Squiz Today – Monday, 6 June

THE SQUIZ
In a video that mirrors the one released after Russia commenced the invasion of its neighbour, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has praised his troops and highlighted that he and his top team remain in place. Since the war kicked off on 24 February, he said that Ukrainians have “done what seemed impossible” by stopping “the second army of the world” from seizing control of the nation. Analysts said Zelensky has again reminded Russia that its early objectives have failed, and even though they occupy about a 5th of the country, Ukrainians will continue to fight. A Russian presidential spokesman disagreed, saying many parts of Ukraine have been “liberated”.

WHAT’S THE COST?
The pictures tell the story of Europe’s worst armed conflict in decades. Counting the cost continues to be difficult, but “tens of thousands” of civilians have died since February, and 60-100 Ukrainian soldiers die each day, Zelensky said last week. In Mariupol alone, officials have reported more than 21,000 civilian deaths. Last week, Russian officials said they have recorded 1,351 troop deaths, but the UK Government reckons it’s 15,000. As for destruction, 38,000 residential buildings have been destroyed or badly damaged, rendering 220,000 people homeless. Hundreds of factories, hospitals and bridges have been reduced to rubble. The United Nations estimates that 6.8 million people have been driven out of Ukraine during the conflict, with about 2.2 million returning. And 15.7 million people in Ukraine are now in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and protection, the UN’s refugee agency says.

HOW DOES IT END?
Experts say that’s a question that probably won’t be answered in the next 100 days… They reckon Russian President Vladimir Putin is hoping a lengthy war of attrition will wear down Ukrainian forces and the nation’s allies, which have provided weapons and supplies while putting sanctions on Russia. That’s not lost on Zelensky, who says he’s worried that people will get “fed up” with the war. Holding the world’s attention is most certainly a thing… Looking at American’s social media interactions, Ukraine was running hot in February and March, but during April and May, there was about 6-times more interest in stories about Johnny Depp/Amber Heard than about Ukraine.

Making mates in Indonesia

PM Anthony Albanese will say ‘apa kabar’ to Indonesia today after flying into Jakarta last night with a delegation, including Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Trade Minister Don Farrell. And on the agenda for talks with President Joko Widodo: climate change, trade, and making it easier to travel between our 2 countries. During the election campaign, Albanese flagged the visit saying “We need to strengthen that economic partnership and one way I can do that is by strengthening people-to-people relations as well.” Indonesia’s population is 270 million, and it’s the world’s 3rd-largest democracy – but the country is Australia’s 14th largest trading partner. So as our industrial arts teacher said, there’s room for improvement… And we need more big friends in the region after a recent “unsafe” encounter between an Aussie surveillance plane and a Chinese fighter jet shows that the relationship remains shaky.

Dutton names the Coalition’s lineup

The defeated federal Liberal Party and Nationals have put a “fresh face” on their frontbench team as they leave the election loss on 21 May behind them and look to the future. Liberal leader Peter Dutton yesterday said the Coalition has an “incredible depth of talent”, and he’s tried “to bring people through for an opportunity.” Nationals leader David Littleproud will keep the Agriculture portfolio – overall, the party claimed 6 of the shadow cabinet’s 24 positions. Angus Taylor is the Treasury spokesman, and Senator Jane Hume will cover Finance. Not faring so well were Morrison allies Alex Hawke, who was dumped after his involvement in the NSW preselection saga, and Stuart Robert was demoted. As for Morrison, he ruled himself out of contention after the election loss. There are 10 women on the Coalition’s frontbench compared to Labor’s 13.

Horror revisits Texas

It sounds like a plot from a scary movie, but a grandfather and his 4 grandsons have been killed by a convicted murderer Gonzalo Lopez who escaped from a prisoner bus last month. The hunt for Lopez was one of the largest in Texas history – but sadly, they didn’t find him in time. Mark Collins (66yo) and brothers Waylon (18yo), Carson (16yo), and Hudson (11yo), and their cousin Bryson Collins (11yo) went to the family ranch for some fishing but were found dead after relatives were unable to reach them. It’s unclear whether Lopez was already inside the ranch house when the Collins family arrived or if he broke in while they were there. Reports say Lopez fled in the farm truck, and he was killed hours later in a shootout with police. “These precious people who loved and were loved by so many will never be forgotten,” the family said. Texas is still reeling after the 24 May attack on Robb Elementary School that left 19 students and 2 teachers dead.

Get ready to wait

If all your mates are heading to Europe or the UK for a break – or maybe you’re the lucky duck jetting off for a break – there’s one reason not to be jealous… There are issues across Europe’s transport hubs in line with what happened here over Easter. A surge in travellers has caught the airlines and airports short of staff, creating massive delays and travel mayhem. Heathrow is trying to head off some of the drama by ordering the airlines to cut the number of passengers flying from its terminals at certain times by a third, warning: “Without a reduction in demand, the operation would not be considered safe.” And Europe’s airports say delays are inevitable with 86% of 2019 capacity returning, but not the staff. Adding to the chaos is air traffic that’s moved west due to the war in Ukraine. Maybe not being able to get your passport renewed quickly isn’t a big deal after all…

French Open winners are grinners

Seventeen years after winning his first French Open, Rafael Nadal has won his 14th men’s final at Roland Garros against Norwegian 8th seed Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-3, 6-0. He turned 36yo last week, which makes him the French Open’s oldest men’s champion. The title win extends his men’s all-time grand slam record to 22, creating a 2 title gap between himself and Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. But for his winning streak to continue, he’ll need to overcome a chronic foot injury. “It takes a lot of energy to keep going. I want to say ‘merci, merci beaucoup’,” Nadal said this morning. And it took Poland’s Iga Świątek just over an hour to demolish American Coco Gauff of the 6-1, 6-3 on Saturday night. The world #1 also extended her winning streak to 35 matches, overtaking Serena Williams’ record streak from 2013 and equaling Venus Williams’ streak set in 2000 – the current century’s record. She’s got some way to go to rival Martina Navratilova’s record of 74 wins on the trot…

Queen Elizabeth has had a big weekend, even though her mobility issues have kept her from the big Platinum Jubilee events. First, she hung out with Paddington Bear and showed us what she keeps in her handbag. And she was gifted a horse by France. Pretty good going…

Going to an art gallery can be a flat experience for people with colour-blindness. One Aussie gallery is making up for that by offering vision-enhancing glasses that deliver a fuller range of colours. “It’s weird,” said one user.

And for a different art experience, Melbourne runner Belinda Smith likes to draw animals using a GPS tracker while training. She became “intensely bored” doing a run of the mill jog, but this way, “it’s like, ‘It’s a horse! I just ran a horse!’”

Western Australia Day public holiday

Queensland Day, marking the day the Sunshine State was established as a separate colony from New South Wales (1859)

Sweden’s National Day

Russian Language Day

World Pest Day

Australian Made Week begins (until 12 June)

Anniversary of:
• the patenting of the electric iron by New Yorker Henry Seely (1882)
• the beginning of D-Day as the Allies land in Normandy, France (1944)
• the release of David Bowie’s breakthrough album The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972) and video game Tetris by Russian software engineer Alexey Pajitnov (1984)
• the premiere of Sex and the City (1998)