Squiz Today – Thursday, 18 April

SQUIZ SAYINGS

"The Drake curse”

The Canadian music superstar has turned out to be a bad luck charm for sportspeople around the world. Get a picture with him, and you/your team loses. Bigly. It’s uncanny...

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PAINTING A TAKEOVER PICTURE

THE SQUIZ
Australian paint company Dulux is set to be bought for $3.8 billion by Japan’s Nippon Paint, the #1 paint company in Asia, in what will be a record transaction. Nippon is offering $9.80 a share sending Dulux’s share price up 27% to $9.75 yesterday. The Aussie market leader (which also operates in Kiwiland) is a business that also includes popular brands Selleys, Yates and Cabot’s. Dulux’s management said a takeover by Nippon would mean; “No expected changes to DuluxGroup leadership, business portfolio, manufacturing and operations.”

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
So, there are a few steps to go through. Dulux shareholders have to approve it at meetings scheduled for July, as does the Federal Court. And then it goes for review by the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board and the New Zealand Overseas Investment Office. Basically, those government bodies make a recommendation about investments by overseas companies or individuals - because the government can block a sale. But that's not anticipated in this case…

UMM, WHY ARE YOU TELLING ME ABOUT THIS?
There are three reasons:

• If you’re an AustralianSuper member, you own 8.6% of Dulux making you one of its biggest shareholders.

• Dulux employs 3,000 people in Australia (and 4,000 globally), which is nothing to sneeze at.

• And it’s a company that punches above its weight because of its popularity with Aussie home improvers. For example, when Woolworths was trying to crack the market with Masters (which was its go at Bunnings, which was owned by the same parent company that also owned Coles at that time...), Dulux would not supply it. And while that wasn’t the nail in Masters' DIY coffin, it was one proof-point with shoppers that meant the Woolies-backed business didn’t have the offer the much-loved Bunnings did. And that hurt.

So there you go.

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TRUMP REJECTS MOVE TO END INVOLVEMENT IN YEMEN WAR

US President Donald Trump has vetoed a move by congress to end American’s support for the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen. Reports say that while Trump viewed the resolution as an attack on his powers as commander-in-chief (which it might have been for some), there is concern about the way the Saudis have conducted the war, exacerbating what the United Nations considers the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe. The US is supporting the Saudi-backed Sunnis as a way of keeping a check on Iran-aligned Houthis.

And while we have you... The full Mueller report on the investigation into Russia’s interference 2016 election will be released in the coming day (Thursday US time).

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SQUIZ THE REST

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VICTORIAN FATHER KILLED BY PET DEER, WIFE FIGHTS FOR LIFE

Wangaratta local Paul McDonald was killed yesterday, and his wife Mandi was left fighting for her life in hospital after they were attacked by their pet deer. The attack is believed to have occurred while the father of two was feeding the stag inside its enclosure on the family property. Mandi was only saved when her 17yo son beat the beast off. Deer experts said the animals were usually docile, except during the autumn mating season when "they stop eating, they shed a huge percentage of their body weight. They stop doing everything except for finding a female partner and become extremely aggressive". The stag was shot by police.

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ONE PUNCH KILLER JAILED FOR TEN YEARS

A Melbourne man yesterday became the first person to be sent to jail under Victoria’s new one punch law following his 2017 assault of Box Hill Hospital surgeon Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann. Joseph Esmaili will spend 10 years behind bars for ‘coward-punching' Dr Pritzwald-Stegmann after the doctor had told him not to smoke on hospital premises. The victim's wife (and mother of their two children) made an emotional statement outside the court where the families of other one-punch victims joined her. "First and foremost he was a loving husband and father," she said. "He should have been safe at work."

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HOUSEKEEPING!

Keeping your news items spick and span…

WIDODO ON TRACK FOR A WIN - Indonesian President Joko Widido is set to be returned according to ‘quick count’ surveys. However, challenger Prabowo Subianto is also claiming internal polls by his party have him in front. The official result won’t be known until next month.

FOLAU TO FIGHT - Wallaby Israel Folau is challenging the termination notice served on him by Rugby Australia over “inappropriate” social media posts. It’s now over to a code of conduct hearing later this month.

HUAWEI TO LOBBY NEXT GOVERNMENT - It really wants to participate in our 5G mobile network rollout… Its global head of cybersecurity John Suffolk told the Sydney Morning Herald/Age he hopes to have discussions with whoever is in government after 18 May about “how can we do the best for Australia in a world that is full of risk”.

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FOR YOUR TO-DO LIST

You have until 8pm tonight to enrol or change your enrolment details for 18 May’s federal election. Get on it. The other thing to get on - Squiz The Election. The first episode of our campaign podcast is out today, and you can sign up to our Sunday to Thursday email (although next week it will be Monday to Wednesday with all the public holidays…).

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THURSDAY LITES - THREE THINGS WE LIKED THIS WEEK.

If you’re into viral animal videos, this one is the business (tip: turn on the sound).

Decluttering queen Marie Kondo recommends keeping just the handful of books that spark joy. Bibliophiles disagree… This look at some interesting people and their books is a good read.

Fancy cooking something this weekend? Try Pamela Lawson’s easy-peasy brownies from yesterday's Three Minute Squiz because it's Easter – the time when chocolate equals zero calories. And then there are souffle pancakes to consider. This article has a recipe and everything…

SQUIZ THE DAY

This lengthy segment is proudly brought to you by Easter. We’re taking the looong weekend. Please have a safe and joyous few days, and we’ll see you next Tuesday.

Thursday
Borce Ristevski to be sentenced today

Zimbabwe National Day

Anniversary of the death of Albert Einstein (1955)

Friday
Good Friday

Pesach (Passover) - commemorates the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt (begins in the evening and continues until 27 April) 

Saturday
Semifinals of the Federation Cup - Australia v Belarus - Brisbane - (Go Aussie)

Anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion (2010)

Captain James Cook arrives in what is now New South Wales (1770)

Sunday
The Queen's actual birthday - she will be 93yo

Horses Racing - Stakes Day - Royal Randwick

National Tea Day - UK

Anniversary of Charlotte Brontë's birthday (1816)

Anniversary of the deaths of Prince (2016) and Samuel Langhorne Clemens aka Mark Twain (1910)

Monday
National Earth Day

Anniversary of the death of Richard Nixon, 37th President of the USA (1994)

Actor Jack Nicholson's 82nd Birthday

Anniversary of the Paris Agreement (2016)