Tuesday, 12 August - Too busy for your business

Good morning, it’s Tuesday, 12 August. In your Squiz Today…

• Australia will recognise Palestinian statehood

• Trump sends the National Guard into Washington DC

• And a freaky good weekend at the box office… 🍿 

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Said cricket fan Harry Gill, who managed to take this classic one-handed catch off Aussie batter Tim David in Darwin on Sunday despite holding on to 2 vodka lemonades in his other hand. Because the degree of difficulty wasn’t already high enough…

Backing a Palestinian state

The Squiz

Australia will recognise Palestinian statehood at the United Nations General Assembly in New York next month, following similar recent commitments from the UK, France and Canada. PM Anthony Albanese met with his Cabinet yesterday - they agreed on the change in policy but say it’s in line with Australia’s long-time support for a 2-state solution between Israel and Palestine. There are conditions on our support, but Albanese said Palestinian statehood is “humanity's best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and to bring an end to the conflict, suffering and starvation in Gaza”.

Will Palestinian statehood end the war in Gaza?

That’s unlikely… Recognising Palestine - aka making the territories of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem an independent state - doesn’t end Israel’s military occupation and make the war go away. What it does do at this particular junction is put diplomatic pressure on Israel to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza by bringing "great diplomatic and moral weight" to the table. Albanese says it could also help Palestinians deal with a very big problem, and that is "to deliver self-determination for the people of Palestine in a way that isolates Hamas, disarms it and drives it out of the region". We should note that 147 of 193 UN member states already recognise Palestine, but recent commitments from G7 countries like France and Britain represent a major shift, and now Australia’s on board too. 

How’s it gone down?

Albanese gave Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu the heads up last week, and the Israeli leader wasn’t happy… Yesterday, he described it as “shameful”, saying “if, right next to Melbourne or right next to Sydney, you had this horrific attack… I think you would do at least what we're doing”. Coalition Leader Sussan Ley was also critical, saying recognising Palestine now “risks delivering Hamas one of its strategic objectives of the horrific terrorism of October 7”. We haven’t heard from US President Donald Trump yet, but his administration has previously indicated that it won’t recognise Palestine before Hamas releases the remaining Israeli hostages. So, pending an overhaul of US policy, it’s likely to block any international votes on the matter. The UN General Assembly opens on 9 September, so it’s one for your diary…

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Squiz the Rest

Trump takes over the capital

Speaking of the President, he says the US Government will take over the Washington DC Police and send in the National Guard over what he called a public safety emergency. Trump said the city had been "overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals". He's been talking about doing this for days, particularly since the carjacking of a former government staffer last week. But the city's Democratic Mayor, Muriel Bowser, has been arguing that violent crime has been going down since 2023, and the city's Attorney-General Brian Schwab called the takeover "unlawful". It's a similar issue to when Trump sent troops to Los Angeles to tackle protests over immigration raids in June against the wishes of California Governor Gavin Newsom, and as it happens, a trial on that starts today - here’s a preview. 

When the chips are up

And for once, we’re not talking potato chips… Just ahead of today’s deadline to resolve the ongoing US-China trade dispute, reports say that Nvidia and AMD, 2 major US-based manufacturers of semiconductors (also known as chips/microchips) have been given the go-ahead to sell them to China - if they pay the US Government 15% of the revenue. Previously, America had restricted the sale of certain chips made by the 2 companies (they're particularly useful for powering AI), but it lifted that ban a month ago, and has now approved export licences in return for a cut of the sales. It's a deal that analysts say is the first of its kind in the US, but demand in China for the chips is so high that it could be worth billions to both the companies and the Trump administration. 

