Wednesday, 5 March - You better take cover

March 05, 2025

Good morning, it’s Wednesday, 5 March. In your Squiz Today…

  • The US puts a halt on aid to Ukraine

  • Tropical Cyclone Alfred turns towards the coast

  • And thongs are très chic at Paris Fashion Week…🩴

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

“These things are holy grail stuff.”

Said archaeologist Justin Maxwell, part of the team painstakingly excavating an ancient canoe (or waka) found in the Chatham Islands, east of New Zealand. They don’t know its age yet, but Maxwell says it could be the most important find ever in Polynesia. Knot a bad find…

The US cuts off Ukraine

The Squiz

The US has stopped its military support for now while it looks into whether the aid is “contributing to a solution” after a disastrous White House meeting between Ukrainian President Zelensky and US President Trump last week. Given the US has been Ukraine’s biggest military supporter, experts say the pause will make the next phase of the war extremely tough on Ukraine and its European allies. This morning, Zelensky said it was “time to make things right” and he was ready to “work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts”. 

How did we get here?

Under the Biden administration, the US gave well over $100 billion in military aid to Ukraine following the 2022 Russian invasion. But when Zelensky came to meet Trump and Vice President JD Vance at the White House, things got heated... Vance asked Zelensky why he hadn't said thanks for the help, and Trump said he didn't "have the cards" to negotiate. The spat put a big dent in relations between the 2 countries - and Zelensky yesterday saying the end of the war was "very, very far away" didn't help. Trump called it the "worst statement that could have been made", and the pause to aid funding followed soon after.

What does Ukraine do now? 

In Zelensky's statement, he floated some ideas for an initial truce - including the release of prisoners, a "truce in the sky", and a "truce in the sea" - if Russia agrees. He also said he's ready to sign a deal with the US to jointly develop his country's mineral reserves, and Trump has promised to talk more about that today in an address to Congress. Since the incident at the White House, leaders in Europe have been rallying behind Zelensky - they say they’re working on a truce plan, but it would need US support. UK PM Keir Starmer has suggested that Europe may commit peacekeeping troops to the cause - and Australian PM Anthony Albanese says that he would take any request for Aussie involvement “under consideration”.

A chopping board worthy of a chef’s kiss

Supper Supply is revolutionising the kitchen scene with their new chopping board, designed to be the only board you'll ever need. Great for home chefs seeking a thick and sturdy option, this board is crafted to handle all your chopping tasks with ease - and it's kind on knives, dishwasher safe, and large enough to accommodate any culinary challenge. Visit Supper Supply's website to discover this chopping board and explore its full range of innovative kitchen gear.

Squiz the Rest

Bracing for impact

Tropical Cyclone Alfred has turned towards the southeast Queensland/northern NSW coast, bringing extreme winds and flooding as it comes. The category 2 storm is currently around 500km off the coast, and it’s predicted to make landfall late Thursday or early Friday across Brisbane’s northern suburbs. It’ll be the first time a tropical cyclone will pass over southeast Queensland in decades - but its reach will be much wider, with people from the Sunshine Coast to NSW’s Northern Rivers region on alert. In the meantime, evacuation centres have opened in areas likely to be affected, and residents have gone into preparation mode - emptying supermarkets of supplies like bottled water and canned food, with fears the storm could cut power. And you know things are serious when the AFL’s called off…

War of the tariffs

Foreign conflicts weren’t the only areas of focus for US President Donald Trump’s administration yesterday… A White House spokesperson confirmed that tariffs on goods imported from Canada, Mexico, and China - announced by Trump in January - are set to go ahead. The 25% tariffs against Canada and Mexico had been delayed, pending negotiations, but Trump yesterday said time was up. Canada retaliated by whacking 25% tariffs on imported US goods, with PM Justin Trudeau telling Trump that starting a trade war with its closest friend “is a very dumb thing to do”. Mexico has also vowed to respond in kind. It didn’t take long for the moves to hit global stock markets, with major indexes in the US sinking after Trump’s announcement. Here at home, Australian shares also took a tumble.

