Monday, 24 August - It was an honest mistake

Good morning, it’s Monday, 24 August. In your Squiz Today…

• Ukraine’s leader rejects calls for a presidential election

• Record crowds for Sydney Swans’ AFLW team

• And a marathon medal mixup… 🥇

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

Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

Said 18yo Queenslander Lucas Herrington, after making his English Premier League debut for Hull City over the weekend. And given Hull scored an upset win over Manchester United, and his transfer deal was worth $33 million, buzzing could be an understatement…

An election rejection in Ukraine

The Squiz

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has knocked back calls for a presidential election in his country, which is marking its 35th anniversary of independence today with celebrations around the world, including here in Oz. Late last week, Zelensky’s former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov called for a poll, arguing that Ukraine could not put democracy on hold indefinitely even if it was at war. It was reported as one of the most significant challenges to Zelensky’s leadership since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 - but overnight, the President said that holding an election while fighting a war would “destroy” and divide the country.

Where’s all this come from?

After Russia’s invasion, Zelensky’s popularity skyrocketed as Ukrainians rallied around him - with around 90% approving of the job he was doing. It’s drifted a bit over the ensuing 4.5 years, and it’s now sitting in the 60s. Analysts mainly attribute that to a series of internal corruption scandals (something Zelensky promised to fix when he was elected) and the overall hardships inflicted by the war. Russia’s invasion triggered martial law in Ukraine, meaning the country would not hold any elections until the war was over. With 5-year presidential terms, that means Zelensky should have been up for re-election in 2024, but it’s been indefinitely postponed - though Fedorov’s comments are building the pressure a bit… 

And who’s this Fedorov guy?

He’s a 35yo tech entrepreneur and Zelensky ally who served as Defence Minister for about 6 months, beginning in January. He was credited for using new tech to improve Ukraine’s standing in the war, and challenging corruption within the Ukrainian military. But he was sacked in July, reportedly because he didn’t get on with the Ukrainian army’s commander-in-chief - who was also sacked a few days later. That triggered protests in Ukraine due to Fedorov’s popularity - for his part, he says he remains loyal to Zelensky, but “democracy can’t be Russia’s hostage.” As it happens, Russia is holding its own elections in a few weeks - and analysts say that might be an interesting watch. As its progress on the battlefield slows while the casualties climb, what would normally be a dominant win for the ruling United Russia party could be anything but… 

Squiz the Rest

The Royal Commission nears the end

This is the final week of hearings for the Antisemitism inquiry, which was formally established in January this year. Since then, it’s held 9 blocks of hearings - up to a fortnight apiece - on topics ranging from online hatred to our security services. This last block has focused on social cohesion - looking at levels of prejudice and discrimination within Australian society. And while the hearings might be set to wrap up, lots of voices are calling for an extension - with a common complaint that the inquiry hasn’t heard from our leaders, like PM Anthony Albanese - but Commissioner Virginia Bell says she won’t be asking for one. As for what happens next, Commissioner Bell will take the coming weeks to prepare her official report, which is due before 14 December this year.

Trouble at the northern border

Longtime allies Canada and the US are at loggerheads again, and we’ll give you one guess as to why… After trade talks between the 2 broke down, the US is now charging a 50% tariff (aka a tax on imports) on various Canadian goods, including wine, dairy and hockey equipment (sacre bleu…) That’s royally ticked off its neighbours to the north, with Canadian PM Mark Carney calling it a “miscalculation” and warning that the 2 economies were now in a full-blown trade war. As a result, Canada will match those tariffs dollar-for-dollar, which will kick in on 8 September. US President Donald Trump responded by saying Canada “wants the benefits of being a (US) State, without being one.”

