Monday, 25 August - The map that leads to you

August 25, 2025

Good morning, it’s Monday, 25 August. In your Squiz Today…

  • Parts of Gaza experience famine as thousands of Aussies march in support of Palestine

  • Housing reforms top the agenda as federal parliament resumes

  • And at the start of a new week, may you summon the ambition of a bear in an ice cream shop… 🧸🍦

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

“They are coffee-first people.”

Said wrestler/actor/coffee aficionado John Cena about the good people of Melbourne, the city he says makes the best coffee in the world. Given the shade he throws at places/people that aren’t “coffee-first” in his interview with Bon Appétit, we think that’s a compliment…

A famine declaration for thousands of Gazans

The Squiz

There were protests across the country with thousands of Aussies participating in the March for Palestine yesterday - the key message was for the Albanese Government further to sanction the Israeli Government for its actions in Gaza. The protests follow Saturday’s release of an official analysis that Gaza is experiencing a famine, making it the fifth reported globally since 2004. United Nations boss António Guterres said the conditions leading to the declaration are “a failure of humanity itself. Famine is not about food; it is the deliberate collapse of the systems needed for human survival.”

Explain that famine declaration a bit more… 

Sure thing. The report comes from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which is a joint project between 21 groups, including UN agencies like the World Health Organisation, along with the World Bank. It uses a 5-phase scale to assess the food security situation in regions around the world, and famine - the top level - is when 20% of households face extreme food shortages and 30% of children are suffering from acute malnutrition. The IPC says that 641,000 people in Gaza are facing those conditions right now. And it doesn’t happen very often… This is the first time famine has been reported in the Middle East - but if nothing changes, they say Yemen could be added to the list as early as next month. 

How has Israel responded?

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu called the report an “outright lie” and accused Hamas of intercepting and stealing deliveries of aid. Still, protests are continuing within Israel over plans to take over Gaza City (with reports saying that will now start in mid-September) and to build settlements in the West Bank. Australia was one of 21 countries to sign a statement on Friday condemning those plans, calling it a “violation of international law”. But those at yesterday’s protests want Team Albanese to do more - Greens leader Larissa Waters yesterday said the government should sanction Israel in the same way it’s sanctioned Russia for its war on Ukraine, and end the “2-way arms trade”. Our government has denied that we export weapons to Israel, but Australian companies do export parts used in Israel’s F-35 jets.

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Squiz the Rest

A Canberra freeze (that’s not winter-related…)

Ring the bells, our federal pollies pick things up again in Canberra today following last week’s Economic Reform Roundtable - and there’s a fair bit on the agenda... Housing will be front and centre after the Albanese Government agreed to ‘freeze’ part of the National Construction Code to speed up approvals. That’s received a chilly response from the Coalition, who accused Team Albanese of pinching their election policy... We can also expect debate on the proposed changes to the NDIS. As we talked about on Friday, the states will be expected to contribute half the cost of the new/out of the blue Thriving Kids program for children with mild autism or developmental delays, but they want to see some deets. 

Taking care of business

The FBI has raided John Bolton's home in Maryland as part of a classified documents investigation - yes, the same Bolton who was Trump's national security adviser before becoming one of his loudest critics. Vice President JD Vance says they're investigating whether Bolton broke the law with his 2020 tell-all book, but insists it's not politically motivated. Also this weekend, the Trump administration has released transcripts of Ghislaine Maxwell's recent interviews with the Department of Justice - seemingly to clear the air after weeks of backlash against US President Donald Trump over the Epstein files. The men were friends back in the day, but she says the President was never "in any inappropriate setting". Critics say there’s a whole lot more to the story… 

The Menendez brothers will stay locked up…

…for at least a further 18 months after both Erik and Lyle were denied parole in separate hearings. The brothers have been in jail since 1996, when they were found guilty of murdering their parents Jose and Kitty in their Beverly Hills home in 1989. Both say they suffered years of abuse by their father, which their mother enabled. The brothers became eligible for parole after being resentenced in May following a review of their cases prompted by 2 Netflix series that aired last year. And in 2 hearings on Friday/Saturday, the California Parole Board found “there are still signs” that they posed a risk to the public. Their next chance for freedom will be in 3 years, although that could be reduced to 18 months with good behaviour.

