Tuesday, 22 April - Lights will guide you home

Good morning, it’s Tuesday, 22 April. In your Squiz Today…

• Tributes flow for Pope Francis

• An Aussie faces jail time in Russia

• And Oscar Piastri notches up another F1 win…

🎧 Listen to the podcast

🤓 This email will take you 5 minutes to read

Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

Said Stawell Gift women’s champ Bree Rizzo after winning the annual handicap race off 'scratch' - which means all her competitors had a headstart. Adelaide teacher John Evans took out the men’s race after stars Gout Gout and Lachie Kennedy just missed the final.

Vale Pope Francis

The Squiz

As the Easter long weekend came to a close in Australia yesterday evening, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, has died. The 88yo had a near-fatal bout of double pneumonia earlier this year but was discharged from hospital on 23 March. But less than 24 hours after delivering a traditional blessing on Easter Sunday and meeting with US Vice President JD Vance, Pope Francis died of a stroke and heart failure in his residence in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta. The tributes have been flowing ever since - King Charles paid his respects, as did US President Donald Trump, and PM Anthony Albanese said Pope Francis was “close to the people of Australia” and would be remembered as “a devoted champion and loving father”. 

Tell me a bit about him…

Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Argentinian Cardinal was elected Pope in 2013 after Benedict XVI stepped down. He was considered a progressive choice because of his moderate views on topics like relaxing celibacy for priests, having married men serve as priests, and blessing same sex couples - although he stopped short at marrying them. He did have critics - some say he didn’t change things up enough, while others say he delved too far into politics. He also made waves when he admitted to errors in the handling of the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal. All in all, he leaves a notable legacy. You can flick through a gallery of his life in photos here. 

So what happens now?

Pope Francis will be the first in a century to be buried outside the Vatican - he’ll be laid to rest in the Basilica of St Mary Major in Rome in the coming 4-6 days. A new Pope also needs to be elected via a Conclave - a secretive process (note: the word is Latin for ‘closed door’) that begins 15-20 days after the Pope’s death and takes place inside the Sistine Chapel. Cardinals vote until a two-thirds majority is reached, and they’ll burn smoke to let those outside know if they’ve made a decision - black smoke means no dice, and white means they have a successor. A few names are in the running, and one of those making the decision will be Melbourne-based Ukrainian Cardinal Mykola Bychok - at 44yo, he will be the youngest in the room. 

The hidden cost of our childcare crisis

For many mums, not being able to access or afford early education and care can make returning to work impossible. But not working at all, or working part-time, often comes with a big price tag… If you want to know where the major parties stand, The Parenthood’s Early Learning Scorecard has answers, and episode 3 of At What Cost? - a new podcast series from The Parenthood - gets into how women often come off second best and explores potential solutions. You can listen here.

Squiz the Rest

Oscar Jenkins has been charged

The 33yo captured by Russian forces on 22 December while fighting with Ukraine has been charged with “being a mercenary”, which means he could reportedly face up to 15 years in prison. Russian prosecutors are alleging that Jenkins was paid between $11-15,000 to fight on Ukraine’s behalf, and he’ll face court soon, though we don’t know when yet. PM Albanese says the government is still making “representations to the reprehensible regime of Vladimir Putin” to try and get Jenkins some help. And despite a 30-hour “Easter truce” in the war breaking down over the weekend, US President Donald Trump has said “hopefully Russia and Ukraine will make a deal this week”, so that’s something to watch for. 

Less than 2 weeks ‘til polling day

Our political leaders didn’t have much of a break over the long weekend… They’ve both spoken about the continued fallout from last week’s - now disputed - reports that Russia was planning a military base in Indonesia. Coalition leader Peter Dutton has accused Labor of avoiding answering questions about whether Russia had made a request to Indonesia, and the PM wouldn’t confirm either way yesterday, saying he has “no wish to help promote Russia’s propaganda messages”. As we get closer to the big day, polls are showing Team Albo still has the momentum, so time’s a-tickin’ for Dutton to change that - he’ll get a chance tonight with the third leader’s debate, which is on Channel 9 at 7:30pm AEST. 