The bird flu outbreak spreads…

…beyond birds for the first time, with a wild long-nosed fur seal testing positive in South Oz. The seal in question was in Beachport - and Federal Agricultural Minister Julie Collins said the seal likely caught the disease through exposure to infected wild birds. Invasive Species Council chief executive Jack Gough says this could be bad news for our marine mammals, particularly the Oz sea lion population. There are only around 10,000 of those left in the wild, and Gough said it could make for an “extinction-level event” if the flu spreads further. Beyond that, authorities are worried about the bird flu making its way into our poultry - if it does, it’ll trigger mass culls, farm closures and restrictions on poultry exports. There’s no sign that’s happened yet, but we’re on high alert…

Emotional scenes at the Swans

Players for the Sydney Swans AFL and AFLW teams were moved to tears yesterday after a week dominated by off-field issues for the club. Last week, 5 players were stood down for breaching team standards, while police investigate an allegation of sexual assault - none of the players have been arrested or charged. In the wake of that scandal, the club played its first double-header (where the women’s team plays immediately before the men) and a record crowd of 16,672 showed up for the women’s game - more than double the previous mark of 8,264. While hundreds of fans walked out before the men’s game started, protesting the way the club handled the scandal - both teams picked up a win. The men's side defeated North Melbourne, and the AFLW team scored a 24-point victory over Essendon.

A medal mistake

We’re just under a week away from the Sydney Marathon, one of the big 8 global marathon majors. But if you’re one of the 40,000 or so brave runners planning to give it a crack, you might want to double-check your participation medal… Around the edges of the medal, there are images of several Sydney locations that the marathon route passes by - like the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, as well as a sports stadium. But while that stadium is supposed to be Allianz Stadium in Sydney, keen-eyed observers reckon it looks more like Allianz Arena in Germany. Cue the theories that someone might have googled ‘Allianz Stadium’, grabbed the first (incorrect) image and called it a day… Organisers have confirmed it’s the wrong stadium, but they won’t be making a change - in their eyes, it’s still “a beautiful medal, and now a little more unique.”

Apropos of Nothing

A humanoid robot named Lightning has broken Usain Bolt’s world record for the 100m dash at the World Humanoid Robot Games in China over the weekend, setting a time of 9.32 seconds. Someone test that robot for PEDs - performance-enhancing downloads…  

If you’ve been waiting patiently for a third instalment in Nicolas Cage’s National Treasure series, you’re in luck - almost 20 years after the last one, National Treasure 3 is in the works. It’s time to steal the Declaration of Independence… again… 

And the Australian men’s cricket team has recovered after its all-time upset loss to Bangladesh in Darwin - it steamrolled the visitors by an innings and 51 runs in the second Test in Mackay.

Squiz the Day

9.30am (AWST) - 20yo Brodie Jake Dewar to appear in court over the death of former Labor strategist Tim Picton - Perth 

Results season continues - with Aussie Broadband, Monash IVF, bathroom and plumbing firm Reece, alongside bottle shops and pubs giant Endeavour Group and Ansell Ltd, which makes personal protective equipment, set to release their full-year financial results

Start of National Skills Week (until 30 August)

NAB Business Summit, featuring a keynote speech from CEO Andrew Irvine on productivity

Independence Day in Ukraine - the Ukrainian community across Australia will mark the 35th anniversary of the event with a series of celebrations around the country

Birthdays for Stephen Fry (1957), Ava DuVernay (1972), Dave Chappelle (1973), John Green (1977), and Rupert Grint (1988)

Anniversary of:

• the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, burying Pompeii and Herculaneum and killing up to 15,000 (79)

• the invention of the potato chip by chef George Crum in New York, according to popular legend (1853)

• Thomas Edison filing a patent for the kinetoscope, an early motion-picture viewer (1891)

• Amelia Earhart becoming the first woman to fly nonstop across the US (1932)

• Windows 95 being released (1995)

• Tim Cook becoming CEO of Apple after the resignation of Steve Jobs due to health reasons (2011)

• the ouster of PM Malcolm Turnbull/Scott Morrison becoming PM (2018)

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