Wednesday, 28 October - no more countin' dollars, we'll be countin' stars

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

• Some high-profile elections in Brazil and Israel

• It’s judgment day for Star Entertainment

• And Meghan Markle returns to Junior MasterChef - as co-host…

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🙋🏻‍♀️ This newsletter was written by Andrew Williams, Anna Pykett, Larissa Huntington, Jonathan Liondis and Sophie Felice

Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

Said rapper Jay-Z after he was announced as next year’s headline performer for the Super Bowl Halftime show. As for whether his other half Beyoncé might make a special appearance, no confirmation yet - but it is happening on Valentine’s Day in the US…

Elections everywhere

The Squiz

We’re going to start in Brazil, where right-wing runner-up Flávio Bolsonaro is refusing to concede Sunday’s election to left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. ‘Lula’, as he’s known, has become the first leader of the South American country to win a fourth term. But Bolsonaro - who is the son of jailed former leader Jair Bolsonaro and an ally of US President Donald Trump - says he wants the result overturned, despite losing by about 4 million votes.

What happened in the election?

Things weren’t looking that great for Lula early on - he finished in second place in the first round of voting 3 weeks ago. But a WhatsApp group named the ‘Exército do Lula’ (meaning Lula’s Army) grew from 50,000 followers to over 10.8 million by election night. Voter turnout increased by more than 14 million, and analysts say 75% of those extra voters backed Lula, who ended up winning with 51.8% of the vote. While Bolsonaro’s party has accepted the result, he’s taking issue with a Supreme Court decision that extended voting by 2 hours after reports that some voters couldn’t get to the polls due to public transport problems. He did have some support from Trump, who said - without providing evidence - that the election seemed “rigged”.

What does it mean for Trump?

Brazil is South America’s largest economy, and experts say this outcome has denied Trump a powerful ally in Bolsonaro - who has reportedly fled to the US. While Trump says he gets along with Lula “very well”, the result in Brazil wasn’t what he was counting on - it bucked a trend of right-wing wins in Latin America during his latest term. The US will be keeping a close eye on Israel, a major security ally, where polls are about to close as we hit publish this morning. We likely won’t know the result there for a while, but we do know that turnout has been at record levels. And that’s not all - as we’ve mentioned, the US midterms are coming up next Wednesday and polls are predicting things might not go that well for Trump’s Republican Party there either. Lots to keep track of…

Skip the trick-or-treat, take the treat

Halloween doesn’t have to mean door-knocking on your unsuspecting neighbours, because there are 2 spooky nights planned in Sydney to give you an alternative. Think fancy dinners but with roaming zombies and a tarot reader, plus a Day of the Dead party with DJs, live Latin music and a free salsa lesson (plus happy hour from 5pm, which might help with that salsa dancing…). Find out more here.

Squiz the Rest

A battle over backpackers

PM Anthony Albanese said yesterday (paywalled) that he’s looking at changes to our trade deal with the UK, which would mean British backpackers have to spend more time in regional areas. Thanks to the 2023 trade deal, young Brits on working holiday visas can stay in Oz for up to 3 years without the requirement to work in regional areas, which is a standard visa extension requirement for other working holidaymakers. The government is looking to close this loophole as it plans to slash second and third-year visa numbers, which has regional businesses a bit antsy. That’s because they rely heavily on the seasonal labour of backpackers, and losing them could be “catastrophic”, especially when high fuel and fertiliser prices are already causing them problems.

Slip slop slapping on some new rules

After copping heat over their testing methods last year, sunscreen brands in Oz could soon face more rigorous testing under new rules being proposed by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). This is after consumer group CHOICE found last year that 16 out of 20 popular sunscreens fell short of the level of sun protection claimed on their packaging. A start date is TBC, but brands will have to test sunscreens multiple times and send results to the TGA before products hit shelves, and they’ll also need to test the finished sunscreen (not just the base formula) and keep testing it throughout its shelf life. CHOICE says the move would “greatly improve” the transparency around testing but it wants the TGA to go a step further by routinely checking the results and making them public.
*For the background to the new regulations, we’ve got a Squiz Shortcut for you…

A Star is warned

We could find out today how much Star Entertainment, the company behind The Star casinos in NSW and Queensland, will be fined for breaking anti-money laundering rules. This dates back to 2022, when NSW and Queensland inquiries found Star wasn’t fit to run its casinos after it failed to stop dodgy money from flowing through its gaming floors from 2016 onwards. A lot of that came via ‘junkets’ - middlemen who bring in overseas high rollers, some with links to organised crime. Later that year, the financial crimes watchdog, AUSTRAC, took Star to the Federal Court over the same failures. The court is set to hand down its judgment this morning - AUSTRAC wants a $400 million fine, but Star reckons anything over $100 million could force it to go under. Hold on to your chips…

