Thursday, 14 August - I'll stand my ground

August 14, 2025

Good morning, it’s Thursday, 14 August. In your Squiz Today…

  • Zelensky holds firm against surrendering Ukrainian land to Russia

  • South Oz’s algal bloom problem spreads

  • And the AFLW season is ready for kick off…

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

"I love getting Latin chat-up lines. I carpe every DM.”

Said comedian Amelia Hamilton during the Edinburgh Fringe - a line that netted her a spot on The Guardian’s list of the 10 best jokes of the festival. Here’s the full list if you'd like to pick your favourite - but it's hard not to seize a good Latin joke…

Zelensky has his say

The Squiz

Ahead of US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s face-to-face meeting tomorrow, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders held a virtual meeting with the US leader overnight. It gave Zelensky - who’s frustrated about not being invited to Friday’s talks - a chance to underline his earlier declarations that Ukraine won’t give up land to secure a peace deal with Russia. He’s drawn that line in the sand a few times in recent weeks, after Trump, who’s leading the ceasefire negotiations, indicated he and Putin might discuss a “land swap”. 

What’s that about?

In recent weeks, the Kremlin has indicated it might consider a peace deal with Ukraine - the country it invaded more than 3 years ago - if Zelensky agrees to certain conditions. One of those is that Putin wants to see Zelensky’s troops withdraw from parts of Ukraine’s Donbas region that they still control. Reports say Russia has taken about 20% of Ukraine’s territory in the war - here’s a map showing the area it’s claiming… Most of that region, in eastern Ukraine, has been taken over by Russian troops, and Zelensky isn’t keen to give up any additional ground… He said his understanding of Trump’s suggestion of the “swapping of territories” is that Russia is “simply offering not to advance further, not to withdraw from anywhere”. 

So what’s going to happen?

It's hard to say… What we do know is that the Trump-Putin meeting is going ahead in Alaska on Friday local time at a US military base in the city of Anchorage. It'll also be the first time a US president has met with Putin since he and former President Joe Biden sat down in 2021 - months before his troops invaded Ukraine - and the first time Trump has met with him since returning to office. And speaking of - Trump has restated his goals for the meeting after the video call with Zelensky and leaders from the so-called Coalition of the Willing, saying Russia will face “very severe consequences” if Putin doesn’t end the war. He’s threatened to whack extra tariffs on Russian goods, and secondary tariffs on countries that buy its oil. He also flagged the possibility of a second meeting involving Zelensky. So watch this space…

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Squiz the Rest

The algal bloom problems spread

The ongoing marine issues in South Oz are back on the national agenda after Environment Minister Murray Watt this week apologised for the Albanese Government being “too slow” to respond to the crisis. Coalition Leader Sussan Ley - who toured some of the impacted areas yesterday - acknowledged Watt's apology but said the state had been “badly let down”. His comments also didn’t sit well with the Coalition’s Environment spokesperson Angie Bell, who called it “too little, too late” for “coastal communities, families, businesses, fishermen and thousands of dead marine creatures affected”. PM Anthony Albanese says he’s “very concerned” about the bloom but pointed to warmer water temperatures, saying it’s not the “fault of any government”. We’ll hear more next week when he’s set to visit South Oz.

*We get you across the algal bloom problem in our latest episode of Ask the Squiz. You can check it out here…

Working through the ideas on the table

There are plenty being thrown around in the lead-up to next week’s economic reform roundtable hosted by the Albanese Government, and yesterday it was the 4-day workweek’s time in the sun. The Australian Council of Trade Unions says that at the roundtable, it’ll push for a 4-day workweek (on the same pay/conditions) in any industry or sector where it's appropriate. To make the case, it pointed to some recent studies arguing that it will help with productivity as workers will be happier, healthier and have a better work-life balance. But PM Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers didn’t seem too keen on the idea, and business groups like the Oz Chamber of Commerce said productivity needed to go up before it was worth considering. Plenty to talk about next week… 

