Squiz Today – Tuesday, 28 March

CYCLONE DEBBIE SET TO STRIKE

THE SQUIZ
North Queensland is braced for Tropical Cyclone Debbie’s wrath when she hits the coast between Ayr and Mackay at around 10am-12pm local time. Debbie’s a big one: she’s intensified to be a category 4 cyclone with a core that's about 100km wide. She’s expected to impact about 2,000km of coastline with winds at her core of 250km per hour. 

ARE THEY READY?
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, Police and other rescue authorities spent Monday warning residents in Cyclone Debbie’s hit zone not to be complacent and to leave the area if possible. Police last night recommended 25,000 residents of Mackay leave town due to Debbie's path shifting south bringing an expected tidal surge of up to 2.5 metres, however, reports this morning say many chose to stay at home. Evacuation centres have been set up across the region as a last resort for residents. 

WHAT’S NEXT?
For now it’s bunker down and see how she blows. Authorities say it could take 18 hours for Debbie to pass through. Farms, businesses and homes across a large region, including in the city of Mackay, will be damaged. The relevant companies have already deployed their people to the area to deal with power and phone outages as quickly as possible. The cleanup effort will be a huge operation and the military have been pre-emptively deployed with supplies to help. Updates from the Bureau of Meteorology are here.

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SQUIZ THE REST

MYER FOR SALE?
Myer might be having a mid-season sale, but this probably isn’t what they had in mind. There were interesting market moves late on Monday with a truck load (that’s the technical term for more than 10%) of Myer shares gobbled up by one entity thought to be spearheaded by Solomon Lew. Lew is an Australian retail veteran and a former chairman of the old Coles Myer. His current involvement is via Premier Investment and Just Group – they own Smiggle, Just Jeans, Portmans, Peter Alexander, to name a few. Myer shares ended yesterday up 18.3% off the back of speculation a takeover bid is in the making. 

AUSTRALIA RULED OUT OF MOSUL AIRSTRIKE INCIDENT
After days of not saying much, the US yesterday confirmed Coalition forces had conducted airstrikes in the Iraqi city Mosul on 17 March that killed dozens of civilians, according to officials and residents. Defence Minister Marise Payne said Australian aircraft was not involved. What exactly happened is now subject to investigation, but the suggestion is Iraqi forces requested air bombing support in the area in the fight against ISIS. Rescue teams have so far recovered 40 bodies from the rubble of bombed buildings. If the alleged number of bodies are recovered from the area it will be the highest civilian death toll from a single air strike incident in 15 years. 

QUICK INTERNATIONAL NEWS WRAP
South Korea removed its President, Park Geun-hye, just a few weeks ago over allegations she was corrupt after allowing a close friend to benefit from her position and extort money from big business. Prosecutors yesterday said they will seek to arrest Park and file charges. How the mighty have fallen.

The UK’s Home Secretary Amber Rudd has called on social media companies to end extremists’ access to their platforms. There's allegations the Westminster attack was planned in part via WhatsApp, and investigators have not been able to get permission from owner Facebook to access accounts.

Seven high school students and a teacher are dead, and 40 others injured following an avalanche at Japan's Nasu Onsen ski resort on Monday morning. They were participating in a climbing course.

UNITED AIRLINES WEIGH IN ON THE QUESTION THAT DIVIDES THE WORLD
United Airlines bravely bought into one of the biggest debates of our time: a conundrum that continues to divide western civilisation. It's a question that can potentially define what kind of person you are. Namely: are leggings pants? United says ‘no’ and on Sunday night staff prevented three young passengers from boarding a flight in Denver. Of course, it wasn’t quite that simple. The young girls were travelling as the guest of an employee, and that privilege comes with a strict dress code not applied to ordinary passengers. However, United doubled down on social media which didn’t win them many new friends. @chrissyteigen (supermodel, TV host, author, hilarious wife of singer John Legend) tweeted: “I have flown united before with literally no pants on. Just a top as a dress. Next time I will wear only jeans and a scarf.” We bet United can’t wait to get her next booking. And BTW if you’re on Twitter and don’t follow Chrissy Teigen, what are you using it for?

SQUIZ THE DAY

8.00pm - World Cup Soccer Qualifier - Australia v United Arab Emirates (Allianz Stadium, Sydney)

30th anniversary of Maria von Trapp's death. In case you need an excuse for a Sound of Music viewing.