Tuesday, 24 March - Such great heights

Good morning, it’s Tuesday, 24 March. In your Squiz Today…

• US President Donald Trump delays his deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz

• There’s been a deadly runway crash at New York’s LaGuardia Airport

• And we don’t have the bandwidth for this corporate jargon…

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

Said Olivier Rioux, who at 7’9, set a new record as the tallest player to compete in a US NCAA college basketball game. The 20yo took part in March Madness and scored a late-game slam dunk for his team the Florida Gators - it was barely a stretch…

Trump changes tack

The Squiz

US President Donald Trump has extended his 48-hour deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, saying the US was currently in talks with Iran to potentially end the war. The deadline was supposed to expire about midday today, but Trump’s given the Iranian regime an extra 5 days - meaning it’ll now be Sunday. He’s claimed that the US is in discussions with a “respected” Iranian leader to end the conflict, but Iran says no such talks have taken place - the country’s parliamentary speaker says it’s an attempt to relieve the pressure on global oil markets.

What was going to happen if the deadline expired?

IIf Iran hadn’t agreed to open up the shipping channel that much of the world’s crude oil passes through, Trump had threatened that US forces would “hit and obliterate” Iranian power plants. Far from backing down, Iran responded by saying it would “irreversibly destroy” water and energy facilities across the Middle East. The threat to the region’s energy targets - which so many countries depend on - sparked chaos on global markets yesterday - here in Oz the ASX dropped by nearly 2% before recovering to close down 0.74%. As for who’s involved in the talks to resolve the war, we don’t know much - but UK PM Keir Starmer said he was aware they were happening, and Trump has promised they’ll continue today.

But no resolution yet…

No, and despite US markets improving off the back of Trump’s comments, the International Energy Agency says we’re in the midst of one of the worst global oil crises ever. Here at home, that’s putting plenty of pressure on the Albanese Government… Energy Minister Chris Bowen confirmed yesterday that hundreds of service stations had run out of fuel in NSW, Victoria and Queensland since the start of the war. And with the price of diesel nudging $3 a litre in some parts of the country, Bowen has suggested Aussies work from home if they can - but deputy Liberal leader Jane Hume accused him of deflecting from our fuel supply issues, saying “that isn't going to be enough to solve the supply chain crisis."

Spreading life saving advice further

Surf Life Saving Australia doesn’t need much introduction… It’s an organisation that keeps beachgoers safe along our coastlines every year - with almost 4,000 rescues over the 2025/26 summer period alone. But, like all safety organisations, they can always use a hand getting their messaging to more people - and that’s why their partnership with Airbnb is so important. Airbnb’s helping to share SLSA’s safety advice with hosts and travellers before they even set foot on the sand. You can read some of that advice here.

Squiz the Rest

Narelle’s not done…

After sweeping right across the country’s north, ex-tropical cyclone Narelle is threatening to reform into a cyclone in the waters west of the Kimberley in Western Oz. There are warnings that the system could make landfall a third time in the coming days - the last time a weather system did that was tropical cyclone Ingrid in March 2005. Although the system passed north of Katherine yesterday morning, it’s left the town preparing for its second flood in 2 weeks, with waters from the Katherine River catchment expected to flow downstream. Yesterday, Narelle dumped heavy rain and brought destructive winds as it passed from the Northern Territory into the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf - and forecasters are now predicting it could turn south later in the week, possibly heading towards Perth by the weekend.

A deadly runway crash in New York

The incident happened at the city’s busy LaGuardia airport, when an Air Canada plane carrying 76 people collided with a fire-rescue truck. The pilot and co-pilot of the plane are both dead and dozens of passengers are injured - though one flight attendant survived when the seat she was strapped to fell through a gap in the broken plane. Authorities believe the crash is a tragic accident, and there’s no suspicion of foul play - but investigations are ongoing. LaGuardia has only just reopened, which is adding to general airport chaos throughout the US, thanks to a battle over government funding for security/customs workers. Staff shortages have led to huge queues and delays throughout the country - so be wary if you have an imminent trip to the US on the cards… 

