Thursday, 19 February - Are we human or are we dancer

February 19, 2026

Good morning, it’s Thursday, 19 February. In your Squiz Today…

  • The US-led Board of Peace for Gaza is set to meet for the first time

  • A life-or-death verdict is due for South Korea’s former President Yoon Suk Yeol

  • And aerial skier Danielle Scott wins silver… 🥈

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

“I get to set the standard for Olympics to come.”

Says former US competitive ice dancer Jordan Cowanthe, who’s back on the ice - not to compete, but as a new backward-skating cameraman capturing all the Olympic figure skating action. Already impressive, and then there’s his all-white suit/turtleneck combo…

Peace talks and pushback…

The Squiz

The first meeting of the Gaza Board of Peace is coming up today, with US President Donald Trump leading the talks in Washington DC. More than 20 countries have joined (Saudi Arabia, Israel, Belarus, Indonesia and Hungary are some on the list…), and Trump’s described it as “the greatest and most prestigious Board ever assembled at any time, any place”. But plenty of countries haven’t signed up, including Oz, Canada, the UK and France… That’s because the Board has attracted controversy, with critics saying it could potentially undercut the United Nations’ work. For our part, reports say the Albanese Government is weighing how to reject Trump’s invite without causing a diplomatic spat.

What’s the issue?

To wind it back, the Board of Peace was announced by Trump last October as part of his 20-point peace plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Today, delegates will discuss the new international “stabilisation” force and rebuilding plans. But with Trump as its self-declared chair, giving him power to veto any decisions the Board makes, there are concerns of overreach… Analyst Maya Ungar says the Board’s charter doesn’t limit its role to Gaza, and many are worried it’s “an effort by the US administration to supersede the power and legitimacy of the [UN] Security Council”. For Gaza, there’s also concern about the US - Israel’s biggest ally - leading peacekeeping efforts, not to mention some of the plans Trump has floated before…

They’re not the only peace talks…

Nope, Trump’s negotiators have been flat-out in Geneva, Switzerland… They’ve just met with their Iranian counterparts to negotiate a deal over Iran’s nuclear program. Despite being in there for 3.5 hours, no deal has been penned yet - Iran’s Foreign Minister said they’ve agreed on “guiding principles” for future talks, and the US says “there are still a lot of details to discuss”. They’re waiting on Iran to come back with “detailed proposals” about how they can “address some of the open gaps in our positions” - due in the next fortnight… Meanwhile, they’ve also been focused on the latest Russia/Ukraine ceasefire talks, which have wrapped up overnight without a breakthrough. Reports say America emerged optimistic, but Russia took a different view, describing the talks as “difficult”.

The skincare ingredient that sounds weird but works wonders

Summer does a number on the skin, and for many of us, regular moisturisers just don't cut it. Enter Bescher Beauty's Sea Cucumber Collagen Glow Toner: it's packed with marine collagen, native botanicals, and hyaluronic acid that work together to deliver results. The proof? It sold out in 6 days after building a 35,000-person waitlist. Now it's back in stock, and if winter skin is the bane of your existence, it might be worth trying something that thousands of people couldn't wait to get their hands on. You can check it out here. 

Squiz the Rest

A major verdict arrives in South Korea… 

…for the country’s former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who may be sentenced to death today for a botched martial law declaration in December 2024. It's been a while since this has been in the news, so to jog your memory, Yeol announced that he was declaring martial law (aka military rule) in South Korea live on TV. His rationale was "anti-state forces" in the opposition - essentially accusing them of having North Korean sympathies. But critics say he did it in part to distract from his own political difficulties and personal scandals. Whatever the reason, the declaration lasted all of 6 hours, Yoon was impeached, and is facing a charge of insurrection. Even if he is found guilty, actually being executed is a whole other story - South Korea hasn't carried out the death penalty since 1997.
*And if you’re after some more background to this story, you’ll find it in this Squiz Shortcut…

The ISIS brides dilemma continues

As international law experts call on the Albanese Government to bring a group of 34 Australian women and children currently living in a Syrian detention camp back to Oz, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke banned one of them from coming here for 2 years yesterday. As we've mentioned, the group - which has links to Islamic State fighters - tried to return on Monday before being turned around by Syrian authorities. After banning one of them on legal/security advice, PM Anthony Albanese has again flatly denied that the government has any plans to repatriate any of the rest, but United Nations counter-terrorism/human rights expert Ben Saul says he should - because there is a higher risk the group will be radicalised if left in Syria. 

