Wednesday, 20 August - Peace train sounding louder

Good morning, it’s Wednesday, 20 August. In your Squiz Today…

• Peace talks between Putin and Zelensky could be on the cards…

• Netanyahu takes a swipe at Albanese on social media

• And the results from our great big survey are in…

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

Said film director Quentin Tarantino when asked which of his 9 films was his best. He picked the weirdly-spelled war film he made in 2009 as the top of the tree - it’s the one that made Christoph Waltz an Oscar winner and a household name. That’s-a-bingo…

Making progress on peace

The Squiz

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin are one step closer to holding in-person talks for the first time since Russia’s invasion in 2023, following Zelensky’s visit to the White House. During that visit, US President Donald Trump got the ball rolling on a meeting between the 2 leaders, followed by a trilateral meeting involving himself. It hasn’t been pencilled in officially yet, but reports say that, if all goes to plan, the initial Putin-Zelensky meeting is expected to happen in the next 2 weeks…

So, where are the negotiations at?

Nothing’s set in stone, but Trump, Zelensky and the European leaders he took to the White House as back-up (including UK PM Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz…) described the talks as “constructive”. Zelensky said “it’s a discussion, it’s a dialogue… Unacceptable decisions were not made”. He’s likely referring there to talk of possible “land swaps” between Ukraine and Russia - one of the sticking points in negotiations to date. Instead, Zelensky and Trump reportedly focused on 2 things: setting up those follow-up meetings with Putin, and locking in security guarantees for Ukraine post-war. They haven’t provided much detail about the specifics of those guarantees, but Trump says they “would be provided by the various European countries, with a coordination with the United States of America”. 

What’s that about?

Starmer says Trump’s referring to the European-led Coalition of the Willing teaming up with the US to provide peacekeeping/security support to Ukraine going forward. The UK PM said that is “really important for security in Ukraine, for security in Europe, and for security in the UK”. But overnight, Trump made clear he won’t send American troops to Ukraine as part of that… As for where Australia sits, earlier this year, PM Anthony Albanese said he would consider sending Aussie peacekeepers to Ukraine if a request lands on his desk. And yesterday, a spokesperson for Coalition leader Sussan Ley indicated that she’d support sending troops over, saying “we will work constructively with the government in our national interest when it comes to our international relationships”. No request for Aussie troops has come through yet, but it’s one to watch…

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Squiz the Rest

A diplomatic deep freeze 

We mentioned yesterday that Australia's diplomatic relationship with Israel had taken a frosty turn, and things deteriorated further overnight, with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu taking to social media to call our PM "a weak politician" who "betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia's Jews". It's the latest incident adding to tensions between our countries, following the Albanese Government's announcement that it intends to recognise Palestinian statehood. In the past week, Israel has cancelled the visas of our representatives to the Palestinian Authority, after we blocked Israeli far-right politician Simcha Rothman from entering the country for a speaking event - a move Israel criticised as "shameful". Albanese is yet to respond to Netanyahu's online sting, but Coalition leader Sussan Ley has weighed in, calling the development "a troubling diplomatic incident".

A first day at the table

The Albanese Government’s productivity roundtable kicked off yesterday and despite some scepticism over whether it would kickstart any big policies, the PM opened proceedings by saying good ideas could go to Cabinet and become policies “within days”. As for what those policies might be, key topics yesterday included getting rid of ‘nuisance tariffs’ (aka taxes on imports that are more trouble than they’re worth), and upskilling Aussies to be better able to use AI. Despite that high-tech focus, the summit had a rule that your family dinner might also have - no phones or computers allowed at the table. That’s right, it was hard copies at 10 paces as the attendees focused on the topics at hand without the spectre of social media or Candy Crush to distract them. Old-school. Fittingly, today’s focus will be on productivity… 

