Piastri who crashed out of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, hitting a wall in the first lap. Dutchman Max Verstappen won the race but Piastri still leads the rankings over his McLaren teammate Lando Norris. 

The summer the world turned obsessed…

We’re coming out of winter hibernation here down under, but Aussies haven’t been immune to a summer-themed pop culture phenomenon out of the US… If the headline didn’t tip you off already, we’re talking about The Summer I Turned Pretty, a young adult series that wrapped up its third/final season on Prime last week. The simple synopsis is that it’s about a teenage love triangle set to a whole lotta pop bangers, and it’s become a runaway hit. Cue the analysis about why, with the most common explanation being that global audiences have been yearning for the return of 2000s-era romcoms - TSITP, as it’s known online, fits the bill. Prime seems to get that - late last week TSITP’s writer Jenny Han announced that a feature film is on the way. Time to get pretty…

Apropos of Nothing - High performing animals edition

It’s not your usual type of voyage, but 72yo Peter Dixon and his poodle Maggie are kayaking 2,400km down the Murray River for a good cause. After losing his wife Helen to pancreatic cancer, he’s retracing a family trip to raise money with his co-pilot - who’s proving more of a mascot than mariner…

Two emu chicks are being raised by a couple of hens at a NSW wildlife park after it turned out their dad wasn’t ready for that much commitment… They’re named Muffin and Socks after characters on Bluey, and they’re destined to grow about 5 times the size of their adopted mums - for real life.

And this year’s Ig Nobel Prizes - making people laugh, then think - have been awarded. Cows painted as zebras to ward off biting flies, the pizza preferences of lizards and a study of whether alcohol can improve people’s abilities to speak in a foreign language were all in the mix. The complete list of questionable/entertaining scientific endeavours is here…

Squiz the Day

Term 3 school holidays begin in the NT and Victoria (until 6 October), and also Queensland (until 7 October)

9.15am (AEST) - Leigh Sushames will appear in court charged with the murder of police officer Keith Smith at a North Motton property in Tasmania - Hobart

11.00am (AEST) - The Reserve Bank will appear before the federal parliament economics committee - Canberra

11.30am (AEST) - Biomedical engineer Daniel Timms will address the National Press Club about his work on cutting-edge cardiovascular medical devices, including his development of a total automatic heart - Canberra

7.30pm (AEST) - AFL’s Brownlow Medal ceremony begins - Melbourne, watch on Channel 7

High-level week begins at the UN General Assembly, with recognition of Palestinian statehood, new climate targets and the plight of children in conflict zones on the agenda (until 30 September) - New York

The Google advertising anti-trust remedies trial begins - Virginia, US

The Ballon D’Or winner will be named - Paris 

Rosh Hashanah, Jewish New Year festival (until 24 September)

It’s the start of Kids in Pain Week

Fairtrade Fortnight begins

World Car-Free Day 

🦏 World Rhino Day 

Hobbit Day - marking the birthdays of Frodo and Bilbo Baggins

Birthdays for musicians Nick Cave (1957) and Joan Jett (1958), tenor Andrea Bocelli (1958), and soccer star Harry Kewell (1978)

Anniversary of: 

• The first episode of Friends airing on NBC (1994) and The West Wing (1999)

• National Geographic publishing its first issue - without photos (1888)

• The Iran-Iraq war beginning (1980)