Tuesday, 28 January 2025 - Dance it out, you're hot to go

Good morning, it’s Tuesday, 28 January. In your Squiz Today…

• Thousands of displaced Palestinians are returning to northern Gaza for the first time since the war began

• There’s concerns over an uptick in dingo attacks on K’gari

• And get ready for the year of the snake… 🐍

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

Said teammate Riley Meredith after Hobart Hurricanes opener Mitch Owen’s “next level” innings of 108 from 42 deliveries saw the ‘Canes blow the Sydney Thunder away to win their first Big Bash League title on their 14th try - the highlights have to be seen to be believed…

A bumpy road home

The Squiz

Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have begun returning to northern Gaza over the past 12 hours after Israel and Hamas reached a deal over the return of Israeli Arbel Yehoud and 5 other hostages. Yehoud was at the centre of the first major snag in the delicate Israel-Hamas ceasefire over the weekend - before Qatari mediators stepped in to smooth things over… The fresh agreement meant that Palestinians could start passing through roadblocks back into northern areas of the Strip yesterday, while Yehoud, soldier Agam Berger and another unnamed hostage will be returned on Thursday, followed by another 3 on Saturday. Hamas has also confirmed that 8 of the 33 hostages due to be released as part of the first phase of the ceasefire are dead. 

What happened? 

The terms of the agreement meant that Yehoud, who is believed to be the last female civilian hostage alive in Gaza, should have been one of the first released. But without giving a reason, Hamas hadn’t freed her yet - instead sending 4 Israeli soldiers home on Saturday in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of breaching the deal, and the Israel Defence Forces said it would ban Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza until Yehoud was released. Once that was cleared up, there were celebrations by many Palestinians waiting to reunite with their loved ones - but experts warned the situation is still “incredibly precarious”. Middle East analyst Omar Baddar said “while this is a small promising sign … they are allowing them to return to an area that is utterly devastated”.

Is there anything else?

Yep - the other development is that the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire deal, which was due to expire on Sunday, has been extended until 18 February. Under the terms, Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah agreed to withdraw from southern Lebanon, where the majority of fighting had taken place. But with that deadline nearing, Israel said it would keep troops in the area - accusing the Lebanese government of not enforcing Hezbollah’s removal. Under the extension, both sides have more time to sort that out… Elsewhere in the conflict, US President Donald Trump has copped criticism over his comments about moving Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt and Jordan. Both countries rejected the idea, with Egypt’s foreign ministry saying it would give “continued support for the steadfastness of the Palestinian people on their land”.

Squiz the Rest

Adding to the legal pile

South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol has had more action taken against him in court - this time, he’s been formally charged with insurrection over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law in early December. It’s notable for a couple of reasons… It’s the first time a sitting South Korean president has been charged with a crime. It also means he’s not likely to be freed anytime soon - he’ll remain behind bars while he waits for the trial hearings to start. In a statement, prosecutors said Yoon had directed a rebellion when he made the martial law declaration. But his lawyers pushed back, saying “a president’s declaration of martial law can never be rebellion”. Another thing - the Constitutional Court is still deliberating over whether to uphold Yoon’s impeachment or reinstate him. It’s all happening…

An uptick in dingo attacks on K’gari

More children - a 2yo and a 4yo - have been bitten by dingoes in separate incidents on K’gari (formerly Fraser Island) over the long weekend. Both received minor injuries, but authorities are concerned about the number of attacks in a short period of time… A 3yo child was bitten on the leg while walking along a beach on 18 January - the same day a woman was attacked while protecting her belongings from another dingo. They’re the latest in an increasing number of attacks at the popular tourist spot off Queensland’s coast - leading to calls for stronger regulations to protect visitors. Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service has warned that, after years of being fed by tourists, the island’s 200 dingoes are becoming bolder around humans, prompting rangers to increase patrols.

A big tech shake-up

The launch of a new low-cost Chinese AI chatbot has caused mayhem in global markets, triggering big losses across tech stocks. Reports say Chinese company DeepSeek's AI assistant ‘RI’ works for a fraction of the cost of chatbots made by Open AI, Google or Meta - with the same capabilities. And the one-year-old startup reckons it only cost US$5.6 million to develop compared to the hundreds of millions invested in AI by US tech companies. The launch saw immediate falls in tech shares, with chip producer Nvidia hit particularly hard… And while we’re on tech/money, Mastercard is heading towards numberless cards (paywall) in Oz in an effort to reduce fraud. The credit card giant says it wants the 16-digit number gone from its plastic by 2030, with tokenisation and biometrics taking their place. End of an era…

A long weekend of winners

You probably saw it was a weekend filled with overachievers, so here’s some background while we applaud them… Newly minted Australian of the Year Neale Daniher has been raising money and awareness of motor neurone disease after being diagnosed in 2013, including establishing The Big Freeze, where Aussies plunge into an ice bath to raise money for charity. US songstress Chappell Roan won Triple J’s Hottest 100 poll with Good Luck, Babe - but only 29 Aussie songs made the 100, which has sparked a discussion on how to support Aussie music in the streaming era. On that note, Troy Cassar-Daley took his award tally to 45 at this year’s Golden Guitars with Between the Fires, an album paying tribute to his late Mum. And finally, here’s a good wrap of the washup from the Aussie Open. There was plenty on…

An hiss-toric Lunar New Year begins

A whole lotta people are on the move in China as the Lunar New Year gets underway - get a load of these numbers: 510 million people travelling by train and 90 million catching a plane. It’s the biggest annual mass human migration in the world as families around the country gather together - for some, it’s the only time of the year they do. Festivities aren’t confined to China - the Lunar New Year is a thing right around the world, including Australia, with big celebrations scheduled for our capital cities in particular. Each Lunar New Year means a new sign of the Chinese zodiac, and 2025 is the Year of the Snake - specifically, the Wood snake, for reasons we don’t have the word count for - here’s a good explainer if you’re keen to brush up. Keep an eye out for plenty of red this week…

Apropos of Nothing - Puttin’ on a show edition

It’s been a busy time for corpse flowers - aside from Geelong’s and Sydney’s ‘Putricia’, visitors to Brooklyn Botanic Gardens in the Big Apple enjoyed the fast-flowering/rotten-smelling delight over the weekend. Despite the 3-peat, the blooms are rare. Our noses have just been lucky of late…

If you prefer a less whiffy viewing and have a trip to London in the works, you might like to visit the Courtauld Gallery - where it’ll have 2 of Vincent Van Gogh’s artworks (of the French hospital where he stayed after mutilating his ear…) on show for the first time next month.

We flagged last week that Timothee Chalamet was set for the gig of host and musical guest on this weekend’s Saturday Night Live - he ended up performing a few Dylan deep cuts to support his role in biopic A Complete Unknown and the critics reckon he nailed it…

Squiz the Day

Qld, Vic, SA, and NT school students return to school for Term 1 of 2025

King Charles is among world leaders attending the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz ceremony this morning in Poland

Sydneysiders are being warned to stay inside today (paywall) due to extreme heat, with temperatures expected to hit 41C in the west

International Lego Day 

Anniversary of:

• the publication of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice in the UK (1813)

• the explosion of USS Space Shuttle Challenger just over a minute after takeoff, killing all 7 crew members (1986)

• Roger Federer becoming the first man to claim 20 Grand Slam titles after winning the Australian Open for the sixth time (2018)