The discontent of Winter

… Dean Winter, that is - the Tassie Labor leader’s planned vote of no confidence in the Liberal Rockliff government failed yesterday as neither the Greens nor any crossbenchers backed it. That means, more than a month after the state election, Labor has officially lost/Premier Jeremy Rockliff will remain in power. It wasn’t a surprise result - Winter needed all 5 Tasmanian Greens MPs and 3 crossbenchers’ support to get it over the line, and the Greens had already said they wouldn’t. As he moved the motion, Winter acknowledged “the day might not end well” for him - and criticised Rockliff “of being a sellout, of giving in to Greens’ demands on racing, salmon and forestry”. With the election loss, his role is automatically declared vacant - leaving the Labor caucus to meet and vote on who should lead the party. No date has been set for that yet, so stay tuned…

To survey, with love

You might remember a few months ago we asked you to fill out our great big annual survey - well, the results are out today and long story short, you’ve told us that trust is only becoming a bigger deal for you. Some key stats: you’re becoming more sceptical about what you’re seeing in the media. Of the respondents, 85% of Squizers say they question the news they see/read/hear - including from mainstream sources. But you’re not sitting on your hands about it - 61% of you verify the facts and hunt down original sources if you’re unsure. And more of you are making independent news your preferred option, with 78% putting a premium on outlets like The Squiz and our team. But the most important stat of all is that 100% of us at The Squiz appreciate you for completing the survey - it helped us out no end. 

*Get into the full report here… 

Moving heaven on earth

A 113yo church in the northern Swedish city of Kiruna is embarking on a spectacular journey - it’s being lifted up onto platforms and moved in its entirety 5km down the road to its new home. As you might imagine, that’s no easy feat - it will take 2 days and will be travelling down the road at the leisurely pace of 500m per hour (you’d be real unlucky to get stuck behind that in traffic). The reason for the move is that the church’s previous location is at risk of ground fissures, so authorities in the city have been prepping this for years - they’ve already moved other landmarks like a clock tower and historic homes. But this church is going to prove a challenge - project manager Stefan Holmblad Johansson says “we don’t have a margin of error”. If any project might have a blessed run, it’d be this one…

Apropos of Nothing

Our women’s basketball league will be getting a boost next year - it’ll go from 8 to 10 teams with a ninth team from Tassie and a tenth team from… somewhere TBD. Unlike Tassie’s AFL team, this new side won’t need a stadium to get off the ground…

A tourist in outback Queensland has found a ‘fossil pearl’ - an ancient gemstone dating back to the Cretaceous era - that’s roughly 100 million years old. Palaeontologist Gregory Webb says the size of the pearl - 2cm in diameter - makes it “incredibly valuable”. Quite a find… 

London Zoo's annual weigh-in took place overnight, where the likes of giant Galapagos tortoises, capybaras and penguins all hit the scales for international research purposes. We reckon the lemurs are onto something - only taking part if a snack is involved...

Squiz the Day

9.15am (AEST) - The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital celebrates 40 years since producing the world’s first cochlear implant - Melbourne 

10.15am (AEST) - Bruce Lehrmann’s appeal in his defamation case against Network 10 and Lisa Wilkinson will be heard in the Federal Court over the next 3 days - Sydney

11.30am (AEST) - Mark Butler, the Minister for Disability, the NDIS, as well as Health and Ageing, will address the National Press Club - Canberra

12.00pm (AEST) - Reserve Bank Assistant Governor (Business Services) Michelle McPhee and Assistant Governor (Financial Systems) Brad Jones will hold a panel discussion on the future of money with UNSW Professor Richard Holden - Sydney

3.00pm (AEST) - Farm Writers Association of NSW Agribuzz lunch - Wagga Wagga

ABS data release - Monthly Employee Earnings Indicator, June 2025

Woodside, Santos, and Scentre Group will deliver their FY202 results

World Mosquito Day 

Birthdays for singer/songwriter Robert Plant (1948), author David Walliams (1971), actors Amy Adams (1974) and Andrew Garfield (1983), and singer Demi Lovato (1992)

Anniversary of:

• the first known African slaves arriving in North America (1619)

• US President Andrew Johnson formally declaring the end of the US Civil War (1866)

• Operation Danube, or the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union, Poland, Bulgaria, East Germany and Hungary in response to the Prague Spring (1968)

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