Thursday, 3 April - Yakety yak, yakety yak

Good morning, it’s Thursday, 3 April. In your Squiz Today…

• It’s ‘Liberation Day’ for Trump’s tariffs

• Israel announces a major expansion of its military operation in Gaza

• And vale to the coolest wingman in the business… 🧊

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

Said Western Oz Police Commander Mike Bell after the local force turned a Maserati seized from a driver into a police car. It won’t be used for high-speed chases - instead, they’ll parade it around as a reminder of what could happen if you break the road rules once too often…

Talkin’ bout my liberation

The Squiz

It’s D-Day - or maybe that should be T-Day… Because US President Donald Trump’s promised new tariff regime will be rolled out this morning. Reports say the most likely scenario is a global tariff, or tax, of 20% on all imports from all countries. While that could still change, the White House has confirmed that whatever the tariffs look like, they’ll be “effective immediately”. And countries around the world - including Australia - are working out how they’re going to react. PM Anthony Albanese says the government has a plan that we’ll find out more about today once the US makes things official. 

What’s Team Trump’s goal?

The White House has been working on Trump's 'Liberation Day' announcement for weeks. Trump says it's a big day in his mission to protect Americans from trade practices and deals he reckons have been ripping off the US, which imports more goods than any other country. The new tariffs would add to those already in place on imports like steel and aluminium, and he says they'll encourage American companies to invest more in US workers and businesses. But the counterargument from some economists is that tariffs create stock market uncertainty and higher prices because costs get passed on to the US consumer rather than helping them land jobs. The big fear is that it could damage the US economy and lead to a recession.

How are we planning to handle it?

With less than 5% of Aussie exports US-bound, we don't stand to be as affected as some countries. Regardless, both of our major party leaders have said they won't budge on anything that would be a bad deal for us, though they had different approaches to how they'd go about it… Coalition leader Peter Dutton said he was prepared to "have a fight with Donald Trump or any other world leader" if it was in Australia's interests. The PM fired back by saying that's not how diplomacy works, that "aggro" wasn't necessary and that the tariffs wouldn't have a huge impact on our industries. On 'tariff eve' Albanese had dinner with Trump’s mate, Aussie golfer Greg Norman, where he’s said to have asked advice about how to deal with the President. A game of golf might tee things off…

Serving up tips to save

The third season of Origin Energy's podcast So Watt? has just launched - and it's all about teaching you new things about energy. Across 10 episodes, a range of energy experts will share all the tips, tricks and hacks to improve the energy efficiency of your home. They'll go room to room, inside and outside the home, to run you through how you can save money on your power bills. Think ceiling fans in the bathroom, and checking the energy efficiency of your appliances... It’s all kinds of useful. You can find out more here.

Squiz the Rest

Israel goes bigger

Israel is planning a major expansion of its military operation in Gaza with the aim of taking control of “large areas” to be turned into Israeli “security zones”. Announcing the move yesterday, Defence Minister Israel Katz said it was to “clear the area of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure”. Negotiations for the resumption of a ceasefire and release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas have stalled again, and Israel has resumed bombing what it says are terrorist targets. On Tuesday, one of those strikes hit an emergency convoy, killing 15 aid workers - an attack that’s been strongly condemned by the UN. There have been large protests in both Israel and Gaza by civilians since the ceasefire broke down, but Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says he’s confident the war is in its “final stage” and that “Hamas will lay down its weapons”.

The rain keeps falling

The threat from the flooding in Queensland’s outback isn’t over yet, with more rain on the way for the state’s south-west. It’s not a light shower - the Bureau of Meteorology says 100mm could fall over already-drenched parts. Many residents remain cut off from their homes, but local farmers are still using choppers to check on their stock. Anne-Maree Lloyd, who lives south of Longreach, says her husband and son have been swimming cattle to higher ground, and in the process, found the family’s dogs. She says they “were with a mob of cattle … still working”. Just on the livestock - experts say we’re in for more expensive meat at the checkout, with some estimates that more than 100,000 head of cattle, sheep and goats have been killed in the floods.

