Squiz Today – Friday, 15 June

SQUIZ SAYINGS

“Work foods”

That's the food you thoughtlessly eat on the job. Think: the birthday morning teas/the big packet of chips someone is offering around/Tim Tam Friday. It’s adding 1,300 calories to the weekly diet of Americans, and that’s a problem. It’d have to be at least that in Oz, don’t you reckon?

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YEMEN IN CRISIS

THE SQUIZ
The UN Security Council is holding an urgent meeting at Britain's request on the worsening humanitarian crisis in Yemen. Although things have been dire for a while, it was a Saudi-led coalition assault on the Yemeni port city of Hudaydah on Wednesday that's put the conflict back in the headlines. As many as 70% of the country’s imports – including vital aid – come through the city’s port and a blockage would be catastrophic for Yemen’s displaced, impoverished and starving citizens.

BACK IT UP…
Observers say what’s been unfolding in Yemen is worse than in Syria. Which is difficult to imagine. The short story is:

• In 2011, Yemen’s citizens wanted the change they could see in the region's Arab Spring, and President Ali Abdullah Saleh was booted from office. His deputy Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi took over, but civil war broke out between the factions.

• Saudi Arabia took the government’s (aka President Hadi's) side and put together a coalition that got involved militarily in 2015 - action that has been supported by the US, UK and other Western nations. They’re fighting the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

• Since then, more than 10,000 civilians have died, and three million have been displaced. Plus there’s food shortages and lack of access to clean water affecting eight million citizens.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
The UN, US and European Union are urging negotiations between the warring sides due to the importance of Hudaydah. We’ll need to wait to see what action the UN Security Council meeting decides if any. Reports say the Saudi-led coalition is making ground and is close to securing the airport. Meanwhile, experts say this could become the biggest battle of the Yemeni war, and there are fears for the 600,000 residents of the port city.

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SQUIZ THE REST

TWO SHOCKING ATTACKS
• A teenager was yesterday arrested for the killing of 22yo comedian Eurydice Dixon in a Melbourne park early on Wednesday morning. Her alleged attacker is Jaymes Todd (19yo) who was described as vulnerable by his lawyer because he has autism. Actress/comedian Julia Morris tweeted; “An important and funny voice has been extinguished.”

• An 11yo girl was abducted and assaulted on Wednesday while walking to school in suburban Newcastle, NSW. Police yesterday praised the girl for her bravery and assistance with their investigation. They urged parents to ensure their kids don’t walk in the area alone while the attacker is at large.

REBEL’S DEFAMATION WINGS CLIPPED
To recap, comedian/actress Rebel Wilson last year sensationally won $4.5 million in damages when a judge found Bauer Media magazines, including Woman’s Day, defamed her in a number of articles that questioned her backstory. Fast forward to yesterday, and three judges said they couldn't uphold the judge's assessment of Wilson's economic loss. That led them to dismiss most of the considerable payment awarded to the Hollywood actress. All she will get is $600,000. That sound you can hear is Australia’s media industry breathing a sigh of relief… Wilson tweeted that she will appeal the decision.

AND IRELAND’S NEXT REFERENDUM IS…
Drumroll… tackling its blasphemy laws. It's against Ireland's constitution to trash-talk God and punishable with a fine of up to almost A$40,000. Author/presenter Stephen Fry was recently caught up in a complaint after calling God a “maniac” in an interview with Ireland's national broadcaster. It’s expected that the vote will happen in October and follows recent referendums on same-sex marriage and abortion.

JOB NUMBERS UP AGAIN
More jobs were added in May - this time it was 12,000, which was short of the 19,000 expected by economists. That took the unemployment rate to a six-month low of 5.4%. Three-hundred-thousand new jobs have been added to our economy in the last 12 months. Now for that pay rise…

FRIDAY LITES – THREE THINGS WE LIKED THIS WEEK
Need a hit of some good ol’ fashion toilet humour? Look no further than this…

There are some incredibly good docos around at the moment. One via SBS (the first instalment is available on its On Demand app) is the Fourth Estate series on the New York Times’ coverage of the first 15 months of the Trump administration. As Vanity Fair reported this week, they had their share of problems… A good one for the political junkies.

Confession time: we’re not horror movie fans. We say it’s because our leisure time is short and we want nice experiences when we unwind. In truth, we’re scaredy-cats. But did you know there’s a whole thing around horror movies’ Wikipedia pages? Curiosity sated.

SQUIZ THE DAY

Friday
9.00pm (AEST) – Memorial for renowned physicist Professor Stephen Hawking – Westminster Abbey, London

ABS Data Release - Australian Environmental-Economic Accounts, 2018

Eid al Fitr – end of Ramadan

International Elder Abuse Awareness Day

Global Wind Day

China’s President Xi Jinping’s birthday (1953)

Saturday
7.30pm (AEST) – One Day Cricket – Australia v England - Cardiff

8.00pm (AEST) – Soccer World Cup – Australia v France

8.00pm (AEST) – Rugby Union – Wallabies v Ireland - Melbourne

International Day of the African Child

Sunday
MS Brissie to the Bay Bike Ride

UN World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought

Anniversary of the arrest of OJ Simpson for the murders of his former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman after a televised low-speed chase in Los Angeles (1994)