Tuesday, 13 January - La vie en Rose

January 13, 2026

Good morning, it’s Tuesday, 13 January. In your Squiz Today…

  • US Fed Chair Jerome Powell reveals the Trump administration has launched a criminal probe into him

  • PM Anthony Albanese will recall parliament next week for new hate speech and gun laws in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attacks

  • And Rose Byrne lights up the Golden Globes… 🌹

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Squiz Sayings

“I think we have a lot of great restaurants that are recognised within the country but in terms of the international scene you know, we get overlooked."

Said head chef at Sydney restaurant Sixpenny Tony Schifilliti, about why Australia should join the Michelin Guide, which awards ‘stars’ to the best restaurants in the world. Downside: it would cost Oz millions of dollars to join, which we’d maybe rather spend on dining out…

Fed up

The Squiz

In a 2-minute video message released yesterday afternoon, Chairman of the US Federal Reserve Jerome Powell revealed he’s under criminal investigation by the US government. The probe is ostensibly about testimony Powell gave last year about cost blowouts for renovations to Federal Reserve buildings and misuse of taxpayer funds. But Powell isn’t having a bar of that - he says this is an attempt by US President Donald Trump and his administration to intimidate him because he’s not lowering interest rates as quickly as Trump would like.

So Trump and Powell have beef…

The President has laid a lot of the blame for US economic/cost of living troubles at the feet of Powell, who he wants to lower interest rates more quickly. Problem is, the Fed and the setting of monetary policy is supposed to be completely independent, so Powell has held firm that he’s using economic data only to make his decision. Imagine PM Anthony Albanese and Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock having a public argument over interest rates and you’ll get an idea… Up until now, Powell has largely kept things civil, but no longer - he says refusing to do what Trump wants has led to subpoenas and this criminal probe, and is part of an effort to get rid of him before his term is up in May. But he says he’s staying where he is…

And what’s Trump said about this?

That he doesn’t know anything about it, despite flagging a couple of weeks ago that his administration was “probably going to bring a lawsuit” against Powell. Plenty of others have weighed in because the independence of the central bank is seen as a key plank of a functioning capitalist democracy and as important for keeping inflation under control. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Senator from Trump’s own Republican party, says “advisers within the Trump administration are actively pushing to end the independence of the Federal Reserve”, and he’ll block any attempt to replace Powell. Economists have also warned that undermining the independence of the Federal Reserve could have big flow-on effects on world markets. Wall Street did have a wobble this morning, so we’ll see what happens on the Aussie market today…

Sweet dreams are made of this

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Squiz the Rest

Iran’s death toll keeps rising

That’s according to a US-based human rights group, which says more than 500 people have now been killed in the escalating protests across the country. It also says more than 10,600 people have been arrested in the 2 weeks since the demonstrations began - although Iranian authorities haven’t confirmed either figure. To recap: these protests began in response to Iran’s collapsing economy, but they’ve now become massive, increasingly violent anti-regime marches. With US President Donald Trump threatening to get involved (military strikes, cyber weapons, and new sanctions are all reportedly on the table…), there are lots of eyes on what happens next… He’s due to meet with advisers to discuss options today, while Tehran has again said it will retaliate against any US action with strikes on military bases.

Victoria’s bushfire victim has been named…

…as cattle farmer Max Hobson, who died in the Longwood bushfire in central Victoria over the weekend. His body was found by emergency services on a road near the town of Gobur, police said on Sunday, and yesterday, we learned that Hobson - aged in his 80s - had stayed behind to defend his property and cattle while his wife escaped. Premier Jacinta Allan said it was a “tragic loss” and gave her condolences to his family, friends and the local community. As for the rest of the state, firefighters are still battling uncontrolled fires, even as cooler weather is moving through… More than 350 structures have been destroyed, and the Victorian Farmers Federation says more than 15,000 livestock have been killed. But with 900 registered livestock farms in the Longwood fire area alone, they say that number will go up…