More static on the airwaves

The contract spat over the Kyle and Jackie O Show has ramped up a notch, with Australia Radio Network telling shareholders they’ll defend a lawsuit against them launched by their former star presenter Kyle Sandilands. Lawyers for Sandilands took action on Friday, arguing the network’s reason for cancelling his $100 million 10-year contract was “invalid” and that his on-air bust-up with co-host Jackie ‘O’ Henderson on 20 February didn’t constitute a breach of contract. The network told shareholders yesterday that “given the early stage of the matter, ARN is unable to reliably estimate the outcome or any potential financial impact”... And while we’re on dead air - thousands of ABC staff are preparing to walk off the job tomorrow over a pay dispute, which could shut down live broadcasts and delay recordings. Stay tuned…

Jess is (almost) best

Our track athletes have had a successful meet at the world indoor athletics champs in Poland, picking up 5 medals across the events. Middle-distance runner Jess Hull was responsible for 2 of those - she took out bronze in the 3,000m and followed that up with a silver in the 1,500m. She’s also become the first Aussie woman to break 4 minutes over 1500m indoors - and despite gold proving elusive, she says she knows her “time is coming”. We’d back her in on that… Other winners include 24yo Victorian Adam Spencer, who scored bronze in the men’s 1500m, Nicola Olyslagers picking up silver in the high jump and Kurtis Marschall’s bronze in the pole vault. With 5 medals, the only country to do better than Oz was the US - that’s a pretty strong result…

We’ll circle back to this

If you’re dealing with an annoying colleague fluent in nonsense corporate jargon, fear not - a new study reckons they’re probably bad at their job. Researchers at Cornell University found that those who are most excited by corporate speak might be the least likely to make good business decisions. The study calls this - their words, not ours - “corporate bulls***”, defined as “information that is misleadingly impressive, important… or otherwise engaging.” The study developed a “corporate bulls*** generator” and asked workers to rate its statements, while also testing their analytical/decision-making skills - and found a link between those who had real synergy with the jargon and those who displayed poor business judgement. We assume the idea for this research didn’t come from a blue sky session…

Apropos of Nothing

Speaking of blue sky, the most viewed photo in history, Bliss (aka Microsoft’s default desktop background) turns 30 this year and it turns out tech companies have thought a lot harder about their default backgrounds than you might think… 

If you’re thinking of making your way to the Netherlands (or just want to see photos of tulips), a Dutch photographer shared all her tips on where to see the best of them. We will warn you that you might be googling flights to Amsterdam, too…

An arboretum in North Carolina is running ‘forest bathing’ sessions where people explore nature and participate in meditations. It’s for people stressed about the news cycle and in need of a break - maybe reading The Squiz might also help them out…

Squiz the Day

8.00am (AEDT) - ANU Securing our Future national security conference - speakers include Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett - Canberra

9.00am (AEDT) - Victorian and Tasmanian public school teachers are set to strike for 24 hours

9.00am (ACDT) - Day one of the 2026 National Indigenous Mental Health & Suicide Prevention Conference (until 26 March) - Adelaide

9.30am (AEDT) - Cricket: T20 International Women's Australia v West Indies, Arnos Vale Stadium - Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, watch on 7plus 

10.00am (AEDT) - Former Hobart Hurricanes cricketer Aaron William Summers to appear in court on child abuse charges, Supreme Court of Tasmania - Hobart

6.00pm (AEDT) St George Illawarra forward Ryan Couchman will face the NRL judiciary over a hip-drop tackle that ended the season of Parramatta’s J’Maine Hopgood   

President of the European Commission Ursula Von der Leyen is meeting with PM Anthony Albanese to potentially finalise and sign a historic free trade agreement and defence pact - Canberra

ABS data release: measured physical activity and sleep, 2023

Myer will release its first-half financial results

General election in Denmark

International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims

World Tuberculosis Day 

🍸 National Cocktail Day

Birthdays for designer Tommy Hilfiger (1951), actor Jim Parsons (1973), NRL player Darren Lockyer (1977), and actor Jessica Chastain (1977)

Anniversary of:

• Elvis Presley joining the army (1958)

• the death of former Governor-General Sir John Kerr (1991)

• Federal Parliament overturning the world's first euthanasia law that was passed in the Northern Territory (1997)

• the Aussie cricket ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town (2018)

• the 'March for Our Lives' rallies held in Washington DC and around the world to protest gun violence (2018)