Wednesday, 28 January - I feel my temperature risin'

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

• A record-breaking heatwave bakes our southern states

• Tensions ease in Minnesota

• And de Minaur’s Aussie Open run comes to an end…👿

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

Said Lee Hames from Lloyds Auctioneers on the state of a baggy green cap worn by Oz cricket legend Donald Bradman. Hames said the Indian family who owned the cap had taken great care of it, and given it fetched $460,000 at auction yesterday, fair enough…

A scorcher in southern Oz

The Squiz

Multiple records have been broken by a heatwave moving across our southeastern states - with South Oz, Victoria and parts of NSW bearing the brunt… After Adelaide’s hottest night on record (where the temperature only dipped to 34.1C at 7am yesterday, before rising again…), the Riverland town of Renmark also broke an “all-time record”, reaching 49.6C just after 2pm. It was a similar story in Victoria, particularly the state’s northwest, where the towns of Walpeup and Hopetoun both reached 48.9C. FYI - they’ve overtaken Victoria’s previous record, 48.8C, recorded at Hopetoun during the Black Saturday fires in 2009. 

Speaking of bushfires…

Yep - with those extreme temperatures, firies were ready for a difficult day across southeast Oz, and things really kicked off with the blaze at Carlisle River in Victoria's Otways, about 200km southwest of Melbourne. We're yet to hear the latest from authorities (we’re keeping tabs here…), but this is the one that’s been burning since 10 January, which was controlled until it broke containment lines on Saturday. At last count, more than 10,000 hectares were burnt, and 1,100 properties were told to evacuate - but with winds picking up last night, a new warning told residents it was too late to leave and to seek shelter. At least 3 homes are believed to have been lost. And that’s not the only fire - there are watch and act warnings out for several others burning in Victoria.

What’s the forecast for today?

If you’re in the southern parts of South Oz or Victoria, you probably felt a cool change move across last night - but if you’re further north in either state, or in western NSW/southern Queensland, you might want to stock up on iceblocks, because the heatwave is sticking around for the rest of the week… For those parts of the country, Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Dean Narramore says temperatures are likely to be in the low to mid-40Cs over the next few days before “a strong cold front finally clears the heat” on Saturday/Sunday. Until then, here are some tips for keeping well - and looking after loved ones and pets - in the heat. Number one: stay hydrated…

Turning water into shine

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Squiz the Rest

A possible cooldown in Minnesota…

It follows talks between US President Donald Trump, Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who said Trump “agreed the present situation can’t continue”. He’s referring there to the growing backlash against federal immigration raids in Minnesota - particularly after 37yo Alex Pretti and 37yo Renee Good were shot dead by federal agents. And it’s spread further… National polls indicate Pretti’s shooting on Saturday has further pushed public opinion against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and its claims that Pretti and Good were “domestic terrorists”, while some Republicans also say it’s gone too far. That’s had Trump changing tack, removing the Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino and some of his agents, and announcing a federal investigation into Pretti’s death.

It’ll be an interesting week for Sussan Ley… 

…with Liberal MPs being peppered with questions over their leader’s future following last week’s Coalition split and more strong polling for Pauline Hanson's One Nation. Yesterday, moderate frontbencher Tim Wilson ruled out any chance he'll run for the job and said as far as he knew, no spill was in the works - and his colleague Andrew Wallace said the speculation was a "storm in a teacup". That speculation he's referring to is that both Angus Taylor and West Australian MP Andrew Hastie are considering a challenge. But reports say that won't happen before the funeral of former Liberal MP Katie Allen tomorrow, and then parliament's back again on Monday - so if something does happen - and it's a big if - Friday might be the day… 

The mother of all deals…

…is how European Union President Ursula von der Leyen and Indian President Narendra Modi are describing a new free trade deal between India and the EU. The EU is already India's biggest trading partner, but the new agreement will see tariffs cut even further on exports between the 2 sides on everything from aircraft machinery to olive oil. It took them a while - negotiations on this deal first began nearly 20 years ago - but analysts have noted that constant threats of tariffs from the Trump administration over the past year could have sped things up. Von der Leyen seemed to refer to that when she said the agreement was "a strong message that co-operation is the best answer to global challenges". The deal is yet to be officially ratified, and experts say that could take months, so still plenty of water to go under the bridge… 

Learning more about menopause

A large-scale study out of the UK has found a link between menopause and Alzheimer’s disease, where the 2 conditions cause similar changes in the brain. Senior author from Cambridge University Barbara Sahakian says this could explain why women tend to have higher rates of dementia than men - because experiencing menopause could “make these women vulnerable further down the line”. The study of around 125,000 women found menopause was linked to the loss of grey matter - a type of tissue in the brain that plays an important role in memory, concentration and the regulation of emotions. And while the research found that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) did not protect against that grey matter loss, women on HRT did show "slightly faster reaction times" overall. Lots more to learn… 
*Interested in finding out more about menopause? Check out our 3-part Shortcut series from last year…  

The demon's been defeated

Check on your tennis mates - their dreams of Alex de Minaur breaking new ground at the Australian Open to reach the semis have been crushed after the demon was beaten in straight sets by tennis world #1 Carlos Alcaraz last night. And while commentators say the Aussie is in career-best form, it wasn't enough to stop the Spaniard, who hasn't dropped a set in the tournament. De Minaur has yet to make it past a quarterfinal in a major, and while he said he was proud to get that far, he told the crowd after the match he felt "quite deflated". Elsewhere in the draw on a scorching day that saw extreme heat protocols enacted, world #1 women’s player Aryna Sabalenka cruised past 18yo American Iva Jovic to reach the semis, and Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina beat Coco Gauff, whose racquet felt her loss - hard...

Apropos of Nothing

Great British Bake Off fans are in for a treat after it was announced that Nigella Lawson is set to join Paul Hollywood as co-host. After 9 seasons, Prue Leith is passing on her judging apron to the ‘domestic goddess’ for S17 of the baking show, due to air in Oz later this year…

Epic 80s tune Total Eclipse of the Heart has joined a select club by passing a billion streams on Spotify - but singer Bonnie Tyler says those numbers aren't translating into dollars, and she earns "about nothing" from it. Oh, and if it's now in your head, you're welcome… 

We love a good poll at The Squiz, and The Guardian is running a beauty - asking for the best Aussie children's picture book of all time. Voting began yesterday, and the winner will be crowned on Friday 6 Feb - finally, a chance to put all those bedtime stories to good use…

Squiz the Day

10.00am (AEST) - Sentence for ex-Sydney Roosters captain John Tobin on drug charges. Tobin has previously served 8.5 years in prison for a billion-dollar cocaine smuggling attempt - Brisbane

PM Anthony Albanese is visiting Timor-Leste, where he’s scheduled to address the National Parliament - Dili 

A state parliamentary inquiry examining bullying in Tasmanian schools begins

ABS data release - consumer price index (CPI), December 

The Federal Reserve is meeting in the US, with an announcement on interest rates to come out 29 January - this is happening amidst a long-running disagreement between Chair Jerome Powell and US President Donald Trump over interest rates

International Lego Day, which celebrates the the anniversary of Godtfred Kirk Christiansen filing the patent for the Lego brick design in 1958

A birthday for M*A*S*H star Alan Alda (1936)

Anniversary of:

• the publication of Jane Austen's Pride and 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)