Guess which bank just made a bunch of money…

That’d be the Commonwealth Bank, the biggest company in Oz, which announced profits of over $10 billion yesterday in its annual results - a 4% rise. One of the drivers behind that was a boost in its home loans business, which is now worth $634 billion. CEO Matt Comyn said a lift in household disposable incomes and slowing inflation were helping with that. But he did also say he’s worried about housing affordability in Australia - and that’s something he might raise at next week’s roundtable. Though the news was all pretty good financially for the bank, its shares took a dive of 5.4% over the course of the day, which analysts said was because the shares were already pricey at over $170 each, and some investors likely chose yesterday to cash in. Cha-ching… 

The AFLW kicks off tonight

The tenth edition of the women’s Aussie Rules competition will begin at 7.15pm AEST tonight with Carlton taking on Collingwood - the same matchup that began the first season back in 2017. And it comes as the comp is facing some struggles with TV ratings and crowds, with organisers continuing to tinker with the fixture to find the right mix to draw the numbers it needs. This year, the first round of AFLW will coincide with the second-last round of the men’s competition, with AFL House hoping that will lead to more eyeballs. A quick guide to the contenders: keep an eye on last year’s premiers North Melbourne and perennial high-flyers Adelaide and Brisbane. And if you’re looking for a new favourite player, this list of the big names to watch is a handy guide. 

A classic Aussie song gets a sequel

As we hinted yesterday, there’s been news of Aussie artist Paul Kelly releasing a sequel song to his Christmas classic How to Make Gravy, which claimed the #9 spot on Triple J’s recent Hottest 100 Aussie Songs countdown. Earlier in the week, Kelly took out a death notice for the original song’s character of Joe (of “Hello Dan, it’s Joe here” fame…), as a bit of viral marketing for the new tune. And now you can have a listen to the follow up, with Rita Wrote a Letter hitting YouTube overnight, and the official video to be released about 7.00am AEST today. Kelly first confirmed that the sequel was on the way back in May, saying the idea came from a bit of music composed by his nephew Dan (not that one). We’ve had a listen, and suffice it to say things didn’t go well for poor old Joe after getting out of the joint…

Apropos of Nothing

If the Swiftie in your life goes mysteriously missing around 9.00am AEST today, that’s probably because it’s when the new episode of Swift’s partner Travis Kelce’s podcast New Heights will drop, with more info about her new album The Life of a Showgirl. Set that alarm…

In the Vaud region of Switzerland, a driver is facing a speeding fine of $20,000 - because that area of the country bases its speeding fines on personal wealth, and the offender happens to be one of the 300 richest people in the country. It’s the opposite of fast money… 

Scientists in Victoria have discovered an ancient species of whale that they’ve described as “deceptively cute” - cute because it looked like a dolphin with big eyes, and deceptive because it also had lots of sharp teeth. You can judge for yourself here…

Squiz the Day

8.00am (AEST) - Both Telstra and Origin Energy will deliver their respective full year 2025 results

9.00am (AEST) - Australian Aviation Summit - Sydney 

9.00am (AEST) - Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen and Queensland Shadow Minister for Energy Lance McCallum will speak at the First Nations Clean Energy Symposium - Sunshine Coast

10.00am (AEST) - A 2-day public inquiry into NSW’s childcare system is being held - Sydney

10.00am (AEST) - The inaugural NSW Cancer Summit begins - Sydney 

7.15pm (AEST) - Game 1 of the AFLW season kicks off with Collingwood v Carlton at Ikon Park - Melbourne, watch on 7+

ABS data release - Average Weekly Earnings, Australia, May 2025; Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia, June 2025; Labour Force, Australia, July 2025  

🇵🇰 Independence Day in Pakistan

Birthdays for actor Steve Martin (1945), author Danielle Steel (1947), former basketball player Magic Johnson (1959), Home and Away star Kate Ritchie (1978) and actor Mila Kunis (1983)

Anniversary of: 

  • The birthday of David Crosby (1941)

  • France becoming the first country to require registration plates for cars (1893)

  • The 2006 Lebanon War ended with a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel (2006)

  • The US Embassy in Havana, Cuba reopened after being closed for 54 years (2015)