Kane is able

Yesterday morning, Harry Kane became the first British man in 25 years to win the Ballon d’Or, a prestigious award for the world's best men’s footballer. Kane is England captain and a striker for German club Bayern Munich, and his 73 goals this season helped him get the nod. He beat French striker Kylian Mbappé and Spanish star Lamine Yamal to the trophy - which might have come as a surprise given the Ballon d’Or website accidentally announced them all as winners hours before the ceremony began… Less of a surprise was the women’s Ballon d’Or, which went to Spanish star Alexia Putellas - it was her third trophy, after she also took it home in 2021 and 2022. 

And we’ll never be Royals

Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, will co-host Network 10’s Junior MasterChef Australia when it returns after a 6-year hiatus. She’ll be sharing the role with show royalty Poh Ling Yeow, who worked with her on her guest appearance earlier this year. That was that season’s highest-rated Sunday episode, and Markle said that she had a great time judging and that it was an easy yes to return. The Sussex/Markle family hasn’t shared whether they’ll be relocating to Australia from the UK, so TBC whether we’ll be spotting them on the streets of Melbourne. Markle’s own reality cooking/crafting/hosting show With Love, Meghan ran for 2 seasons on Netflix but hasn’t been renewed for a third at this stage.

Apropos of Nothing

Super secret images of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding at Madison Square Garden in July have been released by the Daily Mail. The setup features elaborate greenery (pond included). The real question though: where’s the dress, Taylor… 

You’ve heard of The Big Banana, The Big Pink Slug and The Big Merino, but we have a new one - the Big Sultana in Mildura, Victoria. The 5.25m tall sultana (with a face) was built to celebrate 100 years of dried fruit production in the region. 

And dictionary.com has announced ‘maxxing’ as its word of the year. If you’re not familiar it does technically have origins in incel culture and means to be doing something the most, like newsletter-maxxing…

Squiz the Day

9.00am (AEDT) - All Energy Australia conference (until 29 October) - Melbourne 

10.00am (AEDT) - Cricket Australia AGM 

11.15am (AEDT) - The RBA to appear before the Senate Economics Legislation Committee 

11.30am (AEDT) - The ABS will release the consumer price index for September, which measures inflation for households by tracking price changes on our day-to-day expenses 

12.30pm (AEDT) - Greens leader David Shoebridge to address the National Press Club - Canberra, watch on ABC iView 

10.00am (AWST) - Fortescue Ltd AGM - Perth 

3.30pm (AEDT) - State memorial service for Victorian Greens MP Dr Tim Read who died in September - Melbourne 

7.30pm (AEDT) - Netball: Final match of the Constellation Cup Australia v New Zealand - Melbourne, watch for free on Kayo 

Hundreds of Qantas freight workers across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth airports are set to strike for 24 hours over pay and working conditions

Australian Political Book of the Year Award winner announced by Treasurer Jim Chalmers at Old Parliament House - Canberra

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is holding an Ebola outbreak crisis meeting - check out our Shortcut on Ebola here 

Third Russia-Africa Summit (until 29 October) - Moscow 

Woolworths first quarter sales announced

ABS data release: barriers and incentives to labour force participation, 2025-2026 financial year

WACE/ATAR exams begin for Year 12s in Western Australia 

2026 Screen Music Awards take place at Fortitude Music Hall - Brisbane 

Noosa Triathlon and Multisport Festival begins (until 1 November) 

Official submissions for the Tassie Devils club song open - the song judging panel will include CEO of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Caroline Sharpen, VFLW Co-captain Meghan Gaffney, and Chair of Music Tasmania Tony Fox

Day of the Liberation of Ukraine

International Animation Day

Birthdays for Olympian and media personality Caitlyn Jenner (1949), Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates (1955), actor Julia Roberts (1967), actor Joaquin Phoenix (1974), actor Matt Smith (1982), and singer Frank Ocean (1987)

Anniversary of:

the release of Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift (1726)

the birth of polio vaccine developer Jonas Salk (1914)

Italian fascists conducting the March on Rome, leading to the assumption of power by Benito Mussolini (1922)

Elvis’s groundbreaking contribution to getting American teens vaccinated for polio (1956)

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