Tuesday, 10 December - Hit me with your best shot

Good morning, it’s Tuesday, 10 December. In your Squiz Today…

• A new chapter for Syria

• Nuclear costings in the spotlight

• And Hollywood awards season kicks off… ✨

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

Said Dawn-Lorraine Ware about her 87yo mum Dawn Fraser, who’s recovering in hospital after a nasty fall that saw her admitted to ICU in Queensland last week. Displaying her signature mettle, the swimming legend's doctors say she's making "amazing progress"...

The world is watching Syria

The Squiz

The UN Security Council is meeting this morning to discuss the 2-week offensive by rebel forces that ended the Assad regime after 54 years. Reports say the emergency meeting was requested by Russia, a major ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the country he fled to after losing power. Syrian capital Damascus has stayed relatively calm in the days since the rebel victory, aside from some looting of Assad’s palace. 

Catch me up on what’s happened…

A lot’s happened in a short time… On Sunday - about a week after capturing the key city of Aleppo - news emerged that rebels had taken the capital. Yesterday morning, Russian state media announced that Assad was on his way to Moscow and later reported he'd been granted asylum. The big name to remember now is Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of the main rebel group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). You might also see him referenced in news reports as Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani - but he's rebranded to distance himself from his jihadist history. The military chief has managed to bring an alliance of rebel groups - that have often been at odds - under control and spearheaded the offensive that led to Assad’s rapid fall from power, making him suddenly one of the most powerful people in the Middle East.

So what now?

Analysts say a calm, peaceful Syria depends on how the rebels act now they’ve won the civil war. HTS has claimed their goals are reconciliation and justice and distanced themselves from their historic ties to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State - but they are still designated a terrorist group by many, including Australia and the US. President Joe Biden says his government will support Syria becoming an independent sovereign state and credited a weakened Russia as a major factor in the rebel victory - he agrees with incoming President-elect Donald Trump on that point. And Syrians living overseas have expressed relief at the end of the Assad regime - Dr Said Aljouni from the Australian Syrian Association says he’s “over the moon” at the news.

Hydration hitting new heights

If you want to keep your water cold and stay hydrated this summer, Ever Vessel’s 1L Super Maxi water bottle might hit the spot. Don't take our word for it - it's recently won an Australian Good Design Award because it prioritises the user experience in drinking, cleaning, and portability. It has a sleek, integrated handle for effortless carrying and a flip-top lid for easy drinking. And bonus - Squizers get 15% off the entire store, so you can get those last-minute Christmas gifts sorted. Just use the code Squiz15 at evervessel.com.

Squiz the Rest

All hands on deck after synagogue attack

The investigation into Friday’s firebombing at the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne has stepped up after police officially declared it a terror incident. That means Victoria Police, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and our national security/spy agency ASIO are working together on the probe. Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said detectives are circling 3 suspects - but he didn’t go into much detail, saying he doesn’t want to “jeopardise the investigation by going into a blow-by-blow descriptor of what has occurred”. At a national level, PM Anthony Albanese said the AFP will lead a new taskforce, called Avalite, in response to 3 separate antisemitic incidents across the country. That came after Coalition leader Peter Dutton said a future Coalition government would commit to a similar taskforce…

A big claim against a big name

US rapper Jay-Z - aka Shawn Carter, aka Beyonce’s husband - has been pulled into the allegations against fellow musician Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs after a woman accused the pair of assaulting her at a party in 2000 when she was 13yo. The woman - who hasn’t been named - is behind one of 30 civil lawsuits filed against Combs. He’s been indicted on multiple charges, including sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and prostitution but has denied all wrongdoing. Over the weekend, the woman added Carter’s name to her lawsuit, making him the first celebrity to be accused of assault alongside Combs. For his part, Carter said the allegations were “so heinous in nature” that the woman should “file a criminal complaint”. He called her mediation request a “blackmail attempt” and said he would fight it in court.