*Want to catch up on what else has been going on? Check out our Squiz Shortcut to Week 3 of the campaign - and send any questions you’ve always wanted answered to [email protected] 

Queensland floods have taken a toll 

Graziers in Western Queensland are counting the cost of flooding that has hit an area twice the size of Victoria over the past few weeks - authorities are estimating half a million cattle, sheep, and goats have been lost as a result. That's in the realm of 20% of the total stock in the area, and experts reckon the impact of the floods could be felt across the entire country for years to come - including on the price of red meat. But in true country style, the community is also coming together in the face of the damage - people in the outback town of Eromanga,  which was hit hard by the floods, have held their annual rodeo over the Easter weekend for a bit of fun amidst the recovery. 

Oscar Piastri is flying

After taking out the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on the weekend, the 24yo McLaren racing driver is now the first Aussie to lead the Formula One world championship in 15 years. The last Aussie to be on top at any stage of the competition was Piastri’s current manager, Mark Webber, back in 2010. In a tightly-fought race, a 5-second penalty to champion driver Max Verstappen gave Piastri the victory - he says while he’s proud to be leading the race for the title, there are still 19 rounds to go. And not that anyone’s getting ahead of themselves, but if Piastri did win the whole enchilada, he’d be the first Aussie since Alan Jones - all the way back in 1980 - to do it. The world is watching… 

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

The British band behind hits like Baba O’Riley and My Generationhas faced some internal malarkey over drummer Zak Starkey, the godson of original drummer Keith Moon (and son of Ringo Starr). Starkey’s been with The Who since 1996, but the band said he had been let go late last week - apparently after lead singer and original band member Roger Daltrey took issue with his drumming efforts during a run of shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall. But it was short-lived, as fellow original band member Pete Townshend said 2 days later that Starkey is back on board after “some communication issues, personal and private” had been cleared up. So all is right in the world of The Who - hopefully tensions won’t get fuelled again…

Apropos of Nothing

A bougie brioche has been branded Britain’s best bread (try saying that 3 times fast…), in the second win for former hobby baker Miyo Aoetsu. She followed up her matcha-flavoured 2023 winner with this Earl Grey tea and lemon concoction - there were over 200 contenders for the title, but only one rose to the top… 

During the WWE’s annual Wrestlemania event in Vegas over the weekend, where over 120,000 people rocked up to see performers like our very own Rhea Ripley do her thing, there was a big announcement for Aussie fans - the WWE is heading back to Perth in October for a full weekend of shows. It’ll be a West Australian spandex-travaganza… 

And there’s a bit of buzz around Black Panther and Creed director Ryan Coogler’s new movie Sinners, which won the Easter weekend box office race in the US. Sinners is a vampire movie set in 1930s Mississippi, and it stars Michael B. Jordan and Hailee Steinfeld. With a 98% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, critics and audiences seem to be big fans…

Squiz the Day

8.00am (AEST) - PSA for early birds: Early voting opens for the federal election at voting centres across the country (closed on Anzac Day)

11.30am (AEST) - Election pollsters Kos Samaras (Redbridge Group), Jess Elgood (Ipsos) and Shaun Ratcliff (Accent Research) will address the National Press Club on ‘Where the 2025 election will be won - the experts’ view' - Canberra

7.30pm (AEST) - And just in case you’re not electioned out yet, the third leaders’ debate of the campaign will be hosted by Channel Nine. Dubbed ‘The Great Debate’, it’ll be moderated by Ally Langdon, with questions from journalists Charles Croucher, Deb Knight, and Phil Coorey - Sydney, and you can watch on 9Now

ABS data release - Tax revenue and Government Finance, 2023-24

The National Trust’s Australian Heritage Festival is on (until 18 May)

Andor Season 2 premieres on Disney+

🌏 Earth Day 

Birthdays for Jack Nicholson (1937), John Waters (1946), Daniel Johns (1979), and Amber Heard (1986)

Anniversary of:

• the birthdays of the first head of Soviet Russia Vladimir Lenin (1870), artist Sidney Nolan (1917) and singer Glen Campbell (1936)

• the death of Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States (1994)

• the signing of the Paris Climate Agreement (2016)