Thursday, 11 June - Finally you put my love on top

Good morning, it’s Thursday, 11 June. In your Squiz Today…

• US and Iran trade fresh strikes

• A man appears in court over a stabbing attack in Belfast

• And the lovebirds who can’t get any privacy… 🦅

🎧 Listen to the podcast

🤓 This email will take you 5 minutes to read

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

Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

Said Robert Irwin, who has been announced as the host of the 2026 Logie Awards after Sam Pang stepped back from the role in May. Irwin might have seemed a surprise pick to some, but not if you read The Squiz - we (half-jokingly) called it a month ago…

Striking back and forth…

The Squiz

Fighting has once again ramped up between the US and Iran after the downing of an American military helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday. The 2 pilots on board survived, but US President Donald Trump blamed Iran for the attack, and ordered the US military to respond - he says “We're going to hit them hard again today". Iran says it didn’t deliberately target the helicopter and has accused the US of "damaging this diplomatic process through the contradictory messages it sends".

So what’s happened since?

US military Central Command says it has struck Iranian military and surveillance sites in retaliation for the attack on the Apache helicopter. In one of the strikes, 2 water reservoirs were destroyed, according to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Water is particularly critical in Iran, which has been experiencing drought and shortages for many years. America says this was "a proportional response," but Iran doesn’t agree - the IRGC has called the attack “vicious” and claims it responded by launching strikes on 21 targets at US bases in the region. This included drone attacks on a US naval fleet in nearby Bahrain that commands warships, fighter jets, submarines and drones. 

Where does that leave peace talks?

We feel like we’ve seen this film before… despite this uptick in aggression, President Trump says the US was “really close” to reaching a deal but has accused Iran of “playing us for suckers.” Peace negotiations have stalled - but US Vice President JD Vance told CBS News a deal could “absolutely” happen before the bulk of the US midterm elections in early November. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqai says Iran needed to re-assess the situation, and that any diplomatic process required a minimum of stability. CNN is reporting that overnight a Qatari delegation travelled to Tehran to meet with Iranian negotiators - which analysts say suggest diplomatic efforts are continuing. Things are moving fast…   

Keeping up with AI

Recent research commissioned by Minderoo Foundation found that nearly 2 thirds of Australians think the pace of AI development is too fast. And they want to see the government ensure that we’re resilient to the risks of AI - that our laws can keep pace with how fast the tech is developing. So in the latest episode of our special Squiz Series on AI, we’ve spoken to Peter Lee, an expert on AI and the law. He’s a partner at the international law firm Simmons and Simmons, and he talks about how we can stay resilient in Oz, how we as workers can try and thrive in the age of AI, and the ways in which AI can and can’t organise your haircut.

🎧 Listen to our AI podcast series

Squiz the Rest

New charges over Bondi

Accused shooter Naveed Akram is facing an extra 19 charges over last December’s deadly terror attack on a Chanukah event at Bondi Beach. On top of the 15 counts of murder and 40 of attempted murder he was already facing, the 24yo is now also charged with 10 counts of shooting with intent to murder, 6 counts of discharging a firearm with intent to resist arrest, and 3 of causing wounding with intent to murder. The case was before Sydney’s Downing Centre Court yesterday, where prosecutors asked for a 9-week adjournment to assess the large amount of evidence, which includes 230,000 CCTV images, and devices from people linked to Akram that need translating. Akram himself didn’t appear, and he’s yet to enter a plea to any of the charges against him.

A stabbing attack in Belfast

Violent protests have broken out in the UK after what PM Keir Starmer described as a “sickening” knife attack” in the Northern Irish capital on Monday night. The victim, Stephen Ogilvy, is still in hospital - he’s lost his left eye, and has damage to his right eye as well as neck and back injuries. Hadi Alodid has been charged with attempted murder, possession of a knife in a public place and making threats to kill. He’s a 30yo Sudanese refugee, and the attack has led to anti-immigration protests where some protesters set cars and buildings on fire. Police have called for calm, and the victim’s family says “unrest is not welcome, and peaceful protest is the only way forward.” Alodid appeared in court yesterday - he’s been refused bail and is due back in court on 8 July.

