Thursday, 4 June - Tale as old as time

Good morning, it’s Thursday, 4 June. In your Squiz Today…

• Iran and the US have continued to trade strikes as ceasefire discussions continue

• Vale Peabo Bryson, the singer of some classic Disney duets

• And Robertson’s Big Potato could be on the move…

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🙋🏻‍♀️ This newsletter was written by Andrew Williams, Larissa Huntington, Anna Pykett and Sophie Felice

Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

Said model Jake Roach at a Vinnies fashion show in Melbourne, where volunteers sashayed down the catwalk wearing pieces fresh from the winter donation bin collection to raise money. Goes to show - one person’s trash is another’s trashion…

Testing times

The Squiz

The ceasefire between the US and Iran has been tested by more exchanges of fire yesterday, with Iran launching missiles and drones at US military bases in neighbouring Bahrain and Kuwait, and the US responding. One of the Iranian strikes killed an Indian national at Kuwait’s airport, and injured over 60 others - which led to flights being suspended. In response, the US launched “self-defence” strikes on a military ground control station on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, and shot down several Iranian drones targeting ships. Despite all of that, US President Donald Trump still says Iran “really wants to make a deal”.

Where is that up to?

Earlier in the week, Trump sent the deal on the table back to Iran with edits. Reports say the changes were to do with the opening up of the Strait and the removal of Iran’s stores of highly enriched uranium. But fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon has also put a strain on negotiations. They’re meant to be adhering to the truce, but after Israel ordered strikes on Lebanon’s capital Beirut on Monday, Iran threatened to withdraw from peace talks altogether - prompting an angry phone call from Trump to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. The ordered strikes didn’t eventuate but Netanyahu’s made it clear when it comes to Hezbollah, he’s not backing down. And with the war dragging on, economists are warning we’re in for a rough ride ahead…

What’s the latest?

Yesterday’s figures from the Bureau of Stats show that our economy is slowing down. It grew at an annual rate of 2.5% for the March quarter - the same as the December quarter. But looking at it on a quarterly basis, it grew by 0.3% - much less than the 0.9% recorded in the previous one. Part of the reason for the slowdown is rising fuel costs (driven by the war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz). But economists say the full effect of the war hasn’t even truly hit yet - when it does, some are predicting the economy will stall even further, with household spending in particular expected to fall as Aussies keep things thrifty. And the new data hasn’t made the Reserve Bank’s next interest rate decision any clearer - analysts are still divided on what it’ll do, though they’re leaning towards a hold…

A Squiz special series

Artificial intelligence is the topic of a lot of conversations at the moment - and recent research commissioned by Minderoo Foundation shows that us Aussies have a bunch of concerns. So thanks to Minderoo, we’ve been able to talk to some experts in a special Squiz Series of podcasts on AI. First up is Professor Nicole Gillespie - she’s the Chair of Organisational Trust with KPMG and she’s involved in polling the public on their level of trust in AI. So she’s an expert in public sentiment towards it - and she talks about how we’re feeling now in Australia, why we rank particularly low when it comes to attitudes towards AI, and where you can go if you’re keen to upskill… listen here. 

Squiz the Rest

There’s an uproar in the UK…

…after a 23yo man was jailed for the murder of a university student. Vickrum Digwa was sentenced to life in prison earlier this week for stabbing 18yo Henry Nowak in December. Following his sentence, bodycam footage was released of Digwa - who stabbed Nowak with a knife he claimed to carry as part of his Sikh faith (which the court rejected) - falsely telling officers at the scene that he’d been the victim of a racist attack. It also showed Nowak being dismissed and handcuffed by officers after telling them he’d been stabbed and couldn’t breathe. That led to protests in Southampton, where the murder took place, an apology from local police and a national review into the police’s anti-racism policies. UK PM Keir Starmer said he “felt sick” watching the bodycam footage - and he hasn’t ruled out a wider inquiry into what happened.

A Solomon Islands treaty is in the works

The country’s new leader Matthew Wale is visiting Australia, and after talks with PM Anthony Albanese, he says he wants to “reset” the relationship with Oz and he’s agreed to begin negotiations on a “comprehensive” strategic treaty. The Pacific island nation has been a point of tension between us and China since it signed a security pact with them in 2022. Wale says he’s open to reviewing that pact, but we’re no closer to knowing exactly what’s in it due to a non-disclosure clause. But while PM Albanese says he wants Oz to be the Solomon Islands “security partner of choice”, the Lowy Institute’s Connor Graham believes Wale is unlikely to ditch China as a development partner, saying “a step towards Canberra isn't necessarily a step away from Beijing”.

