Squiz Today – Thursday, 11 January

SQUIZ SAYINGS

“I need bread.”

Vogue legend Anna Wintour was spotted on Monday night marching into the kitchen of a fancy New York restaurant to request some starchy goodness proving yet again that carbs are in season, every season.

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TASKFORCE TO TACKLE SUDANESE GANG CRIME

THE SQUIZ
Victorian Police will establish an African-Australian community taskforce to counter youth crime in Melbourne. The initiative, launched yesterday by Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton, follows significant recent media attention and political argy-bargy about violent crimes and public disorder by gangs of young Sudanese men in the capital's suburbs. The first meeting will take place on Friday and the scope of the taskforce is yet to be defined.

GIVE ME A BIT OF BACKGROUND…
Some points to note:

• More than 11,000 of Australia’s 20,000 citizens who were born in Sudan live in Melbourne’s suburbs.

• It has been acknowledged (including by police) that two street gangs in particular (known as MTS and Apex) are responsible for a number of incidents of violent crime and vandalism.

• Since 2014, there has been a 28% increase in offenders (minors and adults) who were born in Sudan.

• But overall, the number of young people born outside Australia who are involved in crime in Victoria is low.

ANYTHING ELSE TO KNOW?
This was a prominent story over the Christmas holidays with PM Malcolm Turnbull weighing in to accuse the Andrews Government of dropping the ball on crime. However, Police Commissioner Ashton said federal Home Affairs minister Peter Dutton’s claim that Melburnians were afraid to dine out at night was “complete and utter garbage.” And then there’s the brouhaha about claims made by former potential gang member Nelly Yoa. His thoughts on the issue were published last week by Fairfax Media, and this week he's been under pressure for plagiarism and just making stuff up about his life. "If I didn't come out and say what I said, Victoria Police would not admit to the gang problem," he said yesterday.

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SQUIZ THE REST

MUDSLIDE DEATHS IN CALIFORNIA
Fifteen people are dead and authorities predict the toll will rise after a mudslide flattened homes in Southern California as residents slept. One of the worst affected areas around coastal Montecito was ravaged by last month’s fires.

A COUPLE OF SAD POINTS TO NOTE
FAMILY GRIEVE DOLLY - The family of Amy ‘Dolly’ Everett will set up an anti-bullying trust in the wake of the suicide of the14yo last week. Dolly’s father Tick expressed the family’s grief on Facebook and said the family wanted to raise awareness. "We are not concerned with the who or the why of who pushed our daughter to this point, we just want to save another family going through the sadness and tragedy that our family is experiencing," he wrote. Dolly was the face of Akubra a few years ago, and her family are cattle farmers in the Northern Territory.

FALKHOLT FAMILY FUNERAL - Hundreds turned out yesterday to mourn three members of the Falkholt family. Lars and Vivian and their 21yo daughter Annabelle were victims of a terrible road crash on Boxing Day on NSW’s South Coast. Twenty-eight-year-old Jessica, a TV actress, remains in an induced coma in hospital in Sydney and is yet to learn of the loss of her family.

CHINESE SMARTPHONE DEAL COLLAPSES IN AMERICA
US telco AT&T’s plans to sell Chinese-made Huawei phones to Americans have been scuppered at the last minute amid spying concerns. According to Reuters, the US Senate and House intelligence committees wrote to the communications regulator saying there were concerns “about Chinese espionage in general, and Huawei’s role in that espionage in particular.” Huawei said security and privacy were a priority and they had the trust of more than 150 million customers last year alone. A private Chinese company, Huawei was banned from bidding for Australia’s NBN tender back in the day by former PM Julia Gillard.

LATHAM LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN TO “SAVE AUSTRALIA DAY”
Former Labor leader Mark Latham and Alice Springs councillor Jacinta Price yesterday launched the campaign to counter "so much political correctness, where certain words, themes and values are banned in public institutions." Some councils have cancelled upcoming Australia Day celebrations, ABC’s Triple J moved its Hottest 100 countdown from the national day and organisers of this year’s significant events are bracing for protests over what some say is a commemoration of “invasion and indigenous death." You can watch Latham’s ad here (warning – it’s not as funny as the Aussie Day lamb ads).

BANNON BANISHED
Speaking of outsiders, Steve Bannon, US President Donald Trump’s controversial former chief strategist, has stepped down from his role as executive chairman of Breitbart News, a right-wing online publication. He was unable to calm his supporters (particularly those who fund his business interests) after his snarky observations, including on Trump’s mental health, were published in Michael Wolff’s recently released book about the dysfunction at the White House. It’s an almighty tumble for a guy who just a few months ago was one of the most senior players in American politics.

#METOO… NI MOI NON PLUS
Men should be free to hit on women. That’s the position of 100 prominent French women(spearheaded by actress Catherine Deneuve) who believe the #MeToo campaign is “puritanism” driven by a “hatred of men”. "Rape is a crime, but trying to seduce someone, even persistently or clumsily, is not - and nor is men being gentlemanly a chauvinist attack," the women said in a column in newspaper Le Monde. In France the #MeToo campaign has run under #Balancetonporc – translation is ‘expose your pig’.

SQUIZ THE DAY

ABS Data Release - Retail Trade, November

Daryl Braithwaite's birthday (1949) - why isn't this a national holiday?