Farewelling a legend

Over 5,000 people have rocked up to say goodbye to Neale Daniher, the Aussie Rules star and campaigner for Motor Neurone Disease research. Daniher died on 25 May at 65yo after being diagnosed with MND in 2013 - and his charity, FightMND, has raised over $150 million for the disease. Among the speakers at his state funeral at the MCG yesterday were Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who described Daniher as a “hero” and Daniher’s daughter Bec, who said Daniher’s approval “could lift you up like nothing else could.” Paul Kelly performed Leaps and Bounds and the ceremony ended with Daniher’s hearse doing a lap of the MCG. Play on…  

More beautiful game than ever

Get ready to not hear much from your football-loving friends over the next month and a half - because the men’s FIFA World Cup will begin tomorrow morning at 5am AEST with a match between Mexico and South Africa. It’s even bigger than usual - for the first time, it’s a 48-team tournament hosted by 3 different countries: the USA, Mexico and Canada. France and Spain are considered the favourites to win - and at the other end of the scale, the bookmakers think the Socceroos will finish last in our group. Our young, relatively inexperienced team has been drawn to play Turkey (Turkiye), Paraguay and the USA - with the first game against Turkey on Sunday at 2pm AEST. But you know what they say - beware of the underdog… You can watch it all on SBS and SBS On Demand.
*For more of the off-field controversies and on-field predictions around the 2026 tournament, check out our Squiz Shortcut for everything you need to know… 

Your love is liftin’ me higher 

Is what we imagine a pair of seabirds have been singing (or tweeting) to one another on the reg after returning to the same romantic spot to nest for 15 years. The destination in question is on top of a 47m-high crane above Queensland’s Daintree rainforest, and researchers say no matter where the extendable jib ends up - these eagle-eyed lovebirds find it. The crane is owned by James Cook University and is 1km from the coast, which experts say makes it the perfect place to hunt, whilst keeping them safe from land-based predators. The uni set up “osprey-cam” in the nest a few years back, allowing fans of the feathered friends from around the world to grab a sticky-beak whenever they fancy. Just a couple of lovebirds… 

Apropos of Nothing

Tennis superstar Serena Williams has made a successful comeback, 4 years after her last professional match. Williams and her doubles partner Victoria Mboko won their first game at the Queen’s Club tournament in London - and she says there’s still a chance she’ll pop up at Wimbledon in a few weeks…  

At the world premiere of Toy Story 5 in Los Angeles, the audience was treated to a surprise appearance from Taylor Swift, who performed a duet of You’ve Got a Friend in Me with original singer Randy Newman. That’s an unexpected collab…

And check out the new trailer for The Social Reckoning, a follow-up to 2010 Facebook biopic The Social Network. The new film covers the 2021 Facebook leak and stars Succession’s Jeremy Strong as Mark Zuckerberg. Finally, Kendall Roy’s in charge of something… 

Squiz the Day

3.00pm (AEST) - Cricket: Second ODI in a 3-match series Bangladesh v Australia, Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium - Bangladesh, watch on Kayo

4.15pm (AEST) - Mention for Patrick Orren Stephenson, charged with the murder of Ballarat mother Samantha Murphy, Supreme Court of Victoria, Melbourne

7.00pm (AEST) - ARIA celebrates the 40th anniversary of the ARIA Awards, with 6 artists and industry figures to be inducted into the 2026 ARIA Hall of Fame - Sydney

5.00am Friday (AEST) ⚽ The FIFA World Cup, hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico, begins with a match between Mexico and South Africa, watch on SBS 

ACT public school teachers to go on a full-day strike

Dark Mofo festival begins (until 22 June) - Hobart

Steven Spielberg’s latest film Disclosure Day released in Australian cinemas 

International Day of Play

Birthdays for actors Hugh Laurie (1959), Peter Dinklage (1969), and Shia LaBeouf (1986)

Anniversary of:

• the marriage of King Henry VIII to his first wife Catherine of Aragon (1509)

• Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức’s self-immolation at a Saigon intersection, creating one of the Vietnam War’s most significant images (1963)

• Steven Spielberg’s film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, starring Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore, being released in cinemas (1982) - and also Jurassic Park (1993)

• Margaret Thatcher becoming the first UK PM in 160 years to win a 3rd consecutive term (1987)