Nay, Sayers

A court case between a former AFL club boss and his estranged wife over a lewd photo posted to social media will play out in public, after Victoria’s Supreme Court yesterday rejected an application to move it to the Family Court. The case is about a photo of a part of then-Carlton President Luke Sayers’ anatomy which was posted to his X account in January last year. In the scandal that followed, he stepped down, but said his account had been “hacked” - which the AFL also found. Sayers told the AFL that his wife Cate had posted the pic. She promptly denied that and later sued him for defamation. If the case was moved to the Family Court, the media would’ve been blocked from reporting on it, but now it’s heading for, ah, maximum exposure, in a November trial…

Vale Peabo Bryson

The voice behind some of Disney’s classic duets died yesterday at 75yo. Bryson was an R&B singer for over 5 decades and duet specialist - he combined with Roberta Flack for Tonight I Celebrate My Love in 1983 and had a string of hits. But it was his work on songs from Disney films that made him world-famous. He won Grammys for his performance of the title track from Beauty and the Beast with Celine Dion, and for his rendition of A Whole New World from Aladdin with Regina Belle. We’ve gone flicking through some of his live performances - and this one with Bryson and Dion going belt-for-belt on Beauty and the Beast is worth a watch…

A big spud spat

Here’s a yarn that’s tailor-made for us at The Squiz - it combines 2 of our favourites: potatoes and big things. So, you might know (possibly from us…) that there’s a Big Potato in the town of Robertson in NSW. It’s been there for 50 years, was once voted ‘Australia’s Sh**ttest Big Thing,’ and was recently painted into a ‘Pig Potato’ in honour of Babe’s 30th anniversary... But it’s on private land and the owner wants to move it to make way for a supermarket. The giant spud is reportedly on skids, so that’s a possibility - and it wouldn’t be a first in Oz. For now though, it’s safe - the council rejected the plan, and the matter is heading to court. As for where it could end up, several options are on the boil, but it may end up at a local park, so keep your eyes peeled…

Apropos of Nothing

A bronze statue of Yankunytjatjara woman and Indigenous rights advocate Lowitja O'Donoghue has been unveiled in Adelaide. It’s the first of 6 statues planned by the South Australian government of prominent Aboriginal South Australians.

Lapland in Finland (AKA Santa’s home) is running a treasure hunt through the ski slopes of Levi. The winners who crack the clues will find a gold bar worth $32,400 - so the usual rule of steering clear of yellow snow doesn’t apply here…

And for our Squiz Today podcast listeners, tune in today to hear our brand new co-host Anna Pykett make her debut. She’ll be a regular feature on our various podcasts going forward, so please make her feel welcome… 

Squiz the Day

7.30am (AEST) - 10th Annual Keeping Women Out of Prison Parliamentary Breakfast, with guest speaker NSW Supreme Court Justice Dina Yehia - Sydney

9.30am (AEST) - Bail application for Zeinab Ahmad, one of 2 'ISIS brides' charged with slavery offences, Melbourne Magistrates Court - Melbourne

9.30pm (AEST) - Cricket: Third One-Day International in a 3-match series Pakistan v Australia, Gaddafi Stadium - Pakistan, watch on Kayo 

South Australia budget day

1030am (AEST) - Basketball: Game One of the NBA finals with the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks going head to head. You can watch it on Kayo and Disney+...

Golf: The PGA Memorial Tournament begins in Ohio as part of the PGA tour (until 7 June)

ABS data release: Corrective services, March quarter 2026; assets and liabilities of Australian securitisers, March 2026; International trade in goods, April 2026

Masters of the Universe released in Australian cinemas

International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression 

🧀National Cheese Day

International Corgi Day

Birthdays for actor Angelina Jolie (1975), co-founder and CEO of Snapchat Evan Spiegel (1990) and Princess Lilibet (2021)

Anniversary of:

• the creation of a stinky cheese in a cave near Roquefort, France (1070)

• the patenting of the ATM (1973)

• China’s Tiananmen Square Massacre (1989)

• Canadian singer Avril Lavigne releasing her debut album Let Go (2002)