A super silver in our sights

The peak body for superannuation in Australia says we’ve got $4.2 trillion in our national stash - and rising. That’s the fourth-highest in the world - and the Association of Superannuation Funds Australia (ASFA) says we could be number 2 in just 5 years - zipping past the UK and Canada to sit behind gold medallists the US. The fact we’re holding so much cash in our super accounts means we’re spending “far less” of our Gross Domestic Product on the aged pension than most countries, something experts say will be crucial in reducing the taxpayer burden as Aussies get older. ASFA says Australia’s compulsory super contributions are the key to our success - and quick reminder, in July this year that contribution will go up from 11.5 to 12%. 

Vale Val Kilmer

The star who played everyone from Jim Morrison to Batman has died at 65yo from pneumonia. Kilmer hit the big time with his role as Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky in Top Gun in 1986 and turned that into a long, successful acting career. He received particularly great reviews for his role as rock singer Morrison - someone he looked uncannily like - in the 1991 biopic The Doors. Other notable roles of his worth checking out include the Western Tombstone, spy thriller The Saint, and crime drama Heat. After being diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015, he filmed a documentary about his experience and kept acting - including a memorable cameo in the Top Gun sequel Maverick, which would end up being his last movie role. Here’s a look at the career of the world’s coolest wingman, in pictures. 

Creepy crawlies up our alley…

We can never seem to get enough of obscure animal rankings, and lo and behold - there’s another one: the Invertebrate of the Year Award. Voting has just begun and runs until tomorrow, but the 10 shortlisted contenders have been announced. One is New Zealand's Wētāpunga. It's a mottled brown colour (so it gets an A+ for its camouflage abilities…) and looks a bit beetle-like, with long, spindly legs. They're described as having “big, kind eyes”, but don’t let that fool you - they're mouse-sized (yikes…), growing up to 10cm long/20cm wide. As for the other shortlisted critters, the twerking dark-edged bee-fly, giant Gippsland earthworm, and amber comet firefly are all in the running. May the odds bee ever in their favour…

Apropos of Nothing

There are speeches, and there are marathons, and Democratic Senator Cory Booker combined them when he broke a 68yo record for the longest speech ever delivered in the Senate - an epic 25 hours and 5 minutes’ worth of protest against President Trump’s policies. Clearly, he had a lot on his mind…

Bondi Beach is making international headlines for a monster 5.5m surf that shattered the glass windows and lifted the floor of the iconic Bondi Icebergs club. Manager Bob Tate said the sheer volume and strength of the water was like nothing he’d seen before. Check it out…

And a couple of river otters have made a daring escape from a Wisconsin zoo, with one since caught, but the otter one still at large. The zoo reckons Louie is harder to locate than Ophelia because he’s a male otter, it’s mating season, and he’s on a quest for love. Cue the theme songs and candles…

Squiz the Day

7.00am (AEDT) - At a ‘Make America Wealthy Again’ ceremony, US President Donald Trump is set to announce tariff reforms as part of what he’s calling ‘Liberation Day’ - Washington DC

10.00am (AEDT) - A new $1 coin will be released for the centenary of the Royal Australian Corps of Signals - Canberra

1.00pm (AEDT) - ABC Chair Kim Williams will address the Melbourne Press Club, reflecting on one year in the role - Melbourne

US President Donald Trump will meet with his cabinet to consider a final proposal for ByteDance to sell TikTok to a non-Chinese buyer or face a ban in the US (the deadline to find a buyer is 5 April) - Washington DC

ABS data release, Job Vacancies, February

World Party Day 

Birthdays for Jane Goodall (1934), Alec Baldwin (1958), Eddie Murphy (1961), and Ben Mendelsohn (1969) 

Anniversary of:

• the birthdays of actors Doris Day (1922) and Marlon Brando (1924)

• the first mobile phone call made in New York by a Motorola employee (1973)

• the publication of the Panama Papers (2016)