Game on for the last Grand Slam of 2025

And the US Open is doing things differently this year… First, it revamped the mixed doubles - the scheduling change and increased dollars has caused a bit of a stir, which you can dive further into here. The main tournament started on a Sunday for the first time, and they’re offering the biggest prize pool in US Open history at $140 million. As for the major contenders, it’s Italian Jannik Sinner and Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz on the men’s side, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka and Poland’s Iga Świątek on the women’s. And while we’re talking sport, let’s round up the rugby… The Wallabies went down 30-22 to the Springboks, but the Wallaroos' World Cup starter delivered a 73-0 win over Samoa. Go you good things… 

Size does matter

A campaign by 2 African advocacy groups to change the way our maps look is gaining steam…. One of the most popular/recognised maps in the world is the Mercator projection, where Africa looks about roughly the same size as Greenland - but it’s actually about 14 times bigger. The 2 groups - Africa No Filter and Speak Up Africa - say the way the continent is diminished in size also means that it’s diminished in economic and strategic importance - and now the African Union is throwing its weight behind the cause. They say the approach is outdated, and would prefer the Equal Earth projection, which looks like this. For a good explanation of the issues, you can check out this famous scene from The West Wing, which aired nearly 25 years ago. The more things change… 

Apropos of Nothing - Engaging animals edition

Here’s a nice way to start Monday - a couple of panda cub twins, Leni and Lotti, have celebrated their first birthday with their mum Meng Meng at the Berlin Zoo. Here’s the full photo gallery, including a pic of one of the twins giving a giant numeral one a hug… 

Also having a good time is a bear Californian authorities have named Fuzzy, who has broken into an ice cream shop… Most of the flavours were sampled, but his favourite was strawberry. “We’re pretty sure he didn’t wash his claws before he came in,” said the manager, so all stock had to be turfed. 

And then there’s this giant Pacific octopus off the coast of Vancouver Island, which grabbed the camera of a couple of divers to take a few underwater selfies. And when you’re that majestic, why wouldn’t you…

Squiz the Day

Federal Parliament sits, both houses (until 28 August) 

9.00am (AEST) - Queensland Premier David Crisafulli will headline the Courier Mail’s Bush Summit, discussing the most significant issues facing regional areas in the state - Toowoomba, Queensland

10.30am (AEST) - Erin Patterson’s 2-day pre-sentencing hearing begins. The victims’ family members are expected to provide statements on how Erin’s actions have affected them - Melbourne

11.15am (AEST) - The Sport Australia Hall of Fame will announce the names of 2 new Legends - Melbourne

12.00pm (AEST) - The official launch of the National Youth Parliament, a program that will provide 16-17yos with an opportunity to explore the role of an MP and to learn about parliamentary processes - Canberra

12.00pm (AEST) - Jetstar’s Get Onboard Sale (which we mention because it’s getting a lot of media coverage this morning…) is discounting some fares to 2004 levels, aka the prices offered when it launched

Endeavour Group, Fortescue, Santos and Southern Cross Media to release their FY2025 earnings results

Start of National Skills Week (until 31 August)  

Uruguay’s National Day

💋 National Kiss and Make-Up Day

Birthdays for director Tim Burton (1958), country singer Billy Ray Cyrus (1961), and actors Alexander Skarsgård (1976) and Blake Lively (1987)

Anniversary of:

  • Englishwoman Alicia Thornton becoming the first female jockey (1804)

  • the birthday of the best Bond, Sean Connery (1930)  

  • the liberation of Paris by Allied forces after 4 years of Nazi occupation (1944)

  • the release of the first package of pre-cooked instant noodles by Momofuku Ando (1958)

  • the Voyager 1, which was launched in 1977, becoming the first spacecraft to enter interstellar space (2012)

  • the deaths of Friedrich Nietzsche (1900), Truman Capote (1984) and Neil Armstrong (2012)