Squiz Today – Tuesday, 22 October

SQUIZ SAYINGS

"It was one of those moments you think 'oh my goodness'. I had to stop myself from crying."

Said Britain’s Lisa Williams of her world championship title win - in porridge making. Her secret weapon is Maldon salt.

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MEDIA CHANGES COULD FILL A MAGAZINE…

THE SQUIZ
Pacific Magazines, home to some of Australia’s most recognisable titles, has been sold to competitor Bauer Media, pending clearance by the competition regulator. With a price tag of $40 million, owner Seven West Media reached an agreement with the German-owned Bauer with the hope that the deal will be finalised at the end of this year, or early next. Mags like Better Homes & Gardens, New Idea and marie claire will add to Bauer’s portfolio including The Australian Women’s Weekly, Woman’s Day and Elle.

WHAT’S DRIVING THAT?
Television broadcaster and newspaper publisher Seven West has a new CEO in James Warburton and a new strategy. Western Australian businessman Kerry Stokes owns more than 40% of the company, and he’s overseen an upheaval in management after clocking a $444 million loss last financial year. The Pac Mags sale, plans to merge with regional broadcaster Prime, and its sale of a small radio holding shows Warburton is getting on with some changes. And investors liked what they heard with Seven West's share price up 11.7% yesterday. As for Bauer, there have been endless rumours about its plans. But on the numbers, cost-cutting helped deliver a profit of $6.3 million in 2018. That compares to a loss of $11.3 million in 2017. It says the acquisition will help it achieve success with “scale and superior content”.

ANYTHING ELSE?
While we’re talking about changes… Macquarie Media CEO Adam Lang will be outta there by the end of the week. The corporate line is Lang’s role was soon to be made redundant in a restructure with Nine moving towards 100% ownership and control of the metro AM radio broadcaster. Lang has been in the news a lot recently over the negotiation of Sydney breakfast host Alan Jones’ contract, and the fallout from advertisers pulling their support from 2GB after comments Jones made about NZ PM Jacinda Ardern. Nine assumed 54.5% ownership of Macquarie (including stations 2GB, 3AW, 4BC and 6PR) following its $4 billion merger with Fairfax Media, and will soon own the lot.

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SQUIZ THE REST

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ACCUSED CLAREMONT KILLER CONFESSES TO EARLIER ASSAULTS

Yesterday's development in a Perth Court caught reporters and observers by surprise. Bradley Edwards has pleaded not guilty to the murders of Sarah Spiers, Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon in '96 and '97. The women went missing while on a night out in Perth's western suburb of Claremont. Edwards had also pleaded not guilty to the abduction and assault of a 17yo girl in '95 and assault of an 18yo woman in '88, but he changed his plea in those two cases yesterday. The trial relating to the murders will start on 18 November and was expected to take nine months, but prosecutors said yesterday's guilty pleas will wipe about three months off proceedings.

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HAKEEM GETS AN APOLOGY

It's Senate Estimates time and 'tis the season to apologise if you're a public servant in a tight spot… And that’s what newly minted Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw says he's offered refugee footballer Hakeem al-Araibi. Al-Araibi shot to prominence when he travelled to Thailand on his honeymoon and was detained after his birth country Bahrain tried to extradite him. Kershaw yesterday told senators the AFP had been unaware he'd been granted protection by Border Force officials until after he was detained in Thailand. As for the apology, "as an accountable organisation to the community, I felt it was right to do," Kershaw said.

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EMERGENCY DECLARED AS SANTIAGO ERUPTS

At least seven people have died in riots in the Chilean capital of Santiago. The unrest was sparked by a now-suspended metro fare hike but has widened to reflect anger over other issues like living costs and inequality. Authorities have declared a state of emergency in Santiago and other cities. Interior Minister Andrés Chadwick said 10,500 police and soldiers have been deployed, and officials report more than 1,400 arrests have been made. President Sebastián Piñera yesterday said; "We're at war against a powerful and implacable enemy who doesn't respect anything or anyone".

And while we have you… It was the 20th consecutive weekend of unrest in Hong Kong with unlawful demonstrations blocking roads and causing damage to property across Kowloon. The cost for local businesses is racking up with riot insurance a rarity...

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VICTORIA’S SIX BIN SOLUTION

Some good things come in sixes. Fresh bread rolls. Hot cross buns. And if we have to pick a non-carb related category, bottles of wine. But six bins to properly sort out your recycling has not been on the list. That is until Infrastructure Victoria was asked by Premier Daniel Andrews to reform the state's waste system after the collapse of recycling giant SKM resulted in a lot of recyclables going to landfill. The problem is 'co-mingling’, so a suggestion is to have bins for organics, plastics, paper and card, glass, metals on top of your good ol’ rubbish bin. Can’t wait to see the comments on that…

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MISSING: 124,000 AUSSIE MILLIONAIRES

Where are they? Huddled over the real estate websites wondering if the value of their homes has back gone up... Fancy bank Credit Suisse has released its annual wealth report that shows Aussies’ average wealth has slipped from $600,000 each to about $560,000 in the last year as a result of property price plunges and the falling dollar. That’s taken us from second place in the global rankings to fourth with Switzerland, Hong Kong and the US ahead of us.

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APROPOS OF NOTHING - FAMILY EDITION

MARRIAGES - Actress Jennifer Lawrence has made it official with her art dealer partner Cooke Maroney. And the food options sound pretty good… Also getting hitched was Tennis champ Rafael Nadal to his longtime partner Maria Francisca Perello. We think this article with some official pics has been translated - oh, the lols…

DONESKIS - That didn’t last long… Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn has dumped his royal consort a couple of months after announcing her appointment. Former army nurse Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi has been “disloyal”, “ungrateful” and was “not content with the title bestowed upon her, doing everything to rise to the level of the queen,” the palace said.

SCRUTINISED - Prince William is worried about his brother, reports say. The ITV program on Prince Harry and Meghan’s trip to Africa - with a substantial side of how hard they’re finding the British tabloid media game - will air tonight at 7.30pm on Ten.

SQUIZ THE DAY

Ceasefire deadline with Turkey requiring the Syrian Kurds to be out of a designated ’safety zone’ in northeastern Syria

Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin - Sochi

Japan’s Emperor Naruhito to be formally enthroned - Imperial Palace, Tokyo

Annual General Meetings - Cochlear; Super Retail Group

CAPS LOCK DAY

And if you read The Squiz every day this week you'll go into the draw to win a $100 gift card to spend at Country Road. Nice.