Tuesday, 7 October - Why don't you come on over, Valerie

Good morning, it’s Tuesday, 7 October. In your Squiz Today…

• Peace talks are underway for Gaza on the 2-year anniversary of the 7 October terror attacks

• Charges have been laid over a Sydney shooting spree

• And swift success for Taylor’s latest album…

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Squiz Sayings

Was how Dame Jilly Cooper preferred to describe her novels, rather than ‘bonkbusters’ as they were sometimes called. The English author, who died aged 88yo on Sunday, is best known for The Rutshire Chronicles, particularly the second book Rivals which was made into a Disney+ series - low morals and high fences aplenty…

Closing in on a deal for Gaza

The Squiz

Talks are underway in Egypt to hash out the terms of a 20-point peace plan for Gaza put forward by US President Donald Trump last week after Hamas signalled its partial agreement on Friday. Trump is confident the deal will be signed and the hostages returned within days, and he’s pushing for US and Arab negotiators working on the deal to “move fast” to get it done. But a scoop from US publisher Axios says Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has a less optimistic outlook, which has frustrated Trump. According to the report, Netanyahu reckons Hamas officials coming to the table "means nothing", but Trump has told him: "This is a win. Take it". 

So how is this expected to unfold?

Hamas says it’s willing to release all 48 remaining hostages (20 are believed to be still alive) and hand over governance of the strip to Palestinian technocrats - aka officials chosen for office based on their skills/background. But before that happens, the group wants to hash out some of the other terms - particularly the demand to completely disarm, which is something it’s refused to accept in the past. Still, Trump and his officials are of the view that the deal - which includes the return of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners from Israel - is 90% done and the talks in Cairo are to finalise logistics. Things aren’t yet locked in - Trump says “everybody has pretty much agreed to it, but there will always be some changes”, but he’s warned Hamas that if it doesn’t play ball, it faces “complete obliteration”. 

BTW, it's the anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attacks… 

Yep, that will generate some headlines today... Two years ago, Hamas terrorists crossed the border from Gaza into Israel, killing around 1,200 people in a series of brutal attacks and took 251 hostages. In the war that followed, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military. Protests were held across Europe and Israel yesterday to mark the grim milestone, with hundreds of thousands of people marching in support of both Israelis and Palestinians. And here at home, another rally is being planned by the Palestinian Action Group for Sunday, finishing at the Sydney Opera House - the site of one of the first big demonstrations that caused a lot of controversy. NSW Police are trying to stop it, and the matter is due to be heard in court today. 

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Squiz the Rest

Sussan Ley is under pressure…

The Coalition leader’s dealing with the fallout of Andrew Hastie’s resignation from her cabinet on Friday - he says Ley had removed Immigration from his responsibilities as Home Affairs spokesperson and given them to moderate MP Paul Scarr. Some political watchers see it differently… There’s speculation that Hastie is preparing to challenge Ley’s leadership - he’s denied that, but his conservative supporters, like Senator Sarah Henderson, reckon “the backbench is a very powerful place to be” right now... And former leader Peter Dutton also made a cameo in the coverage of this - he said Hastie went "on strike", leaving them exposed on a key election issue. The House of Reps is sitting this week, with new triple-0 legislation and changes to terror laws on the agenda, so prep for some fireworks… 

A shooting shocks Sydney

If you saw any news yesterday, you might've seen reports about a random shooting spree in Sydney's inner-west on Sunday night which terrified locals and sent the suburb of Croydon Park into lockdown… Gunshots were heard from around 7.30pm, when a man allegedly started firing on people on Georges River Road with a rifle from the window of an apartment. A man in his 50s was shot in the neck and chest - he was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery - and at least 16 others were injured before police arrested the shooter. He’s been identified as 60yo Artemios Mintzas - police have charged him overnight with 25 offences, including intent to murder. As you can imagine, there's been plenty of praise for the first responders, with NSW Premier Chris Minns thanking police for their “incredible bravery” in “a confronting and dangerous situation”. 