Nuclear costings in the spotlight

The debate over the cost of nuclear power in Australia has fired up again this week, with the CSIRO releasing its latest GenCost report - a look into the price of new electricity generation and storage projects. The top line is that building a nuclear power plant would cost twice as much as renewable energy options… You can read the report in full here, but it says nuclear power is significantly more expensive even if you take into account the longer shelf life of large-scale nuclear reactors. That’s not music to the ears of Coalition leader Peter Dutton, who’s proposed a national nuclear power plan. He’s accused CSIRO scientists of bias in their reporting and maintains that nuclear would “bring [electricity] prices down”. He’s expected to share the Coalition’s nuclear policy cost this week - stay tuned…

Juan for the record books

Dominican baseballer Juan Soto has inked the biggest deal in the history of sport by signing a $765 million US - that’s $1.2 billion AUD - deal with the New York Mets. Soto is jumping from the Mets cross-town rival New York Yankees on his new contract, which we should note is over 15 years so that’s just a measly $80 million a year - chump change. Soto’s deal breaks the record set by Shohei Ohtani last year - the Japanese superstar signed a 10-year, $1.1 billion deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Soto might actually earn more than his agreed contract - after 5 years he gets a $4 million raise. He’ll join fellow gun hitter Francisco Lindor at the Mets as the franchise attempts to win their first World Series championship since 1986 - and at a combined price of $1.7 billion, the Mets will be hoping for their money’s worth...

Hollywood awards season is kicking off…

…with Emilia Perez, The Brutalist and Wicked: Part One scoring big in the Golden Globes nominations overnight. You’ll be hearing a bunch more about these - Emilia Perez is a musical crime comedy set in the world of drug cartels (oh, that old chestnut…) and The Brutalist is a bladder-testing 3.5-hour drama about a Hungarian-born architect moving to the postwar US after surviving the Holocaust. Our very own Guy Pearce is nominated for his work in that, and fellow Aussies Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett both earned nods for the erotic thriller Babygirl and TV series Disclaimer, respectively. The Globes cover both movies and TV  - The Bear and Shōgun are both up for plenty of awards - and they’ll be handed out on 6 January next year, with stand-up Nikki Glaser as host. She’ll be hoping for a better reception than this year…

Apropos of Nothing

Next up in the worldwide lookalike craze - the 1976 boxing film Rocky, with some amateur impressionists doing their best Rocky and Adrian by recreating the movie’s famous ice skating date scene. Maybe next year they’ll compete for best rendition of AAADRIIAANNNN

Scientists have observed Ethiopian wolves indulging in a little nectar for dessert and transporting pollen between flowers - it’s the first recorded instance in the world of a carnivore performing the natural function of pollination (and makes for some lovely photos…)

And the worldwide news phenomenon that was the smooth Mars bar (no, really…) has shone a light on the maybe-quite-interesting exploits of the Dull Men’s Club. Turns out they’ve been meeting on all things tedious for nearly 40 years now, which is fascinating…

Squiz the Day

8.00am (AEDT) - Microsoft AI tour - Sydney

9.00am (ACDT) - The case of cyclist Rohan Dennis, charged with causing the death of his wife fellow Olympian Melissa Hoskins with their car, is back in court - Adelaide

2.00pm (AEDT) - Myer AGM - Melbourne

2.30pm (AEDT) - RBA Governor Michele Bullock will announce the board’s latest interest rate decision - Sydney

6.00pm (AEDT) - ASPI is holding a discussion exploring NATO’s presence in the Indo-Pacific - Canberra

9.00pm (AEDT) - Swimming: World short-course championships - Hungary

Nobel Prize Award Day

Human Rights Day 

International Animal Rights Day 

Anniversary of:

• the Martin Place Siege in Sydney, in which Lindt cafe manager Tori Johnson and barrister Katrina Dawson were killed (2014)

• the publication of the first edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica (1768)

• the birthdays of the world's first computer programmer Ada Lovelace (1815) and poet Emily Dickinson (1830)

• the publication of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)

• the death of food critic and writer AA Gill (2016)