Squiz Today – Wednesday, 10 January

SQUIZ SAYINGS

“They’re storming the café, get back asap.”

That’s the most memorable late night/early morning call Fiona Dear has taken. Fiona is the Deputy Director of News for Nine in Sydney, and that means she's involved in all the big breaking stories. By the time Fiona gets to The Squiz at 6am, she's already read the newspapers and dealt with her emails. Yikes! Please welcome fellow news junkie and delightful Squiz’er Fiona Dear to the Three Minute Squiz.

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IRAN PRESIDENT STRIKES CONCILIATORY NOTE TO PROTESTORS

THE SQUIZ
In the wake of recent protests, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has taken his hard-line conservative opponents to task saying; "One cannot force one's lifestyle on the future generations." Protests over declining standards of living, an economic crisis, widespread corruption and the clerical government’s restrictions on individual freedoms shook the country in late December/early January. Rouhani, a moderate, said the protestors concerns were valid. This is contrary to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his supporters who want the protestors locked up.

BACK IT UP A BIT…
Forgive us if we don’t go all the way back to the Iranian Revolution of 1979… The most significant anti-government protests in a decade broke out on 28 December after long-simmering tensions boiled over regarding excesses of the privileged while the rest of the country continues to suffer through a years-long economic slump. Working-class protestors took to the streets across the country over a week leaving more than 20 dead in the security clampdown. Both the clerical hardliners and Rouhani’s reformists were targets of demonstrators’ anger.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Rouhani this week indicated that bridging the gap with Iran’s younger generation is key. Of the country’s population of 80 million, half are aged under 30yo. To that end, social media platform Telegram, which is used by more than half of Iranians, will be reinstated after it was shut down during the protests. The big task is getting the economy back on track but that has so far been beyond Rouhani’s government. And then there is the laundry list of concerns that citizens have, from personal freedoms to Iran’s relationships with the rest of the world. For now, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says the unrest is over.

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SQUIZ THE REST

NORTH KOREA TO TRACKSUIT UP
North Korean athletes will participate in next month’s Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. And the two countries have agreed to hold military talks and keep the recently reinstated hotline open. Does that mean North Korea is ready to give up its nuclear arsenal North Korea? It says ‘no’ (but probably in Korean). That's the result of yesterday's meeting - the first official talks held in two years.. Pundits say all this is quite a dramatic development but doesn't reflect any shift in North Korea's position on the serious stuff.

‘BOMBER’ QUESTIONED
We’re talking about Mark ‘Bomber’ Thompson, former AFL player (he was one of Essendon’s greats) and coach (think Geelong and Essendon). He was yesterday questioned by police and released without charge following police raids on his properties last week. Reports say Thompson had allowed people with alleged bikie links to stay and they have since had drug trafficking charges laid. Police have not confirmed how they think Thompson’s might be involved.

TRUMP READY TO TAKE ON OPRAH
And not only does US President Donald Trump think he'll beat Oprah Winfrey, it would be "a lot of fun". But he does not think she'll ultimately put her name forward. Oprah's BFF Gayle King, however, said the megastar is "intrigued by the idea" of a presidential bid. Curiouser and curiouser.

THAI PM TRIALS NEW MEDIA TECHNIQUE
And it’s a ripper! Thailand’s PM Prayuth Chan-ocha has taken a life-sized cardboard cut-out of himself to a press conference telling journalists to quiz it instead of him before walking away. Prayuth has been under pressure for overdue elections and his government’s sometimes repressive policies. No doubt some journos would say the cardboard cut out would give a better interview than the real thing anyway.

MALE FERTILITY PROBLEMS AND IBUPROFEN LINKED
A medical study out yesterday says there are fertility risks for men taking ibuprofen. There are a lot of caveats on this one so read on. A small study group (31 men) took a daily dose of ibuprofen that an athlete would take (about 600mg twice a day) which resulted in their testosterone production being affected. However, the study said short-term use wasn’t an issue. What a headache…

HATCHES AND DISPATCHES
Of relationships, that is.

Hatches – Movie star/lifestyle guru Gwyneth Paltrow will consciously-couple with Glee creator Brad Falchuk. “I have tried to accept how complex romantic love can be. I have decided to give it [marriage] a go again, not only because I believe I have found the man I was meant to be with, but because I have accepted the soul-stretching, pattern-breaking opportunities that [terrifyingly] are made possible by intimacy,” Paltrow said. Not a lot we can add to that.

Dispatches – Author/TV star/activist Lena Dunham has split up with musician Jack Antonoff. Just in case you haven’t heard of him, he’s co-written and produced songs for Lorde and Taylor Swift (including their current albums) and won Grammy awards with his former band fun. "It was mutual," a so-called insider said. Isn’t it always?

SQUIZ THE DAY

ABS Data Release - Job Vacancies, November

Second anniversary of David Bowie's death