Racing against time on Everest

Hundreds of rescuers are at work on the famous Tibetan mountain after nearly 1,000 people became trapped at their campsites over the weekend by a huge, unseasonal snowstorm. Chinese state media says the climbers were stranded at an altitude of about 4,900 metres on the eastern slopes of Mount Everest - a popular area for climbers - after heavy snow began falling on Friday. That’s caused several of the climbers/hikers’ tents to collapse, and reports say at least one person has died and others are suffering from hypothermia. Local villagers and rescue teams have guided about 350 people to safety so far, taking them to the small town of Qudang, and are continuing to clear snow to reach the others. One man who was rescued said “the guide said he had never encountered such weather in October”. 

The Broncos bring it home

And when we say Broncos, we mean both the men’s and women’s teams… We’ll start with the NRLW, where Brisbane beat Sydney 22-18 on Sunday afternoon to end the Roosters’ undefeated season. Broncos centre Mele Hufanga was the standout, scoring a late try to win the game and later winning player of the match, but it was also a special one for Tamika Upton, who became the first-ever NRLW player to win 5 premierships. And for the men, the Broncos beat the Melbourne Storm 26-22, ending a 19-year premiership drought. Reece Walsh was the player of the match, scoring a try and defending against several others. For the league’s oldest player Ben Hunt, he’s now for a trophy after waiting for a premiership his whole career. Afterwards, he said “when the siren went it hit me like a tonne of bricks”. In a good way, we hope… 

Swiftly breaking more records

Unless you were completely off-grid over the weekend, you probably heard about the release of pop superstar Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl… The 12-track album debuted on Friday afternoon our time, and from there, took on a life of its own. It’s had mixed reviews from critics - Rolling Stone said it shoots Swift “into a fresh echelon of superstardom” while the UK’s Financial Times said it “lacks sparkle”. But that hasn’t stopped Swift from breaking more of her own - and others’ - records… Opening track The Fate of Ophelia achieved the most streams in a single day on Spotify, breaking the record held by Fortnight from her last album. And in the US, a behind-the-scenes film of Swift talking through the album also brought in nearly $50 million at the box office, making it the weekend’s #1 movie. That’s showbiz, baby…

Apropos of Nothing

If you’re yet to eat brekky, the World Porridge Championships might inspire you… Norway’s Sven Seljom’s claimed the coveted Golden Spurtle trophy with a spin on the classic, while Aussie Caroline Velik won ‘best specialty porridge’ with her porridge jaffles. Mm-mmm…

Raise a toast to 64yo British twins Ian and Stuart Paton, the proud growers/owners of the heaviest/longest pumpkin in the world. The behemoth has a circumference of nearly 6.5 metres and weighs almost 1,300kg. That's a lotta pumpkin soup… 

While we’re on the topic of worldwide fame, the story of how rescuers caught Valerie the tiny dachshund after 529 days on the lam on South Oz’s Kangaroo Island has finally been told on Australian Story. You (and your 4-legged friends…) can watch it on ABC iview now.

Squiz the Day

House of Reps and Senate sitting (until 9 October) 

School goes back for kids in Queensland for term 4

2-year anniversary of Hamas’ incursion into Israel - aka the 7 October terror attacks

9.30am (AEDT) - The alleged gunman in Sunday night’s Croydon Park shooting spree, Artemios Mintzas, is set to face court on 25 charges including intent to murder - Sydney

10.00am (AEDT) - A hearing as NSW Police attempt to stop a pro-Palestine protest from finishing up at the Sydney Opera House next Sunday - Sydney

11.00am (AEDT) - Communications Minister Anika Wells will meet with the bosses of our major telcos to ask about the reliability of their triple-0 services in the coming summer bushfire season - Canberra

7.45pm (AEDT) - Nobel Prize for Physics to be announced at The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden 

SNAICC (The Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care), the peak body representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families, holds its National Conference (until Thursday) - Brisbane

The Health of the Nation report from the Royal Australasian College of GPs will be released

Ada Lovelace Day, aimed at increasing the profile of women in STEM

Birthdays for Thomas Keneally (1935), Vladimir Putin (1952), Yo-Yo Ma (1955), Thom Yorke (1968), and Tim Minchin (1975)

Anniversary of:

• the establishment of KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines), the world's oldest airline (1919)

• the birthday of Anglican Archbishop of South Africa/human rights activist Desmond Tutu (1931)

• News Corp boss Rupert Murdoch and executive Roger Ailes launching Fox News (1996)

• the beginning of the US invasion of Afghanistan (2001)

• the launch of Spotify (2008)