Thursday, 15 May - I said what I said

May 15, 2025

Good morning, it’s Thursday, 15 May. In your Squiz Today…

  • The Menendez brothers are a step closer to freedom

  • PM Anthony Albanese visits Jakarta

  • And this year’s Eurovision contest is underway…

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Squiz Sayings

“A day is a long time in politics.”

Said federal Liberal party vice president Fiona Scott when she was asked on Channel 9 how long she gave Sussan Ley as the party's new leader. Scott later clarified that she supports Ley, she was just "being cheeky", and the new leader would be there for longer than 24 hours…

A step closer to freedom

The Squiz

Convicted murderers Lyle and Erik Menendez have been resentenced by a judge in California, making the brothers immediately eligible for parole… It’s a high-profile case - they were found guilty in 1996 of murdering their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, back in 1989. Yesterday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic ruled against District Attorney Nathan Hochman, who argued that they aren’t rehabilitated. But Jesic described the brothers’ work in jail to improve the lives of fellow inmates over the past 3 decades as “remarkable”. He found them eligible for resentencing and reduced their sentences from life without parole to 50 years to life - which means they’re eligible for parole under California law because they were under 26yo at the time of the murders.

Remind me about this case…

There’s a lot, so you can catch up here. To summarise: Jose and Kitty were found dead in their Beverly Hills mansion in August 1989 after being shot multiple times. Lyle, 21yo at the time, and Erik, 18yo, had called police, telling investigators they'd returned home to find them dead. But the spotlight soon turned on them, and in March 1990, they were arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Given the family's wealth/status, there were a lot of eyes on the case (media circus is a good way to describe it…). Lyle and Erik also admitted to the murders, but the big question was why. Prosecutors argued it was for financial gain, and their defence teams called it self-defence after years of sexual abuse by their father. That question is still being asked today…

So why has this come up now?

It ramped up last year… First, Netflix released a new documentary and series about them, drumming up fresh public attention. Then, in October, the former Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón said his office was reviewing “new evidence” supporting the brothers' claims they were sexually assaulted. And finally, after several of their family members came out in support of them, prosecutors petitioned the court for resentencing, bringing us to now. Afterwards, Lyle and Erik gave a statement apologising for their "unfathomable" actions. They said they want to work with sex abuse victims and those who are incarcerated if they're freed. That’ll be up to California’s parole board, which has a hearing scheduled for 13 June. One for your diary…

Lowering the cost of living… rooms

Energy can be a confusing topic, but Origin Energy’s podcast So Watt? is here to help you sort through things and to share tips to cut down on your energy bills. Episode 7, which is out now, takes you into the living room… You’ll learn why it’s the number one room that energy experts focus on to boost energy efficiency and hit the right temperature, no matter what season it is. It’s time to get comfy and try out some tips to reduce energy use in the most popular room in the house - listen to the episode in your favourite podcast player now.

Squiz the Rest

Mr Albanese goes to Jakarta

The Aussie PM is in Indonesia today for a catchup with President Prabowo Subianto, his first international trip of his second term. Indonesia was a hot campaign topic after reports of a Russian request to store military jets at one of the country’s military bases raised national security concerns - and reports say building on a defence agreement the 2 countries signed in August last year might be high on the agenda, along with building business ties. The Jakarta visit is the first leg of a 6-day trip that will take the PM to Vatican City, where he’ll attend the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV and meet with “other world leaders in attendance”. On the way back, he’ll be catching up with Singapore PM Lawrence Wong as well. 

Rohan Dennis won’t serve jail time

The former professional cyclist received a suspended sentence yesterday over his actions behind the wheel leading up to the death of his wife, Olympian Melissa Hoskins. To remind you, Hoskins died in December 2023 after being struck by a car driven by Dennis outside their home in Adelaide's inner north. Judge Ian Press said Dennis was not criminally responsible for causing her death, but that he'd been driving in an "inherently risky and dangerous" way. Dennis had previously pleaded guilty to an aggravated charge of creating a likelihood of harm over the death, and Press handed him a 17-month suspended sentence with a 2-year good behaviour bond. Hoskins' parents were emotional outside court yesterday - they said she would want them to “move on” and keep the couple’s 2 young children “front of mind”.

