Squiz Today – Thursday, 7 December

SQUIZ SAYINGS

“We sold the River Cottage in July this year.”

OMG Julie Rutherford, why didn’t you tell us the house in Tilba NSW from the TV show was for sale? We can just see ourselves living off the land and looking incredible as we do it, given all the vegetables we’d be eating. Julie is the best real estate agent in Bermagui, on the south coast of NSW - and she’s a keen Squiz’er. Check out Julie's Three Minute Squiz.

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US TO RECOGNISE JERUSALEM THE CAPITAL OF ISRAEL

THE SQUIZ
US President Donald Trump yesterday changed almost 70 years of American foreign policy by recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and ordering the relocation of the US embassy there. The move makes good on an election promise to pro-Israel American Jews but will almost certainly kill off any chance of peace negotiations between the Israel and Palestine anytime soon. And it risks the relationships the US has with Middle East leaders more broadly.

BACK IT UP A BIT…
Just stay with us - you've got this. The city of Jerusalem is one highly contested property hotspot that is divided between Israel and the Palestinians. It is a sensitive issue for Jews and Muslims, particularly when it comes to East Jerusalem which is home to some of the holiest Islamic, Jewish and Christian sites in the world. Long story short, Israel annexed East Jerusalem in the war of 1967, and it's been a major source of conflict ever since. The Palestinians claim it will be the capital of a future state. No other countries have their embassies in Jerusalem – consensus has been the city’s status should be decided in a peace deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

SO WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Trump and his administration more broadly will be explaining the contentious decision for some time to come. The script will go something like this:

• It does not mean that the US is taking a position on the division of Jerusalem between Israel and the Palestinians.

• The US remains supportive of a two-state solution.

• The US is simply recognising the reality that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital given most of their government (including the prime minister’s office, Supreme Court and the legislature) is based there.

Officials said moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv would take years. But in the immediate future, let’s hope the prospect of recriminations from a disaffected Arab world is not realised.

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STAYING IN CONTROL

PRESENTED BY THE COMMONWEALTH BANK

There's a lot of things to feel overwhelmed about at this time of year. Like how to do a casual Christmas lunch for 25 without spending 1,000 hours in the kitchen. Or keeping track of how much you're spending.

If you're a Commonwealth Bank customer you can use the app to keep track of your credit card spending. So let Auntie Joan's gift of some nasty hand lotion be the only bad surprise this Christmas.

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SQUIZ THE REST

PLOT TO KILL UK PM UNCOVERED
A plan to kill UK PM Theresa May was just one of nine foiled terror plots UK intelligence and national security agencies have uncovered in the last year. The two men who were planning to use an explosive device to blow up the gates of Downing Street before going into the PM’s residence and making an attempt on May's life were arrested last week. Andrew Parker, the head of MI5, yesterday briefed the Cabinet on this and other plots they have uncovered. He also revealed the terrorist responsible for the Manchester Arena terror attack earlier this year was on their radar but they had misinterpreted the intelligence.

BEN MCCORMACK FREE ON GOOD BEHAVIOUR
Disgraced A Current Affair reporter Ben McCormack evaded jail time yesterday with a Sydney judge instead giving the high-profile journalist a three-year good behaviour bond and a $1,000 fine. Ruling that McCormack’s offending was at the ‘lower range of seriousness’, a Sydney judge said the fact his fantasies involving young boys were never acted upon warranted a more lenient sentence. McCormack had his detractors at court yesterday, but he also had a supporter.

'THE SILENCE BREAKERS’ NAMED TIME’S PERSON OF THE YEAR
Time Magazine’s highly anticipated annual gong was announced overnight with those who have stood up to harassment and bullying in the entertainment industry and beyond named the winners. "This is the fastest-moving social change we've seen in decades, and it began with individual acts of courage by hundreds of women — and some men, too — who came forward to tell their own stories," said editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal. Runners-up were Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump.

AUSSIE ECONOMY GROWTH LOWER THAN EXPECTED
It’s report card time and if the Australian economy was like every school kid in the country its assessment would read: “could try harder”. The Australian Bureau of Statistics yesterday reported GDP growth for the last quarter was a lower-than-expected 0.6%, and a modest 2.8% for the year. The result was slightly down on the expectation of economists who were plumping for 0.7% quarterly growth and 3% for the year. We hope someone is giving it a good talking to over the holidays.

QUICK SPORTS NEWS WRAP
ASHES SERIES WIN WITHIN REACH - Australia took a step closer to regaining the Ashes with a comprehensive rout of the Poms winning by 120 runs on Day 5 of the second Test in Adelaide. Translation: we’re in a winning position to claim honours in our regular cricket competition against England. The next match is in Perth.

RUSSIA BANNED FROM WINTER OLYMPICS - In an unprecedented move, the International Olympic Committee has banned Russia from next year’s Winter Olympics in South Korea’s PyeongChang (not to be confused with North Korea’s Pyongyang). The IOC believes the Russian government sanctioned a program of athlete doping. Staff from US Olympic broadcaster NBC are said to be none too keen on a trip to South Korea either…

WOMEN’S NRL COMPETITION TO KICK OFF NEXT YEAR - Given that we just won the Women’s Rugby League World Cup, it’s timely that the NRL announced yesterday a local women’s competition will launch in 2018. Six existing NRL clubs will vie for the chance to set up a women’s team, and 40 players will receive national contracts to play for the Jillaroos (our national representative side). It’s a well-deserved step forward for women’s rugby league.

GOODBYE CHRISTINE KEELER, AU REVOIR JOHNNY HALLIDAY
Her name was synonymous with one of the biggest political scandals in modern British history. Christine Keeler, the woman at the centre of the 1963 Profumo spy scandal died this week. John Profumo was Minister of War in the Conservative Macmillan government when he had a brief affair with the 19yo Keeler who happened to be involved at the same time with a Russian naval attaché. Oops! That exposed him to accusations of compromising national security and he ultimately resigned. Keeler was 75yo. Meanwhile, le tout France was in a state of mourning overnight with the news Johnny Halliday had died following a fight with lung cancer. Though unknown outside France, Halliday was regarded as “the French Elvis” in his home country and enjoyed stratospheric celebrity status there. He was 74yo.

SQUIZ THE DAY

ABS Data Releases - International Trade in Goods and Services, October; Industrial Disputes, September; Building Approvals, October

International Civil Aviation Day

National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day - US