Thursday, 22 January - Time to say goodbye

Good morning, it’s Thursday, 22 January. In your Squiz Today…

• Today’s a national day of mourning for Bondi

• The Coalition is in crisis over a mass Nats resignation

• And a final goodbye to the Sundance Kid

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Squiz Sayings

Said Aussie Lara Hamilton, who’s been named on her first Winter Olympics team for the newly-added event of skimo - ski mountaineering. It involves the extra challenge of climbing up the mountain on/or holding their skis before descending. You’d have to be doing it for love…

Remembering Bondi

The Squiz

Today is the national day of mourning for the victims of the antisemitic terror attack that took place on Bondi Beach on 14 December. It’s the first day of its type here since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and PM Anthony Albanese says it’s “an opportunity for us to pay respects as a nation to those who lost their lives”. The theme for the day is ‘Light Will Win’, which is also the name of a national service that will be livestreamed online and broadcast on Sky News from 7pm AEDT. Both Albanese and NSW Premier Chris Minns will speak, and there will be a minute’s silence to honour the victims and their families at 7.01pm. Many more tributes are planned right across the country - here’s a guide - and you can sign a virtual condolence book here.

It’s a sombre time…

Sure is, and it’s coming a day after some significant political fallout as our leaders wrestle with how to prevent further attacks. In particular, the Coalition is in real trouble after every single Nationals frontbencher resigned from the shadow cabinet last night. We mentioned yesterday that the Nationals split with their Liberal partners in the Coalition to vote against the Albanese Government’s hate speech legislation drafted in the wake of the Bondi attack. That broke a Coalition rule of ‘cabinet solidarity’, where all of the party’s frontbenchers are required to vote the same way, whether they personally agree or not. And after Bridget McKenzie, Ross Cadell and Susan McDonald resigned earlier yesterday after breaking that rule, all their colleagues - including party leader David Littleproud - followed suit last night…

Does that mean curtains for the Coalition?

Maybe… That’s certainly what some National MPs are saying - there are reports they’re frustrated that Coalition leader Sussan Ley demanded the resignations of those initial 3 frontbenchers, and that another Coalition breakup is pretty much a lock, 8 months after the last one. But for her part, Ley is refusing to accept the mass resignations - she’s asked Littleproud and his colleagues to reconsider and says “no permanent changes will be made to the Shadow Ministry at this time”. It’s putting her leadership under serious pressure in the same week that a stack of bad polling showed the party is losing more and more votes to Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, so we’ll wait and see what happens next…

A fix for an overstuffed suitcase

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Squiz the Rest

Fears for a young shark attack victim

A family friend of Nico Antic, the 12yo boy attacked on Sunday, says they’re preparing for “the worst possible outcome”. Victor Piñeiro says Nico is on life support with “devastating injuries”, and he’s raising money to help the family “cover upcoming expenses and related arrangements during this incredibly difficult time … as they grieve”. Nico was the first of 4 people attacked by sharks in NSW this week - with another 27yo critically injured man now in a stable condition. Further north, the parents of 19yo Piper James, a Canadian backpacker found dead on a beach at K’gari (aka Queensland’s Fraser Island), surrounded by dingoes, say “life will never be the same” after losing their daughter. They’re waiting for autopsy results to find out how she died.

Trump’s doubling down…

The US President arrived at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, overnight, and says he’s not backing away from his plans to acquire Greenland… Trump said he “won’t use force” but wants “immediate” talks to make it happen. European leaders are meeting in Brussels on Thursday night (local time) to discuss their options, but in the meantime, the tensions are causing problems for global markets - particularly after Trump’s tariff threats against European leaders, and with the EU Parliament in turn suspending the US trade deal agreed to in July. Trump followed other leaders’ talks, including Canadian PM Mark Carney - who said smaller countries need to “band together” to stand up to larger nations in building “coalitions that work, issue by issue, with partners who share enough common ground”.