ASIC accuses Macquarie of undercooking the stocks

For the fourth time in about a year, Australia’s corporate regulator ASIC is taking major bank Macquarie to court - this time for allegedly misleading our stock market. ASIC says that Macquarie didn’t properly report millions of ‘short sales’ - which are a type of investment strategy where you’re betting that the price of a stock will go down, rather than up - here’s a little explainer video on that. ASIC reckons that the broking arm of Macquarie undercooked how many of these sales were happening over a 15-year period, which it says is bad for the integrity of the market - but Macquarie says it discovered the problem in 2022 and has already addressed it. The 2 sides will now be heading to the NSW Supreme Court to sort it out, and reports say the maximum possible fine is $783 million. That's high stakes…  

Some sporting arrivals and departures

Newly-minted Masters champ and one of the world’s best golfers Rory McIlroy will be heading our way in December to play the Australian Open in Melbourne - and he’ll be back the year after as well. Aussie golf officials had been floating the idea with him for a while and were a bit antsy that McIlroy’s Masters win last month would have made him too hard to get, but he’s been confirmed for the tournament, which starts 4 December… And the NRL has picked which clubs will be heading to Las Vegas for next year’s season opener - the Bulldogs, Cowboys, Knights and Dragons have got the nod, but national women’s side the Jillaroos won’t get a gig next year after belting England 90-4 at this year’s extravaganza. 

Eurovision sparkles

Speaking of extravaganzas, we're a day away from Australia's entrant Go-Jo kicking off the second semi-final of the song contest - that'll be from 5am AEST tomorrow morning - but the first semi has been run and won. Seven-time champ Sweden has made it through again with Bara bada bastu, the country’s ode to all things great about the sauna. (No, really…) Slovenia wasn’t as lucky - its entry this year was called How Much Time Do We Have Left, to which the answer was, not much… All up, 10 countries made it through to the grand final in host city Basel, Switzerland - to be held on Sunday morning our time. If you’d like to learn more about Australia’s entrant, here’s an interview with the man himself, and here’s a link to the video for Milkshake Man, the song he'll be performing. Go Go-Jo… 

*If you’re curious about Australia’s history with Eurovision, keep an eye on your inbox - we’ve got a Squiz Shortcut on that very topic on its way today. 

Apropos of Nothing

The first Aussie-built orbital rocket is set to be launched from a cattle paddock in north Queensland this morning. Built by Gilmour Space Technologies, the rocket named Eris will be launched for an 8-minute trip to space before landing somewhere in the Coral Sea - and no passengers will be on board; just a jar of Vegemite…

Mums aren’t the usual demographic that come to mind when gaming is mentioned, but Queensland researcher Fae Heaselgrave reckons that, with women making up nearly half of all gamers in Australia, there’s a growing number of mums using video games to de-stress and connect with their kids. Play on…

And traffic cameras in a town in Switzerland have caught a wild duck blitzing local speed limits. Radar images show the bird cracking 52km in a 30km zone, and police suspect it might be a repeat offender - an identical bird clocking the same speed, at the same date, time, AND place was recorded in 2018. Must’ve set a quacking pace…

Squiz the Day

7.00am (AEST) - Bondi Icebergs pool will be drained to spark a conversation around the issue of dehydration in Australians - Sydney

7.30am (AEST) - Gilmour Space Technologies is set to launch the first Australian-built orbital rocket into space from a Queensland cattle paddock - Bowen

10.00am (AEST) - A hearing is set to begin in a case brought by a current student of private Sydney boys’ school Newington College who’s challenging a decision by its board to go co-ed - Sydney

11.00am (AEST) - Blues on Broadbeach begins (on until 18 May) - Queensland

From 12.00noon (AEST) - Senior members of the Greens will meet to decide their new leader - Melbourne

6.45pm (ACST) - AFL: Sir Doug Nicholls Round 1 gets underway, celebrating its 10th anniversary with the theme ‘Past Legacies, Future Legends’ (until 18 May) - Darwin, watch it on Kayo

7.45pm (AEST) - Rugby League: Game II of the Women’s State of Origin kicks off at Sydney Football Stadium, watch on 9Now

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for ceasefire talks in Turkey

After having tea yesterday with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who was once considered a jihaddist and imprisoned by America, US President Donald Trump is now visiting Doha, Qatar

Nakba Day, commemorating the Palestinians and Arabs who fled or were forced out of Palestine during the creation of the state of Israel 

ABS Data Release - Labour Force, April; Causes of Death, 2023

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare: Injury among women report for 2022-23 will be released

Graincorp half-year results to be released

Anniversary of:

  • the patenting of the world’s first machine gun (1718)

  • the formation of the National Woman Suffrage Association, founded by Susan B Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1869)

  • Jessica Watson becoming the youngest person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world at age 16 (2010)

Friday
3.00am (AEST) - Golf: - PGA Championship at Quail Hollow begins (until 18 May), watch it on Kayo

5.00am (AEST) - Australia’s Eurovision contender Go-Jo will perform his song Milkshake Man in the semi-final of the song contest in Basel, Switzerland - watch and vote on SBS