A window for change

One in 2 Australian children and young people will be obese or overweight by the year 2050 if we don’t course-correct in the coming years, researchers have found. Their global study, published in The Lancet medical journal yesterday, tracked obesity in 5-24yos from 1990 to 2021. Lead author Dr Jessica Kerr has pointed the finger at what we’re eating… She says “our local food supply systems have long been overtaken” and that “we’ve been consuming high-calorie foods with long shelf lives”. She says there’s been “monumental failures” in the management of obesity globally, but all is not lost… Regulatory interventions, such as taxes on sugary drinks, bans on junk food advertising, and healthy meals in schools, could help.

The Aussies fall short in Dubai

Our men’s cricketers couldn’t quite get the job done against India in the semis of the Champions Trophy, losing by 4 wickets. Despite going into the game without several star players, including captain Pat Cummins, the Aussies put up a decent score of 264, but India's superstar batter Virat Kohli was just too good, scoring 84 and guiding his team through to the final. And because India has made the final and refuses to play matches in the tournament's official host country of Pakistan, that final will also be in Dubai - an arrangement that has copped some stick for giving India an unfair advantage. Tonight, South Africa and New Zealand will play off for the other spot in the final.  

Ooh la la… more thongs on the runway

‘Tis the season for fashion weeks, and Paris is the last of the big 4 events to take a strut down the runway. (The others are London, Milan and New York, in case it comes up in a quiz somewhere…) Here’s a full sartorial schedule, but Dior’s designer Maria Grazia Churi kicked things off overnight - you can watch the show here. Next up: Stella McCartney, Tom Ford and famed French fashion house Givenchy, which has brand new creative director Sarah Burton presenting her first show. If you’re not a fashionista, all you need to know is that suede is back in a big way, along with anything in shades of yellow. Oh, and keeping with the comeback of Y2K style, it’s time to get a new pair of thongs to wear with your jeans…

Apropos of Nothing

A 65yo Newcastle cricketer might not pay for a beer for some time after taking 10 wickets in a single innings in a weekend club game - that means Bradley O’Dell dismissed every single opposition batter, including a hat-trick (3 in 3 deliveries). That’s a tough act to follow… 

Australian man Ben Hann and his friend Olivia Cazes have started a 30,000km trek through 14 countries along the Pan American - the world's longest highway. If that sounds tricky, imagine doing it on horseback - and the fact it’ll take 7 years. Talk about stiff legs…

Palmerston the cat - who was formerly the UK Foreign Office’s fluffy rep in London - has come out of retirement to take on the role of “feline relations consultant” in Bermuda. He’s there with Andrew Murdoch, who’s just been named Governor of Bermuda. Anyone for a sea change?

Squiz the Day

11.30am (AEDT) - Economists Cherelle Murphy, Leonora Risse & Diana Mousina, will address the National Press Club of Australia for the Women in Economics Network Pre-Budget Address - Canberra, and watch on ABC24

12.00pm (AEDT) US President Donald Trump is expected to set out his vision for the United States and the world in a speech at the US Capitol - Washington DC

5.30pm (AEDT) - Women in Media’s International Women’s Day event with guest speakers on the topic: The future of media - Sydney

7.00pm (AEDT) - WNBL: Grand final game one, Bendigo Spirit v Townsville Fire - Bendigo, Victoria, and watch on Kayo

China's Two Sessions Meeting

ABS data release - National Accounts, December

Ash Wednesday (Lent begins)

Anniversary of:

  • birthdays for instant noodle inventor Momofuku Ando (1910) and singer/Bee Gee brother Andy Gibb (1958)

  • the deaths of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin (1953) and singer Patsy Cline (1963)

  • British PM Winston Churchill's famous 'Iron Curtain' speech (1946)

  • the ratification of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) (1970)

  • Bob Hawke becoming PM (1983)