Squiz Today – Monday, 13 January

SQUIZ SAYINGS

“Fat tongue”

A new study has found it could be a key contributor to obstructive sleep apnea. With a billion people worldwide said to be suffering from it, you're now prepared if someone asks you “does my tongue look big in this?"

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MORRISON ANNOUNCES INQUIRY INTO BUSHFIRES

THE SQUIZ
PM Scott Morrison yesterday said the bushfire crisis has revealed changes in our thinking about natural disasters. But he's not referring to a big rethink on climate change… "I think we have to prepare for the new normal. And the new normal is there is community expectation now that there be a more direct ability for the Commonwealth, particularly through the Australian Defence Forces to be able to take action,” Morrison told ABC TV’s David Speers yesterday. To that end, a Royal Commission will be set up to look at governments’ roles, as well as the heightened fire danger.

DOES THAT INCLUDE CLIMATE CHANGE?
It does, particularly when it comes to "adaptation and resilience" measures like dam building and land management. The government will stick with its current target to cut emissions, but commentators said there was a sliver of light for upping efforts with Morrison saying the government would "evolve our policies to meet our targets and to beat them.” How we meet out climate commitments is a hot topic because we are set to use controversial 'carryover credits' - which is kinda like trying to have your score from a previous game count in a brand new match… Labor leader Anthony Albanese welcomed the inquiry with one reservation. "What we don't want to hear in coming weeks and months is 'I can't answer that because it's being dealt with by the Royal Commission,'" he said. The politics of the fire response has hurt the Morrison Government with today’s Newspoll showing a fall in support and Labor taking the two-party preferred lead with 51 to the Coalition's 49.

AND WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH THE FIRES?
Victoria’s Alpine and East Gippsland regions remain under threat. And firefighter Bill Slade was killed by a falling tree while working on containing a fire near Omeo. He was remembered as a much-loved community member. Over the border in NSW, 111 fires are burning, 40 uncontained. And the Kangaroo Island fire in South Australia is still causing problems. Lower temperatures and calmer conditions have helped authorities regroup over the weekend, and they hope that continues into this week.

To get ahead on all these issues, we've put together Squiz Shortcuts on Australia and bushfires and climate change. How handy is that?

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SQUIZ THE REST

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IRAN SHOT DOWN PASSENGER JET

After days of denying accusations that it downed a Ukraine International Airlines jet killing all 176 on board, Iran's Revolutionary Guard said on Saturday that it was responsible. But it was an accident, with the plane mistaken for a cruise missile, it says. Iran’s defence units were at the “highest level of readiness” for a US counter-attack after hitting two Iraqi airbases housing US troops on Wednesday, an official said. The tit-for-tat started with America’s drone strike that killed Iran’s top military commander Qasem Soleimani 10 days ago. With 82 Iranians on board, Iranian protestors turned on the government following vocal shows of support after Soleimani’s killing. There were also 57 Canadians killed in the crash, and PM Justin Trudeau wants a full investigation saying the families deserve answers.

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THE H&M SAGA MOVES TO SANDRINGHAM

Oh to be a fly on the wall of today’s meeting… The Queen has called Prince Charles and his sons Harry and William to a meeting today. Meghan is expected to dial-in after returning to Canada last week (where she has access to all the free coffee she wants…). Agenda item #1: the Sussexes’ surprise announcement that they are ‘adjusting their working model’ (which is a nicer way of saying “take this job and shove it”). With a lot of issues thrown up by their call to quit as ‘senior royals’, reports say the Queen has asked for solutions to be found in days. It’s hoped the meeting will produce a "next step" in forging a new path for the Sussexes and other royals not included in this picture. Theories about what’s behind the bombshell continue to run wild, including Meghan’s role, her future work plans, and Harry’s fractured relationship with William.

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A MOVE TO THE COUNTRY

But it will be far from a tree-change… A drone spotted flying over the Melbourne prison that was housing disgraced Cardinal George Pell has seen him moved to a high-security clink regional Victoria. It’s thought that someone was trying to get pictures of the most senior Catholic to be jailed on child abuse charges as he worked in the garden. Pell’s appeal of his conviction will be considered by the High Court, possibly in March.

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MORE WEATHER RECORDS FALL

As the rest of the country continues to bake under severe drought conditions, the Northern Territory has snagged bragging rights for its record-breaking rain recorded over the weekend. A tropical weather system brought a massive dump of the wet stuff to the island of Dum In Mirrie (50km off the coast of Darwin) with 562mm falling in 24 hours. For context, farmers in south-eastern areas of Oz are pretty stoked to get 10mm at the moment… Darwin also got the sort of rain locals said they haven’t seen in years relieving water shortages. May their good fortune be spread across the country…

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SUMMER OF TENNIS HEATS UP

Serbia beat Spain last night to take out the inaugural ATP Cup with an impressive show from Novak Djokovic. Australia crashed out on Saturday night against Spain despite a plucky performance by Aussie-Spanish dual citizen Alex De Minaur who had Rafael Nadal on the ropes for the much of the game. Over the ditch, and Serena Williams took out her first title for three years winning the Auckland Classic last night. The victory means she’s won titles in four different decades, and to celebrate she donated her prize money to bushfire relief. This week, there are tournaments in Adelaide and Hobart leading up to the Australian Open, which starts in a week.

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AN ELABORATE ENGAGEMENT

Oh so romantic or OTT? You be the judge. Rumours that Meghan voiced the Sleeping Beauty character could not be verified…

SQUIZ THE DAY

HMAS Toowoomba leaves Perth for a six-month deployment to the Persian Gulf

Oscar nominations announced

Birthdays for actors Julia Louis-Dreyfus (1961), Patrick Dempsey (1966) and Orlando Bloom (1977)

Anniversary of the death of Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon/Princess Margaret’s ex (2017)

The second anniversary of a false emergency alert warning of an impending missile strike on Hawaii