Thursday, 16 January - Finally it's happened to me

January 16, 2025

Good morning, it’s Thursday, 16 January. In your Squiz Today…

  • A ceasefire deal is reached to stop the war in Gaza

  • Australia to shirtfront Russia over the unconfirmed killing of Oscar Jenkins

  • And uncovering a howling mystery…

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

“There is magic in that van.”

Said LA surfboard maker Preston Martin after his vintage Volkswagen survived the huge fires that burned through the city. A photo of the blue and white van standing strong in a neighbourhood reduced to rubble has gone viral and is a “beacon of hope,” he says.

Finally, a ceasefire…

The Squiz

After more than 15 months of war in Gaza, reports say the Israeli Government and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire deal. It hasn’t been formally announced yet - it still needs to be rubber-stamped by Israel’s Security Cabinet - but that’s set to happen today. US officials (who led negotiations with Qatari and Egyptian mediators) have confirmed it will take effect immediately after that.

What do we know?

It will be rolled out in phases, with the first lasting 6 weeks. Reports say that will involve a stop to the fighting in the Gaza Strip, along with 33 of the hostages taken from Israel on 7 October 2023 being released by Hamas - women, children and men over the age of 50yo. Israel will also release Palestinian prisoners detained during the early weeks of the conflict - it’s not clear how many, but it’s said to be in the hundreds. Details of phase 2 will be negotiated in about 2 weeks, but reports say it will include the return of all remaining hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Those in the know say the goal will be to achieve a "sustainable calm". Phase 3 - the final step - is about the reconstruction of Gaza, but given the destruction caused by the war, that’s likely to take much longer…

What do authorities say?

A spokesperson for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu was cautious - he said several clauses in the agreement are still unresolved, but they’re hoping to work them out in the coming hours. Senior Hamas official Basem Naim has confirmed the deal, but the terror group hasn’t made an official statement. And on the US end, incoming President Donald Trump posted “WE HAVE A DEAL FOR THE HOSTAGES IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THEY WILL BE RELEASED SHORTLY. THANK YOU!” on Truth Social. President Joe Biden - seen as a major driving factor behind the talks - is yet to speak, but that's likely to happen soon, too… As the news filtered through this morning, there were celebrations on the ground in the streets of both Tel Aviv and Gaza. Stay tuned...

Squiz the Rest

Questions over an Aussie’s fate

PM Anthony Albanese has promised to take “the strongest action possible” against Russia if Australian Oscar Jenkins is confirmed dead. Officials are still trying to work out what’s happened to the 32yo teacher following reports he’d been killed by Russian forces, but they’re struggling to get answers… Jenkins was a volunteer soldier in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region when he was reportedly captured by Russians last month. The Albanese Government called on Russia to follow international humanitarian law obligations, but yesterday, soldiers who served alongside Jenkins said they believe he was executed. Albanese is waiting for “the facts to come out” - but says he’s willing to expel Russia’s Ambassador to Australia if Jenkins has been harmed.

Yoon faces the music

Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has been arrested about 2 weeks after the first crack at nabbing him failed. This time, around a thousand police officers were sent to Yoon’s official residence in Seoul, where he’s been holed up for weeks. A tense, hours-long stand-off with Yoon’s presidential security team and his supporters followed, and reports say investigators from the state anti-corruption agency eventually had to use ladders and wirecutters to get inside…Yoon was taken to South Korea’s Corruption Investigation Office for questioning on multiple allegations of insurrection following his botched attempt to enact martial law in the country in December. If he’s found guilty, reports say he could face life imprisonment or even the death penalty.

Taking a new measure of obesity

A collection of medicos say using Body Mass Index (BMI) to measure obesity means too many patients are being misdiagnosed. To explain BMI - it's someone's weight divided by their height squared, and a number over 30 is considered obese with anything under 18.5 is underweight. But a group of experts have argued in the Lancet medical journal that it's a bad measure because it doesn't factor in things like the distribution of fat throughout the body. The experts say adding more measurements to the process (like measuring hip-to-waist ratio or waist-to-height ratio) will make it more likely people at risk are properly diagnosed. They also say there should be 2 types of obesity - clinical (meaning the patient has symptoms) and pre-clinical (where body fat is high, but the patient feels fine).

Vale Simon Townsend

The TV presenter and 5-time Logie winner’s family confirmed that he died from cancer on Tuesday at 79yo. Townsend is most famous for his Channel 10 show Simon Townsend’s Wonder World!, which aired nearly 2,000 episodes between 1979 and 1987. As people of a certain age know, Wonder World! featured Townsend and his mate Woodrow the Bloodhound teaching kids about the world around them without shying away from covering some of its tougher subjects. A former journalist, Townsend was a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War in 1968 - he spent about a month in jail for his stance. And for a lighter memory, you can spot him in this montage of The Late Show’s regular ‘musical mix-ups’ segment, where he was booked as the musical guest instead of The Who’s Pete Townshend.

One for the sound effect detectives

There’s a famous sound effect called the ‘Wilhelm scream’, a vaguely comical, high-pitched sound that appears in hundreds of movies. Film buffs think they know that sound’s origin, but there’s another well-used screech - this one from a cat - which appears in over 330 movies and TV shows, and its beginnings have been a long-running mystery. But this week, it might have been solved… An American sound designer claimed that he recorded the famous yowl in his living room via his cat, which was going into heat at the time (that’d make anyone a bit noisy…). But there’s a twist - sound effect aficionados reckon the first appearance of the famous screech onscreen pre-dates his timeline - and maybe there’s a secret second cat involved. So the mystery continues - for meow, anyway…

Apropos of Nothing

The BAFTA (aka the British Oscars) nominations are out this morning - the Vatican-set thriller Conclave led the charge with 12, and Aussie Guy Pearce earned a nomination for his role in The Brutalist as well. The awards ceremony takes place on 16 February.

The owner of the building that served as the exterior of Carrie Bradshaw’s abode in the TV series Sex and the City is so fed up with fans loitering around the building and taking photos that she’s applied for a cast iron gate to spoil the view. And just like that, problem solved. 

A Colorado pooch is becoming internet famous for being an extremely popular surprise passenger on Uber rides driven by his owner Kevin. The filmed reactions of passengers have blown up online - making Bowie into a global celeb. That’s a good boy… 

Squiz the Day

Vanuatu holds its snap election 

ABS Data Release - Labour Force, December; Overseas Arrivals and Departures, November  

Australian Pool Lifesaving Championships (on until 18 January)

Emilia Perez is released in Aussie cinemas 

International Hot and Spicy Food Day

National Nothing Day in the US... A day to celebrate... nothing

A birthday for Kate Moss (1974)

Anniversary of 

  • Muammar Gaddafi taking control of Libya, 4 months after leading a coup against the monarchy (1970)

  • The premiere of BBC's landmark nature series Life on Earth presented by David Attenborough (1979)

  • The US announcing the start of Operation Desert Storm to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait (1991)

  • The death of Australian photographer Frank Hurley (1962)