Squiz Today – Thursday, 30 August

SQUIZ SAYINGS

“The dog went psycho.”

Said Robyn Garratt from York, WA of the bright light and loud noise generated by a fireball that’s believed to have been a meteor entering the atmosphere over the sky above Perth on Tuesday night. Now the hunt is on to find it. The truth is out there…

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ROHINGYA REFUGEE CRISIS - ONE YEAR ON

THE SQUIZ
Aussie actress Cate Blanchett yesterday addressed the United Nations Security Council on the plight of displaced Rohingya Muslims. The meeting marked a year since the beginning of Myanmar’s crackdown on the stateless minority. Blanchett, who visited refugee camps in Bangladesh in March as a goodwill ambassador for the UN refugee agency, said many of those she spoke to are fearful of returning to Myanmar. “The denial of their right to move, their right to marry, their right to work, their right to health care and education renders them amongst the most vulnerable people on the planet," she said.

BACK IT UP A BIT…
Very quickly:

• The government of Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist country, has denied the Rohingya Muslims citizenship. They are viewed as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

• In August last year, Rohingya militants launched attacks on local police. Myanmar’s military hit back killing at least 6,700 (including 730 children), leading to 700,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh.

• The UN described Myanmar’s military action as a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing".

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
A report from UN experts has recommended Myanmar’s top military brass face trial for genocide in an international court. They also damned leader/former Nobel Prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi for failing to use her position to stop the atrocities. But world-weary pundits said they expect Russia and China to continue to shield Myanmar from the worst that international diplomacy can throw at it and that more pressure would have to build before ‘the world’ steps in. Myanmar has rejected the UN report saying it is filled with “false accusations”.

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SQUIZ THE REST

MANNING TOUR IN DOUBT
The Home Affairs Department has given notice to Chelsea Manning, the former soldier behind the biggest leak of classified information in American history, that she may not be allowed entry into Australia on the grounds that she could fail the character test over her “substantial criminal record”. Manning is due to start a speaking tour in Oz from Sunday and organisers have asked supporters to lobby Immigration Minister David Coleman for her visa to be granted.

LIBERALS’ WOMEN PROBLEM
Julia Banks, a first-term Liberal MP from Victoria – and the only Liberal to win a seat from Labor at the last election – said she would not contest the next election because of the bullying and intimidation she experienced from both sides of politics. Banks, a firm Malcolm Turnbull supporter, joins Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds in speaking out about poor behaviour in the party’s ranks. It also follows former deputy leader Julie Bishop’s sharp observations this week. Liberal MP Craig Kelly gave his best rendition of ‘Toughen Up, Princess’ telling Sky News; "you've got to roll with the punches in this game." PM Scott Morrison said; “I have no truck with bullying or intimidation in whatever form it is,” and that he has “laid down the law” with his colleagues.

WORLD NEWS BY THE NUMBERS
2,975 – That’s the official death toll in Puerto Rico from last year’s devastating Hurricane Maria. The previous estimate was 64 people. Its government is asking US Congress for $139 billion in recovery aid.

2.3 million – That’s how many people the UN estimates have fled Venezuela since 2014 as the economic and political crisis deepens. Yesterday Brazil said it was sending armed forces to keep order on the border, while Peru declared a health emergency.

250,000 – That’s how many gun-related deaths were recorded across 195 countries in 2016. The study says 64% were homicides, 27% were suicides and 9% were accidental. El Salvador had the highest rate of 40 deaths per 100,000 people, and Singapore the lowest at 0.1 per 100,000. Australia’s rate is 1.04 per 100,000 people. And the US – where reports about gun violence seem to flood our airwaves daily – recorded a rate of 11 deaths per 100,000.

MORTGAGE HIKES EXPECTED ACROSS THE BOARD
In the first ‘out-of-cycle’ rate rise in years, Oz's second-largest lender Westpac yesterday announced it's increasing its standard variable mortgage rate by 0.14%. That’s an increase of about $35 a month on a $400,000 mortgage. With the banks’ cost of borrowing money to lend out increasing, it’s expected the other major banks will follow suit. Westpac CEO Brian Hartzer said; "There's never a good time to make a decision like this, particularly when it hits the cost of living for consumers."

NEWS FOR YOUR JOINTS
If you or someone you know has osteoarthritis, listen up. New guidelines released by doctors yesterday said its time to ditch the glucosamine, opioids and any ideas of arthroscopic surgery because they “don’t actually make people any better,” said Professor David Hunter. Exercise and weight loss is the first port of call. No quick fix then…

GOATS DRAWN TO HAPPY FACES
Aren’t we all?

SQUIZ THE DAY

10.00am (AEST) - Energy Minister Angus Taylor to address the Council of Small Business on the Morrison Government's energy policy approach - Sydney

ABS Data Release - Private New Capital Expenditure and Expected Expenditure, June; Building Approvals, July

UN International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances

Anniversary of the establishment of Melbourne (1835)

Warren Buffett's birthday (1930)

Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina striking the US Gulf Coast, killing more than 1,700 people and flooding New Orleans (2005)