Tuesday, 21 April - I was young and caught in the crowd

Good morning, it’s Tuesday, 21 April. In your Squiz Today…

• Still no sign that Iran will turn up to peace talks as JD Vance gets ready to head to Pakistan for the second round

• A high-profile legal case between Woolies and the ACCC kicks off

• And the science of big crowds…

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

Said dive student Stu Fillman to rescuers after 21 hours in the ocean clinging to a life raft with instructor Daniel Fitzgerald. They were found off the coast of Queensland’s Stradbroke Island on Sunday, 25km from where they got stuck in a current. And the reply: “Likewise, boys, likewise.”

Second chance Vance

The Squiz

US Vice President JD Vance is expected to head back to Pakistan this morning to lead the US delegation for peace talks with Iran. This will be Vance’s second crack at finding a permanent end to the war in Iran, which began on 28 February - but it’s still unclear if Iranian officials will turn up to the talks, which are planned for tonight. With the current ceasefire expiring on Wednesday and a flashpoint in the Strait of Hormuz yesterday, it will be a critical couple of days…

What happened in the strait?

You may remember that the US is currently running its own blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz. The idea is that it will stop Iran from making money by charging tolls to allow ships to pass through - but yesterday, the US seized a cargo ship sailing under the Iranian flag that it says tried to evade its blockade and ignored repeated warnings to stop. Iran responded by saying it would “retaliate against this armed piracy by the US military”, and Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says it’s a sign the US isn’t serious about a lasting peace. All that has created an extra-tense atmosphere for negotiations, and as of this morning, there are mixed signals from Iran about whether they’ll attend. It’s all a bit up in the air…

How are things going here at home?

We know that our fuel and fertiliser supplies are under strain, which is having a flow-on effect on groceries. Yesterday, Ritchies IGA chief executive Fred Harrison said that price increases would hit staples like bread and milk “in the next 4 to 6 weeks”, given that farmers’ costs have risen significantly since the war began - some farmers are reporting the cost of fertiliser has more than doubled over the last 6 weeks. While Harrison has promised that the money from food price increases will flow through to farmers, Australian Dairy Farmers president Ben Bennett has put pressure on Coles and Woolworths to do the same… He says, “If we look at COVID, they sort of looked after themselves as number one.” We’ll see what happens this time…

Spreadsheet? Never heard of her...

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Squiz the Rest

A not-so-charming outlook

Treasurer Jim Chalmers gave us a peek yesterday into next month’s federal Budget - and he’s warned that our economic pain could get worse as the Iran war pushes up inflation while slowing growth… After meetings in the US last week with other world finance ministers, he said the general “vibe” was frustration about the war and how our economy is being held “hostage”. He says the Budget has been totally revised as a result and flagged that “there will be tax reform, there will be a productivity push, and there will be savings”. On those, he said cuts to the NDIS will be “easily the most important part”, while changes to the Capital Gains Tax also haven’t been ruled out. Budget night is 12 May, but he’s flagged there’ll be more teasers to come…

More hard questions for Keir Starmer

The UK PM is once again copping it over his appointment of Peter Mandelson - who had close ties to the disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein - as Britain’s ambassador to the US. The scandal resurfaced after it came to light that Mandelson failed security vetting before he was given the role early last year - the results of which were overridden by high-level officials in the Foreign Office. Starmer says he didn’t know Mandelson failed the vetting and was “absolutely furious” he hadn’t been told. That’s led to the head of the Foreign Office, Olly Robbins, being fired, but it hasn’t quietened the government’s critics. Overnight, Starmer repeated that he “did not mislead the House of Commons”, but he’s still under severe pressure…… 

Japan is on high alert…

…for a major earthquake in the coming week, following a 7.7 magnitude quake in the country yesterday. That quake led to evacuation orders for a region north of Tokyo and tsunami warnings that were later downgraded, but seismologists say that this earthquake has created a slightly increased risk of a bigger shock to come. Japan has a lot of earthquakes - an average of about 1500 a year - with one of the worst coming back in 2011. That 9.0 magnitude quake led to a tsunami which caused the deaths of over 18,000 people and a meltdown at a nuclear plant in Fukushima, so the country is very wary. While the current likelihood is only 1% (compared to 0.1% normally), people living in coastal areas have been told to be extra prepared to leave their homes over the coming week. 

Making some sale-ient points

The prices of a range of everyday shopping items will be under the microscope this week, as Woolworths and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission go head-to-head in the Federal Court. In an almost identical case to one the consumer watchdog ran against Coles, it’s accusing Woolies of claiming items like Tim Tams and laundry powder were on sale, when it had just artificially inflated their prices ahead of the sale, so they seemed cheap in comparison. Like Coles, Woolworths denies the accusation, and will defend it in court over the next fortnight. Together, the 2 cases could have major implications for how we’re sold groceries in Oz, and considering the cost of living pressures going on at the moment, they’ll be closely watched…

She blinded me with crowd science

Overnight, the Boston marathon ran for the 130th time, with more than 32,000 people turning up to tackle the famous race. But organising all those bodies is a tough gig - which is why this year organisers used a ‘crowd scientist’ to try and keep things settled. We hadn’t heard of crowd science, but it’s a discipline aimed at keeping big events safe and operating smoothly. In the case of Boston, they tapped German crowd science expert Marcel Altenburg to help out - which he did by running several simulations on the race to work out the best way to organise it. Some of his initiatives include 6 waves of groups instead of 4 and putting the water stations in different spots. Now to get them working on the toilet queues at big concerts…

Apropos of Nothing

Speaking of marathons, a humanoid robot has left its human competition in its dust at a half-marathon in Beijing. The winning robot, Lightning, completed the race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds. Of course we do have machines that are very fast already, they’re called cars…

Aussie photographer Elle Leontiev has won a major photography award out of more than 430,000 entries. The image ‘barefoot volcanologist’ was shot near one of the most active volcanoes in the world… You can see more of the portrait finalists here…

And feast your eyes on the trailer for Practical Magic 2, the sequel to the Sandra Bullock/Nicole Kidman fantasy film from 1998. Despite 28 years between drinks, the 2 leads seem like they’ve retained that sisterly chemistry from the original…

Squiz the Day

6:30am (AEST) - The Australian Cancer Research Foundation’s national fundraiser, 60km in May, launches in Sydney

10.00am (AEST) - Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy will announce a major investment in counter-drone capabilities - Melbourne

ABS data release: Taxation revenue, 2024-2025 financial year; Government finance statistics, 2024-2025 financial year

Streaming service Disney+ will launch a new ad-supported tier today, which will cost $9.99 as opposed to its Standard plan of $15.99 

World Creativity & Innovation Day

🫖 National Tea Day - UK

100 years since the birth of Queen Elizabeth II 

Anniversary of:

• Romulus and Remus founding Rome, according to legend (753 BC)

• Elvis Presley's first hit record Heartbreak Hotel going to #1 (1956)

• the death of music superstar Prince (2016)

• the Easter Sunday terror attacks in Sri Lanka (2019)

• the birthdays of Charlotte Brontë (1816) and Queen Elizabeth II (1926)