Tuesday, 11 February - Doin' the Eagle Rock

Good morning, it’s Tuesday, 11 February. In your Squiz Today…

• The PM will talk tariffs with President Trump

• Israel and Hamas are in a ceasefire stand-off

• And an Aussie has made history in the Super Bowl… 🏈

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

Singer Ed Sheeran wrote on Instagram after Indian police pulled the plug on his street performance of The Shape of You in the southern city of Bengaluru, saying they weren’t keen on the shape of an enormous crowd causing traffic havoc in a city of 12 million people…

Aussie steel in the firing line

The Squiz

PM Anthony Albanese says he’ll “make the case” for Australia to be exempt from US President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on aluminium and steel imports when he speaks to him on an upcoming call. He said that yesterday, hours after Trump expanded his tariffs (aka taxes) on foreign imports to include the 2 materials. It comes after Trump shocked economists around the world by slapping 25% tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico (which he’s since paused…), and expanding pre-existing tariffs for Chinese imports. And now, it looks like Australia hasn’t escaped unscathed…

Why is it a big deal?

Because we send hundreds of millions of dollars worth of steel and aluminium to the US every year, so the local industry will take a big hit to its bottom line if an exemption isn’t locked in… Innes Willox, from the body representing local business, Australian Industry Group, reckons the tariffs weren’t a surprise, given Trump’s escalating trade war. He says the Albanese Government needs to “step in and protect Australian industry and producers”. The Coalition agrees, with Nationals leader David Littleproud saying “it’s important that dialogue’s opened up urgently” and that “this is a moment where the Albanese government will be held to account about their ability to deal with the new President”.

So what’s likely to happen?

Nobody knows for sure. But scoring an exemption wouldn’t be unprecedented - the Turnbull Government convinced Trump to spare Australia from similar tariffs during his first term in the White House. But former PM Malcolm Turnbull - who led those negotiations - says it may be trickier this time “if Trump has decided to impose a steel tariff on everybody, full stop, no exemptions”. For Albanese’s part, he’s planning to highlight the “significant investments” Australian companies have in the US, where they employ thousands of people, along with the trade surplus the US has with Australia. We don’t know when their phone call is scheduled, so for now, it’s a wait and see…

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Squiz the Rest

A ceasefire stand-off

The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is on shaky ground, with Hamas announcing it’ll delay the release of more hostages "until further notice." The militant group says it's in response to Israel "failing to comply" with the terms of the deal over the past 3 weeks by continuing to fire on Palestinians and not allowing enough aid to flow into Gaza. But Israel says it’s Hamas who’s "violated" the pact, and Defence Minister Israel Katz has ordered the Israeli military to "prepare for any possible scenario" in Gaza. The next group of hostages were due to be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners this weekend, but reports say the hitch could impact not only that but also negotiations for phase 2 of the deal. 

Slow going on Closing the Gap

It was a busy day in parliament for PM Anthony Albanese, who followed up US tariff talks by handing down the annual Closing the Gap plan. It doesn’t paint a rosy picture for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, with Albanese saying we’re only on track with 5 of the strategy’s 19 targets to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians. As for what’s not working, Indigenous incarceration rates are on the rise… Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy says she’s been speaking to state and territory leaders about that. But Coalition leader Peter Dutton says the current approach isn’t working - he says more education programs to reduce contact with the criminal justice system could help.

A wild week of weather

There’s more rain expected in North Queensland today, adding to the pressure on communities already dealing with damage and supply issues. Weather experts think it'll clear up tomorrow, but the beginning of monsoon season in the Northern Territory might complicate things. In NSW, people were warned to stay indoors yesterday as a severe thunderstorm caused flash flooding in Sydney streets - and more heavy rain is on the way today. Better news in Victoria, where a bushfire in the Grampians was contained, but authorities are wary of more hot weather forecast. South Oz and Tassie are also in for heatwaves this week, and the first cyclone of 2025 could hit the West Oz coast by Wednesday. Keep an eye on those forecasts...

The Eagles soar to victory

The Philadelphia Eagles won yesterday’s Superbowl 40-22 after jumping out to a 24-0 lead at half time, which proved too much for the Kansas City Chiefs to claw back. Experts reckoned the 2 teams were evenly matched heading in - but after star Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes had a disastrous first half, the Eagles ran away with it, avenging their loss to the Chiefs in 2023. That means Bankstown-born Jordan Mailata has become the first ever Aussie Superbowl champion. But as always, it wasn’t just about football… You can watch pretty much every ad in this handy playlist, and you can also watch Kendrick Lamar’s half-time show, featuring Samuel L. Jackson, Serena Williams and his Drake diss track Not Like Us as well…

A bad finish to the Summer of ‘25

Bryan Adams fans in Perth were left in the lurch after a Sunday night concert was postponed thanks to our old friend, the fatberg. Fatbergs, in case you’ve been trying to forget, are large lumps of fat, grease and other stuff that can cause sewer blockages. This particular ‘berg caused an overflow of wastewater near Perth’s RAC Arena, with heaps of people stuck outside the venue without an update until the concert was eventually cancelled - and there’s no sign it’ll be rescheduled. So the ticketholders may be left looking back in anger, much like these Oasis fans accused of being bots by Ticketmaster and told their tickets to the band’s British concerts were cancelled. They’re demanding to know what the story is…

Apropos of Nothing - Animals ahoy edition

We’ve gone through the big Superbowl headlines, but what about the tiny adorable ones? That’s right, it was Puppy Bowl time once again, in which some little furballs run around cluelessly while people keep score - in a tight contest, Team Fluff beat Team Ruff…

A nationwide blackout hit Sri Lanka yesterday after a rogue monkey wandered into a power station near Colombo and accidentally caused widespread chaos. One animal doing so much damage - that’s bananas…

And in more rare events, a Polish photographer has snapped footage of black wolves crossing a forest stream - almost all wolves in Poland are grey, so local conservationists are pretty excited about the find… Scientists reckon the black fur is passed down from domesticated dogs from over 1000 years ago.

Squiz the Day

10.00am (AEST) - A sentencing hearing will begin for 14 members of a religious group found guilty of the manslaughter of 8yo Elizabeth Struhs by withholding her diabetes medication (until 12 February) - Brisbane

10.00am (AWST) - The trial of 4 people charged with the murder of 15yo Indigenous boy Cassius Turvey while he was walking home from school will hear first witnesses (it’s set down for 10 weeks) - Perth 

Company half-year results will be reported for Breville, CSL, and Seven West Media

International Day of Women and Girls in Science 

Autism Sunday/International Day of Prayer for Autism and Asperger Syndrome

Birthdays for Jennifer Aniston (1969) and Khalid (1998)

Anniversary of:

• the first first-class game of cricket played in Australia. It was Tasmania v Victoria in Launceston (1851)

• a 20.2kg lobster being caught off Nova Scotia - the heaviest crustacean ever caught (1977)

• Nelson Mandela being released from prison in South Africa after 27 years (1990)

• the deaths of Sylvia Plath (1963), Alexander McQueen (2010), and Whitney Houston (2012)