Back on the road (tax)

Charging electric vehicle (EV) drivers for using Aussie roads was a hot topic yesterday, following a report that Treasurer Jim Chalmers is putting the pedal to the metal on a national plan. As it stands, EV drivers don't pay fuel excise that petrol/diesel vehicle owners pay, because they don't use the fuel. But they do use the roads, and a lot of the money from that excise is supposed to go to keeping them shipshape. So a charge for using roads has long been floated as a way to get EV drivers to contribute to their upkeep. At a meeting yesterday, transport groups said that the government should make it happen at next week's economic roundtable, but EV lobby groups aren't keen - they say it might stop people from making the switch from fuel. 

Hoping to meet a meteor

Scientists are on the hunt for the crash site of a meteor that thrilled, surprised and maybe slightly alarmed Victorians on Sunday night. Just after 8pm, Vics saw the meteor streak across the sky, and they reckon it caused a sonic boom (the loud bang that comes with something breaking the sound barrier). And it's those reports that have the experts excited -  because it means the meteor might have been flying quite close to the ground. If that's the case, there's a chance that chunks might have landed somewhere - possibly near Bendigo - so the search is on. Monash Uni professor Michael Brown said finding it could be tricky - he said "you never know - it could have put a hole in someone's shed". Hopefully not…  

A weird, but successful, double feature

This past weekend was a good’un for cinemas, with horror/mystery Weapons and comedy Freakier Friday doing some decent numbers. Weapons stars Julia Garner and Josh Brolin and is about 17 kids who go missing from a Pennsylvania town at 2:17am, without explanation. Critics loved it and it was #1 at the box office last weekend - another in a long line of horror movie hits in recent years, and another win for Aussie cinema operators who are having a good year. Despite the title, Freakier Friday is not a horror movie - it’s the 22-year-later sequel to 2003 body-swap comedy Freaky Friday, with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan reprising their roles. It was #2 at the US box office and critics quite liked this one as well, so if you’re keen on some movie-going this week, you’ve got some good options…  

Apropos of Nothing

Thieves in Los Angeles have been caught on CCTV pilfering $10,000 worth of Labubu dolls, the Chinese toys/handbag accessories that have become immensely popular, with many of them selling way above their starting price. LA police are investigating the Labuburglary….

NASCAR driver Connor Zilisch is doing okay after celebrating a win on top of his car, only to fall off and break his collarbone. He didn’t get much sympathy from his Dad Jim, who said that “pooping himself is no longer his most embarrassing moment”. Thanks, Dad… 

Acting legend Emma Thompson has revealed she once turned down a date from eventual US President Donald Trump. She said he rang to ask her out the day her divorce from Kenneth Branagh became final, and she said “I’ll get back to you”, in a moment some might describe as Sense over Sensibility…

Squiz the Day

8.30am (AEST) - Torres Strait Health Research Symposium - Brisbane

9.00am (AEST) - Critical Minerals Energy Transition Forum - Sydney

12.00pm (AEST) - CEDA SA Energy Outlook 2025-2026 - Adelaide

12.30pm (AEST) - Nationals leader, David Littleproud will be at the National AgriTourism Summit - Orange

1.00pm (AEST) - PM Anthony Albanese will hold a press conference on the current state of the Middle East and Australia’s recognition of Palestine - Canberra 

2:30pm (AEST) - The Reserve Bank will announce its latest cash rate decision - Sydney

A US federal judge will hear arguments over whether the Trump administration breached the law when it deployed the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles to help with riots over immigration policy - California

The 90-day trade war truce between the US and China is due to end

ABS data release - Barriers and Incentives to Labour Force Participation, Australia, March 2025

International Youth Day

🐘 Trunk’s up - it’s World Elephant Day

Birthdays for media personality Karl Stefanovic (1974), and models Jesinta Franklin (1991) and Cara Delevingne (1992) who had herself a snazzy party last weekend

Anniversary of:

• American inventor Isaac Singer patenting the sewing machine (1851)

• Henry Ford’s company building the first Model T car (1908)

• Clarence Birdseye receiving a patent for his method for quick freezing food (1930)

• IBM launching its first Personal Computer (1981)

• the deaths of Cleopatra (30BC), and actors Henry Fonda (1982) and Lauren Bacall (2014)