Pain packets

Add this to the list of cozzie livs headaches Treasurer Jim Chalmers is facing at the moment… Real wages - aka the purchasing power of your pay packet when adjusted for inflation - dropped in 2025, the first annual decline in more than 2 years. Chalmers said the result was disappointing, but pointed to a “higher nominal wages” (your pay packet’s dollar amount). But new Deputy Liberal Leader and Employment spokesperson Jane Hume said the drop in real wages was Team Albanese’s fault - arguing it was what happened when “a government has no plan to tame inflation”. The new numbers have also led to speculation of another interest rate rise - EY Senior Economist Paula Gadsby said she’s expecting that “most likely in the first half of this year”.

Another medal for Oz… 

Aerial skier Danielle Scott has won silver overnight, bringing our medal tally at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics to 6. The 35yo - who was competing in her fourth Games - is now our third medallist in aerials after Lydia Lassila and David Morris won bronze in 2014. There to see it was her husband, but she told the rest of her family to stay away because the "pressure to perform" was too much. Afterwards, she said it was the “best day of her life” and told her family “thank you … for not coming”... But not everything went to plan for the Aussie team - our youngest team member 16yo Ally Hickman suffered crashes in the slopestyle final on her second and third runs. The Sydney schoolgirl walked away, but she's been taken for X-rays with a suspected injury to her sternum, so fingers crossed she's OK.   

A whole new meaning to doing the robot

While human athletes compete at the Milano-Cortina games, China’s humanoid robots have been out in force at a Spring Festival (Lunar/Chinese New Year) gala… And in spectacular style, performing a martial arts routine with some human companions to show off their capabilities. Some of them have even been programmed to run up walls, which is impressive/terrifying… With this sort of show, they’ve probably raced ahead of Russia on the humanoid robots front - given it didn’t get off to the best start after falling over immediately after being unveiled late last year… (We've all felt that way sometimes, robot). But it's not all futuristic robots when it comes to the Lunar New Year - here's a gallery of some of the celebrations around the world…

Apropos of Nothing - Photography edition

Most of us are familiar with the growing prevalence of deepfakes, and while ethical and regulatory questions swirl around them, some have pointed out that image trickery dates back a long way. Just ask the giant geese and flying car drivers in the early 1900s…

Of course, we’re all for media literacy in the age of AI, and South African photographer Kyle Goetsch has had to answer questions about whether his stunning shot of a moonlit giraffe is real. He takes it as a compliment, saying “it just shows how unique the image is”. Too true…

Then there are images so absurd they can only be real - like those of Londoners celebrating Shrove Tuesday. Nothing quite like dressing up as a pencil/strawberry/penguin and racing through a central London square with frypans/pancakes in hand…

Squiz the Day

6.00am (AEDT) - Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is set to testify in a landmark lawsuit brought by a 20yo woman who claims Meta (Facebook/Instagram) and Alphabet (YouTube) intentionally designed their platforms to be addictive to children, leading to mental health issues - Los Angeles

12.00pm (AEDT) - Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb is due to speak at a Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) event - Sydney 

6.00pm (AEDT) - The Australian Writers' Guild 58th Annual AWGIE Awards, which recognise and reward the achievements of Australian screen, stage, audio and interactive writers - Sydney

7.15pm (AEDT) - Cricket: Second women's T20I, Australia v India at Manuka Oval - Canberra, watch on 7plus

A verdict is due for former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol - he’s potentially facing the death penalty on insurrection charges - South Korea 

The first leaders’ meeting of the US-led Board of Peace for Gaza will take place at the US Institute of Peace to discuss a reconstruction fund for the strip - Washington DC

Telstra, Wesfarmers, Medibank and Transurban Group are set to release first-half financial results, while Rio Tinto will share full-year results

London Fashion Week for the Fall/Winter seasons (until 23 February)

ABS data release: Labour force, January

World premiere of The Great Gatsby: A Jazz Ballet Odyssey - Sydney 

Day one of Melbourne Art Fair (until 22 February)

Birthdays for actor Jeff Daniels (1955), singer Seal (1963), and actor Millie Bobby Brown (2004)

Anniversary of:

  • the founding of the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company, now known as Kellogg’s (1906)

  • the bombing of Darwin by Japanese forces (1942)

  • the release of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique (1963)