Hate laws are on the agenda

PM Anthony Albanese has recalled federal parliament next week to debate stronger hate speech laws and gun control reforms after last month’s Bondi Beach terror attack. And when we say stronger, Attorney-General Michelle Rowland says that if they’re passed, they’ll be the toughest “ever seen” in Oz… The draft legislation includes hate crimes being designated a “serious” offence, a new gun buyback scheme, more bans on prohibited symbols, and extra powers for the home affairs minister to cancel visas. Albanese said the Bondi terrorists “had hatred in their minds but guns in their hands… this law will deal with both”. But Coalition leader Sussan Ley says she’s “sceptical” about a single bill “that will attempt to cover multiple complex and unrelated policy areas”. They’ll be debated on Monday and Tuesday…

A hero’s battle

You’ll probably recognise NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott’s name - she was hailed a hero for her actions in stopping the Westfield Bondi Junction stabbing attack in 2024. But she’s now back in the headlines for another reason: she’s been diagnosed with a rare, aggressive form of breast cancer. The state police charity, Police Legacy NSW, said their “beautiful friend and colleague” was more than ‘the hero of Bondi Junction’ - that she’s “a loving wife, mother of two young boys [and] devoted to serving the community through her work”. Scott hasn’t commented herself, but Police Legacy’s set up a fundraiser to help her and her family with the “long uphill battle ahead to beat this insidious disease”. The community’s getting behind her - as of this morning, it’s raised more than $315,000 of its initial $25,000 goal…

Byrne-ing down the house

Aussie actress Rose Byrne took out the Golden Globe for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Musical or Comedy at the ceremony in Los Angeles yesterday. Byrne plays a psychotherapist and mother under duress in the comedy-drama If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, and in her speech - which got a lot of laughs - she said the award came as a shock given the film was shot “in 25 days for like $8.50”. Other big winners were One Battle After Another (best comedy film), Hamnet (best drama film) and Netflix series Adolescence, which picked up 4 awards. For more highlights, check out host Nikki Glaser’s monologue, Amy Poehler’s Good Hang winning the first ever Golden Globe for Best Podcast, and of course, some of the red carpet lewks… 

Apropos of Nothing

US bobsledder Kris Horn is a lucky man after managing to survive a disastrous bobsled run at a World Cup race in St. Moritz, where his 3 teammates failed to get into the sled. Horn was left to take the rapid journey alone, without access to brakes, but everyone’s OK…  

Slightly less danger at the Pennsylvania Farm Show this week, where finest exponents of the mullet hairstyle in the US are going hair-to-hair in a contest to decide the best party-in-the-back in the business. The only thing in danger there is our eyes… 

And well done to local rookie tennis player Taylah Preston, who caused a huge upset at the Hobart International yesterday when she beat Spanish world #40 Bouzas Maneiro in straight sets. She’ll be in action again tomorrow to see if she can keep the run going…

Squiz the Day

10.30am (AEDT): Tennis - Kooyong Classic begins (until 15 January), with Aussie Nick Kyrgios and German World #3 Alexander Zverev in the field - watch on SBS On Demand

A couple of banking data releases to clock - Westpac will put out its Consumer Sentiment Index for January, and the Commonwealth Bank will put out its Wage and Work Tracker for December

Police will resume the search for 41yo South Oz woman Trisha Graf, who went missing after visiting the town of Andamooka in December

Sentencing is due for former Darwin real estate agent Suzi Milgate, who was found guilty of aggravated assault in mid-December after hitting former Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Fyles with a cream-filled crepe in 2023

The circus company Gravity & Other Myths will open their production of Ten Thousand Hours in Melbourne - runs until 25 January 

Tell Me Lies Season 3 premieres on Disney+

Birthdays for actors Julia Louis-Dreyfus (1961), Patrick Dempsey (1966), Orlando Bloom (1977) and Liam Hemsworth (1990)

Anniversary of:

• Johnny Cash records his first live album At Folsom Prison at, you guessed it, Folsom State Prison in California (1968)

• The cruise ship Costa Concordia capsizing and sinking off the coast of Italy (2012)

• the death of Antony Armstrong-Jones, the Earl of Snowdon/Princess Margaret’s ex (2017)

• the false emergency alert warning of an impending missile strike on Hawaii (2018)