Wednesday, 24 September - Just one day out of life

September 24, 2025

Good morning, it’s Wednesday, 24 September. In your Squiz Today…

  • A date is in the diary for a meeting between PM Anthony Albanese and US President Donald Trump

  • Jimmy Kimmel is back on air

  • And it’s the biggest, most beautiful time of the year… 🐻

🎧 Listen to the podcast

🤓 This email will take you 6 minutes to read

Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

“Respect the beans.”

Said German barista Dritan Alsela, who has banned matcha - the popular Japanese green tea powder/drink - from his local cafe. Alsela, who is well-known online for his latte art, says he’s taking a stand for coffee drinkers everywhere - we’ll see if he’s met his match-a…

Finally in the diary

The Squiz

The White House has confirmed overnight that PM Anthony Albanese will have a face-to-face meeting with US President Donald Trump on 20 October. Albanese has been under pressure to secure a meeting with Trump since he returned to office in January, but they’ve been ships in the night during previous opportunities at the G7 meeting in Canada in June and this week’s United Nations General Assembly in New York. But a White House official has told the ABC that the meeting is on - and Albanese will travel to Washington DC specifically so it can take place. 

Why is this important?

They've got a fair bit to talk about… High on the list is the AUKUS security/submarine deal, which the US has seemed a bit dubious about since Trump came back to power. His administration has been reviewing whether it'll stay in it, and both the UK and Oz are quite keen that it does, with even King Charles singing the praises of the alliance last week while Trump was in town. Another potential talking point is Trump’s tariff regime and his previous threats to tax pharmaceutical exports to the US at 250%, something the Albanese Government would be keen to avoid given that’s a big industry in Oz.  And then there’s the 2 countries’ differing stances on recognition of a Palestinian state… 

What’s the latest on that? 

PM Albanese spoke about it during his first-ever address to the UN yesterday, where he explained Australia’s stance on the issue. Albanese said the decision was about offering the Palestinian people “real hope for a place they can call home”. Coalition leader Sussan Ley isn’t happy with the move - she says recognition should only come “at the end of a genuine 2-state process” - and has promised to overturn it if the Coalition returns to government. Trump isn’t happy either - though he didn’t single out Australia by name, he said “the rewards would be too great for Hamas terrorists” during his own speech to the UN General Assembly overnight. That made up only a small part of his 56-minute speech, which was just a touch over the allocated 15-minute time limit…

Turning water into shine

If you're hitting reset or doing a mid-year refresh, Skipper’s #1 just-add-water home and body care range is for you. Chuck one of their tablets into some water, and you can save some cash and reduce waste. The range includes universal cleaners, body washes, laundry sheets and more, and you can build your own bundle and get up to $120 off. Skip to it...

Squiz the Rest

A superstorm is coming… 

Residents of Hong Kong and southern China’s coastal areas are bracing for Super Typhoon Ragasa, with officials saying it poses a “serious threat”. Ragasa has been called the world’s most powerful tropical typhoon this year - bringing winds of more than 220km/h as it moves across the South China Sea… It’s already lashed Taiwan, leaving at least 2 dead and another 30 missing, and also forced 10,000 people to take shelter in the Philippines. In Hong Kong, residents are stockpiling essentials, schools are closed today, and public hospitals are on alert. It's also impacted airlines… The Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific has cancelled more than 500 flights, and Qantas has also suspended services to and from there for at least 36 hours. 

Jimmy Kimmel makes his comeback

The late-night TV host has been reinstated by his network, ABC (the US one, not ours…), after his show’s “indefinite” suspension was lifted - allowing it to air later today, our time. Disney, which owns the American ABC network, suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! last Wednesday after he said “the MAGA gang [is] desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them”. That angered the Trump-appointed US Federal Communications Commission boss, who called it “misinformation”. Disney said Kimmel’s comments “were ill-timed and thus insensitive” but is reinstating the show after “thoughtful conversations” with him. It didn’t say anything about the backlash it’s had about free speech under the Trump administration. Stay tuned for Kimmel’s response…

Myer’s profits take a tumble

The Aussie department store’s fortunes are looking less than rosy, with its profits falling 30% over the 12 months to July. Reports say that's largely down to weak sales growth (of 0.5% - to nearly $3.7 billion…) in the last financial year, although the second half was higher, at 1.7%. It's worth noting that it's the first full reporting period with Myer's new-ish Chief Executive Olivia Wirth at the helm, and she's tried to put a positive spin on the result, saying the company has "only just reset our new strategy", and there was "a lot of change throughout the year" to focus on that. But that didn't allay investors' concerns - Myer's share price fell yesterday as a result…

