Squiz Today / 13 June 2018

Squiz Today – Wednesday, 13 June

THREE MINUTE SQUIZ

“If Liz Lemon and Leslie Knope had a love child, it would be me.”

Genevieve Clay-Smith is a writer, film director, Squizer and all-round excellent person. She is the founder and CEO of Bus Stop Films, a not-for-profit organisation that has put inclusion in the film industry front and centre. Here, Genevieve puts down her night cheese long enough to give us her spin on the Three Minute Squiz.


KIM AND TRUMP BACKSLAP THEIR WAY INTO HISTORY

THE SQUIZ
It was congratulations all around as US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un emerged from yesterday's talks with a signed agreement. In simple terms, Kim has "reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula." And Trump has agreed to “provide security guarantees” to North Korea.

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
Negotiations will be ongoing, but for now:

• Kim gave Trump the same commitment on abandoning North Korea’s nuclear ambitions that he gave to South Korea's President Moon Jae-in when they met in April. That led to North Korea destroying some of its nuclear test sites in front of journos a couple of weeks ago. But there will be more - Trump says Kim agreed to destroy other nuclear assets.

• America did not get the sort of wording into the agreement that many were looking for around "complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation." But Trump said Kim has agreed to verification.

• America’s economic sanctions against North Korea will remain in place until it believes progress has been made. And in a nod to North Korea, it will end its regular “provocative” joint military exercises with South Korea in the Korean Peninsula.

ANYTHING ELSE?
• Trump faced a lot of questions about legitimising Kim – a dictator with a terrible human rights record. Trump said he had to “do whatever it takes to make the world a safer place.”

• Kim acknowledged that "It has not been easy to come to this point." But once there, body language experts said the two seemed at ease with each other with lots of backslapping and handshakes.

North Korean media made the unusual move of telling its citizens where Kim was. Can’t wait to see how they spin what went down yesterday…

And for an overview of the key moments of the day, this is a great summary.


SQUIZ THE REST

NEW SEARCH FOR WILLIAM
NSW Police will today start a four-week search for missing boy William Tyrrell. The 3yo in a Spiderman suit went missing from the front yard of a property in Kendall on the mid-north coast of NSW in September 2014. Police are focusing the search on the surrounding bushland. The area was searched when he first went missing, but not forensically “with a view of deliberate human intervention,” said police.

ON YA OBIKE, MELBOURNE
Singaporean company oBike is rounding up its errant yellow share bikes from the streets, parks and rivers of Melbourne and cycling out of town. Its departure from the Bleak City is a result of the city council announcing it would fine the company $3,000 for every abandoned bike left blocking a street for two hours or more. No doubt other councils with similar problems are contemplating their next moves.

INVESTOR HOME LOANS DOWN AGAIN
Investor lending for housing is at a six-year low, according to official figures from the Bureau of Stats. New investor home loans made up just 33.9% - the lowest level since January 2012. Which means the proportion of owner-occupier loans is up. The Housing Industry Association said the regulator’s tightening of investor lending and the banks playing it safe in the era of a Royal Commission are partly responsible for a fall in home prices in Oz’s biggest markets of Sydney and Melbourne.

BYE BYE BORGHETTI
Virgin Australia CEO John Borghetti would have to have been pretty chuffed with the praise heaped on him yesterday following news he is leaving the company by 2020. 2020 sounds like a science fiction/futuristic date, but is just 18 months away… He was lauded for injecting price pressure into the Australian domestic air travel market. That competitiveness has come at a cost - Virgin has made losses in excess of $200 million in each of the last couple of financial years.

WEIRD AND WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY
From the people who recently brought you Trashy Tuesday, behold the following chunks of ‘news’:

• Avocado toast is sparking a Chilean crime wave. Is there nothing our Aussie inventions can’t do.

• Canadian PM Justin Trudeau has been accused of sporting a fake eyebrow. “His office has yet to release a statement regarding the veracity of his eyebrows." Those are undoubtedly the funniest sequence of words ever put together by the BBC.

• And maybe more trashy than wonderful - the Kardashian and West families have appeared on America’s Family Feud. Kanye looks so happy…

SQUIZ THE DAY

12.30pm (AEST) - Darren Chester, Minister for Veterans' Affairs, to address the National Press Club - Canberra

1.20pm (AEST) - Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe to address Australian Industry Group members on 'Productivity, Wages and Prosperity' - Melbourne

Westpac/Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index, May

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's birthdays

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