Life in jail for Abe’s killer

We’re referring to former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, who was fatally shot during a campaign speech in July 2022. Yesterday, the man convicted of the assassination, 45yo Tetsuya Yamagami, was sentenced by a court in western Japan (where the shooting took place) to life imprisonment. Yamagami said he was motivated by hatred for the controversial Unification Church group, which Abe supported, and the investigation into the shooting led to other politicians’ ties to it being exposed. And speaking of Japanese politics, current PM Sanae Takaichi is dissolving the parliament on Friday and calling for a snap election on 8 February, with all 465 lower ‌house seats up for grabs. She’s only been in the role a few months, but says she’s “staking ⁠my own political future” on the vote in a bid to shore up more support.

A rough trot for the Aussies

It was a special day at the Aussie Open yesterday - Evonne Goolagong Cawley Day, which pays tribute to the 7-time Grand Slam singles winner and Indigenous tennis icon. Despite the celebratory atmosphere off the court, it was a tough day on it for the locals, with only Alex De Minaur making it through to the third round. De Minaur beat Serbian Hamad Medjedovic in 4 sets, and he’ll now face American Frances Tiafoe in what is shaping up to be a tough third-round match. But it was no such luck for Jordan Thompson, Ajla Tomljanovic, Talia Gibson, Storm Hunter and Priscilla Hon, who all got knocked out. There are 5 Aussies in singles action today, as well as the Special Ks doubles combo of Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis, defending champ Madison Keys and newly minted fashion icon Naomi Osaka. Lots to watch for…

Another trip around the Sundance

One of the most famous film festivals in the world kicks off today, and it’s a notable one - the first edition of the Sundance Film Festival since its famous co-founder Robert Redford died last year. It’s also the last edition that will take place in Park City, the Utah ski resort that’s been its home since 1981, before it moves to Colorado in 2027. But as usual, it’ll premiere some pretty buzzed-about movies, such as documentaries on Hole frontwoman Courtney Love, and the notorious Summersault music festival that toured Oz in the mid-90s. There’ll also be plenty of big stars with new movies, like Olivia Wilde, Natalie Portman, Seth Rogen and 2 films from pop star Charli XCX. On Saturday morning, there’ll be a full tribute to Redford himself, with a new Luminary Award named in his honour. A fitting farewell…

Apropos of Nothing

There’s a score of auroras doing the rounds at the moment - this one in Alaska provided a spectacular sight for the locals, and Tuesday night’s aurora australis delighted Oz skywatchers as well - the photos of that are quite something…

Suni Williams, one of the 2 astronauts who were stuck at the International Space Station for months before returning home last year, has retired from NASA. But she’ll be leaving with a record - the most spacewalking time by a woman at 62 hours. She’s earned a big break…

And author Jeffrey Archer is also calling time after his 31st novel, Adam and Eve, is published later this year. It’ll come 50 years after his first book, Not a Penny more Not a Penny Less, and he’s sold 300 million books in the meantime. Not too shabby… 

Squiz the Day

National Day of Mourning for victims of Bondi, including:

7.00pm (AEDT): As part of the National Day of Mourning for victims of Bondi, a memorial service organised by the Chabad of Bondi will take place in Sydney - the event is invitation-only, but you can livestream the service on the Chabad's website and watch on Sky News

7:01pm (AEDT): A nationwide minute’s silence will be held for the victims and their families

ABS release - Labour force Australia (December)

The Sundance Film Festival begins and runs until 1 February 

Golden Globe-winning film Marty Supreme is released in cinemas 

Day of Unity in Ukraine

A wedding anniversary for Melania and Donald Trump (2005)

Anniversary of:

• the birthday of INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence (1960)

• the deaths of Queen Victoria (1901) and actor Heath Ledger (2008)

• the landmark Roe v Wade ruling, which saw the US Supreme Court legalise most abortions (1973)

• the ballroom dancing studio shooting in Los Angeles that killed 10 people (2023)