Blasting into history

It's been a minute, but NASA is aiming to send astronauts back around the Moon in February. Although they won't be landing on the surface, the lunar mission will be the first crewed one in 50 years, and it'll take the astronauts 9,200km past the Moon - further into space than ever before. It'll be the second launch of the Artemis program, which has the goal of eventually establishing a long-term presence on the Moon. Four astronauts have been chosen for the 10-day Artemis II journey. They're the first crew to travel to the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972, and if the mission's a success, the next one (Artemis III) aims to land on the surface. NASA spokeswoman Lakiesha Hawkins said the mission would be an important moment in space exploration and provide "a front row seat to history".

Too much excitement to bear

The most anticipated contest of the year is here, with Fat Bear Week kicking off in earnest yesterday with a reveal of the curvy competitors and their opponents. For newbies: Fat Bear Week is an annual celebration of Alaskan brown bears in Katmai National Park who have spent the autumn fattening up on salmon to prepare for their winter hibernation. It's fun, and it's educational… Each year, under a bracket system, fans vote for their favourite burly bear - most of them are known by numbers (609, 856, for example…), while others get nicknames like Chunk and 2-time winner Grazer. You can see all of the contenders and their salmon-powered transformations here - voting began overnight in the first matchup, with the winner to be revealed a week from now. Get voting…

Apropos of Nothing

Organisers of a competition that encouraged entrants to explain why they needed to “chuck a sickie” to win a trip to the Sunshine Coast reckon it was a winner, with 500 people entering on the first day of the comp. They all came down with break-itis…  

Eighty-four years after her death, a new book by Virginia Woolf will come out next month (paywall) after researchers spotted the manuscript at a home in England while researching her work. It’s 3 comic short stories called The Life of Violet, and it’s got fans of the author quite excited… 

And well done to these intrepid nature workers in the US state of Maine, who managed to extricate a young bull moose that got stuck in an old well. The moose, which is doing fine, weighed around 226 kilos - that can’t have been an easy job… 

Squiz the Day

8.00am (AEST) - NSW Premier Chris Minns and South Oz Premier Peter Malinauskas will speak at The Australian’s Energy Nation Forum on the future of Australia's energy policy - Sydney

8.45am (AEST) - A public hearing will take place at Parliament House as part of the Senate Inquiry into the implementation of new regulations designed to protect children and young people online - Canberra

9.30am (AEST) - The first case management hearing in Bruce Lehrmann's case against Special Minister of State Don Farrell and Commissioner of the National Anti-Corruption Commission Paul Brereton - Sydney

10.15am (AEST) - A decision will be handed down in the Federal Court on the penalties that the ABC must pay in the Antoinette Lattouf case - Sydney

11.30am (AEST) - Sex Discrimination Commissioner Dr Anna Cody will address the National Press Club of Australia on 'All voices, equal futures: A vision for gender equality in Australia' - Canberra

1.45pm (ACST) - The Federal Court will hand down its decision on a proposed fine of $100m for Optus after the telco engaged in “unacceptable” sales tactics affecting Indigenous and disabled customers - Melbourne

📊 ABS data releases: Monthly Consumer Price Index indicator, August 2025; Engineering Construction Activity, Australia, June 2025

Voting in the Fat Bear Week tournament is open… Watch the bears here, and vote here (until 30 September) - Alaska

Season 5 of the spy-thriller series Slow Horses will be released on Apple TV+

Anniversary of:

  • the birthdays of author F Scott Fitzgerald (1896), former Governor-General of Australia Sir John Kerr (1914), The Muppets’ creator Jim Henson (1936), and musician Linda McCartney (1941)

  • Kentucky Fried Chicken opening its first franchise in Salt Lake City, Utah (1952)

  • the release of Elvis Presley's single Jailhouse Rock (1957)

  • the release of Nirvana's album Nevermind (1991)

  • the premiere of the BBC's TV series Pride and Prejudice starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth (1995)

  • the premiere of the TV sitcom The Big Bang Theory (2007)

  • the Mars Orbiter Mission making India the first Asian nation to reach Mars' orbit, and the first nation in the world to do so on its first attempt (2014)