Tuesday, 6 January - What's new, pussycat?

Good morning, it’s Tuesday, 6 January. In your Squiz Today…

• Ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores face court

• The deputy Liberal leader in Victoria calls time

• And the Belgian PM’s cat goes viral… 😸

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Said business owner Kiyoshi Kimura, who paid a record $4.79 million at auction for a 243-kilogram bluefin tuna at the famous Toyosu fish market in Japan. Kimura broke his own 2019 record of $3.13 million, and at those prices, delicious would be the bare minimum…

Maduro faces the music

The Squiz

Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores have both pleaded not guilty to drugs and weapons charges in a New York court this morning after the couple was captured in a US military operation over the weekend. Their capture was the culmination of a months-long campaign by the US to oust Maduro, who US President Donald Trump says is responsible for enabling the flow of drugs into the US, as well as stealing US oil. You can follow along with the latest here, but while all that’s going on, the relationship between Trump and Maduro’s successor Delcy Rodriguez isn’t going much more smoothly…

What’s going on between those 2?

After the now acting President Rodriguez initially called for Maduro’s release and criticised the US military operation, Trump called for her to give the US “total access” to the country and said if she doesn’t, she “will face a situation probably worse than Maduro”. Rodriguez has since softened her language, saying she’s “invited the US government to work together on an agenda of cooperation.” But some of her colleagues might not be so keen on playing ball - at the first session of Venezuela’s new parliamentary term overnight, they said they would “develop full solidarity so that our legitimate president, Nicolas Maduro, returns victorious.” But Trump is far from backing down - in fact, he’s now floating similar action in Colombia, Venezuela’s neighbour to the west…

Why, what’s happening in Colombia?

According to Trump, Colombia is “run by a sick man (that’d be Colombian President Gustavo Petro) who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States”. Asked if that meant he might consider a similar operation there, Trump said “sounds good to me.” And just to zip across the world quickly, the Trump administration has started talking about taking over the Danish territory of Greenland again - an idea it’s been floating for a while due to Greenland’s strategically important location. Greenland’s PM Jens-Frederik Nielsen said that the US calls were “not just wrong” but “disrespectful”. With all of this going on, the UN Security Council has been holding an emergency meeting, where Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “deeply concerned that rules of international law have not been respected” during the Maduro operation. It’s a tense time…

Lightening the load for 2026

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Asian powers patch things up

South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung met with China’s Xi Jinping for diplomatic talks in Beijing overnight as they try to repair their relationship. And with back-to-back meetings, they’ve made some headway - Lee said it’s “an important opportunity” to restore relations. They’ve been particularly sour as China and Japan have clashed over China’s policy on Taiwan - leaving South Korea (like Japan, a US ally…) in a tricky spot. But China is South Korea’s biggest trading partner, so boosting economic and tourism ties has been front of mind for Lee, as well as pushing Beijing to lift its unofficial ban on Korean pop culture (yep, K-pop…). We’re yet to hear any official policy outcomes, but political experts say Xi’s eagerness to meet Lee twice in recent months shows he’s also keen to mend things.

Liberal colleagues earn Groth’s wrath

The deputy leader of the Victorian Liberal party said yesterday that he won’t be contesting this year’s state election because “public pressure” on his family has become too much. That’s in part a reference to a legal battle the Nepean MP had last year with the Herald Sun newspaper, which wrote reports about the legitimacy of his relationship with his wife Brittany that led to a lawsuit. The newspaper settled the case and apologised to Groth in November last year, but the former tennis pro says that took a toll - and pointed to some of his problems coming from “forces within my own party”. It leaves new Liberal leader Jess Wilson dealing with questions about her party’s culture as she gets ready to face off against Premier Jacinta Allan in November, in what could be a very close election…

The worst since black summer…

…is the warning being given about a heatwave due to pass over southern Oz this week, starting tomorrow. Severe to extreme temps (well into the 40Cs…) are forecast across much of the country, moving from west to east across Western Oz, South Oz, the ACT and NSW, Tassie, Victoria, and parts of Queensland. Dean Narramore, a senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, says we’ll likely see temperatures “8-16C above average” over a 3-day period. He said “baking, searing heat” is forecast at first, but the wind is forecast to pick up from Thursday, particularly across South Oz and Victoria. It has our state fire services on high alert - they say it’s important to stick to total fire ban rules and review fire plans now.

A glimpse into the future

With construction on Queensland’s 63,000-seat stadium due to start early next year, its newly-named architecture firms - COX and Hassell - have given a peek at the first concept designs. Brisbane Stadium, as it’ll be named, will be home to the Brisbane Lions AFL team, cricket matches and music concerts in future decades - but first comes the 2032 Olympics… It’s been a long road to this point, with debate over whether a new stadium was needed (and its $3.6 billion price tag…) plaguing Queensland’s 2024 state election. And there’s still controversy over its location at Victoria Park - which some critics are fighting against. COX Architecture Director Richard Coulson hasn’t commented on that… He says the firm is “humbled by the appointment” and will design a stadium reflecting its leafy setting.

Move over, Larry…

The famous Downing Street cat has competition in the world of political felines… Belgium PM Bart De Wever’s cat Maximus (Maximus Textoris Pulcher in full…) is picking up a following on Instagram, where someone (De Wever during his downtime, maybe…) posts the rescued grey Scottish fold with speech bubble captions. “Even on Sunday, these nuisances [cabinet ministers] are here,” reads one, alongside a grumpy-looking Maximus. Political scientist Professor Dave Sinardet says it’s part of a tradition for pollies to use animals to humanise themselves - and for De Wever, who’s “​​perceived as quite competent … but maybe as a less warm person”. Whatever the reason, it seems to be working - Maximus has more than 170,000 followers, making his account one of the most popular in Belgium.

Apropos of Nothing

It’s that time of year when annual prediction articles/posts are aplenty, and although many aren’t exactly scientific, a group of Peruvian shamans who last week predicted President Nicolás Maduro’s removal from office in 2026 have us wondering if they got a tip-off…

If ‘research spy training’ is on your to-do list (or if you’ve just read a good spy thriller…), we’ll point you to this article about the uni where French spies learn the tricks of the trade. The professor there reckons he doesn’t even know his students’ real names… 

Getting tired of New Year’s resolutions is a rite of passage, so consider this permission to let them go. A study has found that sticking with the wrong goals can lead to more stress, while dropping/modifying them can have “positive implications for a person’s wellbeing”. Thanks, science…

Squiz the Day

10:00am (AEDT): Cricket - Jane McGrath Day (Day 3) at the Sydney Ashes Test, also known as the Pink Test - watch on Channel 7 and Fox Sports

5:30pm (AEDT): Tennis - Australia v Czechia at the United Cup in Sydney - watch on 9Now

The CES tech show begins in Las Vegas, showing off some of the latest tech innovations

Birthdays for comedian/actor Rowan Atkinson (1955), domestic goddess Nigella Lawson (1960), actor Eddie Redmayne (1982) and Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner (1986)

Anniversary of:

- The wedding of King Henry VIII of England and Anne of Cleves. It was his fourth marriage, and it didn’t quite work out… (1540)

- Maria Montessori opening her first Montessori school in Rome (1907)

- Cricket legend Don Bradman scoring 452 not out in only 415 minutes, a then-record in a first-class match (NSW v Queensland at the SCG) (1930)

- The 6 January attack on the US Capitol building as lawmakers inside moved to certify Democrat Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election over Republican/sitting President Donald Trump (2021)

- The birthdays of philosopher Alan Watts (1915), and rockers Syd Barrett (1946) and Malcolm Young (1953)

- The death of US President Theodore Roosevelt (1919)